A new chance for Darfur

But none of these steps, taken alone or together, can bring about the ends that their often well-intentioned advocates seek. On the contrary, they risk reproducing the havoc that such measures have unleashed in Iraq and elsewhere in recent years.

In the United States, cautionary voices have been notably absent even among staunchly liberal newspapers like The New York Times . Foreign policy advisers to the Democratic Party and neo-conservatives alike have called for "action" against Sudan - demands that have been echoed by an international group of intellectuals and celebrities ranging from Umberto Eco, Jrgen Habermas, and Harold Pinter to Bob Geldof, George Clooney, Mia Farrow, Matt Damon, Mick Jagger, and J.K. Rowling.