Fact check: Palin, Alaska & Darfur

Our friends at Alaska’s Mudflats blog broke a great story this week regarding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s claims regarding her states divestment of assets linked to the genocide in Darfur.  An excerpt appears below, but you should definitely check out the whole story over at Mudflats [click here].

During last week’s Vice Presidential debate, Governor Palin stated that once she “found out” that her state’s large investment funds held stock in companies linked to the Darfur genocide, she worked to divest from them, in a stand against Sudan’s brutal genocide. Dozens of other states have divested from companies linked to the government-sponsored genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. The facts show the Governor did not in fact take a stand on this issue when she “found out” about it.  A recently discovered 2006 letter, other documents, and records of legislative committee testimony show the Palin Administration opposed efforts by Alaska legislators to pass a Darfur divestment bill until near the end of the 2007-2008 legislative session.

Relatives mourn over the body of 1-year-old Ali, who died of malnutrition in June 2004 in a refugee camp in El-Geneina in the Darfour, Sudan. The total number of people who have died as a result of the Darfur conflict is uncertain, but activists say it could exceed 400,000. Marco Longari / AFP - Getty Images file