What happens when Colin visits?

Mr. Powell was in Sudan yesterday. I hope he knows just how much the Sudanese government is trying to cover up the situation of crisis they have created in Darfur.

The Sudanese villagers in western Darfur were bombed. They were raped. Their huts were burned and their grain pillaged. Now, those who fled the chaos say they are being silenced.

The Sudanese Government dispatched 500 men this week to Abu Shouk, a sweltering camp of 40,000 near El Fashir, capital of North Darfur state, the refugees and aid workers said.

The men, some dressed in civilian clothes, others in military uniforms, warned the refugees to keep quiet about their experiences when the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, visit the region this week. ...

"They kicked us and said, 'Stop talking'," said Malki Ali Abduallah, 25, who fled the fighting six months ago with six children and a cooking pot. "I said, 'No, no, no. I am angry. I am tired. I don't want to be quiet. ...

The men told the villagers that they would impersonate victims when the US and UN delegations arrived and tell them the Government had done nothing wrong and rebels operating against the Government in the region were to blame.

Unbelievable. Why are we even giving the Sudanese government the respect of formalities at this point? We got the bomb, let's go get'em!

Kidding... But seriously. There's got to be a stronger response beyond sending Colin and having him get lied to. It's not like the whole world doesn't know what's going on in Darfur already, and the Sudanese government's guilt in the matter. Do we really need the Secetary of State to investigate the obvious?

...Well, at least our State Department says the Sudanese government is in a "state of denial."