Darfur activists shine spotlight on not-so-big names

Most "open letter" paid ads to government officials are directed to Congress or the president, sometimes to a regulatory agency or, on occasion, a Cabinet official, urging the passage or veto of legislation, a new regulation, or perhaps the saving of the blue-billed wombat.

But an ad on this page Wednesday was addressed to Erica, Tom, Jim, Stuart and Michèle. Who? There were pictures, but they didn't really help. Then the "letter" revealed last names: Erica Barks-Ruggles, Tom Donilon, Jim Steinberg, Stuart Levey and Michèle Flournoy.

Still . . . who? A new Swedish pop group? Even Loop Fans might have had trouble identifying them. Their titles, in order, are deputy to the U.N. ambassador, deputy national security adviser, deputy secretary of state, Treasury undersecretary and Pentagon undersecretary for policy.

They are key members of the National Security Council "deputies committee," little known outside the foreign policy world but critical to developing administration positions. They meet regularly to hash out the consensus policy and then serve it up to the bosses. Thursday's meeting was scheduled to take up Sudan policy.

Hard to remember anyone ever targeting such an ad to sub-Cabinet officials. That was the true creativity. The goal, said John Norris, executive director of Enough, one of the human rights organizations sponsoring the ad, "was to shine a spotlight on those who actually make U.S. policy. Instead of doing the thousandth appeal letter to President Obama, we felt it was better to go to the people actually making the decisions in this case."

The ad attempts to rebut an optimistic administration assessment, largely espoused by Obama special envoy Scott Gration -- though he's not mentioned -- that conditions are improving and that recent agreements in Sudan are moving to end the war in Darfur.

"Wishful thinking does not alter the reality on the ground," the ad said. Norris said the sponsors sought to "present a competing narrative" to the peace-is-at-hand view, given that more than "100 people have been killed so far this year in southern Sudan."

Fun-damentalism

This just in . . .

Bin Laden's son Omar talks to Rolling Stone

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Osama bin Laden's son Omar believes the al Qaeda leader has achieved his aim of humbling the United States but warns his death could unleash "very, very nasty" attacks by militants, Rolling Stone magazine said.

In a rambling interview conducted in part in a Damascus strip club, Omar bin Laden told the magazine that U.S. President Barack Obama was making a mistake by scaling up the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan.

Damascus strip club? The one near the Bab Sharqi gate?