From the George Washington University "Daily Colonial" (thanks to the "CFD")...
(The original uses the title "ambassador"; however, while Mr. Hume is the top U.S. diplomat in Sudan, he is officially "charge d'affaires".)
U.S. Ambassador to the Sudan [sic], Cameron Hume, outlined three main reasons why the conflict in Darfur and the entire [...] region is taking place at a lecture this week at the University Club of Washington.
Hume has served in the [State Department] for over 30 years and has been an ambassador to several African countries, according to the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C.; the Council hosted his talk as part of a special ambassador series.
Regarding the current crisis, Hume first discussed how “economic and environmental volatility” have been accentuated in an already-poor country by very little rain and resources. Second, he said [that] the heightened awareness of race, which is “becoming more prevalent in our modern world,” is “a large factor which divides the north and south regions.”
Finally, Hume blamed the crisis on a centralization of power in Khartoum - the capital of Sudan - where three Islamic tribes hold power over the entire nation, controlling the purse strings and [the] military.
Hume was grim in his assessment of the Darfur crisis, admitting that the 5,000 African Union [troops] in the region “cannot help Sudan” and that the 200 troops currently stationed by the United Nations are doing very little.
“The UN needs to step up its pace in Darfur,” said Hume, because even if more troops are approved it takes four months to build a campsite to support them in the remote regions of the south [sic].
Hume seemed optimistic about the deadline for elections in 2009. He emphasized that the U.S. needed to help the Sudanese people find their own way forward, and convince Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to accept an international peacekeeping force.
Moreover, the Ambassador [sic] remarked that the U.S. had little knowledge of the intricate ethnic undertones in the crisis, and that he himself had little understanding of the ethnic tensions.
“[I] couldn’t tell the difference between an Arab and an African,” said Hume, alluding to the racial distinctions of the Sudanese people.
When asked if the U.S. understood the culture of Sudan, Hume said, “The U.S. doesn’t have to understand the dynamics of the Sudan, we just need to help them move forward.”
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