In the summer of 2004, I traveled to Sudan with Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the United Nations. Mr. Annan, who died Saturday at age 80, was hoping to put an end to the genocidal violence that the Sudanese president, Omar Bashir, had launched against the people of Darfur. Only when he had finished did Mr. Annan gently ask, “What about the Janjaweed?” — the camel-borne thugs whom he pointed out the government had unleashed on peaceful villagers. I asked him if he really thought that Mr. Bashir gave a damn about the world’s good graces. And, finally, Mr. Annan was a shuttlecock batted back and forth by the great powers, too widely admired to be disposed of and too dangerous to be allowed to operate with impunity.

Source: New York Times August 20, 2018 10:00 UTC