The world is finally waking up to the tragedy unfolding in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

The international community must intervene soon to prevent a possible genocide that is already being compared to Rwanda in 1994. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in that Central African nation while much of the world did nothing. This time, we must learn from our mistakes.

In Darfur, more than 1 million non-Arab villagers, most of them black farmers, have been driven from their land by government-sponsored Arab militias called the Janjaweed. In the past 16 months, between 15,000 and 30,000 have died. Refugees have been herded into squalid camps with little food or shelter. Conditions in the camps are appalling. The World Health Organization estimated last week that 10,000 people in Darfur may die this month from cholera and dysentery unless the world responds with massive aid. Darfur is an area the size of France, yet it has only 13 hospitals.

Hope came this week in the form of visits to Sudan's capital of Khartoum from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. They issued stern warnings to the Sudanese government, threatening Security Council action if the situation doesn't improve. Powell said he told Sudan's president, Omar Hassan Ahmed el-Bashir and Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail that they must do more to open up channels for outside relief to the area.

But with the Sudanese government in denial of the famine and disease epidemics plaguing their country, as well as showing a clear resistance to disarming the militias, the problem will not be easy to solve. The visits of Powell and Annan may not be enough to spur change, and a greater international involvement will be needed.

Cincinnatians should care about Sudan for the same reason they care about Iraq - terrorism, which is being carried out in both places. The Janjaweed are systematically raping women, killing off the men and burning villages.

The fighting in Darfur began last year when a group of students and activists rebelled against the central government because it failed to provide enough attention to the region. In response to the uprising, the government armed the Janjaweed with bombs and gave them tacit permission to ransack the villages. The U.S. Agency for International Development estimates that as many as 300,000 people are likely to die by the end of the year in Darfur. Without any outside intervention, it's believed that number could reach 1 million.

The near-genocide in Sudan, as officials trip around a proper label, cannot be ignored as the terror continues with the whole world watching. As you watch, write your congressman and make your voice heard. The United States must continue its diplomatic pressure on Sudan.

International awareness that this crisis is unfolding is one of the best available weapons against the terror the Sudanese government is allowing to engulf so many of its people.