Critical Mass

George Clooney yesterday "urged members of the U.N.'s Security Council to help end atrocities in the [Darfur] region [of Sudan]."  From the AP:

"The United States has called it genocide," Clooney told council members. "For you it's called ethnic cleansing. But make no mistake _ it is the first genocide of the 21st century. And if it continues unchecked it will not be the last."

In stark words he told the U.N. diplomats: "In many ways it is unfair, but it is nonetheless true that this genocide will be on your watch. How you deal with it will be your legacy, your Rwanda, your Cambodia, your Auschwitz."

Granted, I still think there is a problem when " U.N. staffers gathered outside the basement meeting room Thursday to catch a glimpse of the actor burst into applause as Clooney [. . .] arrived," especially when he was accompanied by a true hero like Elie Wiesel; and I still think the UN is flawed as an organization; and I find irony in the fact that Clooney is quite willing to launch a military force into Sudan to stop atrocities there but is not willing to do so in other places like Iraq.  That said, the genocide in Sudan needs to be stopped, and if it takes Clooney to get it done, so be it.