SaveDarfur.Org Ad Campaign Misleads About the Bush Admin's Role in Darfur

SaveDarfur.org and their TV and Print Campaigns ^ | 10/1/2006 | dirtboy

[dirtboy]

Over the last few days, the non-profit organization SaveDarfur has been running heart-wrenching commercials showing the victims of ongoing genocide in Darfur. The commercials are quite effective on an emotional level, as they should be for anyone with a heart. And then, at the end, there is a call to action for viewers.

What is the call to action, you might ask?

Is it a call for the UN to get serious about forcing Sudan (a member of the UN Human Rights Commission) to stop blocking deployment of a 22,500 member UN Peacekeeping force? (something already approved by the Security Council)

Is it a call for public pressure for sanctions or even military action against Sudan?

Of course not. The end of the commercial implores viewers to tell President Bush to take action to stop the genocide. And implies he hasn't been doing anything along those lines by not saying anything else on the matter.

Well, perhaps one could make the argument that they are working within the limits of a 30-second television commercial - you can't always squeeze in the full story in that short of a time span.

However, they are also running a print campaign that is under no such limitations. And here is what the print campaign is saying:

Auschwitz. Armenia. Rwanda. Bosnia. Now Darfur.

We have seen the haunting pictures, heard the cries of grieving mothers. Mr. President, you can end it tomorrow when you speak to the United Nations and the world. You need only stand up and say that the United States and its allies will take decisive action now to protect lives in Darfur. That the United States, and the rest of the world, will move now to deploy the UN force they've already approved. In America the support for action crosses partisan lines. John McCain and Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole support taking action now.

Please, Mr. President. Beyond politics, beyond borders, beyond religion, there is the moral imperative to save lives. Mr. President, the world is waiting. The lives of two million people hang on your every word tomorrow. Please don't let them down.

TO SEND A MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT BUSH GO TO:

WWW.SAVEDARFUR.ORG

Well, maybe SaveDarfur.org simply isn't aware of all the Bush Adminstration has done to try and halt the genocide in Darfur. Except for the fact that they have the following items on their own website - a press release dated September 19th:

Coalition Applauds President’s Call for UN Peacekeepers and Appointment of Andrew Natsios as Special Envoy

Washington, DC – The Save Darfur Coalition today applauded President Bush’s commitment to get UN peacekeepers into Darfur and his appointment of Andrew Natsios to be his Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan during his address to the United Nations. The Coalition also stressed the need for both Mr. Natsios and President Bush to immediately increase pressure on the Sudanese Government to accept the already authorized UN peacekeeping force. Natsios previously served as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and as the Special Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan.

“By appointing Andrew Natsios to be his Special Envoy for Sudan, the President has told the world that he is serious about ending the crisis and building a lasting peace, and that means getting true security to the people who need it,” said David Rubenstein, Coordinator of the Save Darfur Coalition. “The true measure by which history will judge the President’s efforts to end this genocide is not what he says today, but what he does tomorrow. He and Mr. Natsios must be relentless until the genocide is stopped.”

So even as they were producing the TV and Print commercials and making the media buys, they were applauding Bush on their own website.

But maybe the Bush Admin isn't taking the actions needed to pressure Sudan into allowing the UN peacekeeping force into Darfur.

Or maybe the Bush Admin IS pressuring Sudan. Once again, from SaveDarfur's own website:

US tells Sudan: cooperate or expect confrontation

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Sudan in firm terms on Wednesday it must choose between "cooperation and confrontation" with the rest of the world and accept a U.N. force for Darfur. "Innocent people are suffering and dying. The humanitarian situation, already tenuous, is at risk of becoming a complete disaster. And the hope of peace is now in danger of collapsing altogether," she said of Darfur. Aside from the threat of punitive action, the United States has begun dangling the carrot of incentives if Sudan agrees to a U.N. force, including the promise of reconstruction funds and improved bilateral ties. "If the government of Sudan chooses cooperation -- if it works with the United Nations and welcomes the U.N. force into Darfur, then it will find a dedicated partner in the United States," said Rice. Darfur has become a rallying cry in the United States among a range of religious, political and rights groups and the Bush administration is under strong pressure to act. The Save Darfur Coalition ran a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Wednesday, showing mass graves in Darfur. "When all the bodies have been buried in Darfur, how will history judge us?" said the headline on the advertisement.

Well, then, what does SaveDarfur have to say about this contradiction?

From their own FAQ

Why is the Coalition calling upon President Bush to help make sure UN peacekeepers are sent immediately to Darfur? Shouldn’t that be the UN’s responsibility?

The recent television ads sponsored by the Save Darfur Coalition asking President Bush to take the lead in pushing for the deployment of a UN force in Darfur are not meant in any way to “bash” the President, but rather to urge him to follow through on the good work he and his Administration have already begun. We are both cognizant and appreciative of the fact that the President has done more for the people of Darfur than any other world leader. In fact, it is because of his leadership thus far that we direct our pleas to President Bush now. The hard truth is that the United Nations does not have a standing army it can choose to deploy, it must instead rely on its member states to do the hard work necessary to actually deploy a peacekeeping force once that force has been authorized. As the strongest of member states, we believe that the United States, under the President’s leadership, must lead the international effort to raise and deploy that UN peacekeeping force. While we are not calling for U.S. troops in Darfur, we are calling for the strong U.S. leadership necessary to ensure that a capable UN force is raised and sent to Darfur as soon as possible.

It is also worth noting that while these ads running in the U.S. call for stronger leadership from President Bush, similar ads being run internationally call upon various international leaders to provide strong leadership as well. Advocacy directed at President Bush is not the sum total of our advocacy efforts, but is in fact only the U.S. directed portion of a larger international advocacy campaign directed at the top echelon of world leaders.

Read that again:

We are both cognizant and appreciative of the fact that the President has done more for the people of Darfur than any other world leader

So why is there NO mention of that in the TV or print ads? Why didn't SaveDarfur re-word the commercials to say something along the lines of "President Bush has exercised strong leadership to stop the genocide. Please call him up and say you back him to take even more concrete action!"

Well, maybe a look at the Executive Committee for SaveDarfur.org would reveal just WHY they don't want to give him such credit in their commercials - it includes many sworn enemies of the Bush Adminstration who have had no qualms about spreading lies about the Bush Admin in the past:

American Jewish World Service
American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA Society)
Amnesty International USA
Citizens for Global Solutions
Darfur Peace and Development
Genocide Intervention Network
International Crisis Group
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
NAACP
National Association of Evangelicals
National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA
STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition
Union for Reform Judaism
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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I have a suggestion. Instead of calling President Bush to take action on Darfur when he already clearly is doing such by the very admission of those running ad campaigns claiming otherwise, I would suggest that freepers and other Americans outraged by this misleading advertising campaign use the contact information on the SaveDarfur website and tell SaveDarfur to tell the whole story in the commercials, instead of implying that Bush is doing nothing to stop the genocide. This may have been an honest mistake, or it may be politically motivated (after all, the November elections are not far off). But either way, it reeks no matter what the underlying motives may have been, and is counterproductive towards stopping the genocide in Darfur. SaveDarfur.org should pull these ads immediately and issue an apology to the Bush Adminstration for not telling the entire story:

Mail
Save Darfur Coalition
Suite 600
2120 L Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20037

Phone

(202) 478-6311

Fax

(202) 223-9579

Email

info@savedarfur.org

[Fudd Fan]

I saw that commercial this morning. It raised the blood pressure, for sure. Now I am livid.

God bless President Bush and protect him from all enemies.

[cripplecreek]

I get pretty sick of muslim claims that there is no racism or ethnic strife within islam. All I have to do is look to Darfur to see arab muslims slaughtering african muslims. Or we could look at the fact that Bangladeshi muslims often end up in arab countries as slaves. Look at the Kurds, they face an endless threat from the Turks, sunni muslims in Iraq and Shia muslims in Iran. And lets not forget that the palestinians are the long time whipping boy of the muslim world unless they kill themselves and take Jews and Christians with them.

[onyx]

Exactly. The sponsor/associate lists tell the tale:

It's ELECTION time and what better way to motivate the black vote, to cite one wing of the democrat party?

[dirtboy]

Hey, while we're hanging out in the FAQ section of SaveDarfur, let's see exactly what the good folks there are DOING to help the affected persons:

How does the Save Darfur Coalition help the people of Darfur?

We utilize media outreach, public education, targeted coalition building and grassroots mobilization to pressure policymakers and other decision-makers in the United States and abroad to help the people of Darfur.

How do I make a donation to the Save Darfur Coalition?

The easiest way to donate is through our secure online donation system.

If you prefer not to contribute online, you can send us a check or money order via the mail. For your security, we ask that you do not send cash.

Donations can be sent to the following address:

Save Darfur Coalition
P.O. Box 18176
Washington, D.C. 20036

Do you accept clothing and food donations?

We only accept monetary donations, as we do not provide on the ground humanitarian services.

[gafusa]

Actually although that is what the left wants, by pushing the UN angle, we ares still doing nothing. The UN is a major human rights violator, and made up of many human rights violators. Get the US out out of the UN. The only solution is the destruction of the Sudanese government, and possibly giving Darfur independence. But we have so many evil regimes to destroy, and little time.

[onyx]

I noticed that too!
ONLY MONETARY donations.

The question begs...for what purpose? MORE ADS?

[dirtboy]

Well, they DID have a Million Postcard March. I'm sure THAT had the tyrants in Khartoum shaking in their boots:

Are you still collecting the Million Voices for Darfur postcards?

The Coalition and its partners collected more than 1,000,000 postcards urging President Bush to use the power of his office to support a stronger multinational force to protect the people of Darfur. Concerned citizens from every state in the union collected postcards at small town community events, large student rallies, religious services and on the Internet.

While the Million Voices for Darfur Campaign is no longer active, we will still collect your postcards and deliver them to President Bush.

------------

And check out who signed the Millionth Postcard (one is a usual suspect, the other wasn't but probably should be by now):

Senators Frist and Clinton Sign One Millionth Postcard Urging President Bush to Advocate Multinational Peacekeeping Force to Stop Darfur Genocide

Washington, DC – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) today joined other Members of Congress in signing the 1,000,000th postcard to President Bush urging him to use the full power of his office to support a stronger multinational force to protect the innocent civilians under attack in Darfur, Sudan. The senators signed the postcard at a U.S. Capitol news conference, helping the Save Darfur Coalition to reach its goal in just five months.

--------------

I think pushing Frist for majority leader was probably the biggest political mistake the Bush Admin did. He has been a clueless disaster.

[onyx]

Oh FGS! I could have done without reading Frist has signed on. Good grief.

If ohioWfan doesn't reply, I will link your thread on the Dose tonight. I see that most posters are still involved on the Sunday thread.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Their appreciation is positively UNDERwhelming.

[dirtboy]

Here is the latest talking point about Darfur from the NAACP website (since they are listed on the Executive Committee for SaveDarfur):

The United States must use all available means¯diplomatic and financial¯to ensure the rapid deployment of peacekeepers in Darfur.

-----

Note that military action is not an option to them. Which means they are not serious about pressuring Sudan.

[melt]

This is the most intellectually dishonest ad I have ever witnessed. It must have been produced by Kofi Annan... in collusion with George Clooney.

[dirtboy]

in collusion with George Clooney

I wouldn't blame Clooney. He has said in public that Bush has done more for Darfur than any other world leader.

I smell rats within the liberal members of the executive committe at SaveDarfur.

[dirtboy]

Their appreciation is positively UNDERwhelming.

I have a feeling, just a gut instinct from two decades in marketing, that they might have had several commerical scripts and focus-tested them among their members. And any commercial that gave Bush any credit probably got booed down.

[stephenjohnbanker]

I go along with your gut instinct.

[dirtboy]

PR ping to okie01 and a general ping to FR's best BS detector shermy.

[MissEdie]

When we saw that commercial, my husband looked at me and said "geuss they don't realize it's the UN Peacekeepers doing the raping and molesting".

[dirtboy]

I'm glad other people saw the commercial and saw problems with how it ended. The first time I saw it, I thought I might have been overreacting. But it ran a second time during FNS and I was irate enough to look up what this outfit was about.

[dirtboy]

One of the other finalist commericals said "It Slices! It Dices! It stops genocide without military intervention!"

Methinks liberals should start adapting the informercial approach for their political ads. After all, both promote things that don't permform anywhere near as well as claimed in the commercials.

[onyx]

Worse than underwhelming --- dirtboy has exposed their duplicity.

[R.W.Ratikal]

This African country should be saved for humanitarian reasons but it's hard to find any other reason.

Africa has been on the dole for hundreds of years. The entire continent is unable even to feed itself. The Peace Corps and thousands of missionaries have proved that Africans cannot be taught. The advances of the colonial
period went back to the jungles when colonialism ended.

Colonialism did not end because France, Germany, Belgium and other colonial powers suddenly decided that African nations should have independence. Colonialism ended because it became too big a burden with diminishing returns.

African nations are incapable of self-government or any other kind except for strong-man government.

In Charles Dickens novels of the 1850s some of his characters are obsessed with sending "handkerchiefs to Booriboola." Nothing has changed. Yes, by all means save them again, but what's the point?

So kick me. But I didn't make it so.