Posted on 05/03/2006 11:23:15 AM PDT by street_lawyer
Students marched in the streets of Washington DC demanding that Bush keep his promise and stop the “genocide” in Darfur. But when asked about why they are not marching in the streets of New York protesting the failure of the UN to stop the killings, they admit that the UN is a failed experiment. What they do not want however is to replace the corrupt government in Darfur by force, with a democratic government as we did in Iraq. At lest on that point they are aligned with the Communist Party of Canada.
Curiously the same marchers who want an immediate solution to what they call “genocide” in Darfur, continue to ignore the genocide committed by Saddam Hussein in Iraq and blame President Bush for starting an immoral war. The truth is that the Bush Administration has provided $188 million in relief while the EU and Arab League have done little, yet the marchers are holding Bush accountable for not doing more, while not uttering a word of criticism about the rest of the world’s governments.
Despite what the Bush Administration is now calling genocide in Darfur, many disagree, and they allege that the struggle is either an Islamic holy war in Sudan as called for by Osama bin Laden, or one over the control of oil. The government of Darfur has supported groups of Arab extraction. These “Janiaweed” militants over the years have been responsible for thousands of indiscriminant murders. Many of the dead, however, were not murdered, but died of exposure and starvation, and the Darfur government is directly responsible for their deaths.
Many believe that the conflict between the North and South in Sudan is a religious war. In the North most Arabs are Muslims, while in the South they are mostly Christians. This type of conflict has thousands of years of history. More than 40% of the population of Darfur is Christian. Many have had to escape into neighboring Chad to avoid the death squads sent out by the Darfur government.
The Sudanese government is second only to Iran as a staging ground for international terrorism. Why do we not see people marching in the streets of Washington DC protesting the government of Sudan? Many of the leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) created by the Popular Congress are from Darfur. The JEM receives funding from al-Qaeda. The reason is that the marchers know not, and worse, they know not that they know not.
Thousands of College students, and even evangelicals believe that the situation in Darfur is the result of a racial war between light-skinned “Arab” tribes and their darker brothers. They parade in the streets and demand that President Bush “keep his promise” to end the genocide in Darfur. In truth their claim of “ethnic cleansing” of black “African” tribes is the product of anti-Bush handlers, and in fact their claims are very questionable. Centuries of intermarriage between native Africans and Arabs have made them indistinguishable. Playing the race card works well with students who are easy to manipulate in the hands of those who know better, but who also have an agenda to advance.
Also, in southern Sudan, the conflict has been settled by a peace treaty and power-sharing agreement with provisions for a referendum on independence in the next 5-10 years.
I think you may have your facts misplaced.
Let's hope the peace treaty holds.
after almost 50 years of civil war, it will be difficult but god willing, there will be peace in southern sudan (and hopefully northern uganda soon)
BTW, I assume this is a vanity? It contains lots of inaccuracies or incomplete statements. Thought you might like to know.
Yes I would like to know. Like?
so you are suggesting that the US send in troops?
the US is trying to pull together NATO or UN peacekeeping troops that will include US troops.
for example, there are very few christians in darfur. probably less than 1%
are you saying that there is no genocide going on in darfur?
I still maintain that the government of Sudan is corrupt and is primarily responsible for the bloodshed, not for any racial or genocidal reason, but rather it is brutally killing anyone who opposes the government.
Before you can convince me that Muslim and Christians fight on the same side Hell will freeze over.
If by genocide you mean political groups ok, but most people think of genocide as the systematic and planned extermination of an entire race. I do not believe we are seeing an extermination of a race in Darfur.
I believe you're right about China. According to tomorrow's Sudan Tribune online: "Sudan and Iran...supply 20 percent of China’s oil imports". ..."China’s ambassador at the U.N. Wang Guangya has indicated that Beijing would veto any future resolution that imposed sanctions."..."China obtains 6.9 percent of its oil imports from the African country. In the past five years, Beijing has developed several oil fields, built a 930-mile (1,512 kilometer) pipeline, a refinery and a port. By far, Sudan represents China’s largest overseas investment, worth three billion U.S. dollars."
Also: "Some 70,000 have died as a result of Darfur’s conflict - many starving or succumbing to illness, the U.N. says."
The black African tribal groups in Darfur that are being hunted by the militias supported by the government do include both Muslim black African tribal groups and Christian black African tribal groups. Their commonality is that they have a common enemy - the government of Sudan, which is not only a "Muslim" government but predominately Arab, with no great love for their black African Muslims. Sometimes, just being Muslim is not enough for some Middle East Muslims.
Every human rights group, particularly the Christian groups working on behalf of the people of Darfur all say the UN figures are grossly understated, in deference to the government of Sudan. I'll take their word over the UN's.
We recognized the holocaust as genocide. Having survivors does not change it from genocide to mere killing. If it is not genocide when the habitat, way of life, and significant portions of entire tribes and clans have been permanently "eliminated", then there is no such thing as genocide.
An "economic" purpose in the killing does not change the proper description of it, from genocide to economic "cleansing". Euphemisms don't seem to work for me in this instance.
No my friend, you are wrong. There are Christians in Darfur, and they are black Africans and just like their black African Muslim neighbors, they are under the gun of the Sudanese Arab militias.
From: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/005/9.17.html
Christianity Today Magazine
Christianity Today, May 2004
Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today.
May 2004, Vol. 48, No. 5, Page 17
Ethnic Cleansing
Christians among hundreds of thousands displaced.
By Richard Nyberg | posted 04/14/2004
Negotiators in Kenya were about to put finishing touches on peace accords ending two decades of civil war in southern Sudan. But in recent months pro-government militias have razed scores of villages, raping and looting in their drive to rout two rebel groups in the western Darfur region.
It is a campaign widely described as ethnic cleansing of mostly black African Muslims and some Christians in Darfur. An armed Arab Muslim militia, on horses and camels, has forced 110,000 people to take up refuge at makeshift camps in neighboring Chad. There are also an estimated 700,000 internally displaced people throughout the region.
Although in the minority, Christians are among the thousands of terrified Sudanese driven from their homes. Church sources in Sudan told Christianity Today that most of these Christians had previously fled to Darfur from the south. Christians and animists there have been engulfed in war with the Muslim-led government since 1983.
The largest communion present in Darfur is the Roman Catholic Church, with 143,000 adherents. People also belong to the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, the Sudan Pentecostal Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, and the Episcopal Church of the Sudan.
......................
"portions of entire tribes and clans have been permanently "eliminated"
I've not seen a reliable article that supports the position that the "elimination" is based on race.
An "economic" purpose in the killing does not change the proper description of it, from genocide to economic "cleansing". Euphemisms don't seem to work for me in this instance.
This gets to the nut of the thread. Arguing over whether or not it is a genocide overlooks the murder, starvation and eviction of hundreds of thousands of people.
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