Mass slaughter and Obama's mystifying indifference

Mr. Obama has cited humanitarian reasons to intervene in a crisis when politically convenient. He entered Libya “to prevent a bloodbath,” despite no mass slaughter of civilians in that country. This disingenuous explanation only damaged his credibility as a humanitarian, though it did placate the international human-rights community.

So why does Sudan not deserve the same consideration? An enormous number of civilian lives are at risk in Darfur. Bashir’s assaults against the people of Sudan have escalated in intensity. Some three million people are living—if you can even call it that—in refugee camps under wretched conditions. They lack food, water, sanitation and basic medical attention. Hundreds of thousands of children are growing up malnourished with stunted growth and damaged cognitive abilities. If they survive, they are left without an education to a lifetime of suffering, with many likely to eventually succumb to disease.

And the camps are hardly safe. Bashir’s henchmen continue to attack them, and torch villages and fields, indiscriminately murdering, raping and pillaging defenseless people every day. Still more Darfuris die from disease and starvation at alarming rates, with the dead no longer even counted.