Genocide Is Still Happening At Behest Of Sudan's Terrorist Government

[NATO AIR]

so we're here arguing about Iraq, Iran and the election, and of course these are all well and important. but a GENOCIDE is happening in Darfur. forgive me for reaching here, but i think a government that commits genocide against its own people is a terrorist regime, because it TERRORIZES innocent people, just like your regular ol mass murderer in beslan, baghdad, bali or nyc.
sadly, though we who serve on aircraft carriers are in the business of dropping warheads on bad guy's foreheads, we most likely will not get the chance to do so to protect the survivors in Darfur and to avenge those who have been slaughtered. however, there is still a lot we as human beings, as americans (or canadians, brits, indians, japanese, etc etc), as christians (or muslims, jews, athiests, etc etc) can do to help those who are being EXTERMINATED.

however, i remember the wise words of colin powell's wife, alma... "if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."
so here's a few reminders of what's happening.

6,000-10,000 people are dying in refugee camps every month
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040913_1309.html

Chemical weapons may be being utilized by Sudan and Syria to murder more Darfur residents.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040916-102058-3651r.htm

Kofi Annan grew a pair of balls and stood up to the Sudanese and Chinese for a brief moment in supporting the passage of the US-sponsored resolution.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3664348.stm

Cruel, slow starvation is still happening as there is still a major shortfall in the amount of aid getting to survivors.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3922461.stm

China is supporting genocide, slavery and oppression in Sudan in order to get its oil (and is backed up by Pakistan and Egypt in fighting the brave US effort to force the UN into getting off its ass and doing something)
http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=5441

Britain's conservatives are pressing for PM Blair to do more, join the US in calling it a genocide
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3499836

now how to help?

get mad and get out and do something

Amnesty International has labeled Sept.21st as the day of action on Darfur. Have a protest, a religious service, a candlelight vigil, write an op-ed or letter, make some phone calls, please get out and do something.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/sudan/activism.html

donate money
this site will help you discover how to help in the best manner you see fit financially
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/content.view/catid/38/cpid/218.htm

pray!

and lastly, even though the genocide may draw down eventually, its effects will linger for a long time, tragically so in the great majority of cases. here's an example.

September 15, 2004

In Sudan, Rape's Lasting Hurt
By Robyn Dixon, Times Staff Writer

KALMA CAMP, Sudan — She has been in the world for 18 days and already her life is tainted. Curled naked under a blanket close to her mother, Nashwa is too young to know shame, the emotion that will be like a shadow to her.

The men in her community in South Darfur province say it would have been better for Fatima Adam, 15, to have died than to have had Nashwa, conceived out of rape, the child of an enemy fighter.

The shame will stain Fatima, her family and the child forever, ruining Fatima's chances of marriage, education and a decent life. Arab militia fighters attacked her village, Tulus, about 10 months ago, killing 26 people and raping 10 girls ranging in age from 14 to 17.

A July report by Amnesty International documented 500 cases of rape in the Darfur region of western Sudan, and added that because of the taboo on discussing rape, that number is probably only a fraction of the total. A UNICEF report said 41 girls and teachers were gang-raped in the village of Tawila alone in February while others were abducted as sex slaves. There were reports the women were branded like cattle.

The trauma of the mass rapes has been deepened by the traditional view that the victims are somehow to blame for what happened and the cultural imperative that a bride be a virgin.

"A girl who's a virgin is like the standard, brand new. It's like a car. With a girl who is raped, it is like she is secondhand," said Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed, a community leader from Karande village. "If she does marry, it can only be to an old man."

"They can't find a husband, never," said Abdulkarim Adam Eeka, a leader from Tabadiya village. "It's our tradition."

As Fatima Adam ran terrified through the grass during the attack on Tulus last year, two Arab militia fighters chased her down on horseback, leaped to the ground and threw her down to rape her. A third attacker caught up on foot.

"One said, 'This is because you are the Tora Bora,' " Fatima said, the term used by Arab militias to describe the black rebels of Darfur who rose up against the Sudanese government early last year. "I just heard they were insulting me. They shamed me, but I didn't know the meaning of their words."

After the rebellion, Arab militias attacked hundreds of villages across Darfur, raping, pillaging, killing, burning structures and forcing more than 1.2 million blacks from the Fur, Massalit and Zaghawa tribes off their land — assaults described as genocide by the U.S. Congress. Human rights groups and Western diplomats believe the militia fighters have had support from the Sudanese government, a claim denied by officials in Khartoum, the capital. The U.N. estimates that 30,000 to 50,000 people have died.

And the brutality is far from over. The team leader at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, David Del Conte, said recently that in the last several months, at least 250 women had been raped in the area southwest of Kass, a southern Darfur city.

A typical militia strategy is to set up camps around a village in the weeks before the main attack, not allowing villagers to fetch water or firewood. Men who venture out are killed, so fathers have to make the terrible decision to send the girls and women to the well outside the village, knowing they face rape but not death.

Hadiya Abaker Osman, a 20-year-old newlywed, was raped with a group of 10 girls and women in an attack on her village, Donki Deras, in June.

"Two people used me. They said, 'Your fathers tried to take over the government so we came to rape you.' I said, 'My father is a poor man and he is weak. How can he take over the government?' And they hit me on the face."

When she told her father she had been raped, he wanted to know why she didn't resist.

"My father said, 'We will complain only to God.' And that's all he said."

A week later, Osman's husband was killed in the main attack on the village.

"They shot him down from a camel," she said. "I saw them kill him." She had been married just three months.

Adam Isa, 35, covered his eyes and wept when he recalled the rape of his niece, Hadiya, 16, in their village of Kailek in February, one of two girls snatched in view of the villagers during an attack. He had adopted the girl after her father died seven years ago.

When she returned to their home after the attack and told him she had been raped, he had no reply for her but tears. His heart still churns with anger, shame and the painful knowledge that even though he knows the names of the men who did it, he is sure they will never be prosecuted.

"She brought shame on our family," he said. "I still feel the shame. I can't forget it. I'm angry at the people who did it. But I'm weak. I have no strength to take vengeance. I'll leave that to God."

Sudanese authorities are doing little for victims of sexual assault. Hussein Ibrahim Karshun, of the government's Humanitarian Affairs Commission in Darfur, said that it was difficult to prove whether women had been raped and that steps would be taken to set up some kind of mechanism to determine this. He said police were being trained on how to deal with rape victims and that female police would be recruited.

The Amnesty International report on rape in Darfur said the communities in the area did not seem ready to provide full support to rape victims and their children.

Intellectually, some refugees understand that the women were blameless victims, but they still see a lifetime of shame as inevitable.

"They are brave, I know, but the society can't understand them — that it happened by accident. It is the uneducated people. They don't understand," said Eeka, the leader from Tabadiya village.

Some girls are likely to run away from their families to escape the shame, said Ayub Mohammed Adam, a community leader from Dogu village.

"If a girl has a baby after this kind of incident, she has no future and no hope," he said. "She can't study and her mind will be destroyed. In the future, everybody will blame the baby and it will always carry the shame."

The Amnesty International report said a child born of rape would face ostracism and be considered an enemy. Some women might abandon such babies. In some communities in Darfur, people believed it was impossible to become pregnant from unwanted sex, the report said.

It said many women pregnant from rape had stayed away from refugee camps where their families are living because of shame. Women raising children alone were the poorest and most vulnerable, the report said.

When Osman, the newlywed, considers her future, she falls silent and her eyes fill with tears. Her husband is dead and she has little chance of remarrying.

"This action stays in my heart every day," she said. "I can never forget it. I feel the shame."

After she was raped, Fatima, the 15-year-old, felt as if her life was stained with sorrow. When she realized she was pregnant, she was horrified.

But the first time she held her newborn child, she said: "I felt she was my baby. Of course I will love her. How could I not?"
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...sep15,1,2341218.story?coll=la-headlines-world

 

[NATO AIR]

oh, and for the record, as far as i know, france and germany are behaving... its china and the arabs that are disgracing humanity.

 

[onedomino]

The situation in Darfur is horrendous. It underlines the abject failure of the UN as a force that can be depended upon to do what is right. Of course, we already knew that.

What can be done about Darfur? Thousands are dying every month. Must America police the entire planet? The Chinese are blocking UNSC action in Darfur. They are worried that such action will set a precedent and inhibit their suppression of ethnic minorities in western China and Tibet. Islamic fascist radicals run the show in Sudan. We are already at war with radical Islam. Should we open another battlefront?

 

[NATO AIR]

Do a better diplomatic job of getting the African Union firmly on our side... and then help them with whatever they need (which actually isn't that much) to deploy S.African and Nigerian troops (along with other nations) to Darfur (similar to what we did for the Kurds in Operation Provide Comfort after Desert Storm)

we don't have to always put boots on the ground to project hard power.... sometimes other nations can do that for us with our assistance and support

 

[Annie]

Do a better diplomatic job of getting the African Union firmly on our side... and then help them with whatever they need (which actually isn't that much) to deploy S.African and Nigerian troops (along with other nations) to Darfur (similar to what we did for the Kurds in Operation Provide Comfort after Desert Storm)

we don't have to always put boots on the ground to project hard power.... sometimes other nations can do that for us with our assistance and support

Now it will take boots on the ground, with weapons:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6271943

 

[onedomino]

Now it will take boots on the ground, with weapons:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6271943

I agree with Kathianne on this. It will take boots on the ground.

There is no time to wait for the OAU to do anything beyond "observe." As has been noted, thousands are dying every month. UNSC action on this problem has been ineffective. If an UNSC resolution is constructed that threatens oil sanctions or military action, it will be vetoed by the Chinese.

Are we really serious about immediately stopping genocide in Darfur? If so, these actions would succeed:

Submit a resolution to the UNSC for immediate sanctions against the terrorist Sudan government. This will put China, Russia, Pakistan, Algeria, and probably France, on record as opposing action to end genocide in Darfur.

Freeze all assets owned by the Sudanese government in the United States. Without the help of the UNSC (as usual), proceed with a coalition of countries willing to independently enforce sanctions. For those countries continuing to perform oil business and other trade with the murderers in Khartoum (they have used attack helicopters on villages in Darfur; see link provide by Kathianne above), evaluate the transactions and within the United States freeze an equal value of assets owned by the nations that transgress the sanctions. Since so many are dying every day, allow only 60 days for the sanctions to change minds in Sudan and its supporter countries. During this period prepare for military action in Darfur that will separate the Islamic fascists from those they are killing. In confidential diplomatic exchange, assure Sudan that if we are forced to take military action, then we will proceed with regime change in Khartoum. Inform Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir that if we are forced to pursue regime change, then he will be arrested and tried for crimes against humanity.

 

[Annie]

I agree with Kathianne on this. It will take boots on the ground.

There is no time to wait for the OAU to do anything beyond "observe." As has been noted, thousands are dying every month. UNSC action on this problem has been ineffective. If an UNSC resolution is constructed that threatens oil sanctions or military action, it will be vetoed by the Chinese.

Are we really serious about immediately stopping genocide in Darfur? If so, these actions would succeed:

Submit a resolution to the UNSC for immediate sanctions against the terrorist Sudan government. This will put China, Russia, Pakistan, Algeria, and probably France, on record as opposing action to end genocide in Darfur.

Freeze all assets owned by the Sudanese government in the United States. Without the help of the UNSC (as usual), proceed with a coalition of countries willing to independently enforce sanctions. For those countries continuing to perform oil business and other trade with the murderers in Khartoum (they have used attack helicopters on villages in Darfur; see link provide by Kathianne above), evaluate the transactions and within the United States freeze an equal value of assets owned by the nations that transgress the sanctions. Since so many are dying every day, allow only 60 days for the sanctions to change minds in Sudan and its supporter countries. During this period prepare for military action in Darfur that will separate the Islamic fascists from those they are killing. In confidential diplomatic exchange, assure Sudan that if we are forced to take military action, then we will proceed with regime change in Khartoum. Inform Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir that if we are forced to pursue regime change, then he will be arrested and tried for crimes against humanity.

No longer in province of UN, time to move, which means US/UK/Australia

 

[NightTrain]

Won't happen before November. It's unfortunate, but it's reality, the Libs would scream and rant over more military action.

I'd bet in Mid November to late November we'll see some ramping up to take care of business there.

 

[Annie]

Won't happen before November. It's unfortunate, but it's reality, the Libs would scream and rant over more military action.

I'd bet in Mid November to late November we'll see some ramping up to take care of business there.

Have to agree with you NT, not going to get the fix till after elections. The only good thing, regardless of Kerry not commenting, whoever wins, the US is going to deal with. No doubt, 6 weeks will result in more deaths, that didn't have to happen, but it's not like the UN/EU is going to step in.

 

[NATO AIR]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6021717/

UN passes more half-measures while people die.

you could stop this with about 10,000 Allied troops and two squadrons (1 helicopter, 1 jet). you'd want to create a no-go zone for sudanese military and miliitia forces throughout Darfur, while maintaining a no-fly zone. that way the relief effort can be ramped up w/o fear of being attacked.

 

[onedomino]

Won't happen before November. It's unfortunate, but it's reality, the Libs would scream and rant over more military action.

I'd bet in Mid November to late November we'll see some ramping up to take care of business there.

Nightrain, you are probably right. But I wonder...could not a good and highly moral position such as stopping genocide in Darfur be turned into an asset at the polls? Would not such an action result in some support from the African American community? I am not suggesting to take a cynical approach merely to get votes. Regardless, stopping genocide is not going to lose liberal votes for Bush (he does not have any of those anyway). Maybe action against genocide in Darfur would result in extra votes that Bush currently will not obtain.

 

[NightTrain]

Nightrain, you are probably right. But I wonder...could not a good and highly moral position such as stopping genocide in Darfur be turned into an asset at the polls? Would not such an action result in some support from the African American community? I am not suggesting to take a cynical approach merely to get votes. Regardless, stopping genocide is not going to lose liberal votes for Bush (he does not have any of those anyway). Maybe action against genocide in Darfur would result in extra votes that Bush currently will not obtain.

Well, just look at what's said about the Iraq invasion. You'll certainly never hear a Lib give kudos for taking out Saddam, even though humanitarian reasons were given prior to go-time.

No, if Bush did the right thing and began sending troops over to kill the murderers, Ted & John & Hillary and Tom would have a field day. "Look! 4 years in the White House, 3 countries invaded! Bush is a War Monger!". Even though they all know it's dishonest, the idiots that follow them would whip themselves into a frenzy.

 

[NATO AIR]

don't look now nighttrain but they already are:
http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12059