I have been doing all I can as one citizen to let my outrage about these atrocities be known. However, I don't appreciate being cursed at and yelled at here to do something. Therefore, I thought I would then write my own diary about the history of this civil war that has been going on for over fifty years, so that people who are yelled at here can understand the enormity of this tragedy, and then yell at who really needs to be yelled at. And I also wish to bring forth another facet to this. The tragedy in Darfur may also in part be because of oil.
More below
I believe that in order to speak about the atrocities in Sudan, you have to understand both the religious and geo-political history of this region first. I then wholeheartedly recommend that be done in the case of anyone who wants to help this region. Merely posting shocking pictures and yelling at people to write letters to a Congress that can't even stand up to Bush on the Patriot Act and throw more money at the problem is not going to do much, especially when I would surmise that many people in this country may not even know where Sudan is on a map.
Nor do many have the resources necessary to give money to organizations that let's face it, aren't trusted to get the aid where it needs to be because of political corruption and persecution. And simply stated, many Americans in this country are also just getting along themselves, and their children are the most important priority to them as well. It doesn't mean that they don't care, it means that they too are human.
I think if we as a world people are to yell at anyone, it should be the Presidents and leaders of these countries which have seen famine, war, death, and destruction as a daily occurance for decades, with little done to alleviate it, even with the amounts of money given for aid. WHERE HAVE ALL THOSE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS GONE? I think we need to yell at the UN, which calls yearly for millions in international aid, but never really gets tough enough on the root causes of this tragedy to effect lasting change.
We also need to begin to understand that it is politics that is causing the violence and hell in Sudan to continue, with now even having China and Russia voting against sanctions, which is holding up the process. That leads me to my assumption that oil is indeed one of the driving forces behind this tragedy as well, and it is time we stop allowing these countries to decide the fate of millions of innocent people based on their selfish goals.
That is who we should be yelling at. I will then be posting an address for Kofi Annan, and some information regarding consulates and embassies you can write to if you wish to write ( in the comments) to speak about your outrage at this process that continues to subject innocent people to slaughter, torture, rape, and starvation from both sides.
Some may find this opinion a bit out there, but I have also thought for quite some time that the World Bank and its minions deliberately hold down certain areas in this world in order to keep people weak and subjugated. Just look at how long Africa has been at the brink of disaster. While other continents prosper, Africa continues to teeter on the brink of economic ruin, and now, disease is rampant in many countries (avian flu found in Nigeria and other countries as well as malaria and dengue fever to name a few) as a result of famine and climate change, and war is a part of life. A part of life for the people of Africa for decades, and it cannot be denied that political corruption is primary in those conditions.
Therefore, I think a background on the origins of the civil war in Sudan is necessary for people to understand the true enormity of this situation, and the role foreign countries and the UN have played in keeping it going for all it's talk of wanting peace.
Sudan is made up of a diverse set of religious groups. In the North, the Arab govt. or "Janjaweed" rules. In the South you see mostly Christians with a diversification to some other religions. The South is also reputed to store 70% of the oil in Sudan, and I really believe you need to keep that in mind when reviewing over why this slaughter is continuing to be allowed by all sides. This hasn't just been something that has happened now. This has been going on for over FIFTY YEARS with much planning, which again leads me to this question: WHY IS IT STILL GOING ON?
The origins of the civil war in the South date back to the 1950s. In 1955, the Equatoria Corps, a military unit composed of Southerners, mutinied at Torit. Refusing to surrrender to government authorities they hid with their weapons, marking the beginning of the first war in Southern Sudan. By the late 60's, 500,000 people had already perished in this war. By 1969, the rebels had procured foreign contacts to obtain weapons and supplies (the U.S being one of those countries.) Retaliation against the rebels subsided however, after the 1969 coup and ended with the Addis Ababa accords of 1972 guaranteeing autonomy for the Southern region. However, there was then only a decade of "peace," as the civil war resumed in 1983 when Sharai law was imposed by the President, which resulted in the deaths of over 1.5 million people from that point up to 1997. Where was the outcry then?
The primary rebel faction in this is now the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a body created by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The SPLA was formed in 1983 when Lieutenant Colonel John Garang (now deceased) of the SPAF was sent to put down a mutiny of 500 Southern troops who were resisting orders to be rotated to the North. However, instead of ending the mutiny, Garang declared himself the head of the rebellion against the Khartoum government. It is interesting to note from my reading of this, that Garang was schooled in Fort Bening, home of the School of the Americas, which has a bad reputation of training men like Noriega. One then has to wonder who really sent Garang to Sudan. Also, the split in this faction into three separate parts: the SPLA Torit faction led by John Garang; the SPLA Bahr-al-Ghazal faction, and the South Sudan Independence Movement, have only intensified the fighting, thus stopping any potential peace settlement. Why that split came about I do not know, but again, the planning and interworkings of all of this go far deeper than I think we will ever know.
A peace agreement with the government was concluded in 1997 between the South Sudean Independence Movement and several other smaller factions that had broken away from the SPLA. However, this was seen by many as just a tactical movement to bring Southerners to the side of the government. The U. S. government has supported the SPLA with military equipment and was said to have supplied it with Army A-Teams operating in support of the SPLA in the 90's, which makes you wonder just how they believe supplying weapons will bring peace. ( Again, think oil.) While the repressive government needs to be dealt with (and that to me requires direct action from the UN instead of just asking for money,) the SPLA has also killed many civilians. Therefore, for me at this point there is no good side, only bad, and there does not seem to be a military way to end this war.
That is why when people start yelling at me to send money, write letters, and wake the f*** up, I am offended. That is because I know the history of this war somewhat, and because I am one who reads, and one who has tried in the past to do all I can as one citizen to let my outrage be known, and know it is not as simple as some make it out to be. And also, how many different tragedies can one humanly give to ar a time, and why do those who preach at us about doing that never list what they have done? And while letters sometimes do work, I believe they have to be directed to the right people. That to me means, Kofi Annan,
http://allafrica.com/... and the agencies who only look for money.
And beyond letters, it requires action.
War crimes have been committed in Sudan, and it is then incumbant upon the United Nations to institute indictments against those leaders allowing this slaughter to continue, and bring them to the International Court by force if necessary. The only way to get aid to these people in the amounts necessary to save anymore lives, is to take those who are causing the repression and slaughter out of the equation completely. The time for talk is over.
However, I don't believe that is going to be done by writing letters to a Congress that can't even stand up to Bush regarding the brewing civil war in Iraq! Pressure must be brought to bear on the UN, it's agencies, and those responsible for this travesty. I will say this as well, getting this out in the media is one way to make people aware of what is going on. The complicit media in this country knows damn well what is going on in Sudan, yet they have once again been lax in their duties as purveyors of truth and information. I then say, yell at them.
http://allafrica.com/...
From this article, it appears that the ICC is "considering" prosecutions. There is no considering here, it must be done. Perhaps this is then another organization that people can then "yell" at as well, especially in light of this excerpt from the link above:
"However, conflict arose between members at a closed-door session during which China, Russia and Qatar are believed to have opposed sanctions, while the US, Britain, Denmark and France were in favour. The result: continued deadlock.
Some experts estimate that as many as 400,000 lives have been lost in the Darfur conflict since 2003 with two million Darfurians internally displaced or refugees in neighbouring Chad, after their homes were destroyed by Arab janjaweed militias. The UN says Darfur is currently "the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe".
Deadlock is not what should be keeping this process from going forward. Politics and economic/geo-political bs is what is killing people now, and it is time to stop it all. Many of us have been yelling about that, btw. I then think it is time for those yelling at us, to do a bit of yelling their way themselves.
Contact the International Criminal Court