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.
How do they propose to stop the genocide without changing the government? Students today seem to be marching just to march as they have no solutions just complaints.
Precisely. As was the case in Iraq...the government first had to be deposed. There is no other way without an iron-clad treaty, and they would break any truce at the insisitence of Islamic demand.
The people involved have no difficulty distinguishing each other, which is the only point that matters. Consider Bosnian Muslims, Serbs and Croats. Nobody else could tell them apart by looking. Or Irish Protestants vs. Catholics.
BTW, I assume this is a vanity? It contains lots of inaccuracies or incomplete statements. Thought you might like to know.
This whole Darfur business has been all over the media...including our local news, which has been railing at us Americans for not caring about the situation.
Sorry, but when the UN said we Americans don't do enough in disasters such as the last tsunami, I decided not to be all that concerned about the problems of this world. I would rather give from my earnings to those people here at home who need it. We have our own problems...including people still suffering from Hurrican Ivan back in 2004. If the UN is so upset over this Darfur situation, let it deal with it. We asked the UN for help in Iraq, and it said no. Now that these governments have sat around on their butts while the coalition has been fighting the war on terror, then they can send troops to Darfur.
by helping to protect the refugees in the camps right now would be a good first step. AU cannot do it all by themselves with 7,000 troops spread all over the country, and NATO troops could be a big help. these people are sitting ducks, exposed to government militias in these camps. that's what people are requesting: no invasion.
So you want us to go guard camps to keep the government out...
Well, the 7,000 troops could be re-deployed to the camps but as you know, the US cannot get involved without the UN so this is a UN issue.
There is no "government" of Darfur.
Darfur is an area within the nation of Sudan and there is a national government of Sudan.
Your text, in a number of areas, confuses this distinction, and confuses people into thinking there is a goverment of Darfur and separately a government of Sudan.
The major points of difference between contending Sudanese groups in Darfur, is that the Sudanese government has been openly and covertly aiding militant Sudanese groups who are largely, ethnically Arabs and the so-called rebel groups they are fighting against in Darfur are largely black African ethnic groups that include both Christians and Muslims.
A few hundred thousand black African Sudanese in Darfur have been killed by the government supported groups and about 2.5 million are either in a refugee camp, living day-to-day as nomads trying to avoid being killed or taking some sort of refuge in Chad. If that is not a form of genocide, I don't know what is.
China will never allow the UN Security Council to put any kind of "final" pressure on the government of Sudan. They have thousands of engineers in Sudan developing Sudan's oil industry for export to China. Some of that oil is in or near Darfur.
If France had been without so much nuclear power, you can imagine how much harder they would have fought to keep Saddam propped up.
The Sudan situation has been happening for many many years. When it was the Christians who were being targeted by these radical Muslims...it was like a field of crickets chirping. No one said a word....I believe it was Madeline Albright who said the problems of the Sudan were not "economically feasible" for us to do anything about it. (code for oops no oil here to worry about)
Now that it is Muslim against Muslim...now the Clooneys and the like are out of the closet marching in the streets...where were they when young Christian women were forced to convert and raped by their captors or when the young Christian boys who would not renounce their faith and were thrown alive into fires? Or when young mothers had their breasts macheted, so they couldn't nurse their children....? Where were they when Christian schools were bombed by the govt? Children being blown to bits...where was their indignation then?
I am glad someone is now focusing on Sudan...but it seems too little too late.
i agree it's late - but not too late for the millions in the camps who are like sheep to slaughter if someone doesn't help. the reason that this issue has visibility is because grassroots orgs have been pressuring and educating and rallying for the last year. i can't explain why that only happened now, but when the US called it a "genocide" many woke up to the distressing humanitarian crisis. i don't see a connection between whether it was Christians or Muslims being killed - ironically it is mainly Jewish groups who are lobbying for Darfur right now. this is an issue and test of humanity for all of God's children.
I guess they(the students) want us to boycott........what?
What does the Sudan have that we would want?
To Students. A little knowledge is more dangerous than a lot of ignorance.
I suppose France can send some troops in to surrender. They haven't done that lately.
there are divestment moves in the works - to have government pension funds for example divest from companies like China's mega-oil company Petrochina and others who deal with and finance the murderous agenda of Khartoum to the detriment of the regular citizen of Sudan or Darfur.
Under what "pretext" would we go into the Sudan.
WMDs? A threat to America?
Sorry but our gov't does jump to the UN's shout.
What authority does our government have, or better yet what army do we send. With our forces already stretched to the point, where do we get the troops?
The Coast Guard?
"Sudan...but it seems too little too late."
O-No, it will get a lot worse.
The situation is Sudan is proof that the UN is completely and utterly useless. It's nothing but a cigar club for tin horn dictators.
I remember last year laughing out loud at the TV when a UN brokered 'peace agreement' was reached.
The protestors on the streets are just looking for a reason to crucify the US. They don't give 2 frog farts about the people of Sudan or logical consistency. They just want something they can pin on the evil, capitalist, war mongering, imperialist, facist, neonazi USA. That is their one and only concern.
We should give the UN and the rest of the world a choice: Either let us go into Sudan, unhindered, unopposed and without any of the usual UN BS to fix this thing once and for all, or we won't lift a finger for anyone there. That should be their choice.
Personally, Muslims created this mess, let them clean it up.
WOW that will really teach them Janjuwee or whatever they call themselves.
They look like the kind that have portfolios consisting of camels, old ak-47 and WW2 surplus tents the Nazis left behind.
I'm sure their oil rich Arab brethen will surly fill whatever void the Western nations leave.
the point of course is to cripple the regime of Khartoum by getting companies to stop doing business with it by big stockholders selling their stock. no funds, no government. it is a way to bring down a government by peaceful means, used with a bit of success in South Africa. one of many tools we have to get renegade regimes' attention. i believe you asked what boycotts might be in effect. perhaps you were being facetious, but there is a serious answer to your question.
There is a serious problem in Darfur. Whether you call it genocide, democide, or crimes against humanity it is a terrible problem that the "world community" cannot address. How do you stop a government from killing its own people? As long as they cross no international borders the rest of the world shows no interest. Simply ask the Armenians in Turkey, the Jews of Europe, the Cambodians under Pol Pot , or the Kurds under Saddam or the Karen, Shan, Mon etc. in Burma. The strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must.
To those who say "Who cares?", all I can reply is that once you have seen a 6-year old girl shot in the stomach and left to die along with her whole family because she was the wrong ethnic group it makes you mad. Such evil should cause anger and indignation among civilized people. Indifference to evil is evil.
Others say where will we get the troops. There is a solution to that too. Arm and trainthe Christians in Darfur so that they may defend there own homes. Those who commit genocide should not be garuntted safe working conditions. We've got plenty of weapons laying around in Iraq that could be used by these people to defend themseleves. A little air cover and a few SF teams and the situation could be much improved.
This is incorrect. There are few if any Christians in Darfur. You are confusing this conflict with that in southern Sudan, which has been underway for 20+ years. In southern Sudan, most of the inhabitants are Christians or animists.
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