International Herald Tribune, 22nd April 2006

Regarding the editorial "While Darfur burns" (April 14): While it is encouraging to see recent attempts by the United States to spearhead a UN or NATO operation in the Darfur region, it remains to be seen whether all this effort will translate into concrete measures to protect the people of Darfur. After all, it is almost two years since the United States said the atrocities in Darfur amounted to genocide - a long time marked by more misery and more death in the region, and unforgivable inaction by the international community.

The scale of suffering, misery, squalor, depression and fallout from societal breakdown is surpassed by few other regions in the world. Even articulating the extent of the misery is near impossible.

If the Security Council stalemate continues, unilateral action on the part of the United States may be the only course of action available, if this humanitarian catastrophe is to be brought to an end. Ultimately, it is the lives of Darfur's displaced that must be the main concern of any effort in the region.

John O'Shea, New York