On Darfur and frustration
Eugene expresses my sentiments well regarding the inclusion of the ongoing Darfur genocide as a “top news story” of 2006.
December 20, 2006
Nobody Has Trackbacked Yet
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December 20th, 2006 at 6:43 pm
The Dafur genocide is a disgrace, but can we expect the United States to bear this burden right now? If you listen to the left, Bush is a monster for getting rid of Saddam (a true monster) and a monster for not protecting black Muslims in Darfur? Can’t the Eurpoeans and surrounding countries put pressure on the Sudanese government not to slaughter black Muslims?
In hindsight everyone says we should have acted in Rwanda (and what took place there was heartbreaking). The Hutu thugs caved rather quickly when challenged. But Sudan is going to be a tricky one to pull off with foreign troops and there is still an al Qaeda element in that country. Perhaps it might be better to start arming Sudanese Christian groups in the south and black Muslim refugees in Darfur. Feed a man a fish and he eats for a day. . . but teach a man to fight back with automatic weapons and RPGs against Janaweed and Sudanese elite thugs and he can negotiate a true peace.
December 20th, 2006 at 10:13 pm
For the record, it was not a criticism of the US or even the Bush Administration - it was a criticism of the media and the entire world.
Why it is that whenever Steve or I write about the failure to address to crisis in Darfur, people always seem to assume that we are criticizing the US - as if it is solely as US responsibility.
Seriously. Why is that?
December 21st, 2006 at 11:38 am
Because you are asking for action here in the United States–so the immediately inference is you want the U.S. government to take action. That is why. In addition, many like Nick Kristoff, who is a raving liberal but is morally correct on the Darfur situation, can critize Bush for intervening in Iraq but not intervening in Darfur. Now it is not fair to group you and Steve with Kristoff, but that is part of the problem too. It may be wrong for the United States not to do more in Darfur, but it is justifiable given the circumstances.
The rest of the world is just flat out wrong on this issue. Why Muslim countries are not saving these victimized Muslims seems outrageous. Why aren’t the Eurpoeans (who supposedly learned their lesson in Rwanda) not doing more? Then again, Europeans did not act for years in the Balkans.