[New York Times] Madeleine K. Albright and William S. Cohen - It has been 20 years since the U.S. became a party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Yet we still lack the necessary institutions, policies and strategies to prevent and halt systematic campaigns of massacres and forced displacements. What is needed is a national blueprint to prevent genocide and mass atrocities. We must learn to recognize the early warning signs of genocide and move quickly to marshal international cooperation, to bring diplomatic and economic pressure to bear against those who violate the norms of civilized behavior. We are keenly aware that the incoming president's agenda will be daunting from Day One. But preventing genocide and mass atrocities is not an idealistic addition to our core foreign policy agenda. It is a moral and strategic imperative. Madeleine K. Albright, the secretary of state from 1997 to 2001, and William S. Cohen, the secretary of defense from 1997 to 2001, are the co-chairmen of the Genocide Prevention Task Force.
2008-12-24 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive