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"[T]he ICC has made the situation go from bad to worse," said Samaritan's Purse president and CEO Franklin Graham. "This is the sad thing about the ICC. They may be right. I'm not disputing that. But it's made life a whole lot harder for people who are trying to help." Graham, who personally met with Bashir March 4 just hours before the ICC issued its arrest warrant, said he had spoken with Bashir about church-related issues that day.

Some Christian leaders doubt any sincere desire by Bashir to uphold the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which has not yet been fully implemented. "I don't think he ever intended on upholding the CPA," said Smith of Make Way. "As much as Graham calls this a window of opportunity to stand with the Sudanese people and rebuild what we can, Bashir has considered it a window to gain infrastructure into the South so that he can gain control over the oil there and succeed in his jihad against the indigenous Sudanese." Many relief workers now fear the worst for those who will be left to fend for themselves without aid. They say the CPA could be doomed if the U.S. government does not act immediately to try to stabilize the current crisis.

"The Obama administration has a moral responsibility to take effective action to help the targeted populations," said Shea. "This could be airlifts of humanitarian aid, and finding sanctuaries for the displaced people of Darfur, and smart sanction to keep the CPA on track."

Shea said that the administration failing to take action "consistent with Sudan being treated as a foreign policy priority will raise the question of whether the President and Secretary Clinton — who attested Sudan and the CPA were a priority at her confirmation hearing — were merely exploiting Sudan as a campaign strategy."

On Wednesday, President Obama named retired Major General Scott Gration to be the special presidential envoy to Sudan. Advocacy groups have pressed hard for this diplomatic post to be named right away to bring fresh energy into the peace process in Sudan.

During the presidential campaign, Obama that said ending the crisis in Sudan would be a priority. "We can't say 'never again,' and then allow it to happen again," Obama said in April 2008 in a video address to the Save Darfur Coalition, "and as President of the United Sates, I don't intend to abandon people or turn a blind eye to slaughter."

The next five months are particularly critical for the CPA's success, since under the agreement, national elections are scheduled to take place by July 2009, with a referendum on secession for the South to occur in 2011. The secession would be impossible if the humanitarian crisis worsens as even more genocide victims begin facing death from disease and starvation.

Smith said she hopes the Obama administration will put pressure on Bashir by reaching out to "many in the Islamic world who are embarrassed at what Bashir is doing," as well as make Sudan a top issue in U.S. trade negotiations with China. "We have to put peoples' lives in Sudan above the economy," said Smith.

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Christianity Today also interviewed Franklin Graham about Sudan.

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March (Web-only) 2009, Vol. 53