I must say I respect and welcome Mr. Bristow's viewpoint on Darfur. He brings up a valid point that the United States has as its first responsibility the duty to protect its citizens and its founding principles. By the way, when his letter was written on October 8th, Sudanese government forces and proxy forces attacked and destroyed a village controlled by the Sudanese Liberation Army, a group with which they have an established cease-fire. 100 people were killed and the town was razed. I ask you if the murder of innocent civilians in the midst of a cease-fire violates our belief in 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' or not.

Mr. Bristow gathered from my previous letter that I was of the opinion we should 'invade' Sudan or use our troops. This couldn't be further from the case. The United States has the economic and political might necessary to make the changes without troops.

We need the Bush Administration to put some of its highest ranking diplomats on this issue, giving it the attention it deserves. We need to diplomatically target Sudan's economic partners, such as China, to force change in Khartoum. We need to prevent the conflict from spreading to neighboring nations such as Chad through engaging the African Union and other regional partners. We should moderate productive discussions between the regime and rebel groups officially. Finally, if we are to stand for international law against genocide, we should join the International Criminal Court.

These six steps are Governor Richardson's plan to end the genocide. However, we can't wait till January 20, 2009 to see these policies implemented. We, as citizens, need to stand with the Governor and oppose the outright massacre of innocent civilians every day until the crisis is resolved. This can be done by supporting targeted divestment policies in your state, you community, or even checking your own finances to make sure you are not supporting companies that support genocide.

-Tom Choske

President, Spartans For Richardson