 |
|
Notes: Matters are very bad in the south of Sudan. The region is called Darfur and is populated by three tribes. The tribes are Christian and black. The Sudan government is Muslim and Arab. The clash is horrible.
I've read different accounts of how the friction began. Regardless, there are large, oil fields in southern Sudan. Yes, oil -- the nexus, the birth, the genesis of modern conflict. Oil and religion are the basis of this genocide. Colin Powell spent 24 hours in Sudan last week to call world attention to the genocide. He avoided using that word. Others call it ethnic cleansing. Genocide has a legal definition that, once fulfilled, requires intervention by the United Nations. Right now, the United Nations is avoiding this. The Sudanese government reportedly has unleashed Arab raiders called Janjaweed to kill, rape and starve the three, black, Christian tribes who occupy the oil fields. The government denies this. The survivors are ending up in refugee camps where there is disease and starvation. "More than a million people live in the camps, many of which lack water, supplies and sanitation, and operate without any feeding centers," according to a Washington Post report by Emily Wax on June 27, 2004. It's time to call it a genocide unless the Sudanese government acts immediately to allow in international aid -- which it has been obstructing -- and prevents massive death. 07.04.04
|