if what the sudanese militias are doing is genocide, then the world must act!

if what the sudanese militias are doing is genocide, then the world must act!

yesterday, u.s. secretary of state colin powell stated that the “abuses by government-supported arab militias in sudan qualify as genocide against the black african population in the darfur region” (usa today).

this does not mean that the u.s. and the world will act against this genocide soon. rather, this means that they’re going to start referring to it officially as genocide so they can talk about it officially at the united nations security council!

meanwhile, more than 1.5 million people are displaced and more than 30,000 people are murdered. the number of refugees increases by the hour. people are being killed everyday. and the rest of the world is now beginning to talk about it officially.

the u.n. is still reluctant to call it genocide. i’m not surprised. some members of the u.n. security council are in an awkward position to shout “genocide!” they must be careful because the killings in sudan’s darfur region is an internal affairs issue. the outside world is not supposed to interfere, just like the way the world responded during the genocide in rwanda.

why would some members of the u.n. security council be reluctant to point fingers at the sudanese government?

hmmm… let me think. ah!

» perhaps china is afraid because the world might see what they are doing among the people of tibet! the tibet issue, according to beijing, is an internal matter.

» perhaps russia is afraid to open up the discussion about the chechen people’s cry for independence. chechnya wants to secede from russia. (this, however, doesn’t justify the killing of children in beslan.) as far as moscow is concerned, the chechen affair is an internal issue.

» perhaps the u.s. is too careful to recognize this as genocide because they want to avoid focusing the eyes of the world on the 11,720+ civilian casualties in iraq.

this is my humble opinion why i can understand the world politicians' fear of confronting the sudanese government. their words might backfire. darfur is a sudanese internal affairs issue.

i understand their political talks, but i do not agree with them. the united nations must act against the sudanese government. if, indeed, the united states want to see justice among the oppressed—just like what they want us to believe regarding their actions in iraq—then they should send peace-keeping troops in sudan, right?

i wish. but i doubt if the u.s. would act soon. the oil reserves in sudan is not as significant as the amount of oil in iraq. there’s not much in there for the national interest of the united states. this time, the white house can afford to wait for the united nations and they have the time to analyze the situation forever.

meanwhile, thousands more will die and thousands more will be displaced.

and here i am with the rest of the world—busy talking…