Another hawk

It's seeming clearer and clearer today that Susan Rice is going to be the Obama Administration's ambassador to the U.N.

It's a mediocre but expected choice.

One thing to look out for, though, will be her work on Darfur. If the U.S. could tactfully raise the profile of the issue at the U.N., that could potentially be a very good thing.

Rice, who was Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs during part of the Clinton Administration, has been a Darfur advocate, though all the way into the most radical of camps. She has called for possible direct military intervention by the U.S. and NATO.

On balance, it's a very bad idea. It would have been one thing to take such radical action back in the slaughter days of 2003-2004; now, I think it's quite clear the benefits of such an attack would be small compared to the extreme costs of, you know, starting a larger war.

But let me end this tangent; the Obama Administration is not, after all, going to be attacking the Sudanese government.

The point is, I hope Rice can be a staunch advocate for Darfur, but in an effective way. We'll see.