President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell finally have used the “G” word to describe the carnage being allowed in the Darfur region of Sudan: genocide.

Now, it’s time for action.

The U.S. Congress, and now the executive branch, have identified the murder, rape and terror campaign taking place in Sudan as genocide. The only thing left is to do something about it.

The United Nations is being held hostage by reluctant bureaucrats and the power of Russia, China and Pakistan to derail swift and strong actions. All three of these obstructionists have a heavy financial interest in the status quo in Sudan. Sanctions or other types of intervention could hurt those financial ties, so they allow the slaughter to continue.

So far, estimates suggest more than 50,000 people have been murdered and more than 1.5 million driven from their homes by the Sudanese government and the militia it supports.

It now falls to the United States – working with European allies and the African Union – to become more aggressive.

European nations unencumbered with the fighting in Iraq should provide logistical support to put more African Union peacekeepers on the ground.

The United States should freeze the international assets held by Sudan’s leaders as a pressure point to increase aid access.

And the Islamic world – recognizing that most of the victims in Sudan are Muslims – should increase its aid and stop turning a blind eye.

If the United Nations will not act, it falls to a new “coalition of the willing” to stop the destruction.