Kerry calls for intervention in Sudan

(UPI) – Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry called for an international humanitarian intervention in the Sudan in a speech to the NAACP on Thursday (7/15). Kerry called the campaign against Sudan’s black population at the hands of ethnic Arab militias genocide. He also called on the White House to stop equivocating and demand the Sudanese government take action against the militias. Armed Arab militiamen known as janjaweed have killed thousands of black Sudanese in the Darfur region of western Sudan, and driven more than 1 million people from their homes over the last year, the Council on Foreign Relations has said. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Sudanese officials on his trip in early July the U.N. Security Council could act against them if they did not immediately stem the violence and bring about dramatic improvements on the ground right now. A humanitarian intervention is a military action taken to protect innocent lives. Kerry did not specify what role he envisioned for U.S. forces in an international intervention team.