Very interesting Op-Ed piece in this morning’s New York Times by Mark Helprin: Make Sudan an Offer it can’t Refuse. He’s basically laying out there the case for a military intervention in Darfur.
I’ve been arguing for this for a while. Unilateral, armed intervention. To those who argue this might end up being another Somalia’s ‘93 Black Hawk Down: this is Rwanda all over again. As Canadian Gen. Dallaire argued, 4000 troops could’ve effectively stopped the killing. You might not even have to bomb these people, just a serious threat of retaliation for the killings might be more than enough. What’s the worst that could happen? Too many times has Somalia been used as an excuse for not intervening elsewhere in Africa. Look at how well the Iraq war is going? That did not deter those making the case to attack Iran. NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in ‘99 was deemed illegal BUT legitimate. Could anyone argue it is not in Sudan? And would any country denounce such an intervention? (China and Russia would. But who cares! give them a piece too if you ask me!). Last week, my Intl Law professor recommended I never run for office for the sake of the World :( and reminded me I was to become a ”future Intl peace and Conflict Resolution practitioner” and should not argue FOR bombing for peace. well, I will if I think it’s necessary. Sue Me!
One of the comments from the article was that the “world cringes when the US intervenes”. False. The world cringes when the US blatantly disregards its commitment to the U.N and International Law… the rest of the world cringes when the US makes up intelligence to strong arm Congress and “the coalition of the willing” to go to war.
Humanitarian interventions are always welcome… WHEN and only when they’re just that: Humanitarian.
Just dropped by real quick to mention this website I found that links one of its entries to my blog. It’s called Sociology of Compassion by Marc Durieux. Marc talks about an exhibition in Calgary to bring awareness about Darfur and provides a list of websites that are keeping current and relevant on the issue.
Did I mention Amayel’s Notes is one of those websites he cites…
Please do check Marc’s blog and the lsit of informative websites for those who know little (or know a lot and want to updated) about Darfur’s tragedy.
Oh well. What can I say? Better yet, how can I say it nicely.
So…Bush is in Africa this week end (Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda…) in what is his 2nd tour of the continent. He had gone first in 02-03, that didn’t go too well. At least for africans. In Senegal, he showed up, secret services blocked everything. Worst, when they went to the Island of Goree (whicih is where slaves were shipped from), he and secret services locked the island’s inhabitants in houses with guards and dogs, and forbid them to go out to allow for Pdt Bush’s visit to go as smoothly as possible. It was an outrage and the populations were furious, even more with our own Pdt who would allow such a thing. So, I don’t think he would be welcome in Senegal anymore. Clinton’s previous visit on the other hand was a bliss. He came, spoke, charmed, shook hands and left.
Anyhow, Bush is visiting the continent and has decided to overlook issues like Kenya and Sudan. No doubt, the bush presidency is the one that has given Africa the most money. Pouring money into the continent is not the solution though. One has to recognize the grounds made in the fight against AIDS and Malaria. One clouding element though is the insistence on preaching abstinence. It is one way to approach the AIDS endemic, but it sure is not the most realistic one and will only reach a minimal percentage of the targeted population.
Children greet a visitor at Gaga Camp in Chad. ‘Some of the children used to run away as soon as an adult came close to them,’ says UNICEF assistant child protection officer Adolphe Mbaikouma.
Can someone tell this guy it’s almost useless to be helping the ones doing better, because of the Chad, Congos, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia…to name a few. As long as those will be unstable battlegrounds, their neighbors will be as well (influx of refugees, violence, rebels…). So recognize achievements, that’s commendable. But those won’t go as far as they should given the mess other countries are in. The Horn is in turmoil and Chad is a casualty of the Sudan conflict. The sooner the genocide and conflict are addressed, the sooner the whole region can get back on track.
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — Opening a six-day tour of Africa, President Bush on Saturday defended his decision not to visit violence-stricken nations like Kenya and Sudan, saying he wanted to focus on his programs to fight AIDS and malaria instead. “This is a large place with a lot of nations, and, no question, everything is not perfect,” Mr. Bush said during a brief visit to Benin before arriving Saturday evening here in the capital of Tanzania. “On the other hand, there’s a lot of great success stories, and the United States is pleased to be involved with those success stories.”The stop in Benin made Mr. Bush the first American president to visit that tiny West African nation. It was on his itinerary because it represents the kind of success Mr. Bush wants to highlight — how American aid has helped improve water, schools, infrastructure and health care in some of the world’s poorest nations. In 2006, Benin signed a five-year, $307 million agreement with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, created by Mr. Bush to help nations that embrace democracy and free markets and commit to fighting corruption. Benin also benefits from America’s antimalaria programs, as well as an education initiative that provides money to train teachers, build schools and buy textbooks.So it was no surprise that Benin’s president, Thomas Yayi Boni, had high praise for Mr. Bush when the two appeared together for a short news conference at the airport in Cotonou, the country’s economic capital. Vowing that “everything that would stain democracy will be suppressed” under his leadership, he said Mr. Bush’s visit was an important symbol.The White House is hoping that the Africa trip will remind not only Africans, but also Americans, that Mr. Bush has done more during his presidency than fight a controversial war with Iraq.Dar es Salaam was festooned with billboards bearing Mr. Bush’s likeness, including one on the road from the airport to downtown that declared, “We Cherish Democracy,” and another outside his hotel, the Kempinski, that said, “Feel at Home.”Still, there were some undercurrents of resentment. Two thousand people protested here on Friday, before Mr. Bush arrived, waving signs that suggested he was a terrorist. And he cannot seem to avoid crisis elsewhere on the continent. Before he left Washington, Mr. Bush said he would send Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to Kenya, where post-election violence has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people since late December. But at Saturday’s news conference in Benin, he was asked why his administration was not taking a more active role, not only in Kenya but also in Darfur, where 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been chased from their homes in an ethnic conflict that Mr. Bush has called genocide.He said he had “a tough decision to make early on” about whether to send troops into Darfur, but had decided against doing so in favor of allowing African Union and United Nations peacekeeping troops to intervene.He also said he intended to bring up Darfur during his visit to Rwanda, where he planned to thank that country’s president for sending in peacekeeping troops. As to Kenya, Mr. Bush said Secretary Rice’s visit was “aimed at having a clear message that there be no violence and that there ought to be a power-sharing agreement.” The former United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, has been in Kenya trying to negotiate a peace agreement. Mr. Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday that Mr. Annan appeared to be “making incremental progress.” Mr. Hadley said that Ms. Rice, who is traveling with the president, would spend only a few hours in Kenya. He described the visit as an opportunity “to show the president’s concern — but also get on the ground and help support Kofi Annan and maybe move things forward a little further and a little faster.”
After Spielberg dropping out of the Olympics Committee, the question has been raised here and there about whether China deserves so much negative publicity around the Olympics.
A lot of people are wary of the reasons why Western Countries like the US and European would sack China given their own poor record in Human Rights issues. To all those, I say, You are right. With Guantanamo becoming a source of much embarrassment for the US, how dare they’d tell China what to do. My other answer is: Who cares? Who cares that the US has its own cleaning up to do. Also, the outcry is not coming only from the US but from the rest of the World as well. Do you think children being burned alive, mothers being raped and villages being torched actually care who is shedding light on their condition. They don’t and I sure don’t either. I will be the first to criticize the US when it comes to hypocrisy, but this strays away from the matter.
Furthermore, there is a more detached argument out there to not spoil the fun, these are the Olympics. Politics should therefore not have anything to do with it.Well, if this is the only way to rally the world to ask for justice, then so be it. The problem is not just that China does business with the Government of Sudan, it also provides arms and weapons that fuel the conflict, but even worst is the fact that it vetoes any Security Council’s resolution for intervention. It’s funny how all the veto powers of the Security Council are Human Rights abusers.
Anyway, my point is they deserve all of this…and then some.
I started as President of the Save Darfur Coalition last week, and I have already witnessed your power to make a difference. You told China to help end genocide. And we’re picking up steam!
Thanks in large part to your emails and phone calls, members of Congress, Nobel laureates, Olympic athletes, world leaders, and Steven Spielberg sent a strong message: China cannot look the other way while the people of Darfur suffer.
Let’s keep the momentum going!This week, we released a joint statement with our partner organizations outlining four essential actions China should take, beyond private pressure on Sudan, to help end genocide in Darfur.
The joint statement, released in partnership with ENOUGH Project, Genocide Intervention Network, STAND, and Dream for Darfur, highlights China’s constant resistance to help end the violence, starvation and disease that plague the people of Darfur. But the world is watching as China prepares for the 2008 Olympics.
This week, President Hu received letters from Congress and world leaders, and hundreds of activists gathered in 16 cities around the world to urge China to act. With the increased pressure, director Steven Spielberg made worldwide headlines by quitting his post as an artistic advisor for the Olympic Games to make sure China knows its ties to the Sudanese government are unacceptable.
We must capitalize on this momentum and show China that its indifference is unacceptable. We will not let up until they produce results!Click here to send a strong message to China.
Thank you again for your dedication to the people of Darfur.
Best regards,
Jerry Fowler
Save Darfur Coalition
P.S. Check out the ads targeting China running this week in newspapers around the world. We’re not going to let up until China helps end the genocide!
The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region. To learn more, please visit http://www.SaveDarfur.org.
It’s bad enough China is flooding our markets, on the brink of destroying what little economy Africa has, they, on top of that, support the worst dictatorial and criminal regimes in Africa. Worst, Tibetans are still being killed by the hundreds.
China, we all know, has not only consistently backed Al Bashir’s criminal government by posing their vetos on every resolution the UN has tried to pass to date. Calling the situation a “Grave concern” is just not going to cut it! The UN has recently agreed to one watered down resolution that would let a UN/AU (the AU, really!)force (with no real power to stop the genocide, hint hint: Rwanda) as peacekeepers. Peacekeepers, keyword peace. There is no peace to keep in Sudan. What a joke! China has only agreed to that resoluiton because of the threat of boycott for the Olympics which not only would be the greatest shame (for people that are so called “very proud”), but also an enormous financial disaster. China has the power to stray the balance here and stop the Genocide, but it insists on calling for the Khartoum Genocidaires’ regime to agree to a UN force for sovereignty purposes. The time for unlilateral military action has passed years ago. Sudan feels it has no need for western money since China provides them with arms, planes, money and artillery to keep perpetrating genocide Ad Vitam Eternam.
The question has been raised and debated as to whether boycotting an institution like the Olympics is fair enough. Maybe, the Olympics Comittee should’ve thought about it before giving the bid to China. Boycott is the right thing to do here. It’ll be hard though knowing how much money rides on the Olympics.
Of course, Germany has expressed its disagreement and rejected US calls for Boycott. Who cares what Germany thinks! They were China in 1936. China is the new Germany! It happened at the 1936 Berlin games as a cry against Nazism (known as The Nazi Olympics), well if it was done for jews, why not for tibetains and darfurians!
German officials stressed China had fulfilled the criteria of the International Olympic Committee to host the Olympics. Meanwhile, US legislators have introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives calling for a boycott of the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing unless it “stops engaging in serious human rights abuses,”. Supported initially by eight lawmakers from President George W Bush’s Republican party, the resolution also urges China to “stop supporting serious human rights abuses by the governments’ of Sudan, Myanmar and North Korea.
After all wasn’t Francois Mitterand (Genocider) quoted saying ” Vous savez dans ces pays la, les genocides c’est pas grand chose (In those countries, genocide is nothing). Humm… We know where that dead body is going! Right to Hell! %$#^&…
For lack of action, at least we can make a statement! The 2008 Olympics are the perfect platform to shame and call China what it is: a Human rights abuser at home and a worldwide supporter of Genocide.
“The horror of Rwanda is too high a price to pay for a very vaporous and whimsical notion of what constitutes inviolable territorial boundaries.“
Nigerian Nobel Literature Laureate Wole Soyinka.
M.
_____________________
Nov 29th:
Join us at the Chinese Embassy on December 10, International Human Rights Day, and urge China to help end the genocide in Darfur!
The Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay is coming to D.C.! The Dream for Darfur campaign is an international symbolic relay from Darfur to Beijing calling on China – host of the 2008 Olympics and Sudan’s most powerful ally – to do more to end the genocide. The torch has visited more than 60 cities in the U.S. and is coming to D.C. for the finale of its U.S. leg.
What: Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay Finale
When: Monday, December 10, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Where: From the U.S. Holocaust Museum to the Chinese Embassy.
Featured speakers at the Chinese Embassy include:
Mia Farrow, actress
Joey Cheek, Olympic gold medalist for speedskating
Mohamed Yahya, Darfuri refugee
Following are the scheduled stops on the Relay. If you can only make it to one location, please join us at the Chinese Embassy at Connecticut and Kalorama at 12:40 – that’s where we need the most people!
9:45 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.
U.S. Holocaust Museum
15th St. and Independence Ave., just southeast of the Washington Monument
11:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Lafayette Park
Pennsylvania Ave. between 15th and 17th Streets, north of the White House
Noon – 12:20 p.m.
Sudanese Embassy
2210 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., off 22nd St.
12:40 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Chinese Embassy
2300 Connecticut Ave. N.W., on the corner of Connecticut Ave. and Kalorama Ave.
The situation in Darfur is continuing to deteriorate. Just last weekend, Sudanese President Al-Bashir threatened to bar U.N. peacekeepers from Darfur and frustrate years of negotiations. And China is giving him the diplomatic cover to do so.
We must keep the pressure on China to help end genocide! Join us on December 10 and help bring the Olympic Dream to Darfur!
We hope to see you there!
Best regards,
Coby Rudolph
Save Darfur Coalition
New documentary “Darfur Now,” opens on Friday, November 9.
Darfur Now is a story of hope amid one of humanity’s darkest hours. It shows how the work of six people can make a difference in Darfur, and how our voices united can bring an end to the unspeakable horrors the people of Darfur face every day.
It follows the achievements of a Darfuri woman, a community leader in West Darfur, a UCLA graduate, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, a U.N. humanitarian aid worker, and an actor and activist (me).
What: Darfur Now, a documentary about six people making a difference in Darfur
When: Opens this Friday, November 9
Showtimes and Location:
Landmark E Street Cinema
555 11th Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
(entrance on E Street between 10th and 11th Street)
(202) 452-7672
As you may know, a film’s opening weekend is extremely important and determines the exposure it gets. Darfur Now opens this weekend, but only in selected cities. Come watch the movie and bring your friends so we can ensure a nationwide release, help educate people about the crisis in Darfur, and empower them to help end it.
Sincerely,
Don Cheadle, Not On Our Watch
P.S. Bring a group of 15 or more people, and you’ll be invited to a conference call with me later this month! Invite your friends, classmates, congregations and others. Click here to learn more.
Peace Advocate, Opinionated, Humorous, Fierce, Ambitious, Relentless, Unapologetic, a bit anti-social, left handed, caring, 1/2 conservative-1/2 liberal, positive, loyal, confident, bossy, introvert, assertive, open-minded, trustworthy, intuitive, strong-willed... and so much more... More than I could say in a few words... Find out for yourself!
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400,000 numbers cover the The Darfur Wall. Each represents a victim of genocide in Darfur, Sudan. By donating $1 or more, you can turn a number from dark gray to brilliant white and honor one lost life.
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