I’ve been searching and searching. Yes, I found enough via U.N. news releases to give you the details below, but first I wanted to tell you what the United States and President Bush are doing to respond to this new, grave crisis in Darfur. It should be easy for me to find since I subscribe — via RSS feed — to all of the daily U.S. State Dept. briefings and releases. But I’ve found nothing.
Nothing, even though one of my personal heroes, Jan Egeland, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, says: “My warning is the following: If it continues to escalate, if it continues to be so dangerous on humanitarian work, we may not be able to sustain our operation for 2.5 million people requiring lifesaving assistance.”
The name of the only newspaper in which I could find Egeland’s quote? New Orlean’s Times-Picayune.
On Tuesday, Juan Mendez, the U.N.’s envoy for prevention of genocide — genocide! — warned the world that “violence is increasing” in Darfur and he criticized the “Sudanese national courts for doing little to try suspects accused of atrocities.”
The day after — Wednesday — Pres. Bush issued a clearly pro forma written statement that congratulates the Sudanese government, reports VOA, for naming 29 cabinet members and neglects to mention the new violence and aid crisis.
What exactly did Bush write to Sudan yesterday? “All Sudanese can be proud of this significant progress, because it demonstrates the parties’ continued commitment to a common vision of a unified, democratic, prosperous, and peaceful Sudan.” A peaceful Sudan, my ass. Bush is an ignorant criminal. Does Bush even know the true condition of the Sudanese government, or about the recent violence?
The facts: Today, the United Nations refugee agency “voiced ‘grave concern’ over an ‘unprecedented attack’, purportedly by armed Arab men, on a camp for thousands of internally displaced persons in western Sudan’s Darfur region that is reported to have left 29 people dead and another 10 seriously wounded.”
“As long as this insecurity continues, the international community cannot provide the assistance that is so desperately needed by hundreds of thousands of people,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres of Darfur, where fighting between the government, allied militias and rebels has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million since early 2003.”
The conflict has spread to Chad:
A soldier from the National Army of Chad patrols the wadi Tine, the empty bed of seasonal river that runs between Chad and Sudan in Tine, in 2004. The bloody conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region spread across the border to Chad this week when some 75 people, mostly civilians, were killed in an attack on a village by the Sudanese ethnic Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, authorities and witnesses said.(Yahoo News – AFP/File/Marco Longari)
One more thing: These refugees and citizens of these countries depend on cereal for sustenance. Yet, “[w]orld cereal production in 2005 is forecast at 1,984 million tonnes, slightly down since the previous forecast and 3.4 per cent less than 2004’s record output, according to the latest United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report issued today.
Why does this matter so much? From yet another U.N. release today: “Some 30.5 million people in 24 countries in sub-Saharan Africa [including Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe] are facing food emergencies caused by problems ranging from war to bad weather to economic crisis, with 12 million people in southern Africa needing immediate aid after a poor cereal harvest, according to a United Nations report issued today.”
When I hear those snide snipers in Congress blast the U.N., I know that they have no comprehension of the vast, unending, seemingly insurmountable challenges that the U.N. tries to address every day. It’s been an education to sign up for the daily news releases. I recommend it. Particularly to Sen. Norm Coleman.
There is simply no way America can sit by while another Rwanda unfolds without doing anything…
..I don’t even care if Bush wags the dog on this issue so long as these people are saved from more massacres.
Where are the “moral” leaders of the world? The “pro-life” Bush? The Pope?
Being moral only goes so far.
These complex issues, that involve multiple countries and many international agencies, not to mention tribal fights and rivalries, need the INTELLIGENCE and ATTENTION of a president like Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter.
Clinton failed Africa when he was president. He’d probably like to keep making it up to Africa, beyond his marvelous AIDS initiatives. Let Clinton spearhead diplomacy, conflict resolution, and humanitarian aid to this region.
positioned itself to be considered much of a help to Africa or anywhere else. On the contrary, over the last few centuries, one might make the argument that the West has done quite enough.
True enough. But what if we could get some troops in there to keep things peaceful?
Canada TRIED to send troops, but was turned down by the Sudanese. What if Clinton or someone of his stature made the Sudanese an offer they can’t refuse — in exchange for which they allow in international peace-keeping forces?
when peace is desired. The Janjawid don’t really seem to need any help committing atrocities.
There is no desire on the part of the West to do anything but continue to pillage and profit from Africa, that policy has not changed over the centuries.
Now China wants in on the action.
The best thing that the US could do is focus on moving itself away from the Somalia model, and maybe one day, toward democracy and legitimate statehood, even at the cost of decreased revenue generation for the arms and energy industries.
President Bill Clinton, while in power and the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful military force, watched while the genocide in Rwanda unfolded! He did nothing to stop it. Nothing!
And you want Bill Clinton, while out of power, prevent the genocide by Muslim Arabs against black Christians and black animists?
And don’t hold my hand to the fire. I’m just brainstorming! Africa clearly needs SOME help in the near future until the famine and horrific displacement of millions of people can be somewhat ameliorated.
This sort of stuff shouldn’t be happening anywhere in the world with the amount of food we can produce.
But of course we harp on how American politicians ignore the starvation going on in other countries, but these idiots in power have yet to ever solve the problems right here in America.
Could you just imagine how many people could be fed everyday around the world if governments everywhere would cut just %5 of their military budget out and spend it on food for the poor? They could probably give everyone some half decent medical as well…
today except by the conscious decision of one or more human beings.
1. “Joe Katzman from http://www.windsofchange.net wrote on June 10, 2005:
As many of you know, I’m from Canada. We have a pretty different attitude to guns up here, and I must say that American gun culture has always kind of puzzled me. To me, one no more had a right to a gun than one did to a car.
Well,
my mind has changed.
The Right to Bear Arms is the only reliable way to prevent genocide in the modern world. “
If the Darfur’s black residents had arms, the genocide would not have occurred. And some killings would have been on a very small scale!
2. The UN is a corrupt, ineffective, useless bureaucratic organization. Do not put much stock or hope on that failed organization.
Instead, the USA, UK, Australia, and few other nations (I don’t see too many) should organize a mobile, swift, armored force to destroy and kill the thugs, rapists and human monsters. In addition, the
B-52 and B-2 airplanes should bomb the raiding and pillaging war criminals back to the stone age, if they are not there yet.
3. Let’s call the things by their names, and drop thought police and political correctness:
(a) The thugs, murderers, rapist are Muslim and Arab.
(b) The victims are black animists or Christians.
“Rape, Islam, and Darfur’s Women Refugees and War-Displaced”
(d)
“Sudanese General Mohamed Beshir Suleiman recently declared: “The door of the jihad is still open and if it has been closed in the south it will be opened in Darfur.”
So, next time, anyone says, Islam is a religion of “peace,” remind them of Darfur, and Beslan, and on and on. And, don’t forget to call multi-millionaire Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for help.
What difference had the West made in Africa?
Without all that colonialism, globalism and even missionary, Africans would most likely have lived like centuries before – that would not have been a very idealistic picture, but generally more happy and just. They did not need to know Western bureaucrasy and so much freedom for greed, abuse of power. They would have been able to sustain their life just as well as generations before.
Of course, there is other rather aggressive civilisation, Arab/Muslim. But they learned encrouching ways together with us, to say the least.
The question remains: does the Western civilisation inflict more pain or happiness to rest of the World?
Pain. Without a doubt. The big whole, as a civilization (or lack thereof).
I always loved Ghandi’s answer when he was asked what he thought of Western Civilization — he siad he thought it would be a good idea. I couldn’t agree more.
People have enough intelligence to see the choices. But to make the choices, they need moral criteria.
Surprisingly, the modern civilization encourages all freedom for greed, vanity, excitement… you can name all deadly sins. We do not have evidence that civilizations can survive long with unbounded cravings. Rather contrarily – we apparently have ancient warnings.
I do not suggest that we should put instrumental limits on greed or other rascalities. Some may believe that instumental approach can solve any problem, me not. I do not expect that you can trust saving the world to few intelligent and attentive geniuses, and go on with unconcern life yourself.
The question is not limiting the powers of passion, selfishness or satisfaction. The question is controling these powers, first of all in yourself, and then perhaps in other people. It seems that today’s world knows less than before how to control human powers, virtues including. (Yes, waking up compassion or other virtues is control as well.) The old-fashioned morality is perhaps the best measure. But modern humans seem to invoke morality only for political manipulation. This is no wonder – since no leader takes a moral lead.
Thanks Susan,
for alerting tribbers to the UN news site. Those of us with interest in the developing world will find a lot of useful info where a lot of effort has been made to remain objective (though not always successful).
I am actually in Sudan at the moment. Just returned last night to Khartoum from a field trip in southern Sudan and returning down there on Monday for a few more days (I may make a diary entry when back in NY). At the moment, I have nothing to add to the UNHCR-report (Darfur is faaar away – Sudan is a huge country) but will try to keep my ears open to new developments.
Meanwhile, please also chech this link:
towards the end of the article:
The quote is slightly misleading; the distance between Yei and Juba is actually appr. 120 km. The UN has conducted survey for mines and their clearance for the entire stretch of this road, but in spite of the comprehensive peace agreement – the parties (Government of Sudan and the SPLM/A) refused safe access to a section of the road with 3 strategic bridges (the 2.8 km referred to). The issue has just been resolved and this section of the road was cleared over the last few days.
Great article Susan. I haven’t heard about any part of this story in forever. Just not important I guess. Good to be an ignorant American.
This should be front page news all the time. The world cannot continue to fail Africa.
I tried to sign up for the e-mails, but it didn’t let me. I’ll try it later. Great job Susan.