An achievable goal

Further to my post of yesterday about the idea of a United Nations Emergency Peace Service, here's a report on preparing the new US administration to deal more effectively with genocide:

Over the past several years, President-elect Barack Obama, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. have repeatedly urged stronger action to deal with mass violence in places such as Darfur. Now that his administration is taking shape, Obama is looking at how to reorganize the national security apparatus to respond more effectively to threats of genocide.

One guidepost for such efforts may come in a report being released today by a task force led by former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright, an adviser to Obama and Clinton, and former defense secretary William S. Cohen. Among dozens of steps, the group is recommending that Obama create a high-level forum in the White House to direct the government's response to threats of genocide, focus intelligence analysis on potential cases of mass atrocities, and provide more funds for crisis prevention and response.
.....
"Preventing genocide is an achievable goal," the report says. "Genocide is not the inevitable result of 'ancient hatreds' or irrational leaders. It requires planning and is carried out systematically. There are ways to recognize its signs and symptoms, and viable options to prevent it at every turn if we are committed and prepared."

(Thanks: SC.)