tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71517564989519082262024-03-12T18:17:08.687-05:00confronting empireChronicling the global struggle against the vile maxim of the masters.
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"Flags are little patches of colored cloth a nation first uses to shrink wrap the minds of its citizens, and later uses as burial shrouds for their dead."<br>
- Arundhati RoyKevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16071476263118681022noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-15518829181970701932011-06-17T00:55:00.002-05:002011-06-17T00:58:45.496-05:00Scramble for AfricaPlease note that our blog has moved to our website, <a href="http://scrambleforafrica.org/blog">scrambleforafrica.org</a>.Steve Fakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971138443375100400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-50734982387253295072008-04-04T00:26:00.004-05:002008-05-02T16:03:42.944-05:00Forthcoming Darfur book detailsOur publisher, Black Rose Books, has a <a href="http://www.blackrosebooks.net/darfur.htm">page</a> up for our forthcoming book on Darfur (title pending). Available for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1551643227?tag=confroempire-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1551643227&adid=0PJZJ2V0PMV3YFR9RH6C&" target="_blank">pre-order</a> on Amazon (also in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1551643235?tag=confroempire-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1551643235&adid=1YCMN67RZP8EK6AWF864&" target="_blank">hardcover</a>) - hopefully soon also on Powell's, which is unionized.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-87101591619241198292008-03-21T20:29:00.003-05:002008-03-21T20:36:06.342-05:00New Article on the Candidates and DarfurWe've published a new piece entitled "<a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5047">Candidates on Darfur</a>" in Foreign Policy In Focus.<br /><br />Also look for an interview with Kevin on the same topic in the forthcoming edition of the monthly program of the <a href="http://www.darfurradioproject.org/">Darfur Radio Project</a>.Steve Fakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971138443375100400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-29343075099844477402008-02-28T20:51:00.001-05:002008-02-28T18:33:50.851-05:00Whither UNAMID?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefHVTnrUpV0oQ90_Wo73bWgN3rOiD0gxoy9vR9CsPNoI4nAztAW4HL_1UZqH1NVHdWeiYWFbVaAjmyy-OfEDMWS2wENSAQ8FJzX-FupPqJ4jtT6LuMyR2yc_C3ytbwWlegQHNKfHbmujo/s1600-h/_NOY0956+-+copie.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefHVTnrUpV0oQ90_Wo73bWgN3rOiD0gxoy9vR9CsPNoI4nAztAW4HL_1UZqH1NVHdWeiYWFbVaAjmyy-OfEDMWS2wENSAQ8FJzX-FupPqJ4jtT6LuMyR2yc_C3ytbwWlegQHNKfHbmujo/s320/_NOY0956+-+copie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157706566044039858" border="0"></a><br /><a href="http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/photos/unamid-web/pages/_NOY0956%20-%20copie.htm"><font style="font-style: italic;">Original</font></a> <font style="font-style: italic;">caption: An AU soldier in El Fasher, securing the Joint AU/UN compound. UNMIS Photo/Fred Noy<br /></font><br />It has been evident for quite some time that the West’s sanctimony regarding Darfur is purely posturing, as revealed with utmost clarity by the behavior of the loudest and most powerful nations. While Washington and its junior partners decried Khartoum's stonewalling of a UN deployment, they crippled the African Union deployment, AMIS. Though flawed, the African team was surely capable of greater effectiveness if better supported financially and logistically. Underfunding the AU mission, the only available force already on the ground, consigned Darfurians to a grim fate, amply fulfilled in the last several years of death and misery.<br /><br />Khartoum's obstructionism was also the favored storyline of the commercial press. However, with the long sought deployment of UN forces finally a partial reality, a new public relations challenge has arisen. Thus far, it has been met with aplomb, made possible by an impressively disciplined media and a largely acquiescent activist movement. The inconvenient truth in this case is that the UNAMID deployment is being hamstrung by a lack of resources – precisely the difficulty that deep-sixed AMIS. The stinginess is naturally most glaring in the case of the wealthiest and best-equipped nations.<br /><br />At present, only 2,000 peacekeepers have been added to the existing AMIS team, raising the total to 9,000 and leaving the force 17,000 personnel shy of the projected size. Much of the blame for the unimpressive launch of UNAMID has been placed on Khartoum which has hampered full implementation of UN force deployment through a myriad of devices designed to buy time - but its responsibility for the slow roll out appears to be matched by the absence of action from the nations capable of supplying basic military equipment.<br /><br />For several <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24948&Cr=sudan&Cr1=">months</a> UNAMID has been waiting but thus far no UN member state has agreed to provide the much needed but very minimal transport needs (most notably two dozen <a href="http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGAFR540072008">helicopters</a>) to the new <a href="http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamid/">UNAMID</a> force. Ban Ki Moon has repeatedly called for capable member nations to supply the pittance.<br /><br />To be more accurate, in early February two countries did step forward at long last: the fabulously wealthy nations of Bangladesh and Ethiopia. What has become of their offer is not yet <a href="http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnN07402340.html">clear</a>; as recently as Feb. 20th U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSN20458803">referenced</a> "more helicopters, which peacekeepers urgently need in Darfur." There have been no indications of embarrassment in Western capitals at being upstaged in generosity by the 54th and 87th wealthiest countries, respectively, as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29">ranked</a> by GDP.<br /><br />Nor has changing the name and official sponsor of the peacekeeping force resolved the desperate financial situation of the mission, which cannot obtain <a href="http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN855461.html">spare tires</a> for its Armored Personnel Carriers and is still struggling with "unpaid soldiers and a lack of equipment."<br /><br />The sight of Washington, the leader of the pack of nations braying about the horrors of Darfur, failing to provide a few helicopters that it could doubtless spare without even occasioning a blip in a Defense Department budget that routinely <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/eveningnews/main325985.shtml">misplaces</a> billions or trillions of dollars through shoddy accounting, casts into sharp relief the true value of Darfurian lives for the leaders of democracy and freedom.Steve Fakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971138443375100400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-18338427382327791672007-12-10T19:35:00.000-05:002007-12-10T19:35:53.576-05:00Where's Darfur at the Democratic debates?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNUt9KpS_3Pt4bT6Uicocfk3f8WL0fts8y40_pFd5VZrZlOdp6CTfgY_FEZdwmRQBoAmM6QIpBx5b75Tpc8Is1BW8WMqtcju9nvnSOvgI9R1D7SjIj9ShwBY0adBj11HpHfXfZUiU516k/s1600-h/youtubedebate_wideweb__470x327,0.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141041851401762130" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 271px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 186px" height="191" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNUt9KpS_3Pt4bT6Uicocfk3f8WL0fts8y40_pFd5VZrZlOdp6CTfgY_FEZdwmRQBoAmM6QIpBx5b75Tpc8Is1BW8WMqtcju9nvnSOvgI9R1D7SjIj9ShwBY0adBj11HpHfXfZUiU516k/s320/youtubedebate_wideweb__470x327,0.jpg" width="281" border="0" /></a><br /><div>For all their prior rhetoric on "saving" Darfur, the frontrunners for the Democratic presidential nomination have made surprisingly little noise about the conflict in recent months.<br /><br />This much is clear from the most recent party "debates" - more accurately, heavily managed public relations exercises replete with obfuscation and evasiveness - as Darfur has merited no substantive mention from the participants in the latest outings:<br /><ul><li>The September 26 debate in New Hampshire included no reference to Darfur (aside from a brief mention by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson concerning his diplomatic experience), though Tim Russert did find time to ask the candidates for their "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/us/politics/26DEBATE-TRANSCRIPT.html?pagewanted=all">favorite Bible verse</a>."</li><br /><li>On October 30 in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/us/politics/30debate-transcript.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin">Philadelphia</a>, Darfur again received no mention, perhaps preempted by Brian William's question to Barack Obama about how he would be dressing up for Halloween.</li><br /><li>In the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/us/politics/15debate-transcript.html?pagewanted=all">most recent</a> debate - November 15 in Las Vegas - Darfur again went unmentioned by the candidates.</li></ul>The omission would not be glaring, if not for two issues.<br /><p>First, it would be understandable if Darfur were receiving less attention if the candidates were instead focused on other foreign policy issues of concern - such as the almost universally ignored crisis in the Congo, or concrete ways to end the war in Iraq and attempt to atone for the massive destruction the U.S. continues to wreak in the country (clearly, not forthcoming).</p>Second, Darfur has been a lightning rod issue for liberal activists and Democratic voters - in fact, claimed to be the "<a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/06/25/2003366789">largest such activism</a>" since the war on Vietnam - and the conflict is widely reported in the West as the "<a href="http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS235US238&q=darfur+%22world%27s+worst+humanitarian+disaster%22">world's worst humanitarian disaster</a>."<br /><p>So what gives?</p>One can imagine several possible explanations - for example, that the frontrunner candidates take the votes of Darfur activists for granted, or that since they largely agree on how to address the crisis (implementing a no-fly zone, pushing for a UN deployment, and pressuring China), they have little to discuss. Both theories have some merit.<br /><p>But it is important to not lose sight of another key piece of the equation. </p><p>For all their heated rhetoric, mainstream Democrats are highly unlikely to make any substantive changes to Washington's fruitful intelligence-sharing relationship with key elements of the Khartoum government as part of the "War on Terror." </p></div>Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-27647797568408193502007-12-06T15:45:00.000-05:002007-12-06T15:53:34.173-05:00New piece publishedForeign Policy in Focus just published our <a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4784">response piece</a> as part of our "strategic dialogue" about divestment from Sudan. <br /><br />The original piece is available <a href="http://fpif.org/fpiftxt/4581">here</a>, along with the <a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4580">original</a> and <a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4785">response</a> by Daniel Millenson, of the Sudan Divestment Task Force.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-64996204453509015452007-11-04T22:36:00.000-05:002007-11-06T16:41:50.152-05:00Commentary: The U.S.-Equatorial Guinea Alliance<a href="http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/04/17/PH2006041700278.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 255px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 163px" height="178" alt="" src="http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/04/17/PH2006041700278.jpg" border="0" /></a>Life is good if you're Teodoro Obiang.<br /><br />Condi Rice considers you a "<a href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/64434.htm" target="_blank">good friend</a>."<br /><br />ExxonMobil <a href="http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=132&fArticleId=375423" target="_blank">threw a party</a> in your honor in Washington.<br /><br />The Dutch mega-airline KLM at one point even <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=3555107" target="_blank">named an airplane</a> after you.<br /><br />And you're "in permanent contact with the Almighty," according to the radio station you control, which also noted that you are "like God in heaven" with "all power over men and things." Accordingly, as the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3098007.stm" target="_blank">broadcast</a> went on to note, "He can decide to kill without anyone calling him to account and without going to hell." (Sound <a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article317805.ece" target="_blank">familiar</a>?)<br /><br />Yet all is not well in Equatorial Guinea, the small, oil-soaked African nation that Obiang rules with an iron fist.<br /><br />Human rights groups report that members of opposition groups are "<a href="http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Africa/Equatorial-Guinea" target="_blank">flogged</a>." One man <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3516588.stm" target="_blank">recounted</a> how the president's forces "cut his ears off with scissors." In addition to recurring accusations that the Obiang regime has targeted citizens in exile for assassination, the State Department <a href="http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78732.htm" target="_blank">notes</a> the following characteristics of Equatorial Guinea's sparkling human rights record:<br /><blockquote>...abridgement of citizens' right to change their government; torture, beating, and other physical abuse of prisoners and detainees by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; impunity; arbitrary arrest, detention, and incommunicado detention; harassment and deportation of foreign residents; judicial corruption and lack of due process; restrictions on the right to privacy; severe restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press; restrictions on the right of assembly, association, and movement; government corruption; violence and discrimination against women; trafficking in persons; discrimination against ethnic minorities; restrictions on labor rights and child labor; and forced child labor. </blockquote>Taking advantage of the favorable climate for efficient exploitation, U.S. energy interests have established a firm foothold in the country. ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, Halliburton, and Marathon Oil are all feeding from the trough, as two-thirds of Equatorial Guinea's substantial oil production goes into U.S. hands. Accordingly, the <a href="http://afgen.com/equatorial_guinea.html" target="_blank">U.S. embassy</a> (shut down in 1995, after the atypically outspoken then-U.S. envoy received death threats for daring to criticize Obiang and before the oil boom was in full swing) was reopened by the Bush administration to manage this burgeoning partnership.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFPFY7gs1gGrEwn3OH_YJIdU9osj3T_SYO9oV6qrWXWKXUrica1PrSASSBCYD_BEePxrhTt-PPlBn6MmcHYEwRHbaIU6s8KxyahTDFv074q631Ohf7iEAjZivJhnh2Qw5PMPnP6UNvrgq/s1600-h/ek-map.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129513125697952850" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 263px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 315px" height="340" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFPFY7gs1gGrEwn3OH_YJIdU9osj3T_SYO9oV6qrWXWKXUrica1PrSASSBCYD_BEePxrhTt-PPlBn6MmcHYEwRHbaIU6s8KxyahTDFv074q631Ohf7iEAjZivJhnh2Qw5PMPnP6UNvrgq/s400/ek-map.gif" width="321" border="0" /></a> Thanks to Western benevolence, the macroeconomy is booming, one of the world's fastest-growing, though mysteriously, as Peter Maass <a href="http://afgen.com/equatorial_guinea.html" target="_blank">writes</a>: "Per capita, it is one of the richest countries on the continent; rated by how much money ends up in the pockets of people not related to the president, it remains one of the poorest."<br /><br />Not unfairly, China has taken quite a beating in Western media for its unsavory alliances in Africa, which are uniformly understood to be about securing access to natural resources and markets with little to no regard for human rights.<br /><br />Yet the same elementary point about the United States somehow escapes the penetrating eyes of the Western intelligentsia, who display a marked tendency to simply ignore human rights violations in U.S.-allied states with expansive energy reserves (tellingly, the press posed <a href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/64434.htm" target="_blank">two questions</a> to Rice when she appeared with Obiang in Washington before their meeting - both of which were about Iran) - a fact perceived rather easily by others.<br /><br />Says <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020422/silverstein" target="_blank">Gabriel Nguema Lima</a>, one of Obiang's sons, who is "in effective control of the ministry of mines and energy," overseeing the country's oil industry: “The United States, <a href="http://afgen.com/equatorial_guinea.html" target="_blank">like China</a>, is careful not to get into internal issues.”<br /><br />Nothing different should be expected from a world power without an enlivened citizenry that demands otherwise.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-49652316371844089052007-10-24T14:54:00.000-05:002007-10-26T16:31:27.059-05:00Poor Cuba: So Far from God, So Close to the United States<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietJ8qCvSH-CU1FGRvwFo-lFw00AwPpWq8GRIO1lP2JAxxdWd5jlnEcykXlh82Six2xCghQHhqw4reIgiVqn5Dgm2nGCODKmbvs5MAx__htNKOHz_yDXTynLfnLPv09RfRhjz-PzOUYWa4/s1600-h/cfu0240l.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125630466672434242" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 216px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 345px" height="375" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietJ8qCvSH-CU1FGRvwFo-lFw00AwPpWq8GRIO1lP2JAxxdWd5jlnEcykXlh82Six2xCghQHhqw4reIgiVqn5Dgm2nGCODKmbvs5MAx__htNKOHz_yDXTynLfnLPv09RfRhjz-PzOUYWa4/s400/cfu0240l.jpg" width="275" border="0" /></a>While studying abroad at the University of Havana in 2003, I had a conversation with a Cuban student who expressed to me some mocking trepidation that the U.S. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_Cuba" target="_blank">embargo</a> (or "blockade," in Cuban parlance) would soon be lifted.<br /><br />"Then we're in real trouble," he related. "All the computer software we have down here is pirated, and if the U.S. finds out, they'll take it away from us."<br /><br />Four years later, he clearly still has nothing to worry about. <p>Stumbling into its 46th year, the beleaguered U.S. policy of "stand[ing] with the Cuban people as they stand up for their liberty" shows <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7060788.stm" target="_blank">no signs</a> of fading away any time soon - indeed, in spite of opposition from virtually the entire world (minus the <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/30/world/main658417.shtml" target="_blank">usual dependencies</a> of Israel, Palau, and the Marshall Islands, per a 2006 UN vote), agricultural interests in the U.S. who want to increase trade with the island, and many members of Congress, U.S. policy towards Cuba has taken an even more draconian turn in recent years.<br /><br />In 2004, Washington implemented <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/30/1088488024354.html" target="_blank">changes</a> preventing Cuban Americans from visiting anyone but immediate family members on the island, and limiting how often they can do so (curiously, sans protest from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_on_the_family" target="_blank">Focus on the Family</a> or other "family values" crusaders). Study abroad programs for U.S. university students were mostly banned.<br /><br />In 2006, the U.S. <a href="http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=146094" target="_blank">announced</a> "more vigorous investigations and more aggressive prosecutions" of embargo-violators, real scum of the earth who dare to visit the island to <a href="http://www.ifconews.org/Cuba/caravan18/main.htm" target="_blank">deliver humanitarian aid</a>, or, say, because they don't think that the government has the right to tell them where not to travel. Tellingly, a 2004 <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0429-12.htm" target="_blank">investigation</a> by the <em>Associated Press</em> found that "The Treasury Department agency entrusted with blocking the financial resources of terrorists has assigned five times as many agents to investigate Cuban embargo violations as it has to track Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money."<br /><br />Though critiques of U.S. policy towards Cuba are obvious, and accepted by basically every nation in the world - Cuba isn't quite a "<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7060788.stm" target="_blank">tropical gulag</a>," and it's wrong in principle to force food and medical scarcities on a population for geopolitical gain - it is especially significant in this case the extent to which U.S. policy contradicts U.S. policy goals.<br /><br />While its deleterious effects are very real, the U.S. embargo/blockade functions, in essence, as Cuba's "War on Terror": a blanket excuse Havana can use for any related or unrelated problem in the country (dissidents? food shortages?), and an automatic justification for whatever repressive measures the government proposes.<br /><br />One could argue that Washington simply doesn't get the point - that its policies are propping up the Cuban government - though the political establishment in the U.S. clearly understands the idea of fear mongering to beat its <em>own</em> population into submission.<br /><br />In reality, the embargo/blockade's endurance is better explained by the fact that there is a potential outcome for U.S. imperial interests that is far more dangerous than strengthening the hand of the Cuban government - it's admitting that the embargo/blockade against Cuba hasn't worked, and in the process giving other poor nations the idea that they too can outlast or overcome superpower assault.<br /><br />Though the embargo/blockade clearly strengthens the Cuban government in the ways mentioned above, it will thus stick around as long as the price for getting rid of it is the empire's aura of invincibility. </p>Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-74619950812458598792007-10-17T15:18:00.000-05:002007-10-20T15:11:51.325-05:00Outhawking the Republicans - Democrats and Darfur<a href="http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2007_06_demdebate.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 281px; CURSOR: hand" height="181" alt="" src="http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2007_06_demdebate.jpg" border="0" /></a>While the Bush administration has taken very little action on Darfur (unless "action" can be defined by empty rhetorical flourishes, coddling members of Sudan's intelligence apparatus, and castrating aid organizations and the African Union deployment), the major Democratic presidential contenders have staked out highly bellicose ground in their "solutions" to the conflict, seeking to play to Save Darfur activists who are rearing for confrontation with Khartoum and prove their own meddle in managing the ever-invoked "War on Terror." <div><br /><div></div><div>Far from consideration for the candidates is how this militant posturing, if actually carried out, would affect the masses of suffering Darfurians. </div><div><br />Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama (amongst others), all <a href="http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/102767.html" target="_blank">support</a> a no-fly zone for Darfur - a potentially catastrophic idea (see our <a href="http://confrontingempire.blogspot.com/2007/08/weekly-commentary-no-fly-zone-for.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> on the topic) with little possible upside for suffering Darfurians, as the majority of attacks against civilians are carried out not from the air, but on the ground. Instead, the imposition of a no-fly zone is likely to provoke Khartoum into unleashing its wrath on Darfurian civilians and the AU deployment, and worsen the already dire circumstances in which aid organizations operate in the region. </div><p>Others of the candidates' stances plunge further into the depths of dangerousness and irrationality.</p><div></div><div></div><div>Clinton, for one, has floated the idea of <a href="http://www.dpado.org/article.php?ID=1228&Section=news" target="_blank">blockading</a> the Port of Sudan, a measure that is at least tantamount to an act of war. </div><div></div><p><div>Like Clinton, who <a href="http://www.upi.com/Security_Terrorism/Briefing/2007/06/28/clinton_darfur_needs_nato_nofly_zone/7697/" target="_blank">pledged</a> to "work with NATO to take military action” in Sudan if Khartoum does not allow a UN-AU deployment into the country, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), evidently seeking to make an already calamitous situation even worse, <a href="http://www.ssrc.org/blog/2007/07/24/presidential-candidates-and-their-stance-on-darfur/" target="_blank">proposes</a> unilaterally sending US troops into Sudan, a "humanitarian intervention" that conjures (at best) the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mogadishu_%281993%29" target="_blank">disastrous</a> US-led deployment in the early 1990s to Somalia. </div><div></div><p><div>The direct involvement of NATO or even US troops in a potential "peacekeeping" force in Sudan, as suggested by some, would in all probability lead to Sudanese groups "start[ing] a <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sudan/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=1041&sID=23" target="_blank">jihad</a> against it," in the words of Jan Pronk, former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Sudan. </div><div><br />While the Democratic frontrunners toy with Darfurian lives for the sake of pandering and bolstering their jingoist credentials, less sexy but more helpful measures remain on the table for actually attempting to mitigate the crisis, the same ones that have been around all along and have been consistently ignored by politicians and many Darfur activists alike: funding aid organizations, pushing an expansion in the size of (and a broadened mandate for) the AU deployment, and seeking a political settlement through promoting a common rebel negotiating front for talks with Khartoum. </div><div></div><p><div>Though less conducive to projecting US military might, these are the demands that activists should be pushing for from the potential heirs to the throne of "leader of the free world."</div><div></div><p><div>Unfortunately, should their saber-rattling come to fruition, the powers that be of the future instead seem intent on destroying Darfur in order to "save" it. </div></div>Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-69050557269147593232007-10-16T16:13:00.000-05:002007-10-16T16:28:22.744-05:00New Article on Darfur DivestmentWe have a new Darfur piece entitled "<a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4581" target="_blank">Divestment: Solution or Diversion</a>?" published in <em>Foreign Policy in Focus</em> - accompanied by an <a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4580" target="_blank">opposing viewpoint</a> piece, authored by Daniel Millenson. Our response to his article should be up soon.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-32750927981355902202007-09-13T13:57:00.000-05:002007-09-18T12:39:06.083-05:00Tallying Death in DarfurDarfur is regularly called the “world’s worst humanitarian disaster.” Google returns 13,100 hits for a search of the phrase with “Darfur”; pairing it with "Iraq," a much larger killing field, yields only 544 results.<br /><br />As a politically useful bloodbath which can be used to demonize Arabs and Muslims, exaggerated fatality estimates in Darfur are generally not subjected to serious scrutiny. In contrast, the most serious mortality estimates for Iraq, in particular the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancet_surveys_of_mortality_before_and_after_the_2003_invasion_of_Iraq" target="_blank">2006 Lancet study</a>, are disparaged and far lower estimates are regularly circulated in the commercial press. <br /><br />A recent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/opinion/12dealey.html" target="_blank">op-ed</a> in the <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span> by <span style="font-style: italic;">Time Magazine</span>'s Africa writer Sam Dealey regarding a ruling of the British Advertising Standards Authority broke the pattern. The case concerned ads placed by the Save Darfur Coalition in Britain and the United States in 2006 claiming that 400,000 innocent people had been killed in Darfur.<br /><br />The subsequent <a href="http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_42993.htm" target="_blank">ruling</a> ordered Save Darfur to alter the ads to present the 400,000 figure as opinion rather than fact and “concluded that there was a division of informed opinion about the accuracy of the figure contained in the ad and it should not have been presented in such a definitive way.”<br /><br />Death toll estimates as high as 400,000 are often cited (though a much lower figure of 200,000 is most common; there is rarely any attempt to explain the discrepancy). As early as April 2006, Eric Reeves <a href="http://www.sudanreeves.org/Article102.html" target="_blank">ventured</a> that excess mortality in Darfur “significantly exceeds 450,000.”<br /><br />As the <span style="font-style: italic;">Times</span> piece points out, there is considerable justification for skepticism of the higher estimates. Reviewing a Government Accounting Office <a href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0724.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> that convened a panel of experts to review six prominent estimates, Dealey concludes that the current death toll is probably around 200,000, which, as he notes, is “just half of what Save Darfur claimed a year ago in its ad and still claims on its Web site.” A September 2006 <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/313/5793/1578?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=hagan+palloni&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT" target="_blank">article</a> in the prestigious journal Science provided a range of 170,000-255,000 total deaths (including natural causes; counting only deaths attributable to the violence would yield a somewhat lower figure).<br /><br />Alex de Waal, a respected expert on the region, <a href="http://www.ssrc.org/blog/2007/08/16/deaths-in-darfur-keeping-ourselves-honest/" target="_blank">wrote</a> of the numbers controversy, “there is no certainty in these figures. The reality could be different. But the pattern is both clear and familiar, and the best guess is approximately 200,000 excess deaths, plus or minus.”<br /><br />The debate is not academic. Dealey points out:<br /><blockquote>Inaccurate data can also lead to prescriptive blunders. During the worst period of violence, for example, the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disaster estimated that nearly 70 percent of Darfur’s excess deaths were due not to violence but to disease and malnutrition. This suggests that policy makers should look for ways to bolster and protect relief groups — by continuing to demand that the Sudanese government not hamper the delivery of aid, to be sure, but also by putting vigorous public pressure, so far lacking, on the dozen rebel groups that routinely raid convoys.</blockquote>As de Waal observes, “In Darfur, the figures have become more politicized than any in recent history.” Inflating the death toll in Darfur does not further the cause of those seeking an end to the crisis but rather brings discredit to the movement. Moreover, it provides further illustration of the ease with which Darfur activists draw favorable attention and support while activists with causes of no utility to establishment interests or, worse, that are opposed to those interests are by turns ignored and ridiculed.<br /><!--<br />-------END---------------<br /><br /><br />http://www.sudanreeves.org/Article181.html<br />http://www.sudanreeves.org/Article180.html<br /><br /><br />http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_42993.htm<br /><br /><br />http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/313/5793/1578?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=hagan+palloni&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT<br /><br />http://www.cred.be/docs/cedat/DarfurCountingTheDeaths-withClarifications.pdf<br /><br /><br />http://www.ssrc.org/blog/2007/08/16/deaths-in-darfur-keeping-ourselves-honest/feed/<br /><br />http://www.ssrc.org/blog/2007/08/16/deaths-in-darfur-keeping-ourselves-honest/<br />The most reliable study is the one conducted by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. The least reliable estimates were those provided by John Hagan and Eric Reeves. (See the GAO experts’ verdicts in the tables posted below.)<br />[…]<br />Had I been a member of the GAO panel, I would have added my assessment to the majority opinion: CRED is credible, and (dare I say it) possibly on the high side.<br />[…]<br />Its final estimates are within the range 170,000-255,000. While the authors describe these estimates as “conservative”, it should be noted that this is a figure for total deaths, not excess deaths over what would normally be expected.<br />[…]<br />Let me repeat: there is no certainty in these figures. The reality could be different. But the pattern is both clear and familiar, and the best guess is approximately 200,000 excess deaths, plus or minus.<br />What of mortality since the end of 2005, after the reference period of the studies under review? The data for the displaced populations indicate a pattern, familiar from protracted emergencies, of crude death rates at normal levels, albeit with occasional bumps.<br />[…]<br />Since the end of the major offensives in 2004, reports of violent deaths are compiled by the UN on a regular basis, though not published. There are peaks and lulls but the reports—which cover all significant incidents—indicate between 6,000 and 7,000 fatalities over the last two and a half years.<br />[…]<br />In Darfur, the figures have become more politicized than any in recent history.<br />In my view, it is imprudent to use upper-end estimates. A long-term consideration is that inflating the estimates can cheapen the currency of suffering. After famines that are said to kill hundreds of thousands, a crisis with “only” 50,000 expected deaths might not meet the grade for our response.<br /><br /><br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/opinion/12dealey.html<br />August 12, 2007<br />Op-Ed Contributor<br />An Atrocity That Needs No Exaggeration<br />By SAM DEALEY<br />Correction Appended<br />Washington<br />JUST last month, the House of Representatives passed the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act and the United Nations Security Council decided to deploy up to 26,000 peacekeepers to Sudan. Both actions were due in no small way to the work of the Save Darfur Coalition. Through aggressive advertising campaigns, this group has done more than any other to focus world attention on the conflict in the Sudanese region.<br />But with a ruling Wednesday from Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority, Save Darfur now finds itself in the spotlight. Siding with a business group allied with the Sudanese government in Khartoum, the authority ruled that the high death tolls Save Darfur cites in its advertisements breached standards of truthfulness.<br />The ruling is more than just a minor public relations victory for Khartoum; it exposes a glaring problem in Save Darfur’s strategy. While the coalition has done an admirable job of raising awareness, it has also hampered aid-delivery groups, discredited American policy makers and diplomats and harmed efforts to respond to future humanitarian crises.<br />The trouble began last fall when, in ads placed throughout the United States and Britain, Save Darfur denounced the Sudanese government’s scorched-earth campaign against insurgents. “After three years, 400,000 innocent men, women and children have been killed,” the ads said.<br />That claim provoked a complaint to the British ad authority from the European Sudanese Public Affairs Council. After investigating, the authority found that Save Darfur’s ad campaign violated codes of objectivity, and it ordered the group to amend its ads to present the high death toll as opinion, not fact.<br />Serious estimates of the number of dead in Darfur are far lower than 400,000. Last November, the American Government Accountability Office convened a panel of 12 experts to assess the credibility of six prominent mortality estimates for Darfur. Three of these came from the American State Department, the World Health Organization and the W.H.O.-affiliated Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. The other three were independent efforts by activists — including one by John Hagan, a sociologist at Northwestern University, for the defunct Coalition for International Justice. Dr. Hagan’s was the highest estimate and the one on which Save Darfur based its claim.<br />In category after category, the experts overwhelmingly found Dr. Hagan’s estimate of 400,000 deficient. Nine of the experts said that his source data was unsound and that he failed to disclose his study’s limitations. Ten found his assumptions “unreasonable,” and 11 called his extrapolations “inappropriate.” In all, 11 experts held “low” or “very low” confidence in the study.<br />So how many are dead in Darfur? As the G.A.O. study notes, reliable numbers are hard to come by. But the estimate that garnered the highest confidence was the one from the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. From September 2003 until June 2005, the center estimated, there were 158,000 deaths in Darfur. Of those, 131,000 were deemed “excess” — more than normally would occur.<br />Neither the center nor any other responsible outlet has released a tabulation of the death toll after June 2005, but observations by the United Nations and relief groups register a sharp drop — if for no other reason than much of Darfur’s population now resides in the relative safety of aid camps. In 2005, the mortality rate fell below the level that’s considered to be an emergency.<br />But now that the government has resumed bombings and the rebel groups are fighting among themselves as well as against the government, violence has increased. In the last half of 2006, civilian deaths averaged 200 per month. Combining these estimates suggests Darfur’s death toll now hovers at 200,000 — just half of what Save Darfur claimed a year ago in its ad and still claims on its Web site.<br />Of course, whether 200,000 or 400,000 have died, the need to resolve the conflict in Darfur is the same. But Save Darfur’s inflated estimate — used even after Dr. Hagan revised his estimate sharply downward — only frustrates peace efforts.<br />During debate on the House floor last month, for example, Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee claimed that “an estimated 400,000 people have been killed by the government of Sudan and its janjaweed allies.” Ms. Jackson-Lee is hardly alone in making that allegation, and catering to the Sudanese government’s sensitivities may not seem important. But the repeated error only hardens Khartoum against constructive dialogue. If diplomacy, not war, is the ultimate goal for resolving the conflict in Darfur, the United States must maintain its credibility as an honest broker.<br />Inaccurate data can also lead to prescriptive blunders. During the worst period of violence, for example, the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disaster estimated that nearly 70 percent of Darfur’s excess deaths were due not to violence but to disease and malnutrition. This suggests that policy makers should look for ways to bolster and protect relief groups — by continuing to demand that the Sudanese government not hamper the delivery of aid, to be sure, but also by putting vigorous public pressure, so far lacking, on the dozen rebel groups that routinely raid convoys.<br />Exaggerated death tolls also make it difficult for relief organizations to deliver their services. Khartoum considers the inflated numbers to be evidence that all groups that deliver aid to Darfur are actually adjuncts of the activist groups that the regime considers its enemies, and thus finds justification for delaying visas, refusing to allow shipments of supplies and otherwise putting obstacles in the way of aid delivery.<br />Lastly, mortality one-upmanship by advocacy groups threatens to inure the public to both current and future catastrophes. If 400,000 becomes the de facto benchmark for action, other bloody conflicts around the globe — in Sri Lanka, Colombia, Somalia — seem to pale in comparison. Ultimately, the inflated claims fuel a death race in which aid and action are based not on facts but on which advocacy group yells the loudest.<br />Two-hundred thousand dead in Darfur is egregious enough. No matter how noble their intentions, there’s no need for activists to kill more Darfuris than the conflict itself already has.<br />Sam Dealey reports on Africa for Time magazine.<br />Correction: August 22, 2007<br />A recent Op-Ed article about the death toll in Darfur incorrectly characterized a ruling by the British Advertising Standards Authority on Save Darfur Coalition advertisements. The authority did not find that the ads, which put the number of dead at 400,000, “breached standards of truthfulness.” Rather, it told Save Darfur to present the figure as opinion, not fact.<br />-->Steve Fakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971138443375100400noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-64415057259005902252007-08-09T12:06:00.000-05:002007-08-09T11:05:57.799-05:00Weekly Commentary - A No-Fly Zone for Darfur<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dusteye.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/darfur.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 370px;" src="http://dusteye.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/darfur.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The chattering classes of liberal politics have spoken. From all the front-runner <a href="http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/2007_Dems_Howard_U_Foreign_Policy.htm" target="_blank">candidates</a> for the Democratic presidential nomination, to the <a href="http://confrontingempire.blogspot.com/2007/05/weekly-commentary-plan-b-for-save.html" target="_blank">Save Darfur Coalition</a>, important political figures and organizations are publicly advocating a "no-fly zone" as a means to alleviate suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan.<br /><br />Yet before more <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhlFhFjFm3QTevXVOsYrk6DjanTpHNBW-r15l5OeAxlM2hC21AGX5TPmWjAgz2A3h28ZzlryCgALFP7XTcZHMd4-JUS7VRXBeM45EHQnT90z65GF5Ql2nijU-9h9iEkXGbFif7LLaITeu/s1600-h/save+darfur+nyt+ad+-+5-08-2007.JPG" target="_blank">ink</a> (and money) is spent on urging the U.S. government to implement such a measure, activists must consider the potential consequences of a no-fly zone in Darfur - beyond the feeling it may give us that we are "doing something" - and the distinct possibility that it could make the situation on the ground even worse.<br /><br />First, it is important to understand what is being called for in regards to a no-fly zone. By declaring one, the responsible party or parties (likely the U.S. and/or France, due to their nearby air bases) are obliging themselves to "<a href="http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/2007_Dems_Howard_U_Foreign_Policy.htm" target="_blank">shoot down</a> their [Khartoum's] planes" if they enter into the restricted airspace. Aside from the concern that planes being used for humanitarian purposes could be mistakenly targeted in the no-fly zone, as they are "<a href="http://www.sudanreeves.org/Article157.html" target="_blank">indistinguishable</a>" from the planes used by Khartoum, the actual shooting down of one of Khartoum's planes could lead the Sudanese government to unleash their fury on the AU presence in Darfur, or the supposed AU/UN contingent that may be deployed in the future.<br /><br />Yet what will a no-fly zone accomplish for Darfurians, to whose plight the West claims such steadfast commitment?<br /><ul><li>In the immediate short-term, Sudan could very well respond to the implementation of a no-fly zone by turning Darfur's long-running tragedy into an outright catastrophe. As noted by the <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm" target="_blank">International Crisis Group</a>, "Khartoum <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/africa/horn_of_africa/b043_getting_the_un_into_darfur.pdf" target="_blank">might respond</a> by escalating its actions on the ground against civilians, not unlike what happened in the initial days of NATO's actions in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_NATO_bombing_of_the_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslavia" target="_blank">Kosovo</a> in 1999."</li><br /><li>Though Khartoum does still drop bombs on Darfur, "the <a href="http://www.enoughproject.org/reports/noflyzone_20070724.php" target="_blank">vast majority</a> of attacks are executed by forces on the ground." Accordingly, a no-fly zone "would only weaken a very small piece of Khartoum's killing machine."<br /></li><br /><li>A no-fly zone may very well pull the plug on Darfur's massive relief operations. As the Sudan specialist Julie Flint <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=82881" target="_blank">argues</a>,<br /><blockquote>In the last three and a half years, humanitarian aid has stabilized conditions for the more than 4 million people who currently depend on relief. Mortality and malnutrition have fallen, significantly. If a no-fly zone were imposed, Khartoum would not go belly up. It would in all likelihood retaliate by grounding humanitarian flights. Its proxies in the Janjaweed militias would show their displeasure in the only way they know. Relief workers might be expelled or forced to evacuate the region. People who are now being kept alive would die.<br /><br />The current emphasis on coercive measures conceals the fact that the US and its friends have no clear plan of political action, no sensible project for peace to go hand in hand with pressure on the Khartoum regime.</blockquote></li></ul><br />Moreover, there is a clear double standard involved in the question of funding a no-fly zone vis-à-vis other measures. As the Sudan analyst Eric Reeves notes, <a href="http://www.sudanreeves.org/Article157.html" target="_blank">enforcing</a> a no-fly zone would be "extremely resource-consumptive." On the other hand, tellingly, the African Union (AU) mission in Darfur has been <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/staff/shashank_bengali/story/17822.html" target="_blank">severely underfunded</a>, its troops enduring months without pay.<br /><br />Where are the calls from the crème de la crème of the Democratic Party and the Save Darfur Coalition for ramping up funding the AU - with 7000 troops actually on the ground in Darfur - instead of a financially costly no-fly zone that knowledgeable commentators predict would have even costlier effects in terms of human lives?<br /><br />Indeed, while it may make activists feel better to think that their advocacy for a no-fly zone is "doing something" for Darfur, the most likely outcome of their activism may be a severe deterioration in the conditions on the ground in Darfur.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-21483651128799734482007-07-31T20:12:00.000-05:002007-07-31T19:12:58.317-05:00Weekly Commentary - Haiti: Surviving the Saviors<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVoEkTgSTDq5_Ikt4_zeKqSoyn-o2XSNKcMJe_vUU0TAMlodGT0Z3hN_-GFNWmha5XWiAKAUdKCME0lHvRdey8iC29kavNncHxjbdGR0E4b1EJDGIlmyaIhz5YLNKuPpSQp80C9YyvhI5o/s1600-h/b_haititank_gettyid55872894.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVoEkTgSTDq5_Ikt4_zeKqSoyn-o2XSNKcMJe_vUU0TAMlodGT0Z3hN_-GFNWmha5XWiAKAUdKCME0lHvRdey8iC29kavNncHxjbdGR0E4b1EJDGIlmyaIhz5YLNKuPpSQp80C9YyvhI5o/s400/b_haititank_gettyid55872894.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5093456997475572290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Photo: A UN tank looms behind an obviously dangerous Haitian woman, <a href="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/01/09/PM200601093.html" target="_blank">Thony Belizaire/AFP © Getty</a></span><br /><br /><br />Since becoming the world's first independent black republic in 1804, born from history's only successful national slave rebellion, Haiti has suffered more than two centuries of abuse at the hands of Western powers. From France's initial crippling of the Haitian economy, to decades of U.S. military occupation, and subsequent support for the brutal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duvalier" target="_blank">Duvalier</a> dictatorships, Haiti has long been a focal point for Western imperialism. Given this past, and the country's status as "the <a href="http://www.islandnet.com/%7Econtempo/library/wtc/chomsky-p2.html" target="_blank">victim</a> of [the] most US intervention[s] in the 20th century by a long shot," it is unsurprising that Haiti is the Western hemisphere's poorest nation.<br /><br />It is a long-running storyline that continues largely unabated to the present.<br /><br />In 1990, the Haitian poor majority experienced a brief period of actual hope, having voted into office <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristide" target="_blank">Jean-Bertrand Aristide</a>, a Catholic priest and proponent of liberation theology who had become well-known for his devotion to the Haitian masses. Turning to the present, some 17 years later, Aristide finds himself in forced exile in South Africa, the country's social ills continue unaddressed, and an unpopular UN force continues its military occupation of the country.<br /><br />The question of how the Haitian people have gone in these past 17 years from joy to despair (and there and back again, several times over) is an instructive one, revealing at every turn Washington's continued insistence on crushing moves towards meaningful independence for the country.<br /><br />From the moment of Aristide's 1990 election - Haiti's first ever popularly elected president - the U.S. "did <a href="http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/articles/shalom1.htm" target="_blank">what it could</a> to undermine him and to funnel support to the Haitian military," an institution almost universally reviled in Haiti for its brutality and servile role to U.S. interests. In 1991, the military overthrew Aristide, triggering public denunciations from Washington that were difficult to take seriously given longstanding U.S. ties to the coup plotters. However, as the governing military regime plunged Haiti further into chaos, threatening the investment climate and swelling the number of Haitian refugees fleeing to the U.S. to escape the carnage, Washington threatened to invade the country in 1994 in order to reinstall Aristide.<br /><br />Despite misgivings about U.S. motives, most Haitians were glad to see the U.S. take action, and heaped praise on the U.S. soldiers who oversaw the transition back to civilian government. As noted in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Progressive</span>, the majority of Haitians wanted the U.S. "to come in and obliterate the Haitian army."<br /><br />Whatever the initial feelings of euphoria, it was also clear that the U.S. exacted a heavy price from Aristide in return for his being permitted to reassume the Haitian presidency. As reported in the same piece, Washington pressured the Aristide government to:<br /><blockquote>...put its name to a "structural adjustment plan" of the sort usually advanced by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund—namely, the cutting of government bureaucracies and public programs, the privatisation of publicly-owned utilities, the promotion of exports, and an "open-investment policy" that would slash tariffs and eliminate any import restrictions that might trammel investors, especially those of the foreign variety. Haitian-American scholar Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, speaking of the Paris agreements, complained that "the Haitian delegation to the World Bank signed away the economic independence of the country."</blockquote>After serving out his presidency, and sitting out for a term as required by the Haitian constitution, Aristide was nevertheless again elected in 2000, buoyed by the new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanmi_Lavalas" target="_blank">Lavalas</a> political party, which he had founded to combat privatization and the role of international financial institutions.<br /><br />In confronting the same powerful groups and nations as before, Aristide was again overthrown in 2004. In what he describes as his "<a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/16/2027223" target="_blank">modern kidnapping</a>" by the U.S. military, Aristide was taken - without his consent or knowledge - to the Central African Republic; he remains in exile in South Africa, still unable to serve the remainder of his second term as president.<br /><br />Shortly after Aristide's overthrow, a UN force (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINUSTAH" target="_blank">MINUSTAH</a>) deployed in Haiti, initiating an indefinite occupation. Though a supposed example of "humanitarian intervention" aiming to bring stability to Haiti, MINUSTAH has demonstrated a servile attention to the U.S. (as well as Canadian and French) agenda by supporting the political and economic status quo in Haiti and failing to call for the return of the president-in-exile.<br /><br />MINUSTAH's supposed role in halting violence in Haiti is also far from laudatory, indeed it often does quite the opposite, perpetuating carnage instead. According to a Harvard law report, "MINUSTAH has been the <a href="http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/31573" target="_blank">midwife</a>" of the Haitian police in their serious human rights abuses, providing them with "the very implements of repression."<br /><br />It is quite clear that the UN mission in Haiti is intended to pacify a restive population; indeed, the UN “peacekeeping” force’s behavior is hard to distinguish from that of an occupying army. On two separate occasions, July 6, 2005 and December 22, 2006, the UN troops entered the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port-au-Prince" target="_blank">Port-au-Prince</a> slum of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cite_Soleil" target="_blank">Cité-Soleil</a> in force and killed scores of bystanders. MINUSTAH appears to have <a href="http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/haiti/2007/0125force.htm" target="_blank">intentionally targeted civilians</a> with lethal shots to the head.<br /><br />There is <a href="http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/31573" target="_blank">some evidence</a> to indicate that the UN fired into civilian residential areas from helicopters during the July 6, 2005 attack. In the December 22, 2006 attack, UN forces <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/04/159201" target="_blank">denied</a> the Haitian Red Cross entry to the area they were attacking and refused to permit the Red Cross to treat injured children.<br /><br />Given the current buzz surrounding a potential "humanitarian intervention" in <a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/content?splash=yes" target="_blank">Darfur</a>, the poor human rights record of the Haitian incarnation, as well as its servility to Western power, should not soon be forgotten.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-84273526005440253892007-07-12T07:30:00.000-05:002007-07-12T09:12:44.347-05:00Weekly Commentary - The U.S. and Ethiopia: Undermining Stability in Somalia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/333249900_a56a943353_m.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 170px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/333249900_a56a943353_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>For the last decade and a half, Somalia has existed without a central government. The 1991 fall from power of the dictator and U.S. ally, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre" target="_blank">Siad Barre</a>, left the country with a power vacuum that would be filled by rival militias. For many Somalis, life for most of this post-1991 period has been defined by chaos and violence.<br /><br />Stepping into the void, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_islamic_courts" target="_blank">Union of Islamic Courts</a> (UIC) began in May 2006 to expand and consolidate its influence, capturing the capital Mogadishu, and establishing a governing authority that would displace the ineffectual <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_Federal_Government" target="_blank">transitional government</a> - a body that is <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19444" target="_blank">widely seen</a> as the creation of foreign powers designed to serve international constituencies instead of the Somali people.<br /><br />As noted by the International Crisis Group, the UIC, for all its faults, <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4630&l=1" target="_blank">brought</a> "a degree of peace and security unknown to the south for more than fifteen years. Mogadishu was reunited, weapons removed from the streets and the port and airport reopened." Mogadishu residents <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/world/africa/19victim.html?_r=1&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;th&emc=th&oref=slogin" target="_blank">commented</a> that the UIC liberated the city from the militias and numerous “roadblocks that had functioned like a hundred Berlin Walls.” Such were the restrictions on movement "that some residents had not seen friends and relatives in years, and children living only minutes from the crashing Indian Ocean had never laid eyes on the turquoise water.”<br /><br />Following the U.S.-Ethiopian ouster of the UIC Islamists in December 2006, Somalia again began to slide into chaos.<br /><br />What is especially noteworthy in this saga is how the U.S. role has been decisive in squashing these moves towards stability.<br /><br />Leading up to the invasion, U.S. private military firms <a href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1868920,00.html" target="_blank">operated</a> in Somalia in support of the transitional government, violating a UN arms embargo with the knowledge of the CIA. In the spring of 2006, Washington itself was “<a href="http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2005/226/7.shtml" target="_blank">bankrolling</a> an alliance of warlords, the same people whose armed gangs are keeping Somalia ungovernable,” in a futile attempt to prevent the UIC from gaining power.<br /><br />More direct has been Washington's critical support for Ethiopia in its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Somalia_%282006%E2%80%93present%29" target="_blank">invasion of Somalia</a>.<br /><br />The U.S.-Ethiopia alliance itself is not new, and nor is Ethiopia's <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1229-21.htm" target="_blank">pitiful</a> human rights record. Yet the shared goal of taking out the UIC further strengthened the ties between the two countries.<br /><br />Demonstrating the <a href="http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/intervention/2007/0103antiussomalis.htm" target="_blank">closeness</a> of the U.S.-Ethiopian collaboration, in preparation for the invasion Washington sent General John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, to meet with Prime Minister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenawi" target="_blank">Meles Zenawi</a>. Veteran journalist Nicola Nasser noted that the U.S. violated its own UN Security Council Resolution (1725) by “providing training, intelligence and consultation to at least 8,000 Ethiopian troops” that entered Somalia in advance of the full invasion, and, as <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/28/africa/AF-GEN-Somalia-Chaos-Comeback.php" target="_blank">reported</a>, by "mounting air raids on militia targets and stationing a U.S. Navy carrier battle group off the Somali coast."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4549&l=1" target="_blank">Somalis</a> were “opposed to foreign intervention” and displayed an “outpouring of popular support” for the UIC and in defense of the country’s sovereignty, though the U.S.-backed Ethiopian forces were able to unseat the UIC in short order.<br /><br />Initial reports estimated the invasion may have killed about <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/28/1450201" target="_blank">1,000 people</a> outright, with some <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=21360&Cr=somalia&Cr1=" target="_blank">400,000</a> displaced. In the midst of the invasion, the African Union, <a href="http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/39189" target="_blank">UN Secretary-General</a>, and European Union all demanded (to no avail) that Ethiopia withdrawal.<br /><br />The results of the invasion have been clear. With the warlords <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4630&l=1" target="_blank">returned to power</a>, Mogadishu has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/world/africa/13somalia.html?ref=africa" target="_blank">seen</a> "a steady breakdown of law and order," while the World Food Program <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=21121&Cr=somalia&Cr1=" target="_blank">reported</a> that the invasion forced the organization to halt deliveries of food aid serving as many as a half million Somalis suffering from food shortages as a result of flooding.<br /><br />Though it has managed to evade the careful eyes of Western media, a <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22527&Cr=children&Cr1=conflict" target="_blank">report</a> from the Secretary-General of the UN estimates that over one third of those killed and injured in 2006 during the fighting were children, and that the transitional government has recruited and used child soldiers.<br /><br />Nevertheless, in a disgraceful display of fealty to the world superpower, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his first formal press conference, <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36157" target="_blank">refused</a> to call the U.S.-Ethiopian aggression towards Somalia illegal under international law (though it clearly was).<br /><br />However, the Security Council itself is “complicit” in the attack upon Somalia, as pointed out by former UN spokesperson Salim Lone. Aside from its silence regarding Ethiopian aggression, the Council passed in November a resolution supporting the very weak transitional government, a body devoid of popular support. As noted, the resolution came at a time when Somalia was experiencing more peace and security, thanks to the UIC, than it had seen in many years. Qatar, supported by the Arab League, sponsored a <a href="http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/dec-2006/28/latest.php" target="_blank">non-binding</a> Security Council resolution demanding that “all foreign forces immediately withdraw from the territories of Somalia and cease their military operations inside Somalia.” The resolution was killed as a result of opposition by the U.S. and others to the phrase.<br /><br />Yet if the invasion was bad, its aftermath has been <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6656283.stm" target="_blank">catastrophic</a>.<br /><br />In a particularly bloody period starting in March, some 1,300 people were killed, representing the worst violence that Mogadishu had seen in 16 years. In May 2007, John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said the crisis of displaced persons and refugees in Somalia had become a worse than that of Darfur, and accused the warring parties of violating international law. Since February, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6594647.stm" target="_blank">340,000</a> people were displaced - in addition to the 400,000 who fled following the invasion, though some may indeed have been forced to abandon their homes more than once.<br /><br />Further, as <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2067493,00.html" target="_blank">acknowledged</a> by the German ambassador to Sudan, the foreign-backed Somali government is also guilty of “indiscriminate use of air strikes and heavy artillery in Mogadishu's densely populated areas, the raping of women, the deliberate blocking of urgently needed food and humanitarian supplies, and the bombing of hospitals. This is a relentless drive to terrify and intimidate civilians belonging to clans” opposed to the occupation.<br /><br />Such is the "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/world/africa/10somalia.html?th&emc=th" target="_blank">complicated legacy</a>" of the U.S. in Somalia, in the delicate phrasing of the <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span>. Less complicated has been the both initial and ongoing U.S. support for the destabilization of Somalia at the hands of its Ethiopian allies.<http: uk="" 2="" hi="" africa="" stm=""><http: uk="" 2="" hi="" africa="" stm=""><br /></http:></http:>Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-52387263076840265072007-07-02T19:13:00.000-05:002007-07-02T18:14:08.781-05:00Weekly Commentary - Divesting for DarfurEvoking memories of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinvestment_from_South_Africa" target="_blank">global activism</a> against apartheid in South Africa, the <a href="http://savedarfur.org/content?splash=yes" target="_blank">Save Darfur movement</a> is actively pushing a campaign for <a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/page/content/index/" target="_blank">divestment</a> from certain companies operating in Sudan.<br /><br />Though we have elsewhere <a href="http://confrontingempire.blogspot.com/2007/05/weekly-commentary-plan-b-for-save.html" target="_blank">criticized</a> other stances taken (or not taken) by the Save Darfur movement, this particular focus on divestment is not necessarily objectionable; however, it is important to understand the limitations and potential pitfalls of such advocacy, as well as the more global issue of why divestment from Sudan has progressed in ways that divestment from other human rights abusers has not.<br /><br />As <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/july-dec06/darfur_11-23.html" target="_blank">explained</a> by the academic <a href="http://www.sudanreeves.org/" target="_blank">Eric Reeves</a>, who has written extensively on Darfur,<blockquote>The divestment campaign targets those companies that list on the New York Stock Exchange and other U.S. exchanges which provide key commercial and capital investments in the economy of Sudan, supporting the National Islamic Front, National Congress Party regime in Khartoum, and insulating them from the consequences of their massive external debt and their profligate expenditures on military weapons and the prosecution of genocidal war in Darfur.</blockquote>Note that this is divestment from companies "that list on...U.S. exchanges" - it is not divestment from U.S. companies operating in Sudan, because they are already prohibited from doing so by U.S. sanctions. The "real culprits," according to Reeves, are Asian firms, most prominently the Chinese oil company <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrochina" target="_blank">PetroChina</a>.<br /><br />While urging individual and corporate investors in the U.S. to divest from Chinese companies because of what they are doing in Sudan is acceptable and even laudable in principle, it is also, at the very least, convoluted. Even if the campaign is successful in forcing total U.S. divestment from Chinese oil companies that operate in Sudan, it is not clear how much pressure these firms (some of which, like PetroChina, are state-backed) would actually feel to pull out of the country. There is, to be sure, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020422/silverstein" target="_blank">no shortage</a> of businesses or governments who are willing to invest in oil companies without any consideration for human rights.<br /><br />Just as fundamentally, this divestment strategy fails to take into account that the Save Darfur movement has far greater leverage vis-a-vis the U.S. government, for whose actions U.S. activists bear direct moral responsibility, and can more easily do something to change. Significant moves - such as pushing the U.S. to <a href="http://www.oxfam.org.au/media/article.php?id=247">fund</a> the African Union forces on the ground in Darfur - have not been made in this more substantive direction, perhaps linked to the curious official posture of the Save Darfur movement, which holds that Washington is doing "<a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/faq/#0" target="_blank">good work</a>" in resolving the crisis - evidence for which has not been forthcoming, as it does not exist.<br /><br />In no small part because it largely frees us of moral culpability by focusing on China's role - which is significant, though again, less subject to pressure from U.S. activists than Washington's own <a href="http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/terrorwar/analysis/2005/0429sudan.htm" target="_blank">cynical policies</a> - this divestment movement has gained significant ground in a relatively short period of time.<br /><br />Across the U.S., many <a href="http://www.sudandivestment.org/home.asp" target="_blank">states</a>, <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_5251267" target="_blank">major</a> <a href="http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Council_asks_city_to_sever_Darfur_ties/6761.html" target="_blank">cities</a>, presidential <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20070606-1427-candidatedebate-sudan.html" target="_blank">candidates</a>, and dozens of <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-perfin13may13,1,5961450.column?coll=la-utilities-business&ctrack=2&cset=true" target="_blank">universities</a> (aside: note that this sympathetic article in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Los Angeles Times</span>, mimicking the "<a href="http://www.chomsky.info/books/warfare02.htm">totalitarian streak</a>" behind the usage of the term "anti-American," bizarrely refers to divestment as "anti-Sudan" in character) have moved to discuss and/or implement varying levels of divestment from Sudan; the campaign is also going after U.S.-based firms such as <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a4CMGO.y4weY&refer=home" target="_blank">Berkshire Hathaway</a> (which is headed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett" target="_blank">Warren Buffet</a>), and <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article21883" target="_blank">Fidelity Investments</a>.<br /><br />Yet if divestment is a valid tactic for effecting change in countries that seriously violate human rights - that is, if divestment is supported by the victims of the abuses, or can be "<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/17/news/companies/pluggedin_gunther_darfur.fortune/" target="_blank">targeted</a>" in such a way that it does not have adverse affects for the general population - then where is the rush to divest from Israel's "<a href="http://web.amnesty.org/pages/mde-150612006-eng" target="_blank">war crimes</a>"?<br /><br />The contradiction is explicit in the case of Harvard University. In 2002, in response to a petition to divest the university from the <a href="http://www.endtheoccupation.org/" target="_blank">Israeli Occupation</a>, then Harvard President Lawrence Summers <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0921-03.htm" target="_blank">condemned</a> the campaign as "anti-Semitic in effect, if not intent."<br /><br />Yet in April 2005, Harvard became "the first major victory in a national campaign for divestment from Sudan" as it <a href="http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12065" target="_blank">divested</a> from PetroChina. As Summers commented,<br /><blockquote>Divestment is not a step that Harvard takes lightly, but I believe there is a compelling case for action in these special circumstances, in light of the terrible situation still unfolding in Darfur and the leading role played by PetroChina's parent company in the Sudanese oil industry, which is so important to the Sudanese regime.<br /></blockquote>Employing his own perverse logic, why is this campaign not anti-Chinese, or anti-Arab, anti-African, or anti-Muslim?<br /><br />As the Harvard law professor and <a href="http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=1092" target="_blank">opponent of academic freedom</a> Alan Dershowitz asks about those <a href="http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=28" target="_blank">advocating divestment</a> from the Israeli Occupation,<br /><blockquote>''Why don't they say anything about Cuba's chilling of dissent or China's occupation of Tibet? Why don't they feel a personal stake in getting Jordan, Egypt, and the Philippines to stop torturing people?'...The only reason they feel so strongly about Israel is because it is the Jewish nation.''</blockquote>Speaking from our own past experiences as students working for divestment from the Israeli Occupation at the University of Pittsburgh, we literally could not even get the <a href="http://www.pittnews.com/" target="_blank">student newspaper</a> - hardly big media - to cover the well attended kick-off event, which featured the legendary anti-apartheid activist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Brutus">Dennis Brutus</a>. Meanwhile, there is constant coverage of Darfur activism in the press, and it would be unimaginable for a figure even as crass as Dershowitz to openly condemn Darfur activists for bigotry and failing to "say anything about Cuba."<br /><br />Accordingly, the campaign of targeted divestment from Sudan owes much, if not all of its success to the fact that it coalesces with official U.S. rhetoric on Darfur; alternatively, divesting from Israel's human rights abuses, <a href="http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp" target="_blank">substantial</a> as they are, does not, and thus the campaign to do so - though longer running - has failed to resonate in the tender hearts of city legislators, state government officials, or the Lawrence Summers of the world (evidently, no small category).<br /><br />That the campaign to divest from the Israeli Occupation has failed to gain Darfur-like traction, while we bear a much more direct moral responsibility for Israel's actions - which we could likely halt almost immediately - makes the reasons for the relative success of the Sudan divestment campaign clear enough, a campaign which has unfortunately largely failed to make overtures to activists working to end the Israeli Occupation, or other human rights abuses.<br /><br />That the Save Darfur movement is, in the eyes of its leaders, the "<a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/06/25/2003366789" target="_blank">biggest such activism</a>" since Vietnam - instead of the movement to end the war in Iraq, which, again, we could do quite easily - is perhaps an even clearer indication of the failures in our intellectual culture.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-78921459077956411412007-06-27T18:10:00.000-05:002007-06-27T17:09:26.312-05:00Weekly Commentary – Nigeria: a U.S. Ally at a Glance<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpI7BFm5XvdrvkfazJQHT7WEOicppHIlAIuz-dunbbqQVDjl1uhqWc7nDAIQ88IicFjKggDpMVHIugxvuCmFWFMmKhyJBIrITqb_6MREvaB4rX2_DRfCSIFAtMWNSbq7_hf6EjVwqKhQNC/s1600-h/ngrap2aa.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpI7BFm5XvdrvkfazJQHT7WEOicppHIlAIuz-dunbbqQVDjl1uhqWc7nDAIQ88IicFjKggDpMVHIugxvuCmFWFMmKhyJBIrITqb_6MREvaB4rX2_DRfCSIFAtMWNSbq7_hf6EjVwqKhQNC/s320/ngrap2aa.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5080727233446665714" border="0" /></a><em>On December 26, 2006, hundreds of Nigerians were "burned alive" in the explosion of an oil pipeline that had been punctured by thieves in the country's largest city, Lagos. As the original caption to the photo at right <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,1978712,00.html" target="_blank">read</a>, "A rescue worker walks among charred corpses after a pipeline explosion in Lagos, Nigeria." Such events are symptomatic of the entrenched corruption and inequality of the nation.</em><br /><br />Nigeria is both the major power in West Africa - the <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/africa/west_africa/126_nigeria_failed_elections.pdf" target="_blank">"regional police officer"</a> (International Crisis Group) - and a country which supplies the U.S. with <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9340544" target="_blank"> more oil</a> than any other African nation. Accordingly, it is a key U.S. ally.<br /><br />Hardly mincing words, the State Department’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs <a href="http://www.state.gov/p/af/rls/rm/2006/75336.htm" target="_blank">commented</a> in October that:<br /><blockquote>Nigeria is arguably our most important strategic partner in Africa. It is Africa’s most populous state as well as its second-largest economy. Nigeria is our largest African trading partner, and a growing key oil supplier to the United States. It is a crucial continental power broker in dealing with African institutions and in resolving armed conflict. It is a vital player in the War on Terror. Located along the Sahel, Nigeria exerts great influence on African political, economic, and socio-cultural trends. A prosperous Nigeria is vital to Africa’s growth and stability, and to projecting U.S. influence as a strategic partner. </blockquote>Since 1999, the U.S. military relationship with Nigeria has <a href="http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Oil_watch/Oil_Democracy_Don%27t_Mix.html" target="_blank">blossomed</a>, despite, or perhaps more accurately because of, the Nigerian military and security forces' harsh treatment of dissenters, including the use of extrajudicial executions (as reported by the State Department itself).<br /><br />This relationship has manifested itself in several ways:<br /><ul><li>U.S. special forces "<a href="http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9340544" target="_blank">work with</a>" the Nigerian military to control the Sahara, as part of the "War on Terror" </li><li>The U.S. and Nigeria <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/watts01022007.html" target="_blank">coordinate</a> on "security" in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger_delta" target="_blank">Niger Delta</a>; oil companies operating in the Delta have openly asked the U.S. military for "protection of their facilities" <span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></li><li>The U.S. Navy <a href="http://www.upi.com/Energy/view.php?StoryID=20060601-114359-1961r" target="_blank">patrols</a> the Gulf of Guinea to protect Nigerian oil fields</li></ul>Accordingly, the <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/99EED00E-5095-4E30-A61D-85277273B5DB.htm" target="_blank">four day national strike</a> last week over rising fuel prices, which paralyzed major cities, was no doubt watched with some concern in Washington. Oil, after all, is to be properly directed to the West, not the pesky natives - a lesson not understood by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria_Labour_Congress" target="_blank">Nigeria Labour Congress</a>, which called the strike to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6766465.stm" target="_blank">compel the government</a> to reverse measures pushed through by the former president <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obasanjo" target="_blank">Olusegun Obasanjo</a> shortly before leaving office, including a dramatic increase in fuel prices and the selling off of government oil refineries to cronies.<br /><br />This last action by Obasanjo may reduce the prospects for turning around the nation’s refining capabilities. Nigeria, one of the world’s largest oil producers and the largest in Africa, is in the absurd situation of being forced to import most of its fuel because its refineries are in shambles - a result of years of neglect.<br /><br />The resulting strike was reportedly supported by <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061900261.html" target="_blank">"many Nigerians."</a> An indication as to why is provided by the words of a Nigerian man <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6766725.stm" target="_blank">interviewed</a> by the BBC. Referring to the impact of the fuel price hike, the Lagos entrepreneur noted:<br /><blockquote>Our family income is reduced by 20%. But everything else has gone up in response to the price hikes - tomatoes, bread, all foodstuffs, clothes, transport... a loaf of bread used to be 100 naira ($0.78) but now it is between 120 and 150 naira ($1.18). Even rent has gone up because landlords have seized this opportunity to also increase their rates.</blockquote>The man summarized that the aim of the government was "to be the master over the servants" - a typical posture for U.S.-allied governments, in Africa and beyond.<br /><br />Nigerians <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6237182.stm" target="_blank">returned</a> to work on Monday, the strike having ended with a concession from the government to hold fuel prices steady for the next year but without a reversal of the sale of the oil refineries.<br /><br />The labor unrest comes in the wake of the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/business/worldbusiness/16oil.html?ex=1336968000&en=b8b21f5cf77d30bb&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss" target="_blank">"deeply flawed"</a> April election that brought Obasanjo’s hand-picked successor to power. Following the election, protestors from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogoni" target="_blank">Ogoni</a> indigenous ethnic group in the Niger Delta managed to cut the country’s oil production by 30 percent in an attempt, as one protest group put it, to "compel the government to address the injustice in the Niger Delta."<br /><br />Though the EU determined the election was not credible and Nigerian observers called for a revote, the results stood, troubling the nation’s alliance with the U.S. not a bit, aside from Washington’s usual pious pronouncement that it was <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6584393.stm" target="_blank">"deeply troubled"</a> by flaws in the poll. The International Crisis Group <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/africa/west_africa/126_nigeria_failed_elections.pdf" target="_blank">concluded</a> that the elections were "the most poorly organised and massively rigged in the country’s history," no small achievement. Some 200 people died in violence related to the elections; opposition groups were intimidated and their leaders arrested.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the U.S.-declared <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/11/mil-031107-rferl-162305.htm" target="_blank">"global democratic revolution"</a> carries on unabated, though it is of little value to most Nigerians; despite the country's position as the largest oil producer in Africa, more than half of Nigerians live in <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1064557.stm" target="_blank">poverty</a>. Astonishingly for a country rich in resources, Nigeria has the <a href="http://www.state.gov/p/af/rls/rm/2006/75336.htm" target="_blank">second highest</a> maternal mortality rate in the world.<br /><br />Lagos, Africa's second largest city, is what Michael Watts, director of the Center for African Studies at UC-Berkeley, <a href="http://www.monthlyreview.org/0906watts.htm" target="_blank">calls</a> "everyone’s worst urban nightmare," possessed as it is of massive slums. Watts <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/watts01022007.html" target="_blank">writes</a>:<br /><blockquote>In Ajegunle, one of its vast swamp shanty towns, perhaps 1.5 million people inhabit eight square kilometers. In a recent New Yorker article, George Packer describe [sic] the city as a burning garbage heap, populated by armies of scavengers that are superfluous and ultimately disposable.</blockquote>Income inequality is massive, with 85 percent of proceeds from oil flowing to 1 percent of the population. One estimate holds that $100 billion in oil revenue has simply disappeared since 1970, presumably into the foreign bank accounts of corrupt leaders and bureaucrats.<br /><br />In the decades since oil production began, inequality has increased while per capita income decreased. No less an establishment authority than the IMF observes that oil - or, at least, a system of oil exploration and refining designed to benefit the West and Nigeria's elite - may have actually hindered the standard of living in Nigeria. Watts notes that, "Between 1970 and 2000 in Nigeria, the number of people subsisting on less than one dollar a day grew from 36 percent to more than 70 percent, from 19 million to a staggering 90 million."<br /><br />Nowhere is the suffering and exploitation of Nigerians more extreme than in the Niger Delta. In the last decade, oil-related violence in the Delta has <a href="http://www.monthlyreview.org/0906watts.htm" target="_blank">skyrocketed</a>. Government "security" forces, in alliance with the U.S., provide security to the foreign multi-nationals exploiting the region’s oil while abusing the local populations.<br /><br />Sandy Cioffi, producer of a documentary on the Niger Delta struggle, <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/26/1518254&mode=thread&tid=25" target="_blank">notes</a> that nonviolent activism in the region had been taking place since the 1980s and was met with brutality, culminating in the execution of the activist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro_Wiwa" target="_blank">Ken Saro-Wiwa</a> by the Nigerian military in 1995.<br /><br />As Cioffi goes on to note, in 2002 a group of women conducted a nonviolent protest by overtaking an oil platform. The women demanded basic social services and the cleaning up of the oil-polluted environment; they were able to extract memoranda of understanding, which, however, went largely unfulfilled. Following these repeated refusals to implement the rudiments of justice, many residents have come to believe that more militant and violent tactics are necessary.<br /><br />As the Nigerian writer and Nobel Prize winner <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wole_soyinka" target="_blank">Wole Soyinka</a> explains about one such tactic now employed in the Niger Delta:<br /><blockquote>You must have heard of hostage-taking, and I personally, I’m in a position to tell you that I have participated in the efforts to release those hostages, which came to a successful conclusion. So I am in touch with some of these people, these young people, highly motivated. They are not thugs. They are not riffraff, as they are sometimes portrayed. They are disciplined. And they are determined to correct decades of injustice, and that's all they’re really after. You may disagree with their methods, but believe me, nobody should underestimate the very deep motivation that impels these people.</blockquote>Adding further to the suffering of the region, the people of the Abalamabie community in Rivers State, Nigeria are <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/200705150345.html" target="_blank">suffering</a> from a spill of heavy crude oil managed by Shell Petroleum. The oil spill polluted forests, farmland and waterways, leading to the "total destruction of crops, fishes and other sea foods". A statement issued by the president of the community’s development committee stated that "the rate of devastation is becoming unbearable" and is "destroying the economic life of the community."<br /><br />The spill occurred over three months ago – to date Shell has not responded to pleas from the community to clean the site and has provided only very <a href="http://www.independentngonline.com/?c=116&a=28509" target="_blank">"meager"</a> relief to the people, who are "predominantly peasant farmers and fishermen." The U.S. government could of course apply the necessary pressure to elicit a response from Shell, though this is of a similar likelihood as Washington pressuring the Nigerian government to work to end the massive social inequality that exists in the country.<br /><br />The people of Nigeria, and especially in the Delta, may be forgiven if they are wondering where exactly the U.S. manifests its vaunted concern for human rights and development, standing in sharp contrast to the <a href="http://www.sudanreeves.org/Article142.html" target="_blank">crudely self-interested</a> alliances fostered by China on the African continent.Steve Fakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971138443375100400noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-41324241141038393792007-06-24T12:03:00.000-05:002007-06-24T12:08:41.755-05:00"Saving Darfur or Salvation Delusion?"We have a new, co-authored <a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4314" target="_blank">article</a> published by <a href="http://www.fpif.org/" target="_blank">Foreign Policy in Focus</a>. Citations and footnotes for the article are available <a href="http://confrontingempire.blogspot.com/2007/05/footnotes-saving-darfur-or-salvation.html" target="_blank">here</a>; we welcome comments.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-77510009694940442812007-06-17T11:45:00.000-05:002007-06-19T14:36:25.147-05:0040 Years of Occupation...and Counting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvjjdHpn7PPdeb5jXGA2abRAs8AoU3t0zBdA6VxtfrB8R-y23iX_DsKARZNa6_bA2Zao2Dju6J_MY1SlRXIeXElPCiwDO0CtJUac5crJEDWI2wQ0eyA26cRLBT-7e0ACW0iX_HbRrO-AJ/s1600-h/Summer+2007+059.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvjjdHpn7PPdeb5jXGA2abRAs8AoU3t0zBdA6VxtfrB8R-y23iX_DsKARZNa6_bA2Zao2Dju6J_MY1SlRXIeXElPCiwDO0CtJUac5crJEDWI2wQ0eyA26cRLBT-7e0ACW0iX_HbRrO-AJ/s320/Summer+2007+059.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075288659786459602" border="0"></a><font style="font-style: italic;">Steve Fake, co-author of this blog, traveled to Washington D.C. in a group of 22 activists from Boston to take part in the June 10 protest against 40 years of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. What follows is his personal account of the protest.</font><br /><br /><br />In June 1967, amongst escalating tensions in the region, Israel launched attacks against Egypt and Jordan. Syria would also be drawn into the conflict. In the resulting "<a href="http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=1067" target="_blank">Six-Day War</a>," Israel would capture, in direct contravention of international law, land that had been under the control of all three countries - the West Bank and East Jerusalem (Jordan), the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula (Egypt), and the Golan Heights (Syria). While Egypt has since reclaimed the Sinai Peninsula, and the issue of the Golan Heights has fallen to the back burner, the areas comprising the parts of historic Palestine which do not form part of the state of Israel - the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip - all remain under Israeli occupation. The Palestinians find themselves on <a href="http://web.amnesty.org/wire/June2007/Israel" target="_blank">ever shrinking parcels of land</a>, subjected to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2074067,00.html" target="_blank">torture</a>, <a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26512880.htm" target="_blank">unlawful detention</a>, and <a href="http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp" target="_blank">killings</a>, and suffering in ways that conjure images of <a href="http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/israel-palestine/un/2007/0223apartheid.htm" target="_blank">apartheid</a> South Africa.<br /><br />As this occupation completed its fourth decade, organizers convened a march in Washington D.C. to highlight the criminality and inhumanity of both Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and especially the U.S.' <a href="http://www.wrmea.com/html/us_aid_to_israel.htm" target="_blank">defining role</a> in allowing the Israeli state to perpetrate its crimes. It was an historic day - the first instance, as a protest emcee noted repeatedly, of a national demonstration in the U.S. specifically dedicated to supporting the Palestinian cause.<br /><br />Opposition to the occupation - normally absent from public discourse - recently received an unusual amount of exposure in our nation's capital. <a href="http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&amp;amp;amp;TypeID=1&ArticleID=7229&SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4" target="_blank">Reportedly</a>, last month one of the leading organizations behind the demonstration placed ads in the D.C. metro "depicting a Palestinian child on his way to school with an Israeli tank looming in the background, gun barrel lowered. 'Imagine if this was your child's daily path to school,' the captions declare."<br /><br />To make the comparison more <a href="http://www.rememberthesechildren.org/remember2007.html" target="_blank">tangible and realistic</a>, perhaps in the future actors dressed up as <a href="http://www.pcdc.edu.ps/children_under_occupation.htm" target="_blank">Israeli soldiers</a> can charge through Washington's streets with loaded weapons, actually firing at children.<br /><br />As for the rally itself, I was greeted upon my arrival at the Capitol building by the airing of a <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/08/1512231" target="_blank">statement</a> that had been sent by none other than the former sitcom star <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseanne_Barr" target="_blank">Roseanne Barr</a>; in her statement, Barr condemned "the vicious cycle of revenge and recriminations that benefit only those who profit from a distance." Inspired, the emcee commented (paraphrased): “today Roseanne, tomorrow the hottest couples in Hollywood. Support is growing. Next time we'll have Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie here.” At the very least we can launch a campaign to convince Angelina to adopt a Palestinian baby.<br /><br />Other speakers at the rally included:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://qumsiyeh.org/home/" target="_blank">Mazin Qumsiyeh</a>, the respected Palestinian geneticist, spoke of the Israel lobby in the U.S. While Qumsiyeh is right to broach this topic, it is important not to fall into a nationalist line of thinking by succumbing to the line that this lobby is "<a href="http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12607" target="_blank">the dominant factor</a>" in the formation of U.S. policies. Such a viewpoint not only serves as an abdication of moral responsibility ("hey, we're good people, and we would have a just policy towards the region if not for these meddlesome outsiders"), it also goes against the factual record. As <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Finkelstein" target="_blank">Norman Finkelstein</a> <a href="http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12607" target="_blank">adeptly notes</a>, "the historical connection between the US and Israel has been based on the useful services that Israel has performed for the United States in the region as a whole" - from <a href="http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10229" target="_blank">taking out Nasser</a> in Egypt, to recently <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Lebanon-Israel_War" target="_blank">attempting</a> (and <a href="http://www.empirenotes.org/hizbullahsvictory.html" target="_blank">failing</a>) to destroy Hezbollah. Indicative of this erroneous line of thinking, there were several signs at the rally expressing sentiments such as “End Israeli Occupation of Capital Hill.”<br /></li><li>A speaker from the <a href="http://www.gp.org/" target="_blank">Green Party</a> emphasized Washington's role in perpetuating the Occupation, calling the violence bipartisan and noting, impressively, that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_right_of_return" target="_blank">right of return</a> is advocated in the Party's <a href="http://www.gp.org/platform/2004/democracy.html#310677" target="_blank">platform</a>.</li><li>Husam El-Nounou of the <a href="http://www.gcmhp.net/" target="_blank">Gaza Community Mental Health Programme</a> described Gaza as the world's largest prison, but noted that Palestinians are <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6649.shtml" target="_blank">there to stay</a>. As the Israeli journalist Gideon Levy <a href="http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=14" target="_blank">comments</a>, Israel "is a country in which the streets are plastered with posters calling for a population transfer."</li><li>Jennifer Loewenstein of <a href="http://www.icahd.org/eng/" target="_blank">Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions</a> announced the organization's ambitious plan (the <a href="http://www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu=5&submenu=1&item=445" target="_blank">Constructing Peace Campaign</a>) to rebuild every single Palestinian house destroyed this year by Israeli forces. She said about 300 homes are demolished each year on average.</li><li>Another speaker humorously suggested naming each of the Israeli checkpoints in the Occupied Territories for a U.S. Congressperson, since there are approximately the same numbers of each, to remind our representatives (and the public) of what they are funding.</li></ul>Mazin Qumsiyeh estimated there were about 4,000 demonstrators and 50 counter-demonstrators. The Jerusalem Post put it at <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181570246903&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull" target="_blank">“upwards of 2,000”</a> and the counter-protesters at “a couple hundred.” The organizers' website estimated <a href="http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=162" target="_blank">over 5,000</a>.<br /><br />It was predictable that fewer people would show up than for a demonstration against the occupation of Iraq; however, while the organizers did not make public any expectations for crowd size, the turnout was nonetheless a bit disappointing in comparison to rallies held elsewhere.<br /><br />The protest in London appears to have drawn many more people (estimates range widely, from <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181228582339&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull" target="_blank">2,000</a> to <a href="http://www.enoughoccupation.org/?lid=13692" target="_blank">20,000</a>); however, England has only a sixth of the U.S. population, and while Britain generally supports Israeli policies, it is not <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2101630,00.html" target="_blank">the decisive enabler of Israeli crimes</a> that Washington is - a role of which the U.S. is evidently <a href="http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/102250.html" target="_blank">quite proud</a>.<br /><br />There was very little coverage of the protest by the media; the <font style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</font> and <font style="font-style: italic;">Washington Post</font> had none that I could find. If only we were focusing our efforts on Darfur instead of Palestine, we would have been rewarded with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/us/01rally.html?ex=1304136000&en=c1e3cdf5cf532cd0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss" target="_blank">top media billing</a>.<br /><br />I took a few dozen <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/freeradical83/June102007PalestineProtest?authkey=lmzpPzrw06k" target="_blank">photos</a> from the protest, though a photographer named Diane Greene Lent has a superior <a href="http://dianelent.com/j10palestine.htm" target="_blank">set</a>. Three <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUzG3byX-Kg" target="_blank">videos</a> of the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.sinkers.org/washdcJun1007sml.mp4" target="_blank">rally</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khJm6FNUMAQ" target="_blank">march</a> are also available.<br /><br />In addition to London, other protests were held in <a href="http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5580290,00.html" target="_blank">Colorado</a>, <a href="http://www.pr-inside.com/palestinians-protest-40-years-of-israeli-r148759.htm" target="_blank">Jerusalem</a>, <a href="http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=537484" target="_blank">Johannesburg, Cape Town</a>, and <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/868800.html" target="_blank">Tel Aviv</a>.<br /><br />Just two days before the protest, the prominent scholar on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Norman Finkelstein, was <a href="http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=1076" target="_blank">denied tenure</a><font style="text-decoration: underline;"></font> by DePaul University in Chicago. Finkelstein must now vacate his current post by the end of the upcoming academic year.<br /><br />Despite <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/09/1514221" target="_blank">praise</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Hilberg" target="_blank">Raul Hilberg</a>, widely considered "the <a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20000926/ai_n10621533" target="_blank">dean</a> of Holocaust scholars," Finkelstein fell victim to a <a href="http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=43&ItemID=13052" target="_blank">vicious smear campaign</a>, spearheaded by the Harvard law professor <a href="http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=999">Alan Dershowitz</a>. <a href="http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=1081" target="_blank">Mehrene Larudee</a>, a fellow DePaul professor who was set to become head of the school's international studies program, was also denied tenure, for what she cites as her support for Finkelstein.<br /><br />Students have <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/427649,CST-NWS-depaul14.article" target="_blank">protested</a> the decision. According to one student, "This is going to be a long battle...DePaul will be embarrassed by this activity.'' One can only <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/425140,CST-NWS-DEPAUL13.article" target="_blank">hope</a> that this turns out to be the case.<br /><br />In the words of Hllberg, "I have a <a href="http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=1074" target="_blank">sinking feeling</a> about the damage this will do to academic freedom." Little has changed in these 40 years.Steve Fakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971138443375100400noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-60421323939802529952007-06-10T11:30:00.000-05:002007-06-10T10:29:09.177-05:00Weekly Commentary - Haranguing Hugo ChávezFrom liberal to conservative, the corridors of educated opinion in the U.S. are quaking - <span style="font-style: italic;">quaking</span> - with indignation over the Venezuelan government's non-renewal of a television license for the broadcaster <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCTV" target="_blank">RCTV</a>. If I had a dollar for every one of these <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6690541.stm" target="_blank">righteous condemnations</a> of Caracas, I could buy a printing press and actually exercise in a meaningful way the First Amendment rights that many of these <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-venezuela_tuesmay29,1,2617301.story?ctrack=1&cset=true" target="_blank">commentators</a> and <a href="http://speaker.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=0198" target="_blank">politicians</a> have re-discovered at this most opportune of times.<br /><br />Somewhat less cynical critiques from groups such as <a href="http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/22/venezu15986.htm" target="_blank">Human Rights Watch</a> are justified in viewing Hugo Chávez's move as a case of his government's "misusing the state’s regulatory authority." Yet deeper issues linger.<br /><br />As documented <a href="http://mondediplo.com/2002/08/10venezuela" target="_blank">elsewhere</a>, RCTV and other right-wing media in Venezuela backed the short-lived 2002 coup against the democratically-elected Chávez government, which was soon after overturned by popular mobilization. During these fleeting moments of jubilation for Washington, the new RCTV-backed government flaunted its <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020506/marccooper" target="_blank">democratic credentials</a> by having "dissolved all constitutional institutions" in Venezuela, including "the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, the attorney general's office and the national electoral commission."<br /><br />One may be tempted to consider the conundrum, how would the U.S. and other shedders of crocodile tears react if a domestic news station backed a coup against the Bush government, and then cheered as its imposed successors "dissolved all constitutional institutions" within the country?<br /><br />There would no question of letting the offending broadcaster continue to operate for five years, at which point the U.S. would not renew its license - for the <a href="http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=571422&blogID=272578385" target="_blank">simple reason</a> that the station's "owners and managers would have been lined up before firing squads right away." As Patrick McElwee comments in an <a href="http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=45&ItemID=12900" target="_blank">insightful piece</a>, "it is frankly amazing that this company has been allowed to broadcast for 5 years after the coup, and that the Chávez government waited until its license expired to end its use of the public airwaves."<br /><br />The crux of the issue, as McElwee astutely observes, is that:<br /><blockquote>The government seems to have made the decision without any administrative or judicial hearings. Unfortunately, this is what the law, first enacted in 1987, long before Chávez entered the political scene, allows. It charges the executive branch with decisions about license renewal, but does not seem to require any administrative hearing. The law should be changed, but at the current moment when broadcast licenses are up for renewal, it is the prevailing law and thus lays out the framework in which decisions are made. </blockquote>The government can legitimately take measures to ensure that the airwaves - which belong to the public, after all - represent a diversity of opinion, and are not, as is the case in Venezuela, generally unresponsive to the wishes of the population, and in the stranglehold of the political right. Yet it is, to be sure, a "flawed process" (though not one originally devised by Chávez') that allows the non-renewal of RCTV's license, and, as Noam Chomsky <a href="http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=571422&blogID=272578385" target="_blank">notes</a>, "For those who uphold far higher standards than those of the West, it's entirely legitimate to criticize the closing of RCTV."<br /><br />Principled defenders of free speech - evidently a small category - will also take note of recent moves in Pakistan, a U.S. partner in the "War on Terror."<br /><br />Tellingly, few bones were picked with the (<a href="http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southasia.asp?parentid=71614" target="_blank">now-suspended</a>) restrictions on the media imposed by the Washington-allied leader of Pakistan, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musharraf" target="_blank">General Pervez Musharraf</a>. Himself of sterling democratic credentials - he, <a href="http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3009" target="_blank">unlike Chávez</a>, has never been approved by voters in anything approaching meaningful elections - Musharraf's government had gained "<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6728207.stm" target="_blank">new powers</a> to suspend broadcasters' licenses, seal their premises and confiscate equipment." In fact, the Pakistani government "has also blocked transmission of three private television stations."<br /><br />One searches in vain for widespread condemnation by Washington and Western media of this dictator's <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/08/1512220" target="_blank">self-given right</a> to "make it easier for government forces to shut down broadcasters."<br /><br />There is, after all, a "War on Terror" to win, pitting civilization's unquenchable thirst for freedom against evil incarnate itself.<br /><br />Given Washington's own <a href="http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/2773" target="_blank">apparently deliberate</a> (and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_bombing_memo" target="_blank">repeated</a>) bombing of the pan-Arab network <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/English" target="_blank">Al-Jazeera's</a> offices, U.S. leaders could achieve a painless and substantial victory in this "War" by turning themselves over for imprisonment by the FBI. By comparison, Chávez's overhyped transgressions against the media pale into insignificance.<br /><http: com="" 2007="" 05="" 17="" world="" americas="" _r="1&amp;amp;amp;hp&oref=slogin"></http:>Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-30788146677818129112007-06-03T15:16:00.000-05:002007-06-04T18:55:44.161-05:00Stop the Deportation of Sameh Khouzam!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieo7iKW_6WTTuciK9bAfzaotH6uCijUGAGv1gPAcrRmghlKGSpfZDXyS6cF3Wt3NXOhLTxu7pCbB0gqyoJLmafcV6fKdWbmG1kOHqQItb_Q1G3bKhaUn9luYhPRYe5v3Wn4yIaE6oawd9B/s1600-h/sameh+%26+kathleen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieo7iKW_6WTTuciK9bAfzaotH6uCijUGAGv1gPAcrRmghlKGSpfZDXyS6cF3Wt3NXOhLTxu7pCbB0gqyoJLmafcV6fKdWbmG1kOHqQItb_Q1G3bKhaUn9luYhPRYe5v3Wn4yIaE6oawd9B/s320/sameh+%26+kathleen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5072342509789898482" border="0"></a>We are foregoing our usual Weekly Commentary to ask you to take action on behalf of a personal friend.<br /><br />Sameh Khouzam, an Egyptian national residing in the U.S., has been detained by U.S. immigration officials and is facing immediate (Thursday, June 7) deportation to Egypt. Sameh, a Coptic Christian, originally escaped from Egypt to flee religious persecution by government authorities. He has faced attacks by Egyptian officials, and has endured nearly a decade of prison time in the U.S. <br /><br />A U.S. court had previously found that Sameh could not be deported to Egypt since it was "more likely than not" that he would be tortured there. Nevertheless, the U.S. has since accepted the Egyptian government's ludicrous assurances that it will not torture Sameh. To those who have followed the U.S. government's "extraordinary rendition" practices over the years, it is apparent that these assurances against torture are delivered with a wink. In many cases, Washington has deported victims <font style="font-style: italic;">because</font> they know the detainee will be tortured and desire as much. There is widespread documentation by human rights groups that Egypt heavily engages in torture.<br /><br />For more information about this case, please refer to <a href="http://www.savesameh.org/">www.savesameh.org</a>, a <a href="http://www.savesameh.org/CongressmanPitts%20Letter.pdf">letter</a> from U.S. House Representative Joseph Pitts (R-PA), to Secretary of State CondoleezzaRice on behalf of Sameh, and articles from <a href="http://www.upi.com/Security_Terrorism/Briefing/2007/06/04/aclu_slams_move_to_deport_suspect/4587/">UPI</a>, the <a href="http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/gen/29982prs20070604.html">ACLU</a>, <a href="http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/06/01/usdom16055.htm">Human Rights Watch</a>, and <a href="http://www.humanrightsusa.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=48&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0">Human Rights USA</a>.<br /><br />The contact information for relevant officials is included below, as well as suggested talking points and a sample letter (courtesy of savesameh.org) that may be faxed. Given the immediacy of the situation at hand, officials must be called, faxed, and emailed; there is no time for letter-writing.<br /><br />Thank you for your prompt attention to this serious matter. Please help us publicize this urgent case. You can send an email with a link to this post to your friends and acquaintances using the envelope symbol at the bottom.<br /><br /><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;">Phone Call Talking Points:</font><br />-calling to ask that Sameh Khouzam not be deported on Thursday, June 7, as scheduled<br />-Sameh is an Egyptian who faces a serious threat of torture if he is deported there<br />-Sameh has committed no crime<br />-use your influence with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop Sameh’s deportation and obtain his immediate release from DHS/ICE custody<br /><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.savesameh.org/SamehLettertoAS.doc">Sample Letter to Officials</a></font><br /><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;">The Honorable Condoleezza Rice </font><br />Secretary of State<br />U.S. Department of State<br />2201 C Street, NW<br />Washington, D.C. 20520<br />Phone: 202-647-4000 <br /><a href="http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php">Email form</a><br /><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;">Senator Arlen Specter</font><br />U.S. Senate - Pennsylvania<br />Via Fax No. (202) 224-8165<br />Phone: 202-224-4254<br /><a href="http://specter.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInfo.Home">Email form</a><br /><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;">The Honorable Michael Chertoff </font><br />Office of the Secretary<br />U.S. Department of Homeland Security<br />Phone: 202-282-8495<br /><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;">The Honorable Alberto Gonzales</font><br />Office of the Attorney General<br />U.S. Department of Justice <br />Phone: 202-353-1555<br />Email: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov<br /><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.savesameh.org/Faxes%20for%20Senators,%20congress,%20governors%20&%20legislators.doc">Contact Information for your Local Official</a></font>Steve Fakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971138443375100400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-59720327355812667272007-05-27T20:29:00.000-05:002007-05-27T19:56:28.025-05:00Weekly Commentary - On the West and RefugeesWhile <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070418-7.html" target="_blank">President Bush</a> and the outgoing British Prime Minister <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5353348.stm" target="_blank">Tony Blair</a> shower us with their rhetorical concern for suffering Darfurians, both countries have shown remarkable stinginess in granting them political asylum.<br /><br />A recent <a href="http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/uk/forced%20to%20return%20to%20sudan/187550" target="_blank">British report</a> tells the story of one Darfurian refugee who was denied asylum on the grounds that his account of rebel activities conflicted with information available on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>. More generally, human rights groups <a href="http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061203-114005-7652r" target="_blank">allege</a> that Britian has deported hundreds of Darfurians due to its insistence that "it is safe to send 'ordinary non-Arab ethnic Darfuris' back to Sudan" - whatever <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/21/AR2006042101752.html" target="_blank">that means</a>.<br /><br />Things are also less than rosy in the nation which claims to be carrying out a "<a href="http://www.ned.org/events/anniversary/20thAniv-Bush.html" target="_blank">global democratic revolution</a>."<br /><br />Recent reports indicate that <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/15/1515223" target="_blank">only three Darfurians</a> have been granted asylum in the U.S. in the last four years, one of whom (Daoud Ibarahaem Hari) worked as a translator for the journalists <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_kristof" target="_blank">Nicholas Kristof </a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Salopek" target="_blank">Paul Salopek</a>, and benefitted in his case from the "high-level intervention" of the U2 rock star and activist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bono" target="_blank">Bono</a>, New Mexico Governor and presidential candidate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Richardson" target="_blank">Bill Richardson</a>, and the former president <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_carter" target="_blank">Jimmy Carter</a>.<br /><br />As Daoud recounts the hundreds of Darfurian refugees he is aware of in Ghana, living in "very hard circumstances," and without, one might add, "high-level intervention" from the aforementioned figures, he notes that "they didn't get a chance to resettlement in United States at all."<br /><br />One might also note that in Israel, Washington's key regional partner in Arab oppression, most of the over 300 Sudanese refugees who have entered the country "<a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article20656" target="_blank">are still in Israeli prisons</a>." Steeped as the nation’s leaders are in tear-soaked memories of the Nazi holocaust, the leading Israeli newspaper <i style=""><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/">Ha’aretz</a></i> notes that "it appears that the state and its officials are doing everything in their power <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=722009&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y" target="_blank">to be rid of</a> these refugees," with other news sources paraphrasing the Interior Minister to the effect that "Sudanese refugees trying to get into Israel…had to be stopped," lest the country be "<a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33628" target="_blank">flooded</a>." Needless to say, no similar concerns were expressed about Beirut's ability to absorb the <a href="http://www.lebanonundersiege.gov.lb/english/F/Main/index.asp?" target="_blank">significant portion</a> of the Lebanese population that was driven out of that country's southern region last year by Israel, as the U.S. and Britain <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6479377.stm" target="_blank">stalled</a> any international diplomatic moves to bring a halt to the <a href="http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde180072006" target="_blank">wanton Israeli bombardment</a>.<br /><br />Especially righteous critics of the mass imprisonment like Elie Wiesel, who has been actively calling for <a href="http://ajws.org/index.cfm?section_id=8&sub_section_id=14&page_id=285" target="_blank">intervention in Darfur</a>, and was in fact involved in the founding of the <a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/" target="_blank">Save Darfur Coalition</a>, have staked out their moral high ground by only calling on Israel to accept a "<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/09/MNGFHJBB491.DTL&hw=darfur&sn=003&sc=480" target="_blank">symbolic number</a>" of the refugees.<br /><br />Those who suffer under the direct watch of Uncle Sam fare little better; out of the 2 million refugees of the war in Iraq, in addition to the 1.8 million internally displaced persons, the U.S. had as of January 2007 admitted <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/opinion/31wed2.html?ex=1179374400&en=0104d8842f5597ba&ei=5070" target="_blank">a mere 466</a> since the invasion in 2003. One would at least expect the U.S. to provide safe haven to its Iraqi collaborating forces, though, save for a limited <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/25/america/25asylum-web.php"target="_blank">exception</a>, even such a crude measure is evidently beyond the scope of Washington's machinations.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the official <a href="http://www.upi.com/International_Intelligence/Analysis/2007/04/11/analysis_syria_is_not_a_us_enemy/" target="_blank">rogue state</a> Syria generally leaves its borders open to fleeing Iraqis, having accepted some <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/magazine/13refugees-t.html?bl&ex=1179374400&en=39b5461ce5272679&ei=5087%0A" target="_blank">1.2 million</a> (a number increasing by around <a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4059" target="_blank">40,000 per month</a>) - and, it has been doing so, it should be noted, "without any <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,471728,00.html" target="_blank">help</a> from the outside world."<br /><br />Returning to the African continent, the recent <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0116-32.htm" target="_blank">U.S. sponsored invasion</a> and occupation of Somalia by <a href="http://www.pulitzercenter.org/showproject.cfm?id=29" target="_blank">Ethiopia</a> has created "a worse [refugee] crisis than Darfur or Chad or anywhere else this year," according to John Holmes, the U.N.'s lead humanitarian official. Four hundred thousand people have been internally displaced, with the press <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/17/1350250" target="_blank">reporting</a> the curiousity that, "Unlike in Sudan, Holmes said no emergency camps have been set up to help the refugees. Most of those who have fled, including women, children and the elderly, are camping in fields without access to food, shelter, clean water or medicines." One need not be cynical to conjecture that this is somehow related to the fact that these evidently less worthy victims are of no propaganda value, since their displacment has come at the behest of a U.S. ally.<br /><br />It is not difficult to draw conclusions about the vast chasms between the West's rhetoric and reality on Iraq and Darfur, and the refugees from these conflicts, or about cases such as Somalia for which even rhetorical support is eschewed by our leaders. There is also little reason to suspect that a "Save Somalia" movement, on par with its "Save Darfur" counterpart, will erupt amongst the Western human rights intelligentsia, for reasons that should by now be all too clear.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-91125437226440690052007-05-20T16:13:00.000-05:002007-05-21T10:40:18.297-05:00Weekly Commentary - A "Plan B" for the Save Darfur Movement<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhlFhFjFm3QTevXVOsYrk6DjanTpHNBW-r15l5OeAxlM2hC21AGX5TPmWjAgz2A3h28ZzlryCgALFP7XTcZHMd4-JUS7VRXBeM45EHQnT90z65GF5Ql2nijU-9h9iEkXGbFif7LLaITeu/s1600-h/save+darfur+nyt+ad+-+5-08-2007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhlFhFjFm3QTevXVOsYrk6DjanTpHNBW-r15l5OeAxlM2hC21AGX5TPmWjAgz2A3h28ZzlryCgALFP7XTcZHMd4-JUS7VRXBeM45EHQnT90z65GF5Ql2nijU-9h9iEkXGbFif7LLaITeu/s320/save+darfur+nyt+ad+-+5-08-2007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5064187291891204034" border="0" /></a>It can't be cheap to keep running full-page ads in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, but the <a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/content" target="_blank">Save Darfur Coalition</a> has repeatedly managed to grace the front page section with its messages.<br /><br />Monday, May 8's incarnation (shown in part at right; from page A13) implores President Bush "to enact an effective Plan B" for Darfur.<br /><br />First, an unanswered question: what was "<a href="http://coalitionfordarfur.blogspot.com/2006/12/darfur-what-was-plan.html" target="_blank">Plan A</a>"? Was it to make <a href="http://www.africaaction.org/newsroom/release.php?op=read&documentid=2287&type=2&issues=1024" target="_blank">empty threats</a> against Khartoum while <a href="http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/terrorwar/analysis/2005/0429sudan.htm" target="_blank">cuddling up to</a> other unsavory elements in the regime, <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/18/1357253" target="_blank">ignore</a> the African Union (AU) troops on the ground in Darfur, support a <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=16170" target="_blank">deeply unpopular</a> peace agreement, and let humanitarian aid organizations lay on the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/31/world/africa/31darfur.html?ei=5087&amp;amp;en=669db57c10c98288&ex=1187154000&pagewanted=print" target="_blank">edge of collapse</a>?<br /><br />Regardless, Washington's "Plan B" has been a long time in manifesting itself to the public. Back in the fall, U.S. special enjoy Andrew Natsios "<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/05/10/a_plan_b_with_teeth_for_darfur/" target="_blank">wouldn't say</a>" what Plan B entailed, though the "<a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/76411.htm" target="_blank">deadline</a>" for implementing it was to have been January 1.<br /><br />With that date having come and gone, President Bush in April "<a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/africa/19sudan.php?page=2" target="_blank">heartened</a>" us with his more specific formulations of what the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir would face if he "<a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/africa/19sudan.php?page=1" target="_blank">does not meet his obligations</a>" in resolving the conflict. According to press accounts, these include <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041801022.html?hpid=sec-world" target="_blank">sanctions</a> targeting both "companies owned or controlled by the Sudanese government," and three individuals "involved in fomenting violence in Darfur" (surprise - the Sudanese intelligence chief and CIA asset Salah Abdallah <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/04/10/a_us_plan_for_darfur/" target="_blank">Gosh</a> is not amongst them). There is also talk of a <a href="http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=8304" target="_blank">no-fly zone</a>.<br /><br />Though some have <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/05/10/a_plan_b_with_teeth_for_darfur/" target="_blank">condemned</a> "Plan B" as not "strong enough," <a href="http://www.peuplesmonde.com/article.php3?id_article=222" target="_blank">others</a> in the Save Darfur movement <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041801022.html?hpid=sec-world" target="_blank">assure us</a> that now "the United States is engaged totally" with bringing an end to the crisis - after all, the Bush Administration's rhetorical support for a UN force in Darfur, a no-fly zone, and further sanctions more or less comprise three-fifths of what the Save Darfur Coalition is advocating above in the most public of forums.<br /><br />While the wisdom (or lack thereof) of implementing these various measures is a subject for another day, what is clear enough is that the U.S. is not "engaged totally" with stopping the crimes in Darfur (see our <a href="http://confrontingempire.blogspot.com/2007/05/khartoums-budding-affair-with.html" target="_blank">May 13</a> post). But what is also apparent is that neither is the Save Darfur movement.<br /><br />What other conclusion could be drawn from their list of demands, which includes absolutely nothing about the AU forces in Darfur? It is downright shameful for a group which claims its preoccupation with the collective fate of Darfurians to run a public advocacy campaign and fail to make any mention of funding the desperately strapped AU forces, which, after all, are already in Darfur, and could step up their presence quickly if anyone in the West cared to finance them. Instead, the AU struggles through shortages of <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article21700" target="_blank">food</a> and <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/061019/w101950.html" target="_blank">fuel</a>, at times unable to even pay the soldiers they have, let alone fund the presence of more - which they <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4759325.stm" target="_blank">have requested</a>, though it is a request that has been met with absolute silence.<br /><br />It is no exaggeration to say that the AU forces in Darfur have been "<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5189880.stm" target="_blank">set up to fail</a>" by the West (in the words of <a href="http://www.oxfam.org.uk/" target="_blank">Oxfam</a> and other relief organizations), or that "the <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article421888.ece" target="_blank">international community</a> has let them down" (as <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5189880.stm" target="_blank">noted</a> by the AU itself). Accordingly, they have also let down Darfurians.<br /><br />Given its own neglect of advocating an increase in funding for the AU, the same can be said for the Save Darfur Coalition.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-60792804643382566202007-05-13T10:54:00.000-05:002007-05-16T13:47:14.455-05:00Weekly Commentary - Khartoum's Budding Affair with Washington<a href="http://www.amnesty.org/" target="_blank">Amnesty International</a> has issued a <a href="http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engafr540192007" target="_blank">report</a> detailing weapons transfers from China and Russia to Sudan, which it alleges have in turn been used in perpetuating the conflict in Darfur (China and Russia unconvincingly <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6632959.stm" target="_blank">deny the claims</a>).<br /><br />While the U.S. has its own dogs in the region (see the Bush Administration's <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6623635.stm" target="_blank">recent pledge</a> to provide $14 billion in "training and equipment" to Kenya, or the case of Ethiopia, "a <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0531/p07s01-woaf.html" target="_blank">US ally</a> in the war on terror," whose recent invasion of Somalia has sent the country "descending back into the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6395033.stm" target="_blank">violence and chaos</a> seen in the previous 16 years," and caused the displacement of more people "in the past two months than anywhere else in the world," according to the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6598361.stm" target="_blank">UN</a>), it is also becomingly increasingly apparent that Washington is cultivating strategic relationships within the Sudanese government.<br /><br />By now, U.S. intelligence ties with members of Sudan's ruling Bashir regime are fairly well-known - even the <a href="http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/terrorwar/analysis/2005/0429sudan.htm" target="_blank">mainstream media</a> have reported on them - though strangely this knowledge of the CIA having "sent an executive jet" to "ferry" Sudan's Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Salah Abdallah Gosh to Washington for "secret meetings" has aroused little in the way of soul-searching by those who congratulate the U.S. for its <a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/faq/#0" target="_blank">"good work"</a> in handling the crisis in Darfur.<br /><br />No matter that <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/04/10/a_us_plan_for_darfur/" target="_blank">Gosh</a> used to be "Osama bin Laden's handler" or is "very likely a war criminal whose policies are responsible for the deaths of thousands of Darfurians."<br /><br />Yet it appears that the U.S.-Sudanese alliance may be taking an even more nefarious turn.<p></p>The State Department’s Congressional <a href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/84462.pdf" target="_blank">2008 budget justification</a> was released in February and it includes some interesting indications of White House policy towards the government of Sudan.<br /><br />For the first time in at least the last several years, there is a request for "Foreign Military Financing" to Sudan (see p. 58 of the 2008 request; Sudan is not listed as a recipient on p. 224 of the <a href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/60641.pdf" target="_blank">2007 budget justification</a>). Additionally, the funding requests for International Military Education and Training (IMET) and International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) are significantly increased from last year’s requests (which itself was the first time at least since 2005 that funding for these programs was requested for Sudan).<br /><br />Altogether, while the U.S. continues to retain punitive measures against the Sudanese government as a whole (e.g., U.S. <a href="http://www.american.edu/TED/gumarab.htm" target="_blank">sanctions</a> against Sudan, and maintaining Sudan’s position on the list of state sponsors of terrorism), these requests speak to an increasingly prominent policy of cultivating allies in the Sudanese military and intelligence community. The 2007 budget justification observed that:<br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>The United States will maintain its strong support for countries on the front lines in the War on Terrorism, especially Afghanistan, Pakistan, <em>and Sudan</em>... [p. 18; emphasis added]</blockquote>Which raises what should be an obvious question - how about fully funding the <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article21700" target="_blank">African Union forces</a> in Darfur? This might afford them such luxuries as actually being able to pay their soldiers (it's been a "few months" since that has happened, as the AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni recounts).<br /><http: gov="" documents="" organization="" pdf=""><http: gov="" documents="" organization="" pdf=""></http:></http:><br />Returning to the Amnesty report, there is plenty to condemn China and Russia for, but it requires <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270492,00.html" target="_blank">considerable guile</a> to assert that those two countries serve as Sudan's "two vetoes at this Security Council" against a UN deployment in the country, without considering Washington's own liaisons with Khartoum, and failures to fund the AU or take any meaningful steps to halt the violence in Darfur.Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08271282809453597322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7151756498951908226.post-64071721793698564062007-05-10T19:58:00.000-05:002007-06-20T15:30:33.347-05:00Footnotes - "Saving Darfur or Salvation Delusion?"The following notes correspond to our article, "Saving Darfur or Salvation Delusion?," as <a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4314" target="_blank">published</a> by Foreign Policy in Focus.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 1 - "The United States has..."]</strong><br />Since the September 11 attacks, Washington has cultivated important relationships within Sudan's intelligence service – most prominently with Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Salah Abdallah Gosh. In one instance, the CIA "sent an executive jet" to "ferry" him to Washington for "secret meetings." See Ken Silverstein, "Official Pariah Sudan Valuable to America's War on Terrorism," Los Angeles Times (as published by the Global Policy Forum), 29 Apr. 2005, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/terrorwar/analysis/2005/0429sudan.htm" target="_blank">http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/terrorwar/analysis/2005/0429sudan.htm</a>. Quoting a "senior State Department official," Silverstein writes that "Sudan has 'given us specific information that is … important, functional and current.'"<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 1 - "The contradiction is striking..."]</strong><br />The U.S . designation of "genocide" came at the behest of domestic political considerations. John Danforth, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, as well as Special Envoy to Sudan, recounted the following in an interview:<br /><blockquote>Mr Danforth was asked by the BBC's Panorama programme whether the characterisation of genocide by President Bush and the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, had hindered a resolution to the Darfur conflict because of the loaded nature of the word.<br /><br />"I didn't think it had much of an effect one way or another. I just thought that this was something that was said for internal consumption within the US. I did not think it would have very much effect within Sudan," Mr Danforth said. Asked whether "internal consumption" referred to the kind of language that would have appealed to the Christian right, he replied: "Right."</blockquote>Anne Penketh, "White House described Darfur as 'genocide' to please Christian right," Independent, 2 July 2005, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article296269.ece" target="_blank">http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article296269.ece</a>.<br /><br />The question of whether the events in Darfur do indeed constitute genocide has preoccupied a number of writers and officials, though it would seem of little relevance in making a moral judgment or assessing the imperative for action. A crime committed with the intent to decimate the civilian base of an insurgency is no better, in ethical terms, than if it were committed with the intent to exterminate an ethnic or racial group.<br /><br />The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, established by the UN Security Council with U.S. support, concluded in January 2005 that Khartoum had committed "crimes against humanity and war crimes" in Darfur, but that these actions seemed to be motivated "primarily for the purposes of counter-insurgency warfare" rather than by the intent to exterminate the groups from which the victims derive. As such, in the Commission's judgment, the crimes in Darfur were not genocide, though they "may be no less serious and heinous than genocide." However, the Sudan analyst Eric Reeves has criticized the legal reasoning behind the Commission's assessment, persuasively in our view. See his "Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur: A critical analysis (Part I)," www.sudanreeves.org, 2 Feb. 2005, accessed 1 May 2007, <a href="http://www.sudanreeves.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=489&page=1" target="_blank">http://www.sudanreeves.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;req=viewarticle&artid=489&page=1</a>.<br /><br />It is worth noting that while "genocide" is readily declared in Darfur, it is never applied in other cases where, using the same legal standards, the term would be equally warranted. In this manner the term has been further debased by political calculations.<br /><br />To take a contemporary example, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported that several indigenous communities in Colombia are faced with "extinction" as a result of the decades-long conflict between the rightwing Colombian government and its associated paramilitaries on one side, and the guerrilla armies on the other - a fate lavishly abetted by Washington, which provides extensive political support and military aid to its important regional ally. See for instance, "Colombia's indigenous communities face extinction, UN agency warns," UN News, 4 April 2006, accessed 21 Aug. 2006, <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18051&Cr=colombia&Cr1" target="_blank">http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18051&Cr=colombia&Cr1</a>. U.S. military and police aid to Colombia is estimated to have totaled 601.6 million dollars in 2006, 82% of all U.S. aid to Colombia. See The Center for International Policy, "U.S. Aid to Colombia Since 1997: Summary Tables," last updated: 1 March 2007, accessed 1 May 2007, <a href="http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/aidtable.htm" target="_blank">http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/aidtable.htm</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 1 - "Adding fuel to the..."]</strong><br />The allure of African oil is clear, as the U.S. seeks to diversify its oil sources away from the Middle East and states it regards as hostile such as Venezuela, thus allowing it to further secure its own supply, as well as consolidate its global control over a key natural resource – fundamental to deterring independent development in China and other rising economies.<span> </span>As U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham relayed to Congress, "Energy from Africa plays an increasingly important role in our energy security." See James Dao, "In Quietly Courting Africa, U.S. Likes the Dowry: Oil," New York Times (as published in CommonDreams), 19 Sept. 2002, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0919-09.htm" target="_blank">http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0919-09.htm</a>.<br /><br />China, however, has made considerable inroads into Africa, importantly linked to the fact that Beijing's aid comes without the West's harsh requirements for neoliberal reforms. See John Bellamy Foster, "A Warning to Africa: The New U.S. Imperial Grand Strategy," Monthly Review, June 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.monthlyreview.org/0606jbf.htm" target="_blank">http://www.monthlyreview.org/0606jbf.htm</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 2 - "Spearheaded by the 'Save..."]</strong><br />For the official position of the Save Darfur Coalition, see, for example, a full-page ad placed by the organization in the front page section of the May 8, 2007 edition of the New York Times (page A13). It calls on President Bush to "Maintain pressure for full deployment of U.N. peacekeeping forces to Darfur," amongst other measures.<br /><br />The following is a partial list of voices calling for an intervention in Darfur. Some of the sources go beyond endorsing a UN-staged invasion and demand intervention even without UN approval.<br /><br />John Prendergast, Op-Ed, "A 'Plan B' with teeth for Darfur," Boston Globe, 10 May 2007, accessed 11 May, 2007, <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/05/10/a_plan_b_with_teeth_for_darfur/" target="_blank">http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/05/10/a_plan_b_with_teeth_for_darfur/</a>. Excerpt:<br /><p></p><blockquote>Meanwhile, accelerated planning processes should commence within the NATO framework for two coercive military measures -- a no-fly zone and ground forces focused on protecting civilians and humanitarian operations -- with the understanding that any action would at least seek UN Security Council approval. In its absence, action would be taken only if the situation deteriorated dramatically and all other avenues had been explored.</blockquote>Eric Reeves, "Humanitarian intervention in Darfur?," Boston Globe, 17 April 2005, accessed 11 May 2007 <a href="http://www.sudanreeves.org/Sections-index-req-viewarticle-artid-495-page-1.html" target="_blank">http://www.sudanreeves.org/Sections-index-req-viewarticle-artid-495-page-1.html</a>.<br /><br />Nat Hentoff, "Bush Averts His Eyes," Village Voice, 5 July 2005, accessed 11 May 2007 <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0527,hentoff,65564,6.html" target="_blank">http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0527,hentoff,65564,6.html</a>.<br /><br />Bill Emmott [a former editor of The Economist], "Calling the UN's Bluff," PostGlobal, Sept. 2006, accessed 11 May 2007 <a href="http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/bill_emmott/2006/09/calling_the_uns_bluff.html" target="_blank">http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/bill_emmott/2006/09/calling_the_uns_bluff.html</a>.<br /><br />Washington Post, Editorial, "The Stakes in Darfur," 22 July 2004; Page A20, accessed 11 May 2007, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4334-2004Jul21.html" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4334-2004Jul21.html</a>. Excerpts:<br /><blockquote>Even in the absence of a U.N. resolution, the world must act.<br />[…]<br />One generation ago, after another much-criticized war, the United States was for a long time unwilling to project force. But if the nation is to avoid succumbing to an Iraq syndrome to match the Vietnam syndrome of the past, it must prove its continuing readiness to lead in the world.</blockquote>Susan E. Rice [Assistant U.S. Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001] and Gayle E. Smith [Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African affairs at the National Security Council from 1998 to 2001], Op-Ed, "The Darfur Catastrophe," Washington Post, 30 May 2004; Page B07, accessed 11 May 2007, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64717-2004May28.html" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64717-2004May28.html</a>. Excerpt:<br /><blockquote>Finally, the United States should begin urgent military planning and preparation for the contingency that no other country will act to stop the dying in Darfur.</blockquote>MoveOn, "Virtual March to End the Genocide in Darfur," (appears to date from April/May 2006), accessed 11 May 2007 <a href="http://pol.moveon.org/darfur/" target="_blank">http://pol.moveon.org/darfur/</a>. Excerpt:<br /><blockquote>"…a real United Nations peacekeeping force to protect civilians and stop the genocide -- now.<br />Far from another Iraq, this actual humanitarian intervention would stop, not cause, sectarian violence, and would rely on US support but not new soldiers -- key to avoiding an anti-western backlash."</blockquote>It is also worth noting that although the April 2006 Save Darfur rally in Washington DC did not make an explicit call for intervention, it was not difficult for at least one commentator to perceive it as doing so. A serious humanitarian movement for Darfur should be far more careful to avoid such a message. See Alan J. Kuperman, Op-Ed, "Strategic Victimhood in Sudan," New York Times, 31 May 2006, accessed 11 May 11, 2007 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/31/opinion/31kuperman.html?ex=1306728000&en=c4378f4cb9a75406&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/31/opinion/31kuperman.html?ex=1306728000&en=c4378f4cb9a75406&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss</a>. Excerpt (ostensibly referring to the April rally):<br /><blockquote>THOUSANDS of Americans who wear green wristbands and demand military intervention to stop Sudan's Arab government from perpetrating genocide against black tribes in Darfur must be perplexed by recent developments.</blockquote><br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 3 - "Most prominently, the Coalition..."]</strong><br />In regards to the exclusion of Muslim and Sudanese voices, it was reported that "the original list of speakers [for the April 30, 2006 Save Darfur rally] included eight Western Christians, seven Jews, four politicians and assorted celebrities - but no Muslims and no one from Darfur" [emphasis added]; organizers had to hurry "to invite two Darfurians to address the rally after Sudanese immigrants objected" to their previous exclusion from the line-up. See Alan Cooperman, "Groups Plan Rally on Mall To Protest Darfur Violence," Washington Post, 27 Apr. 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/26/AR2006042602182.html" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/26/AR2006042602182.html</a>.<br /><br />Racial explanations for the conflict are written into the Save Darfur Coalition's unity statement. An excerpt reads: "A government-backed Arab militia known as Janjaweed has been engaging in campaigns to displace and wipe out communities of African tribal farmers." See "Unity Statement," Save Darfur, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/unity_statement" target="_blank">http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/unity_statement</a>. Their new "notes about our current use of ethnic terminology" negates the thrust of this excerpt, though it does not explain why their unity statement does not reflect a proper understanding of ethnic terminology in Darfur, and the usage of "Arab" and "African" within a Sudanese context.<br /><br />In an atypically insightful piece on misconceptions surrounding this aspect of the conflict in Darfur, the Washington Post notes that the terms have often been utilized by Sudanese "regardless of their ethnic affiliation," often times based on language, economic status, a desire to wreak the social benefits of being "Arab," and profession, with farmers considered "African" and the more nomadic livestock herders "Arab." It goes on to note that:<br /><blockquote>"Black Americans who come to Darfur always say, 'So where are the Arabs? Why do all these people look black?'" said Mahjoub Mohamed Saleh, editor of Sudan's independent Al-Ayam newspaper. "The bottom line is that tribes have intermarried forever in Darfur. Men even have one so-called Arab wife and one so-called African. Tribes started labeling themselves this way several decades ago for political reasons. Who knows what the real bloodlines are in Darfur?"</blockquote>Emily Wax, "5 Truths About Darfur," The Washington Post, 9 May 2007, accessed 14 Aug. 2006 <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/21/AR2006042101752.html" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/21/AR2006042101752.html</a>.<br /><br />Finally, for President Bush's praise of the Save Darfur movement, see "President Meets with Darfur Advocates," The White House, 28 Apr. 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/04/20060428-5.html" target="_blank">http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/04/20060428-5.html</a>. The Save Darfur Coalition, for its part, praises the Bush Administration for its "good work" on Darfur, though one would be hard-pressed to figure out to what that is actually referring. See "Frequently Asked Questions," Save Darfur, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/faq" target="_blank">http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/faq</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 3 - "The very size and..."]</strong><br />Choosing issues to focus on is clearly a subjective process for activists. However, speaking broadly there are two significant factors to consider: how severe is the situation; and to what extent can one make a difference, keeping in mind that we are most able to effect change in situations for which we are the most directly responsible. On the first factor, Darfur ranks among the more severe crises of the moment, but clearly below Iraq and probably also the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On the second factor, Darfur is well behind Iraq, Afghanistan, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Colombia, and others for which our government bears more direct responsibility. Given this assessment, why is the Save Darfur movement so prominent (rather than a Save Congo or Save Colombia movement) and why is there so little overlap and collaboration with the antiwar movement or solidarity organizations? Moreover, why have the commercial media been willing to cover the Darfur movement more extensively and generously than the antiwar movement? Clearly, it is a reflection of political utility – the situation is an opportunity to cast Arabs (the perpetrators) and the Chinese (the enablers) as villains, and to portray U.S. power as the potential solution and, more generally, the U.S. government as benevolent.<br /><br />As for the situation in the Congo, despite the formal end of the conflict in the DRC in 2002, its enduring effects are claiming upwards of 38,000 lives per month, a rate several times greater than what has been estimated for Darfur. For indications of the death toll in the Congo see:<br /><br />Lydia Polgreen, "Rwanda's Shadow, From Darfur to Congo," New York Times, 23 July 2006, accessed via eLibrary. Proquest. BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. 04 Feb 2007, <a href="http://elibrary.bigchalk.com.ezproxy.bpl.org/curriculum" target="_blank">http://elibrary.bigchalk.com.ezproxy.bpl.org/curriculum</a>. Excerpt:<br /><blockquote>Four million people have died in Congo since 1998, half of them children under 5, according to the International Rescue Committee. Though the war in Congo officially ended in 2002, its deadly legacy of violence and decay will kill twice as many people this year as have died in the entire Darfur conflict, which began in 2003.</blockquote>See also, "The Lancet Publishes IRC Mortality Study from DR Congo; 3.9 Million Have Died: 38,000 Die per Month," International Rescue Committee, 6 Jan. 2006, accessed 10 Aug. 2006, <a href="http://www.theirc.org/news/page.jsp?itemID=27819067" target="_blank">http://www.theirc.org/news/page.jsp?itemID=27819067</a>.<br /><br />Figures from the World Health Organization, released in fall 2004, estimate that "Between 6,000 and 10,000 people are dying from disease and violence each month" in Darfur. See Lynch, Colum, "Death Rates in Darfur Rising, WHO Says," Washington Post, 15 Sept. 2004, accessed 11 Aug. 2006, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21435-2004Sep14.html" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21435-2004Sep14.html</a>. Jan Egeland, the UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, gave an estimate of 10,000 per month in early 2005. See "UN's Darfur death estimate soars," BBC News, 14 Mar. 2005, accessed 11 Aug. 2006, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4349063.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4349063.stm</a>.<br /><br />More recent figures do not seem to be available.<br /><br />Also, "DR Congo's children 'a priority,'" BBC News, 24 July 2006, accessed 10 Aug. 2006, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5209340.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5209340.stm</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 5 - "But those same victims..."]</strong><br />Justin Podur, "Sudan, Darfur, and Hypocrisy," Left Turn, Issue 15, Feb/March 2005, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.leftturn.org/?q=node/358" target="_blank">http://www.leftturn.org/?q=node/358</a>.<br /><br />For examples of left-wing commentary that do not substantially address the humanitarian situation in Darfur, see Sara Flounders, "The U.S. role in Darfur, Sudan," Workers World, 3 Jun. 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.workers.org/2006/world/darfur-0608/" target="_blank">http://www.workers.org/2006/world/darfur-0608/</a>. Yoshie Furuhashi also has written on the topic; see "'Save Darfur': Evangelicals and Establishment Jews," Monthly Review Zine, 28 Apr. 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/furuhashi280406.html" target=" _blank=">http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/furuhashi280406.html</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 7 - "Due to insufficient financial..."]</strong><br />Nick Wadhams, "U.N.: Sudan Relief Efforts Could Collapse", Associated Press (as published by the Star Tribune), May, 19, 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.startribune.com/dynamic/mobile_story.php?story=6065476" target="_blank">http://www.startribune.com/dynamic/mobile_story.php?story=6065476</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 7 - "At one point, the..."]</strong><br />World Food Program, press release, "Sudan again faces food ration cuts: will Darfur be put back on a diet?," 16 Aug 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2214" target="_blank">http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2214</a>.<br /><br />Food levels were then raised to near the appropriate level, though this and other aid programs are constantly on the brink of major funding shortages.<br /><br />For the UN figure, see UN News, "4 million people in Darfur now need humanitarian aid, top UN relief official says," 20 Nov. 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20658&Cr=sudan&Cr1=" target="_blank">http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20658&Cr=sudan&Cr1=</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 9 - "Yet instead of being..."]</strong><br />Mark Doyle, "Sudan's interlocking wars," BBC, 10 May 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4759325.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4759325.stm</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 9 - "Further exposing the hypocrisy..."]</strong><br />"UN's Pronk slams international passivity toward Darfur," AFP (as published in SudanTribune.com), 27 Nov. 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article18924" target="_blank">http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article18924</a>. Pronk also stated about the AU that "'They have good troops,'…many of them with experience in U.N. peace missions to Bosnia or elsewhere. 'I'm very positive about the African Union in Darfur.'" See Associated Press (as published in cbs2chicago.com), "U.N. Refugee Agency Appeals For More Darfur Aid," 30 Jan. 2007, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://cbs2chicago.com/national/topstories_story_031010356.html" target="_blank">http://cbs2chicago.com/national/topstories_story_031010356.html</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 10 - "For its part, the..."]</strong><br />The previously cited New York Times ad, for example, does not make any mention of the AU.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 11 - "Crowds of Sudanese have..."]</strong><br />For reporting on one such demonstration, featuring "tens of thousands," see "Sudan masses defiant over Darfur," BBC, 4 Aug. 2004, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3534396.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3534396.stm</a>. It is reported that "The government-backed protesters said they were ready to die in a jihad if any Western troops entered the country."<br /><br />While the fact that at least some anti-UN demonstrations have been organized by the government casts doubt on how representative they are of public opinion, in addition to the fact that Khartoum has impeded an understanding of the conflict by the general population, nevertheless the strong turnouts should give pause to those who believe that the deployment of UN troops in Sudan would not provoke violent resistance.<br /><br />For concerns about Al-Qaida, see Evelyn Leopold, "Africans Unsure on UN Fielding Darfur Force," Reuters (as published by the Global Policy Forum), 28 Feb. 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/sudan/2006/0228unsure.htm" target="_blank">http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/sudan/2006/0228unsure.htm</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 12 - "Gareth Evans, President and..."]</strong><br />The brackets in the quote are ours. Any humanitarian intervention with even a faint guise of sincerity would surely include a ground invasion as peacekeepers on location to protect civilians would, after all, be the justification for the intervention.<br /><br />Gareth Evans, "Darfur: What Next?," Keynote Address to International Crisis Group/Save Darfur Coalition/European Policy Centre Conference, Towards a Comprehensive Settlement for Darfur, Brussels, 22 Jan. 2007, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4625&l=1" target="_blank">http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4625&l=1</a>.<br /><br />The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Army was concluded in January 2005 and marked the tentative end to a civil war that lasted over two decades and killed over 2 million people, displacing some 4 million more.<br /><br />Francis Deng, former Representative of the UN Secretary-General on internally displaced persons, also argues that an "international use of force" could very well "complicate and aggravate the situation":<br /><blockquote>There is also the issue of the extent to which there is willingness or consensus on the part of the international community to take military action or impose sanctions on the Government. Even assuming that there is a will to take military action, the question is whether such an international use of force would end or compound the crisis. The chances are that far from alleviating the suffering of the people of Darfur, it would complicate and aggravate the situation. First, there is bound to be an armed resistance and given the level of religious extremism under the regime, there could be a mobilization of civilians ready to die as a path to heaven in the manipulated name of jihad, as has indeed happened elsewhere. Second, as this would turn Darfur into a theatre for another layer of conflict, the people of the region could face increased levels of suffering. Third, if the Government were to confront the international community in an armed conflict, it would be unlikely that cooperation over the peace process in the South would continue. The result would be almost certain to fundamentally undermine the peace process and lead to its collapse and plunge the whole country into an even greater crisis.</blockquote>Francis M. Deng, "SPECIFIC GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS: MASS EXODUSES AND DISPLACED PERSONS; Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons," United Nations Economic and Social Council E/CN.4/2005/8, 27 Sept. 2004, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.pacweb.org/e/images/stories/documents/idp.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.pacweb.org/e/images/stories/documents/idp.pdf</a>.<br /><br />The Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's opposition to UN peacekeepers is not surprising; in addition to his fear of the south seceding from the rest of Sudan, he has a similar concern in regards to Darfur – and, as the analyst Alex de Waal notes, a large force "would in effect bring about a separation of Darfur from the rest of the country." See Alex de Waal, "On the politics of Darfur negotiations," London Review Bookshop (as published in SudanTribune.com), 17 Nov. 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19000" target="_blank">http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19000</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 13 - "For example, Pronk, who..."]</strong><br />Jan Pronk, personal webpage, Weblog nr 34, 1 Oct. 2006, accessed 12 May 2007, <a href="http://www.janpronk.nl/index264.html" target="_blank">http://www.janpronk.nl/index264.html</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 14 - "Aside from the Darfur..."]</strong><br />The DPA was largely unpopular with victims of the violence in Darfur, with many seeking "increased compensation for war victims, more political posts and a monitoring role in disarming" the Janjaweed. See Opheera McDoom, "AU orders Darfur rebel officials to leave its camps," Reuters, 16 Aug. 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=MCD637610" target="_blank">http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=MCD637610></a>.<br /><br />According to a Reuters report from June 2006, "Thousands of Darfuris are demonstrating daily against the deal, and in some camps, the AU has been attacked and their posts burnt down." See Reuters (as published in SudanTribune.com), "No UN Darfur mission before Jan 2007," 13 June 2006, accessed 9 May 2007, <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=16170" target="_blank">http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=16170</a>.<br /><br />In regards to seeking a political solution, the Save Darfur Coalition did sponsor a meeting between New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Bashir, resulting in the signing of a 60 day Cease-Fire Agreement, which, however, Khartoum violated almost immediately. See for instance Save Darfur Coalition , "Cease-Fire Agreement Offers a Moment of Opportunity for Political Settlement in Worsening Darfur Crisis," 10 Jan. 2007, accessed 12 May 2007, <a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/newsroom/releases/cease_fire_agreement_offers_a_moment_of_opportunity_for_political_settlemen/%20" target="_blank">http://www.savedarfur.org/newsroom/releases/cease_fire_agreement_offers_a_moment_of_opportunity_for_political_settlemen/</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 14 - "Commenting that those seeking..."]</strong><br />As quoted in Paul Salopek, "Jailed for 34 days, Tribune reporter writes of: My time in Darfur," Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2006, accessed 12 Oct. 2006, <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0610080328oct08,1,6443180.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-utl&ctrack=1&cset=true" target="_blank">http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0610080328oct08,1,6443180.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-utl&ctrack=1&cset=true</a>. De Waal goes on to add that ""From experience, we know that, ultimately, there is no real military solution to these kinds of complicated ethnic wars." <br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 15 - "Their suffering also merits..."]</strong><br />The British writer Johann Hari used the phrase in a similar spirit to describe how President Bush characterized U.S. foreign policy in his second inaugural address. See Johann Hari, "George Bush's talk of spreading freedom and democracy is a sugar-coated lie," Independent, 21 Jan. 2005, accessed 12 May 2007, <a href="http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/johann_hari/article15969.ece" target="_blank">http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/johann_hari/article15969.ece</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 17 - "Pressure should be applied..."]</strong><br />It has been reported that only three Darfurians have "been granted refugee status in the United States in the past four years." See "Displaced, Imprisoned Darfurian Refugee Daoud Ibarahaem Hari On His Return to Darfur to Help Expose the World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis," Democracy Now!, 15 May 2007, accessed 17 May 2007, <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/15/1515223" target="_blank">http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/15/1515223</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>[Paragraph 17 - "Washington should be obliged..."]</strong><br />The inconceivability of such reparations is a fair indicator of the true concern of the U.S. government for the Sudanese. As a supposed response to the 1998 Dar es Salaam and Nairobi US embassy bombings, then-President Clinton ordered, amongst other air strikes, the destruction of the al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum – a facility which the US claimed to suspect of producing chemical weapons. Not surprisingly for the leveling of a facility which was producing basic medicines "covering 20 to 60 percent of Sudan's market and 100 percent of the market for intravenous liquids", estimates of eventual deaths run into the "several tens of thousands."<br /><br />See Werner Daum, "Universalism and the West," Harvard International Review, Vol. 23 (2) - Summer 2001, accessed 31 Mar. 2007, <a href="http://hir.harvard.edu/articles/909/" target="_blank">http://hir.harvard.edu/articles/909/</a>. Daum served as the German Ambassador to Sudan from 1996 to 2000. His estimate is certainly speculative, though clearly the human toll from the bombing was devastating. <br /><br />The Washington Post reports:<br /><blockquote>Within a matter of days, however, Clinton's missile attack on El Shifa would explode anew as evidence mounted indicating that the facility was making pain medication, not nerve gas. A growing chorus of critics around the world seemed unconvinced by the administration's<br />"compelling" evidence: a soil sample secretly obtained by a CIA agent near the plant said to contain a known precursor chemical to deadly VX nerve gas.<br /><br />"Never before," former CIA official Milt Bearden would say months later, "has a single soil sample prompted an act of war against a sovereign state."</blockquote>Vernon Loeb, "A Dirty Business," Washington Post, pg. F01, July 25, 1999, accessed 1 Feb. 2007 eLibrary. Proquest. BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. <a href="http://elibrary.bigchalk.com.ezproxy.bpl.org/" target="_blank">http://elibrary.bigchalk.com.ezproxy.bpl.org</a>.<br /><br />Khartoum's pleas to be compensated by Washington for the strikes have fallen on the deafest of ears. See "Sudan charges US with seeking to topple regime," AFP, 2 Feb. 2007, accessed 14 May 2007, <a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070201/1/46dwy.html" target="_blank">http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070201/1/46dwy.html</a>.<br /><br />Remarkably, to our knowledge there is no single source focusing on U.S. support for the Nimeiri dictatorship, which precipitated the civil war, and the succeeding regimes in Khartoum that continued its prosecution with notable brutality. For sources, see our forthcoming book; perhaps the most important is Burr, J. Millard and Robert O. Collins. Requiem for the Sudan: War, Draught, & Disaster Relief on the Nile. Boulder: Westview P, 1995.Steve Fakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971138443375100400noreply@blogger.com2