Obama Joins George Clooney In Plea For Darfur
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Printable FormatNBC5.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Actor George Clooney, with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama standing next to him, made a plea for international help in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Clooney Thursday told a crowd at the National Press Club in Washington that he wants to use his "credit card" as a Hollywood star to highlight the plight of 2 million refugees.
Clooney visited the region for five days recently with a cameraman to document conditions in Sudanese refugee camps. He showed video excerpts of interviews with families who said militias murder civilians, rape women and lay waste to villages.
The actor said that Americans should not "turn our heads and look away" from genocide in Sudan.
"Is the American government slow to act? Of course we're slow to act. We always are," Clooney said, referring to prior U.S. intervention in Rwanda and the Balkans.
"It's something that has to start today," Clooney said. "If we don't get to work on it today, there's a few thousand people who will be dead by the end of the week."
Obama and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback are pushing a measure in Congress that would boost funds for peacekeeping and humanitarian aid to Darfur.
"The notion that we are going to stand by in the face of this is unacceptable," Obama said.
Obama, who's father hails from Kenya, praised Clooney for his "singular ability to focus on this issue and then actually be informed about it and be able to speak passionately about it."
The United States has authorized more than $300 million to help victims of violence and support peace talks in Sudan. President George W. Bush has said he favors an expanded international role in Darfur, backing a larger security force and NATO involvement.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.