Sudan refuses Canadian toops in Darfur

[Said1]

Sudan refuses to allow troops from Canada into Darfur

By JEFF SALLOT

Saturday, May 14, 2005 Page A5

OTTAWA -- The Sudanese ambassador says her country will not allow Canadian troops into Darfur despite an assistance package from the minority Liberal government that includes up to 100 military advisers to help the African Union maintain peace in that war-ravaged region of western Sudan.

Ambassador Faiza Hassan Taha said Prime Minister Paul Martin rushed to make the announcement Thursday before anyone from the Canadian government asked the Sudanese whether they agreed.

Rather than meaningful consultation, she said in an interview, Canada presented Sudan with a fait accompli.

Mr. Martin telephoned Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir about 24 hours in advance to "advise" him of the announcement, PMO spokeswoman Melanie Gruer said.

When asked whether this was a "consultation," Ms. Gruer declined to use that word to characterize the conversation, repeating instead that "the Sudanese were advised." She said she did not know where precisely the troops would be deployed.

Human-rights groups say the Khartoum regime, a military dictatorship, has been inattentive to the rapes and murders of thousands of Darfur farmers by marauding militias known as janjaweed.

Ms. Taha said Sudan welcomes Canadian concern about the Darfur conflict, and is always open to consultations on foreign humanitarian and technical assistance programs.

But Khartoum, she said, will not allow foreign peacekeeping troops into Darfur from anywhere except other African countries.

Sudan is very concerned about the political atmosphere on Parliament Hill, with independent MP David Kilgour demanding that Mr. Martin send 500 Canadian combat troops to Darfur in exchange for his support on a confidence vote next week, Ms. Taha said.

Mr. Martin said Thursday that Canada is providing a $170-million assistance package for Darfur that includes an "initial" deployment of up to 100 Canadian military intelligence officers, strategic planners and logistics experts to assist the African Union peacekeeping operation in the region with military planning, intelligence and transport.

The Prime Minister did not specify whether these soldiers would go into the three states that comprise the Darfur region -- a vast area where 300,000 have died in the past two years -- or whether they will be confined to an African Union headquarters outside the region.

Continued

 

[dilloduck]

Guess we know whose feet to lay the slaughtered at now.

 

[NATO AIR]

We need politicans like this in the US.... Here he is after ripping Sudan, he challenges Canada.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...318&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

Darfur: Tears are not enough
David Kilgour demands Canada do much more to stop Sudan slaughter

The situation in Darfur, and now in other areas of Sudan, is not getting any better; in fact, it's getting worse. This is not something that will simply go away if we ignore it long enough. We have to remind ourselves constantly of the horrors that Darfur citizens face daily; the girls and women being raped, the 4,000 citizens dying every week.

To understand what Canada could be doing, it's important to know what we have already committed to Sudan.

Since 2000, Canada, through CIDA, has contributed $180 million in food and humanitarian aid to Sudan — the country with the world's largest number of internally displaced people at more than 4 million and with more than 500,000 refugees in the bordering countries.

This translates to less than $10 per refugee or internally displaced person per year. Compare that to the $425 million allocated to tsunami relief and reconstruction efforts.

This does not include the $200 million CIDA will match in public donations.

Canada has nearly 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, and yet we continue to send more. I was surprised to find out that we have more troops in Florida — six — than in the whole of Sudan — where there are just five CF personnel in Khartoum. In the last four years, Canada has allocated nearly $400 million to Afghanistan, and promises $250 million more in the next four years. We sent roughly 1,000 troops to Bosnia and nearly 1,400 to Kosovo to stop the mass murders and rapes. In fact, there are still roughly 80 troops in Bosnia — more than what the Prime Minister announced for Darfur last Thursday.

The survivors of the tsunami and the Afghan people working so hard to rebuild their country need and deserve aid. But we have to ask why it is that when faced with genocide and a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions in Africa, there doesn't seem to be nearly as much money available?

The answer to that question lies in what can be called a lack of political will, rooted in a number of areas, among them: our ignorance of the complexities and sophisticated nature of African dictatorships, our fear of sending troops to so-called "tribal" wars in Africa and — as even Roméo Dallaire has pointed out many times — blatant racism on the West and Canada's part.

What we need is the kind of operation Dallaire has called for in the past; tens of thousands of troops of Atlantic Alliance quality, with a robust mandate to protect civilians and humanitarian operations. He has said many times that "the AU is being set up for failure."

Canada should act on recommendations by Ottawa Professor Errol Mendes. He has called on Prime Minister Paul Martin to take a leadership role in bringing the international financial institutions and the creditor Paris Club together to discuss how to utilize the debt and arrears levers to force the Khartoum government to negotiate in good faith with rebel groups and disarm the janjaweed.

Canada should put in place travel restrictions on senior officials and pressure the Security Council to insist on a series of sanctions, such as a freeze on all assets of the Khartoum government and companies controlled by it in the European Union, Canada and the United States, withdrawal of any rights of the government in the IMF, and a ban on arms sales to Sudan.

It's unacceptable for Canada to say that we don't want to ask the African Union to pressure the Sudanese government for a stronger mandate, or to offer significant numbers of Canadian troops because the problem must be solved "regionally." I don't know one Sudanese refugee in Canada who thinks the AU can be expected to single-handedly solve one of the most complicated conflicts and humanitarian crises in Africa.

It's an excuse that Canada and the West accept only because the problem is in Africa.

I welcome the Prime Minister's increased aid package to Sudan and financial support for the AU — it's a step in the right direction. But it's not enough.

As nearly 4,000 Darfur residents die every week, Canada, the international community, and the United Nations continue to say to the world that these lives are not worth a substantial intervention.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Kilgour is an independent MP and former secretary of state for Africa. This article was co-written by Kilgour's research assistant, Magdalene Creskey, who has worked in community and educational development projects in conflict areas in Southern Africa.

 

[dilloduck]

We need politicans like this in the US.... Here he is after ripping Sudan, he challenges Canada.

Would you suggest that Sudan be invaded to protect the civilians similar to how the Iraqi civilians received some protection after we deposed Saddams' regime?

 

[NATO AIR]

Would you suggest that Sudan be invaded to protect the civilians similar to how the Iraqi civilians received some protection after we deposed Saddams' regime?

Now you know as well as I know no American president is going to authorize that kind of foray into Africa, not after what Clinton did to the military in Somalia.

That aside, yes that is exactly what would need to be done, ala Operation Provide Comfort.

Do you think this regime is finished? After its wiped out Darfur, its got provinces in the east with hundreds of thousands/millions of "rebel African scum" that they plan on exterminating. Plus it will slaughter the survivors of the South in the future when they vote to be independent from the jihadist regime.

What we'll be watching is a gang of sadistic jihadist tyrants slaughtering millions of people over decades with the support of China and the tacit support of America.

 

[dilloduck]

Now you know as well as I know no American president is going to authorize that kind of foray into Africa, not after what Clinton did to the military in Somalia.

That aside, yes that is exactly what would need to be done, ala Operation Provide Comfort.

Do you think this regime is finished? After its wiped out Darfur, its got provinces in the east with hundreds of thousands/millions of "rebel African scum" that they plan on exterminating. Plus it will slaughter the survivors of the South in the future when they vote to be independent from the jihadist regime.

What we'll be watching is a gang of sadistic jihadist tyrants slaughtering millions of people over decades with the support of China and the tacit support of America.

I hear ya NATO , however when an entire continent allows this to occur with no REAL protestation or call to arms, I'm not sure I would even support losing one GI there. If other countries would like to form and fund a coalition as was demanded of the US in Iraq, I may be willing to send em some old grenades and M1s.