President Clinton had Rwanda. President Bush has Darfur.

Africa is the dark continent, it is said. Perhaps that label is apt considering it is hard for the United States and other First World powers to see the violence that happens there.

We aren’t the first to point out that the United States and European powers trumpet human rights when it comes to helping nations that have tremendous reserves of oil.

The Darfur region of Sudan has been ravaged by genocide, rape and destruction. It is another situation that brings into question the effectiveness of the existing structure of the United Nations. Can this kind of slaughter be allowed in the &8220;new world order&8221;?

We found positive news finally this weekend. The AP reported:

&8220;Sudan’s government said Saturday that its peace accord with Darfur’s main insurgent group could pave the way for it to welcome U.N. peacekeepers, as mediators worked to persuade the rest of the fractured rebel movement to join the process.

&8220;The peace agreement, reached Friday in Abuja with one branch of the Sudan Liberation Army after two years of sporadic negotiations, aims to end ethnic bloodshed that has killed at least 180,000 people in three years and left some 2 million displaced.

&8220;The suggestion that it could pave the way for a deployment of U.N. peacekeepers overturns previous rejections by Khartoum, which so far has allowed only African Union peacekeepers on the ground.&8221;

Let’s hope this glimmer of light for the region becomes the end of the tunnel.