Maybe you didn't know

I wish I knew why these things have happened in Darfur, Sudan. I've read stories in passing about it, and now I'm trying to look on google news to find out info as to why things are the way they are, but I've been able to find no such article. The situation there, out of what I've been able to read so far, just doesn't make any sense. I did not have the patience to sit through the flash page, as it is filled with animations that try to pull my heartstrings like a Christian Children's Fund commercial, and it takes way too long to get to the meat and potatoes of what it's talking about.

I wish I knew more about this tragic situation, but I haven't been able to find a good site describing it, other than, "Please donate to help" and things like that. If you know of a good website that gives details about -why- these tragic things are happening, please post it here.

Thanks.

From the U.K.'s The Guardian

Q&A: the crisis in Darfur

Simon Jeffery explains the background to the humanitarian crisis gripping Darfur, in western Sudan

Monday August 2, 2004

What is happening in Sudan?

What is frequently described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis is happening in Sudan's western Darfur region. More than one million people have fled their homes to escape government-armed militias who are blamed for the deaths of 30,000 people, and mass starvation is feared if food aid does not reach the refugee camps in time.

The UN, US, Britain and France, as well as regional powers represented by the African Union, are all taking a strong interest in the crisis.

What is the fighting about?

Since it won independence in 1956, Sudan has experienced several periods of civil war. Prior to Darfur, the most recent of these saw conflict between the Arab government in the north and the black African south from 1983 until a ceasefire in 2002 (a final peace deal is expected this year). That conflict was about the imposition of Islamic sharia law over southern areas in which Christianity or traditional African beliefs were practiced. The south is also home to most of Sudan's oil reserves, worth £1,6bn a year.

The fighting in Darfur began with the ceasefire deal to split oil revenues and land between the northern and southern Sudanese. Rebels in Darfur, in the west, demanded a fairer deal for the region's black African population, taking up arms against government forces and installations in early 2003. Khartoum responded by arming the Arab Janjaweed militias, who swiftly gained the upper hand over the rebel groups.

Unlike in Sudan's earlier conflicts, both groups are Muslim, but the fighting has acquired an ethnic dimension. The black Africans and Arabs in Darfur have historically fought over land and water, and while the UN has not yet described it as genocide (although the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, said it was a "frighteningly real" possibility), the US congress declared, at the end of July, that it was.

What is the international community doing?

Whether it is genocide or not is a key issue. Genocide allows countries to intervene under international law, while a severe humanitarian crisis (as Darfur is termed) does not. Consequently, the US and UN are working to put pressure on the Sudanese government to disarm and disband the militia, allowing the crisis to end and food aid to come in. A UN resolution passed last week set a 30-day deadline for this to be achieved, but Khartoum described that as "illogical".

"International measures" (most likely to be sanctions) are threatened if Khartoum does not comply, but there have also been hints of military action. General Sir Mike Jackson, Britain's most senior military commander, said 5,000 troops could be sent to Darfur, and the prime minister, Tony Blair, has not ruled out the use of force. The Sudanese army described the resolution as a "declaration of war", vowing to fight its enemies on land, sea and air.

As things currently stand, France has already deployed 200 commandos to Chad to protect humanitarian aid coming over the border, and the African Union is to send 300 troops to protect its monitors and observers. The Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, wants to send AU troops to disarm the Janjaweed.

What is the fate of the refugees?

The head of Médecins Sans Frontières warned after a recent visit that the world needs to double the food it is sending to the region if thousands of people are not to die. Rowan Gillies said refugees were so weakened by hunger that epidemics could sweep through their camps.

Is the south now calm?

A formal peace deal is expected this autumn, but fighting continues in the Upper Nile and Shilluk regions, and has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee. A South African thinktank, the Institute for Security Studies, has accused Khartoum of promoting instability in the south to make it ungovernable ahead of a six-year transitional period that will end with a referendum on independence.

A Sudanese army spokesman dismissed the theory, describing the fighting as a "tribal conflict". Three central and eastern provinces remain a point of contention in the negotiations, as do the south's newly tapped oil fields.

Powell called it genocide and the UN was all up in arms about it because it would force them into action. Whew! What an effective force for world peace that body is! Wow! Now I see why Kerry wanted their permission before going to war.

So...ummm...when are the peace loving humanitarians going to descend on DC and NY demanding we put a stop to this atrocity?

I'll wait.

-Kiamat Dusk
"..and if the vibe was suicide then you would hit the button, but if you're bowin' down then let me do the cuttin'!" -RATM