CitizenTube Interview of President Obama

Yesterday, February 1st, President Barack Obama sat down with Youtube’s News and Political Director, Steve Groves, to answer a number of user submitted questions regarding anything from healthcare transparency to foreign policy. Youtube opened up its moderator platform, CitizenTube, shortly after President Obama began his State of the Union Address on January 27th. Over 11,000 questions were submitted by users via comment or video, and over 640,000 votes poured in to determine which questions would be asked of the President.

Despite the topic’s absence from the State of the Union Address, American policy towards Sudan was the number one question on users’ minds. Thus, President Obama was asked a video question submitted by the Enough Project, which said, “President Obama, more than 3 million Darfuris fear returning home because of instability. Many fear that Sudan may be on the brink of war. What will you do to galvanize the international community to ensure that widespread violence does not occur in Sudan this year?"

The President responded by asserting that the next step in the process of Darfuri peace is to broker some sort of peace agreement between rebels and the Darfuri government, as well as agreements that would stabilize the country. The President plans to continue to pressure the Sudanese government and work towards getting refugees moved back into their homes. Should the Sudanese government fail to comply, President Obama admitted that additional pressure may be needed:

“We continue to put pressure on the Sudanese government. If they are not cooperative in these efforts, then it is going to be appropriate for us to conclude that engagement doesn't work, and we're going to have to apply additional pressure on Sudan in order to achieve our objectives. But my hope is, is that we can broker agreements with all the parties involved to deal with what has been enormous human tragedy in that region.

Read the full transcript here