A few months ago marked the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.
One of the darkest marks on this country and the world is the 1994 slaughter of almost one million Tutsi Rwandans. After swearing "NEVER AGAIN!" in reference to the Holocaust (a U.N. Convention for all countries to stop genocide), the world stood by and simply watched. We. Simply. Watched.
Well, everybody just watched except for France. That's right. France.
But it's not what you think. France armed the Hutu's who were committing the genocidal murders. Then, the French government sent troops to create a safe zone. And the genocide continued in the French safe zone.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Too many lawyers in our own government prevented anyone from using the word "genocide" because it would legally cause us to commit troops to stop the violence. Too many politicians used words like "not in our national interests" and failed to commit immediate resources to the U.N. Director of Peacekeeping, Kofi Annan. Canadian General Dallaire begged, BEGGED, for armed troops. Instead, he received tens of unarmed observers - observers that were killed whenever they tried to stop the maddness. Observers that were ordered by the U.N. to not intervene (ten Belgian soldiers were mutilated, tortured and killed trying to stop the murder of a moderate politician).
The Sudan is rapidly descending into something more horrible than Rwanda. The Washington Times has an article today about Sudanese developments:
Sudan accused of ethnic cleansing
ADRE, Sudan, Jun. 18 (UPI) -- Many of the victims of the violence in Sudan told ABC News they believe they were subjected to ethnic cleansing because they are black.
Last year, black rebels demanded better treatment for impoverished Darfur from the Arab-dominated government in Sudan's capital, Khartoum.
In its response to quell the rebellion, the government ordered villages where the rebels were thought to be hiding bombed and supported an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed. As a result, 350,000 are dead, 1 million people have been displaced into refugee camps and for hundreds of miles there is nothing but empty villages.
Many of the refugees have testified that Janjaweed attacked only black Sudanese villages, often bypassing Arab villagers.
The Sudanese government has denied the allegations.
"The Arabs attacked first, then the government planes came and shot at us," a 13-year-old girl told ABC.
The Sudanese government said the casualties were part of its legitimate right to fight a rebel movement and the civilians were merely caught in the middle, ABC said.
The Sudanese Arab government is pushing the Sudanese African tribes out of the fertile territories. They've been shooting the fathers and throwing out the mothers and the children. It's ethnic cleansing, racism, and genocide all wrapped into one big mess.
This problem in the Sudan isn't something that will get cleaned up quickly. Khartoum is a rotten government with dark aspirations.
And don't expect the U.N. to do it's job and protect the innocent. Especially, don't expect soldiers in U.N. sky blue berets to protect the Sudanese Africans from Human Rights violations.
Why?
Because Sudan is a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. That's right. I think the same guy that gave a Nobel nomination to Arafat put Sudan on that Committee.
It's time for unilateral action by the USA; otherwise, we'll have a situation worse than Rwanda. There isn't any politics in this - you are either for standing by and watching it happen or sending in the 82nd Airborne Ready Brigade and the Marines. Right now, projections are that about 500,000 children are in danger of dying from starvation, disease, and being hunted down by the Sudanese government.
And, folks, that's just the children...
You can help by visiting the British Red Cross and donating to help keep these people alive.
One of the darkest marks on this country and the world is the 1994 slaughter of almost one million Tutsi Rwandans. After swearing "NEVER AGAIN!" in reference to the Holocaust (a U.N. Convention for all countries to stop genocide), the world stood by and simply watched. We. Simply. Watched.
Well, everybody just watched except for France. That's right. France.
But it's not what you think. France armed the Hutu's who were committing the genocidal murders. Then, the French government sent troops to create a safe zone. And the genocide continued in the French safe zone.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Too many lawyers in our own government prevented anyone from using the word "genocide" because it would legally cause us to commit troops to stop the violence. Too many politicians used words like "not in our national interests" and failed to commit immediate resources to the U.N. Director of Peacekeeping, Kofi Annan. Canadian General Dallaire begged, BEGGED, for armed troops. Instead, he received tens of unarmed observers - observers that were killed whenever they tried to stop the maddness. Observers that were ordered by the U.N. to not intervene (ten Belgian soldiers were mutilated, tortured and killed trying to stop the murder of a moderate politician).
The Sudan is rapidly descending into something more horrible than Rwanda. The Washington Times has an article today about Sudanese developments:
Sudan accused of ethnic cleansing
ADRE, Sudan, Jun. 18 (UPI) -- Many of the victims of the violence in Sudan told ABC News they believe they were subjected to ethnic cleansing because they are black.
Last year, black rebels demanded better treatment for impoverished Darfur from the Arab-dominated government in Sudan's capital, Khartoum.
In its response to quell the rebellion, the government ordered villages where the rebels were thought to be hiding bombed and supported an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed. As a result, 350,000 are dead, 1 million people have been displaced into refugee camps and for hundreds of miles there is nothing but empty villages.
Many of the refugees have testified that Janjaweed attacked only black Sudanese villages, often bypassing Arab villagers.
The Sudanese government has denied the allegations.
"The Arabs attacked first, then the government planes came and shot at us," a 13-year-old girl told ABC.
The Sudanese government said the casualties were part of its legitimate right to fight a rebel movement and the civilians were merely caught in the middle, ABC said.
The Sudanese Arab government is pushing the Sudanese African tribes out of the fertile territories. They've been shooting the fathers and throwing out the mothers and the children. It's ethnic cleansing, racism, and genocide all wrapped into one big mess.
This problem in the Sudan isn't something that will get cleaned up quickly. Khartoum is a rotten government with dark aspirations.
And don't expect the U.N. to do it's job and protect the innocent. Especially, don't expect soldiers in U.N. sky blue berets to protect the Sudanese Africans from Human Rights violations.
Why?
Because Sudan is a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. That's right. I think the same guy that gave a Nobel nomination to Arafat put Sudan on that Committee.
It's time for unilateral action by the USA; otherwise, we'll have a situation worse than Rwanda. There isn't any politics in this - you are either for standing by and watching it happen or sending in the 82nd Airborne Ready Brigade and the Marines. Right now, projections are that about 500,000 children are in danger of dying from starvation, disease, and being hunted down by the Sudanese government.
And, folks, that's just the children...
You can help by visiting the British Red Cross and donating to help keep these people alive.
