DLA Weblog

New volunteers for DLA Committee to Stop Genocide in Sudan seeks help

Jim Laughlin (Dartmouth '64) and his friend Bill O'Brien (Norwich '64) have volunteered to write a section on Peacekeeping in the report of the Dartmouth Lawyers Committee to Stop Genocide in Sudan.

Jim, a 1967 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, has extensive experience as an army intelligence officer in Vietnam, including photo recon missions, and finished with First Army general staff in Maryland. Bill served as a tank platoon commander in Europe in the 1960's and recently retired from the army reserves with the rank of Colonel after years of experience in Civil Affairs Branch. He was assigned to help get things up and running in Grenada following the US intervention there.

(read more)

Jim and Bill will prepare the committee's independent assessment of the number of troops and military assets (and how they should be deployed) needed to safeguard 1.85 million refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan. The Peacekeeping section and the Humanitarian Aid section of the report are critical elements of the report to be prepared by the DLA Committee.

In the short run, the best we can hope to do is feed the refugees and provide medical care, but we can't do that without security. We understand that an estimated 70,000 refugees have died from malnutrition and illness and another 300,000 are estimated to have died from violence. Right now the only "peacekeeping" forces in the region are 1,000 African Union troops who have no mandate to provide security.

Jim and Bill will be assisted by associates of John Mathias '69 at Jenner and Block in Chicago where John is a partner. The completed report will be sent to Congress, the Bush administration, and the UN.

The Dartmouth Lawyers Committee to Stop Genocide in Sudan continues to welcome volunteers who may be able to help with its efforts. To help, contact Al Moncure '69 in New York, AMoncure "at" law.nyc.gov

Doug Simpson '70
DLA "Webster"