GreekChat.com Forums - The conflict of Sudan: Uprooting the black Africans

GreekChat.com Forums (https://greekchat.com/gcforums/index.php)

- News & Politics (https://greekchat.com/gcforums/forumdisplay.php?f=207)

- - The conflict of Sudan: Uprooting the black Africans (https://greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=50433)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...udan_powell_dc

Well, this may be the spotlight that this situation so badly needed.

Go Colon!

They covered dafur tonight on the Newshour on PBS. A guy said that they need to get humanitarian aid in, or a few hundred thousand people will die by the fall. They can't get the humanitarian aid in because the Arab militias won't let it in.

So far, the United States and the world have done precious little in response. The Bush administration fears that, if it alienates the Khartoum government over Darfur, it will undermine one of its signature African achievements--the potential end to the 21-year civil war in southern Sudan. China and France have resisted a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that Khartoum halt the violence and allow immediate humanitarian access because they have oil investments in Sudan. Russia and rotating Security Council member Pakistan, both of which are combating insurgencies, object that a resolution would infringe on Sudan's sovereignty. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week agreed to visit Darfur soon but made no further commitment.

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040...ditorial070504

-Rudey

Quote:

Originally posted by Rudey
So far, the United States and the world have done precious little in response. The Bush administration fears that, if it alienates the Khartoum government over Darfur, it will undermine one of its signature African achievements--the potential end to the 21-year civil war in southern Sudan. China and France have resisted a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that Khartoum halt the violence and allow immediate humanitarian access because they have oil investments in Sudan. Russia and rotating Security Council member Pakistan, both of which are combating insurgencies, object that a resolution would infringe on Sudan's sovereignty. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week agreed to visit Darfur soon but made no further commitment.

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040...ditorial070504

-Rudey

The UN = worthless.

Quote:

Originally posted by ktsnake
The UN = worthless.

Which UN?

Quote:

Originally posted by moe.ron
Which UN?

Good point.

Well, the UN Security Council has time and again proven themselves to be ineffective when dealing with things like this. The inaction by certain members on this is offensive. In my opinion, they are just as culpable as those who are actually ordering the removal of these people from their homes.

Here's something that sounds a little like what we had in Iraq:
"China and France have resisted a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that Khartoum halt the violence and allow immediate humanitarian access because they have oil investments in Sudan."

China, France, Russia, Pakistan, and the U.S. are about to have the blood of a lot of innocent people on their hands.

The talkshop in New York have always frustrated me and other UN workers who are in the ground. I know the guy who is trying hard to get the UN HQ to say something about Sudan. He said that the HQ kept on getting blocked by other nations. In essence, the weakist link are the State members.

The specialized agencies (WFP, UNICEF, UNDP) have been calling for more access and more aids from countries. So far, that calls has been ignored by most. Even been silenced. Like my previous post, this problem could escalate into the next Rwanda, and it still can.

ETA: Here is a very depressing statistic when it come to funding in Sudan.

Quote:

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said only 31 per cent - or about $78 million - of the $250 million needed by UN agencies to help people in Darfur has been received so far.

Quote:

Originally posted by Rudey
What was it that made the African American community act out about Apartheid but not slavery and ethnic cleansing? That is an explicit question that I am really interested in understanding.

-Rudey

As far as apartheid and the African American reaction, what I witnessed was "right place, right time" issues... Several African Americans started to realize something about themselves at that time and when they discovered they were "black" (in so many words--'cuz there are a lot other descriptions I could use), AND they found out what was going on in the South Africa and what the government was sanctioning, there was an outcry among the educated... That is one viewpoint I could give you.

Who knows? It could have been the decline of communism at the time. And while there was "pull out" of the communist regimes from the Soviet Union in Africa, then an increased interests of capitalism from western European countries--leading eventually United States--the atrocities that were going on in this "alleged democratic government" in South Africa was a quandry for many fortune 500 companies investing there... So when divesture was demanded, especially by South Africans that lived in other countries, i.e. in England and France, the voices got heard??? Maybe that is how the US African Americans got involved? I dunno?

As far as Sudanese Ethnic Cleansing and piss poor outcry from African Americans is because some folks just are tired of fighting other folks battles.

Basically, the African Intelligenesia just do not give a hoot about them "thin assed" black folks waay ova dere...

You could say, "capitalism at its best!" and go from there...

Then there are many an American that are a shade or two darker in complexion and it is well known that their ancestors did come from the Continent of African 200-500 years ago, that are really not called "African" in the truest of sense because they have lost their DAYUM mind... They could care less about another, much less you and me put together... ;)

Some of "us" call the culturally ignorant, "negroes"... I am not talking about the illiterate--I am talking skrait out IG-NANT!!!

They make much money, only to put it on their "hoopt-dees" big "twanky twos" spinner rims... Negros, I tell yah... Racist white folks use derogotory expletives when describing these individuals...

And somehow, we all get lumped together into one group--just like at the bottom of the slave ship--the Intelligenesia, The sellouts, the IG-NANT--all of their anscentors from various African countries--narrowed down to a few changes in amino acid sequences--that are really not that much different than most of the "brightest" Europeans... But, well... :rolleyes:

It makes you wonder, hmmmm???

Anyhow, you need to read about Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta and what they did when they found out what MLK was doing during the start of Civil Rights... Then you will discover why many African Americans--the ones who do know--are reticent about speaking out against these atrocities when you realize what the Untied States did to folks like that... Look at what Kwame Ture had to do as well as W.E.B. DuBois... And why Marcus Garvey did what he did so long ago--WEB fought tooth and nail with Marcus until WEB visited Ghana--in the early 1900's... Hmmmm???

Jan Pronk, the UN Envoy to Sudan/Dafur will go and live there for the next two years. Not really sure if he will be living in Sudan or Dafur specifically.

"U.S. Congress passes resolution declaring a genocide is occurring in Sudan, in order to pressure UN to take action"

-Rudey

"Sudan Warns Britain, U.S. Not to Interfere in Darfur"

This shouldn't be new news to anybody but, of course, it is!

By the way, this is an interesting article I read a couple of weeks ago...

Quote:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was the leather shoes that caught the eye of U.S. officials with Secretary of State Colin Powell in a camp for Sudanese uprooted by ethnic violence.

Sudanese forced from their homes by war or famine normally have the most primitive footwear or none at all.

Many had leather shoes at the camp and obviously didn't belong there. As U.S. officials saw it, they were assigned to intimidate actual residents who might be inclined to tell their harrowing stories to Powell and his party, including reporters.

In the days before Powell's visit to Darfur region in western Sudan last week, he and his colleagues had been aware that the Sudanese government might try to put the best face on a dire situation.

Powell has said repeatedly that the visit to the al-Shouk camp was not to investigate but rather to call international attention to the Darfur crisis, for which he believes Sudan's Islamic government bears heavy responsibility.

The number of Darfur's displaced by raiders exceeds 1 million, many of whom are expected to die.

Powell also was relying on other sources to keep tabs on the situation. He got an earful from private U.S. relief groups and U.N. officials during an hourlong meeting before visiting al-Shouk, where 40,000 people are sheltering. He was told of the murders, rapes and the razing of villages, all said to have been committed by government-backed ethnic Arab militias against Darfur's black African population.

The government denies any role in supporting the so-called Janjaweed militias. It attributes the unrest to competition over land and resources.

After meeting with the relief experts, Powell boarded his van, which had been flown from Washington for the occasion. His aides worried that the van, its weight substantially increased by armor plating, could sink in Darfur's mud.

It made the trip to al-Shouk without incident. In terms of relief supplies, the camp is better off than perhaps any other in Darfur. Some camp residents told reporters about the murder of close family members. Others balked, citing the presence of government agents.

Powell made a 25-minute walk through the camp, accompanied by relief experts. He moved hurriedly because he did not want to get caught in a sandstorm brewing nearby.

When he finally reached a shelter at the end of his tour, a group of women presented him with a petition suggesting that all was well in Darfur.

His delegation realized that the women were government agents. Not only were they well-dressed, they were overweight.

For weeks, Powell had been in almost daily contact with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on ways to pressure Sudan to lift curbs on delivery of humanitarian supplies to Darfur and to permit the safe return of the displaced to their homes. Another goal was a peace settlement between Darfur's Arab and black populations.

When Powell learned that Annan was planning to visit Sudan last week, he decided go there at the same time, adding Khartoum at the end of two-city trip in Europe.

The plan called for Powell and Annan to deliver back-to-back messages to President Omar el-Bashir that he must act to end the suffering. The one-two punch by the world's two best-known diplomats would be difficult for el-Bashir to ignore, or so officials hoped.

By week's end, el-Bashir had pledged to send troops Darfur to end militia violence and to remove all obstacles to delivery of relief supplies. There also were promises to start a peace dialogue among the rival factions. It remains unclear whether these assurances will be fulfilled.

Sudan's effort to orchestrate perceptions about camp life in Darfur did not stop with Powell. The day after he visited al-Shouk, Annan made a stop at the Meshtel settlement, where he expected to find 1,000 displaced people. To Annan's astonishment, all had been loaded on trucks and carted away.

"Where are the people?" Annan asked incredulously. A Sudanese official explained that the people were removed because conditions were too grim.

Annan turned down an offer to tour the same camp visited by Powell the day before.

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/WORLD/af....powell.ap.jpg

Arab nations and Sudan are very distraught at world intervention to stop a genocide in Darfur.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=5848864

Sudan Army Says Ready as Govt. Works on Resolution
Mon Aug 2, 2004 02:53 PM ET

By Nima Elbagir
KHARTOUM, Sudan (Reuters) - Sudan's army is prepared for "whatever developments take place" but the government is working to meet the conditions of a U.N. Security Council resolution threatening sanctions, a Sudanese official said Monday.

Sudan's military thinks the United Nations has not given Sudan enough time to disarm the Janjaweed militias, who are accused of genocide by the U.S. Congress, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry official told Reuters.

"It is an operation that must be carried out in degrees, therefore the military high command believes it is better to be in a state of preparedness to confront whatever developments take place," said the minister of state for foreign relations, Najeeb al-Kheir Abdul Wahab.

The semi-official Sudanese Media Center Monday quoted army spokesman Mohammed Bashir Suleiman as saying the U.N. resolution, drafted by Washington and passed Friday, was an "American declaration of war."

The resolution called on Sudan to disarm the Janjaweed and prosecute militia leaders. It said the Security Council could consider economic and diplomatic sanctions on the oil-producing country in one month.

Abdul Wahab said Sudan would appeal against the U.N. Security Council resolution on the grounds it would hamper peace talks between the government and the rebels.

He said the resolution's threat of sanctions sent "a misleading message to the other party and will obstruct the ongoing efforts ... to return both sides to the negotiating table."

But State Department spokesman Adam Ereli reiterated Washington's call for immediate action.

"There is no excuse for not taking action now. The Security Council calls for action now. And that's what we want to see. And we will evaluate the situation again in 30 days."

CLOSE COOPERATION

The Sudanese government has used the Arab militias as auxiliaries against two main rebel groups who started a revolt in Sudan's western Darfur region in early 2003.

The Janjaweed have long competed with the settled population for land but are accused of going on the rampage in response to the revolt, setting fire to villages, killing, raping and driving more than a million people off their land.

Aid agencies say 30,000 people have been killed so far in Darfur and more than 1 million have been displaced in the violence since the revolt began. The United Nations has described the situation in Darfur as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

A survey of Darfur refugees at camps in Chad by the U.S.-based Coalition for International Justice indicates that militias and official Sudanese forces cooperated closely in violence in Darfur.

Stefanie Frease, head of the Darfur Documentation Project, told Reuters in the Chadian town of Abeche, said trends were emerging in the group's interviews with hundreds of refugees.

"One of them has been the close coordination between government of Sudan forces and the Janjaweed (militias) in the attacks -- (an) extraordinarily high percentage," Frease said.

Sudan's government has denied it controls the Janjaweed and has branded them outlaws.

CEASE-FIRE EXTENDED

The Arab League, which has already complained about suggestions Western troops would be sent to Sudan, said Arab foreign ministers would hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Sunday at Sudan's request to discuss the situation in Darfur.

Egypt's official Middle East News Agency reported the Arab world's most populous country dispatched five military planes loaded with humanitarian aid to Darfur.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit echoed the Sudanese position Monday when he told reporters that 30 days "might not be enough."

Abdul Wahab said although Sudan was not happy about the resolution, the government was working to implement its demands.

He added there was no set date for talks between rebels and the government but consultations were under way. The last attempt at talks broke down when the rebels set preconditions.

Adam Ali Shogar, a senior official in the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement, said a cease-fire between Khartoum and rebels in western Sudan, who both accuse each other of violating the deal, was extended Monday.

The truce, signed on April 8, was automatically renewed because neither the rebels or the government had raised objections, he said.

AID AIRDROP

The U.N. World Food Program said it had begun aid airdrops in the town of Fur Buranga in an area in Western Darfur state about 1,150 km (720 miles) southwest of Khartoum.

It said the airdrops had started Sunday and would continue in six more locations, delivering a total of 1,400 tons of food to assist a combined population of 72,000 local and displaced people.

The organization added it had only received about half the funds it needed for its Darfur emergency work this year.

Read the rest at the link above.

-Rudey

So France has agreed to send 200 troops to guard the border between Sudan and Chad. Sounds like typical UN symbollic BS to me.