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May 1, 2006
Sudan Rallies - And The Real Reason We Can't End the Crisis in Sudan
On Sunday there were rallies all around the United States to denouce the mass murder that the government of Sudan is committing in the region of Darfur. From the Washington Times
Religious organizations, political groups and foreign nationals led thousands of people in a rally yesterday on the Mall to urge U.S. leaders to help end the widespread killings in Sudan's Darfur region.The rally brought together an unusual coalition of about 160 Catholic, evangelical, Muslim and Jewish organizations and Democratic and Republican lawmakers to help stop what many have called "a genocide."
This is good. The first step to doing something about a problem is awareness.
There's also a virtual rally for those who, like me, had committments yesterday that prevented our attending the live ones. Details are at Causes of Interest, but essentially if you go to Human Rights First and sign their petition you'll be participating.
Current Efforts to End the Crisis Stymied
From an AP story reported through Yahoo News
The first day of an extended deadline for reaching a peace deal in Sudan's Darfur region saw no progress Monday, and the State Department said its No. 2 official is flying to Nigeria in hopes of prodding the rival factions.The government said Sunday it was ready to sign the deal. But the rebels still are pushing the government to add a vice president from Darfur and unite its three states — creating a more autonomous region.
In accepting the draft, the government agreed to disarm a militia it is accused of unleashing on Darfur civilians, commit millions of dollars to rebuilding a region devastated by poverty and war, and compensate victims of the fighting.
The militia referred to in the third paragragh is the Janjaweed, a fairly bloodthirsty outfit. You can find more articles on the Yahoo news page for Sudan.
The Real Reason We Can't End the Crisis
(fyi, background to the crisis in Sudan can be found at the bottom of yesterday's post.)
Here, in short, is why the crisis in the Sudan has not been ended (sorry, but due to time I've got to do this without links/footnotes):
Very few nations have cared one whit about the Sudan. The one that has done more than most is the United States. We would love to get strong UN sanctions passed that would pressure the government to change it's ways. But there are three countries on the UN Security Council that would veto any but the weakest resolutions
France, because is making too much money selling things to the government of Sudan, as I recall aircraft and weapons
Russia, because it too is selling weapons to the government of Sudan
China, because it has a huge oil contract with the government of Sudan and doesn't care about anything but the oil.
Other countries that block our efforts in the UN are
Most Muslim countries because of very misguided notions of "solidarity" with a fellow Muslim nation.
Most African countries because of very misguided notions of "solidarity" with a fellow African nation. "African solutions" and all that.
Get the picture?
Some of the African nations have sent troops under the aegis of the African Union, but predictably they aren't doing much good.
What If We Take Military Action?
Ok, you say, SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.
Right. Sure. I actually agree with you. We ought to take unilateral action, if we absolutely can't get strong action elsewhere.
And it need not be an Iraqi-style invasion. A naval blockade and a fe well-placed JDAMS on government buildings in their capital city would do the trick. A few troops maybe, but even Darfur is a large region.
Liberals, maybe even leftists, would probably even sign on.
But for how long?
My cynical side says for about 3 hours.
That's how long I predict it will take the BBC, Reuters, or CNN to put the first tearful Sudanese woman on TV to tell us that the big bad Americans bombed her village or house and killed her children, animals, and family.
And how will the left react? My cynical side says we'll soon see "US our of Sudan!" protests within a week.
But Really, What Should We Do?
Just as I said; try to get a strong UN resolution, and when that fails try to get a regional consensus for strong action, and when that fails take unilateral action, by which I mean a naval blockade and some well placed JDAMs.
The lefties will protest anyway, so we might as well do the right thing.
Posted by Tom at May 1, 2006 9:38 PM
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Comments
Tom,
Sorry for the off topic comment. But I thought I would point out my new post about John McCain on conserva-puppies.
As for the Sudan, with the Iraq situation and the Iran situation on President Bush's plate, I am not surprised in the least that Bush hasn't "unilaterally" moved in to the Sudan.
I realize that this isn't the intention and that multilateral action is what is being requested. And, as you wrote in your post, cooperation from our beloved UN Security Council (containing China, known to have a slightly shaky record on human rights issues) isn't forthcoming.
Posted by: Mark at May 2, 2006 10:16 PM
