Herzog+

Nicholas Kristof's excellent eight point plan for throttling Omar al-Bashir's criminally inhumane regime in Khartoum should include two further points. The tenth point has been articulated by Mark Helprin , who argues that that it would be relatively easy for American and allied air power to crush al-Bashir’s army, and starve the militias he has enlisted to do his work in Darfur, Abyei and the south. Helprin says, “Violating sovereignty is a matter of immense consequence and gravity. Then again, so is genocide.” However, there is a ninth point that should be tried before Helprin's tenth: an international coalition should take control of Sudan's oil industry. Keeping Sudan's oil off the market will cripple the al-Bashir regime's ability to terrorize its people, and deprive it of the oxygen it needs to stay in power. When al-Bashir is gone, control of Sudan's oil industry will give the international community tools to oversee Sudanese national reconciliation...

I am pleased to appear before you tonight to explain why I would make a better Commander-in-Chief than than John McCain. To make my case, I will focus on the Middle East, the region that poses the most serious challenges for American and global security. No Escaping the Past When asked recently about his support for the Bush administration’s 2002 decision to invade Iraq, Senator McCain said dismissively, "That is in the past." The Senator's implication was that his past judgment on Iraq decisions is irrelevant to this campaign. I disagree. It is not only appropriate to question the Senator's judgment in supporting the fateful 2002 decision, it is essential to do so. Only by comparing the Senator's past judgment on national security issues against mine can the voters decide which of us would exercise better judgment on the challenges the next President will face. Here is what Senator McCain said on the Sen ate floor on October 2, 2002: "Mr. Pres...