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Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 4234
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 27, 2007 - 08:32 pm: | 
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A Choice for Darfur
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Op-Ed Columnist
Published: January 28, 2007
DAVOS, Switzerland
Over the next two days, African leaders will convene in Ethiopia and choose a new head of the African Union. Incredibly, that job may go to Sudan’s blood-drenched president, Omar al-Bashir, architect of the genocide in Darfur.
The outcome is still uncertain, with Sudan campaigning furiously for the job, but it’s mind-boggling that African countries would even consider selecting as their leader a man who has systematically dispatched militias that pick out babies on the basis of tribe and skin color and throw them into bonfires.
At a time when Africa is enjoying solid economic growth and improved leadership, this self-inflicted wound would sully Africa’s image and make it far more difficult for African Union peacekeepers to save lives in Darfur.
Mr. Bashir hasn’t confined himself to killing his own people, but has also sent his janjaweed militias to invade Chad and the Central African Republic. The janjaweed have beaten mothers with their own babies, until the infants are dead, and lately they have diversified into gouging out people’s eyes with bayonets. For anyone who wants the best for Africa, it is repulsive to think of President Bashir as the duly elected spokesman for the continent.
One reason Mr. Bashir has continued to engage in such behavior is that the world doesn’t seriously object. Almost all North African countries are backing his bid to chair the African Union. China, which supplies nearly all the AK-47s that are used to kill children in Darfur, has underwritten the genocide. Lately, it has encouraged Sudan to be more responsible, but President Hu Jintao is visiting Sudan shortly — let’s see whether he publicly expresses concern about Chinese-supported atrocities in Africa that far exceed the Rape of Nanjing.
Sudan promised a cease-fire, but instead it has been attacking aid workers. As Newsweek reported, at least four female aid workers have been beaten and sexually abused recently — raped in the case of two French women.
In addition, an aid worker in Sudan tells me that on Jan. 22 the police raided a party in the city of Nyala and arrested 22 employees of aid groups. Several were beaten and one woman was sexually abused but managed to fend off an attempted rape.
Broader security is also collapsing. On a road near Bulbul that used to be safe, gunmen stopped a public bus in the middle of the day and brutally beat the men and gang-raped the women for hours. In the face of all this, aid workers are jittery and some are pulling out.
Yet Europe is oblivious (the Davos conference here has great sessions on Africa but nothing on Darfur). President Bush has been better than most world leaders, but still pathetic: he mustered half a sentence in his State of the Union address. Perhaps this is because Mr. Bush regards the situation as tragic but hopeless, but in fact there is plenty he could do.
He could speak out forcefully about Darfur. He could bring victims to the White House for a photo op. He could help the U.N. send a force to protect Chad and the Central African Republic — while continuing to push for U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur itself. He could visit Darfur or Chad and invite European or Chinese officials to join him. He could invite African leaders to Washington for a summit meeting that would include discussion of Darfur. He could impose a no-fly zone. He could develop targeted sanctions against Sudanese leaders. He could begin forensic accounting to find assets of those leaders in Western countries. He could call on NATO and the Pentagon to prepare contingency plans in case the janjaweed start massacring the hundreds of thousands of Darfuris in camps.
And this weekend he could telephone a few African presidents to tell them what a catastrophe it would be if Africa chose Mr. Bashir as its leader.
Serious negotiations between the government and Darfur’s rebels are crucial for a lasting peace deal in Darfur, and new discussions are expected soon (that may be why President Hu dares visit Khartoum). But Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, a Sudanese human rights leader, says the new talks will fail unless the Darfur rebels have a chance to consult first. And when they try to meet, the Sudanese government bombs them.
There are countless other practical ideas for Darfur, and I’d like to hear yours. Send your suggestions to me at DarfurSuggestions @gmail.com. I’ll post some on my blog at www. nytimes. com/ontheground and discuss them in a future column. . . . Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company |
Dahomeyahosi
Regular Poster
Username: Dahomeyahosi
Post Number: 175
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 27, 2007 - 09:13 pm: |
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Bashir ran for this position the last time but was passed over by the AU, to their credit. However the fact that he was even considered and is being considered again, is mind-boggling unless one looks pessimistically at the AU as a new OAU. In that case it makes perfect sense.
If this man is elected president of the AU it will shred every ounce of this organization's integrity. North African support is one thing...these countries are occupied by foreigners who could care less about black death. This man can not win without the support of black African leaders and if he wins their support that will speak volumes on self-hate, self-abasement, and suicidal self-interest. |
Lil_ze
Veteran Poster
Username: Lil_ze
Post Number: 701
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 28, 2007 - 04:02 pm: |
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uh hello?
for the 100th time, the janjaweed is a CIVILIAN group that was formed to PROTECT the peoples of northern sudan from the MURDERING "rebels" of the south, who would like to overthrow the muslim government of the north.
the janjaweed are not guilty of massacring ANYONE. the janjaweed are protecting the peoples who would other-wise be preyed upon by these MURDERING southern sudanese,rapist,rebels.
logically, what are the people of the north of sudan supposed to do?
allow these murderers from the south of sudan overthrow their government, rape their women, and kill their people?
there is a CIVIL WAR going on in the sudan.
this war is based on a clash of RELIGION and CULTURE.
if there are crimes being commited, then BOTH sides are guilty.
the people of northern sudan MUST do ALL they can to protect themselves.
the janjaweed are only protecting the their people.
p.s.- the janjaweed are BLACK men.
so you have two sides of BLACK (dark skin peoples) involved in a civil war.
if the government of the sudan did not take action against these "rebels" from the south, the government of the sudan would be overthrown, and MANY of the people in the north of sudan would be raped, killed or enslaved by these vicious killers who want to take over the government of the sudan. |
Dahomeyahosi
Regular Poster
Username: Dahomeyahosi
Post Number: 176
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 28, 2007 - 04:22 pm: |
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Lil_ze shouldn't you be somewhere insisting you don't care about African affairs? Please return to that place. |
Lil_ze
Veteran Poster
Username: Lil_ze
Post Number: 704
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 28, 2007 - 04:49 pm: |
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"caring" about "african affairs" is one thing.
having an interest in the goings on in the world (in general) is another.
i have an interest in global affairs in general.
its not that i "care" (that word could mean many things), but i am interested in the goings on in the sudan.
especially when you have a "western media" campain, that is "hell-bent" on portraying the situation in the sudan, as if the "poor little southern sudanese", are being preyed upon (killed raped etc) by the "big bad, evil racist" government of the north.
and that is a huge LIE.
to be honest BOTH side could wipe each other out and i really wouldn't care.
but i have an interest in global socio-political goings on.
so i will comment on these situations.
especially when there are so MANY LIES being told about the situation in the sudan. |
Dahomeyahosi
Regular Poster
Username: Dahomeyahosi
Post Number: 180
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 28, 2007 - 09:10 pm: |
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Right. Please indicate which of the following is true.
1)You have access to a group of Sudanese "lost boys" from which you glean your highly-reliable information.
2)You have access to a non-biased, though Western news source, contradicting what you stated above. If so please share this source.
3)You have gone out of your way to visit Sudan or Chad.
If neither of these things are true I find it hard to understand why you consider yourself to be right when every Sudanese I have spoken to largely agrees with the assessment of the situation in Darfur that the western media has popularized. |
Americansista
Regular Poster
Username: Americansista
Post Number: 286
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007 - 12:08 pm: |
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Damn, Lil_Ze.
How do you know if it's lies or not? Seriously, have you been to Sudan or talked to any Sudanese? I think the raping and murdering there is REAL. Woman are walking around with fistuals, having to carry buckets/pails everywhere because they leak feces out of their vaginas because of the violent attacks and being treated like lepers within their own family.
I doubt that all Sudanese peeps got together, concocted all of these horrible, lurid tales and paid the media to post them. That seems too far fetched.
Now I did read that the Janjaweed ARE blacks who are claiming to be Arabs that are doing this shyt but to say it's all just a bunch of lies or exaggerations is waaaaay harsh dude. |
Dahomeyahosi
Regular Poster
Username: Dahomeyahosi
Post Number: 184
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007 - 02:56 pm: |
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Throughout Africa Arab is defined not as a racial group but as a group of people who descend from one of the sons of Abraham. I forget which one. Therefore being Arab only requires "one drop" of Arab blood. Black Americans like Lil_ze should understand this concept very easily .
Due to this definition, maurauding janjaweed have sought to "Arabize" black populations by raping the women. Otherwise they would simply kill the women as they do the men. Arab is not a race. |
Dahomeyahosi
Regular Poster
Username: Dahomeyahosi
Post Number: 185
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007 - 03:32 pm: |
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The choice has been made....And a good one
African snub to Sudan over Darfur
The AU's 7,000 peacekeepers on the ground have made little impact
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has again been bypassed in his bid to become chairman of the African Union because of the conflict in Darfur.
Mr Bashir had been due to take on the role but it has instead been given to Ghana's President John Kufuor.
Chad had threatened to leave the AU if Mr Bashir became its leader.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has held talks with Mr Bashir on a proposed joint UN-AU peacekeeping force in Darfur but Mr Bashir remains opposed to UN troops.
Mr Bashir has previously agreed to the existing AU force being beefed up, but questions such as the size of the force and who would lead it have not yet been settled.
Mr Ban said the 90 minutes of talks with Mr Bashir at the AU summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa had been "useful" and "constructive" but it is not clear whether the outstanding questions were addressed.
Before the meeting, he had said he wanted concrete commitments from Sudan.
'Elation'
Mr Bashir has repeatedly denied backing the Janjaweed militias, accused of carrying out widespread atrocities in Darfur and says the problems there have been exaggerated.
Some 200,000 people have died and more than two million have fled their homes since the start of the four-year conflict.
AU to tackle tough agenda
Profile: African Union
Mr Bashir was originally due to become AU leader in 2006 but this was postponed by a year.
"Sudan has voluntarily accepted to decline in favour of Ghana," said Sudan's Foreign Minister Lam Akol.
"We chose Ghana to maintain the unity of the continent."
Mr Kufuor said he was elated to be called on to serve the AU.
The BBC's Amber Henshaw at the AU summit in Addis Ababa says there has been enormous pressure from other African countries, the international community, aid agencies and lobby groups against Mr Bashir.
One of the Darfur rebel groups had said AU peacekeepers would be treated as enemies if Sudan led the continental body.
'Scorched-earth'
Addressing African leaders before meeting Mr Bashir, Mr Ban called for more peacekeepers to be deployed urgently.
"Together we must work to end the violence and scorched-earth policies adopted by various parties, including militias, as well as the bombings which are still a terrifying feature of life in Darfur," he said.
The UN wants to deploy 22,000 soldiers.
The UN chief also called on the Darfur rebel groups who had not signed a peace deal with the Sudanese government to do so.
Instability in Somalia is also a prominent issue at the summit. Ethiopia itself played a major role in ousting the Islamist forces that had taken control of much of southern Somalia and supports the interim government.
Ethiopia has begun cutting its force levels in Somalia, making a proposed AU peacekeeping force for Somalia an even more pressing issue, correspondents say.
Officially, the AU agenda was to have been headed by climate change and scientific development, but BBC East Africa correspondent Adam Mynott says it is the other matters which are concentrating minds.
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Lil_ze
Veteran Poster
Username: Lil_ze
Post Number: 707
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007 - 05:47 pm: |
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well, many things have been said, and a few question posed to me.
first of all the son of abraham that the arabs come from was ISHMAEL.
yes, i have spoken to (and know) people from the sudan).
my opinions are formed from not only speaking to people from the sudan, but by doing independant research. this study (or research) includes various sources.
why on EARTH would i need to have access to these "alleged" LOST BOYS OF THE SUDAN TO FORM MY OPINIONS?
i have no idea how these "alleged" lost boys became "lost".
maybe their parents just abandoned them.
maybe many of them are LYING in order to obtain the generosity of the "western powers".
i would have no need to have "access" to these alleged "lost boys" of the sudan, anymore than you DAHOMEYAHOSI would need to have access to the "JANJAWEED" in order to "glean your highly reliable information".
i really don't think its realistic for every person who has an opinion about the situation in the sudan, to have to VISIT the sudan or CHAD to have an opinion regarding it.
DAHOMEYAHOSI- A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
1) do you think that every person who is a part of any type of organization that id devoted to helping the people of DARFUR has VISITED the SUDAN?
2)do you have "access" to the members of the "janjaweed" to her their side of the "story", and/or glean your highly reliable information?
3) do you think a person MUST visit a nation or place on earth in order to have an opinion about it? could a person in new york have an opinion about affairs in california, without ever having been to california?
4)do you (or other posters) believe EVERYTHING you hear from a few people?
americansista, you are RIGHT the RAPES and MURDERS are for real.
both the SOUTHERN SUDANESE and the NORTHERN SUDANESE are killing and raping EACH OTHER.
"women are walking around with buckets....because they are leaking FECES out of their vaginas.....because of violent attacks".
i don't believe anything and everything, just because someone says it.
i have no idea if this is true or not.
but i DO know that the southern sudanese will do or SAY anything in an effort to overthrow the muslim government in the north.
PLEASE dahomeyahosi, where is the PROOF that being an arab requires one drop of arab blood?
the "black people" of the sudan have an ARAB FAITH AND CULTURE, so they maybe considered or think of themselves as arabs.
but the TRUTH is that ARABS ARE A RACE.
the arabs are those who descend from ISHMAEL.
one drop of arab blood does not make a person arab.
many peoples of africa have an ARAB culture, as opposed to the peoples (like those in the south of sudan) who DO NOT HAVE AN ARAB CULTURE.
i think you are confused dahomeyahosi.
under ISLAM, all members of that faith are seen as equals. so its the faith of islam that connects the "blacks" in africa, who FOLLOW islam, to the "ARAB" race.
but to be an ARAB mean just that you are an arab.
where the line is drawn between who is "black" and who is "ARAB" (especially in the north of sudan) is debateable.
the "janjaweed" are no more guilty of rape and murder than the southern sudanese "rebels".
the "southern sudanese rebels" are vicious, raping murderers themselves (if this is true of the janjaweed).
just because a bunch of southern sudanese (who have an axe to grind with the muslim government of the north) tell "tall tales" of what is taking place there, why should i believe them over what the northern sudanese are saying?
do you think if you spoke with members of the islamic government of the north or members of the "janjaweed", do you think their VIEW of whats going on there would be the same as the peoples of the south of sudan?
what you have in the sudan is a CIVIL WAR BASED ON RELIGION AND CULTURE.
if one side is guilty of something, then BOTH SIDES are GUILTY.
and there is NO attempt to "arabize black populations" by using RAPE.
this is just not true.
where is the PROOF that there is an effort on the part of the "janjaweed" to "arabize black populations through rape?
there is NONE.
don't believe everything a person says just because they say it. |
Dahomeyahosi
Regular Poster
Username: Dahomeyahosi
Post Number: 186
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 - 09:11 am: |
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Lil_ze our conversation is over. I just can't believe how ignorant and arrogant you are at the same time. It's a lethal combination. |
Yukio
Veteran Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 1707
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 - 01:00 pm: |
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tsk, tsk, tsk, Lil_ze...i wonder if this is a case of your post lacking substance? Hmmmm.....your emphasis on opinion and not subtance is telling...LOL! |
Libralind2
Veteran Poster
Username: Libralind2
Post Number: 539
Registered: 09-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 09:20 pm: |
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Dahomeyahosi..for real..you was NOT trying to converse with that idiot..were you..LMAO
LiLi |
Lil_ze
Veteran Poster
Username: Lil_ze
Post Number: 715
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 11:31 pm: |
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calling me an idiot, libralind2?
is that all you got?
you should be laughing your ass off.
only people who lack the ability to actually hold a conversation, resort to name calling.
those who call names usually are frustrated with the person they are calling names, because they understand that they don't have the capacity to deal with a subject or that person in any other fashion except name calling.
keep laughing, tonta, fea, morena.
estoy reindo a vos tambien!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Libralind2
Veteran Poster
Username: Libralind2
Post Number: 547
Registered: 09-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 01, 2007 - 01:27 pm: |
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Ok..
LiLi |
Libralind2
Veteran Poster
Username: Libralind2
Post Number: 548
Registered: 09-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 01, 2007 - 01:30 pm: |
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My bad Lil_ze..I should have been politically correct and said your mentally challenged..it wont happen again.
LiLi |
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