Save Darfur. Stop the Genocide.

Some background information...
*taken from savedarfur.org
Background



Sudan is the largest country in Africa, located just south of Egypt on the eastern edge of the Sahara desert. The country’s major economic resource is oil. But, as in other developing countries with oil, this resource is not being developed for the benefit of the Sudanese people, but instead, for an elite few in the government and society. As much as 70 percent of Sudan’s oil export revenues are used to finance the country’s military.



Darfur, an area about the size of Texas, lies in western Sudan and borders Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic. It has only the most basic infrastructure or development. The approximately 6 million inhabitants of Darfur are among the poorest in Africa. They exist largely on either subsistence farming or nomadic herding. Even in good times, the Darfuri people face a very harsh and difficult life; these are not good times in Darfur.



The current crisis in Darfur began in 2003. After decades of neglect, drought, oppression and small-scale conflicts in Darfur, two rebel groups – the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – mounted a challenge to Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir. These groups represent agrarian farmers who are mostly non-Arab black African Muslims from a number of different tribes. President al-Bashir’s response was brutal. In seeking to defeat the rebel movements, the Government of Sudan increased arms and support to local tribal and other militias, which have come to be known as the Janjaweed. Their members are composed mostly of Arab black African Muslims who herd cattle, camels, and other livestock. They have wiped out entire villages, destroyed food and water supplies, and systematically murdered, tortured, and raped hundreds of thousands of Darfurians. These attacks occur with the direct support of the Government of Sudan’s armed forces.



No portion of Darfur’s civilian population has been spared violence, murder, rape and torture. As one illustration of how Khartoum has waged its war, the Sudanese military paints many of its attack aircraft white – the same color as UN humanitarian aircraft – a violation of international humanitarian law. When a plane approaches, villagers do not know whether it is on a mission to help them, or to bomb them. Often, it has been the latter.



This scorched earth campaign by the Sudanese government against Darfur’s sedentary farming population has, by direct violence, disease and starvation, already claimed as many as 400,000 lives. It has crossed over into neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic. In all, about 2.3 million Darfuris have fled their homes and communities and now reside in a network of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Darfur, with at least 200,000 more living in refugee camps in Chad. These refugees and IDPs are completely dependent on the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations for their very livelihood – food, water, shelter, and health care.



Another 1 million Darfuris still live in their villages, under the constant threat of bombings, raids, murder, rape and torture. Their safety depends on the presence of the underfunded and undermanned African Union (AU) peacekeeping force, numbering just 7,400 troops and personnel. However, the so-called “AMIS” force, in Darfur since October 2004, lacks a civilian protection mandate as well as adequate means to do stop the violence; its sole mandate is to monitor and report ceasefire violations and it has done little more, due to its limited mandate but also because of its anemic capacity.



Current Humanitarian Situation



The situation on the ground is deteriorating. The regime continues its military operations directly and via the Janjaweed. In recent weeks, there has been an increase in attacks, resulting in tens of thousands of new arrivals to the many IDP and refugee camps.

Visitors to these camps, including from the Save Darfur Coalition, have reported on the dire conditions their inhabitants endure. It is remarkable they have survived for this long, in the face of such overwhelming hardship, and with so little progress toward resolving the underlying cause of their dislocation and insecurity. Only the herculean efforts of the UN and non-governmental humanitarian relief agencies have made this possible. They have 13,000 aid workers in 100 refugee camps in Darfur and Chad, working in very difficult security and logistical conditions, and constantly hampered and harassed by Sudanese government obstruction and red tape.



Humanitarian workers and operations are increasingly being targeted by both government and fragmenting rebel movement elements. Vehicles are being hijacked and robbed; aid workers are assaulted and intimidated while carrying out their work; and offices are broken into and looted.



In the first two months of 2007, according to the UN, over 80,000 more people entered into the IDP camps, fleeing the ongoing violence. Both the UN and non-governmental humanitarian agencies have warned that their ability to sustain operations is at risk in the face of government harassment and worsening security problems. Any interruption in the flow of humanitarian aid could spark deaths on a scale even worse than that seen to date: UN officials say that the death rate in Darfur could rise as high as 100,000 people per month if the fragile humanitarian life-support system collapses.



U.S. and International Diplomatic Efforts



U.S. Actions



The human suffering in Darfur continues despite the fact that the United States Congress, President Bush, and two U.S. Secretaries of State, have all labeled Darfur a genocide – the first time in U.S. history that a conflict has been labeled as such while it was still going on.



The U.S. government has failed to engage in a sustained and coherent manner to address and lead international resolution of this genocide. President Bush has given tough speeches, Congress has passed legislation authorizing stringent sanctions targeted at Sudan’s leadership, and the Administration (usually only after Congress has insisted) has provided significant – though still insufficient and sporadic – funding for humanitarian aid and peacekeeping.



On April 18, 2007, President Bush stated that he was tired of Sudanese obfuscation and evasion as it pursued its genocide; he demanded prompt action by Sudan’s President al-Bashir to end the genocide and cooperate with international demands that he admit UN peacekeepers to Darfur and cease obstructing humanitarian aid. The President warned that he had decided that the U.S. would impose unilateral targeted economic sanctions on the Sudanese regime and work for the same globally in the UN Security Council. On May 29, 2007, President Bush announced the implementation of said sanctions against Sudan.




While the U.S. is also a major funder for both AU peacekeeping and humanitarian aid efforts in Darfur, the actual costs related to Darfur have often outpaced the projections due to the changing nature and scope of the crisis, creating dangerous gaps in funding and the need for frequent emergency measures to address the shortfalls. Within the President’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2008, there is a projected $186 million shortfall for Darfur peacekeeping, and a $6 billion shortfall for America’s core humanitarian assistance. If these gaps are not addressed, the impact to international peacekeeping and aid efforts could negatively affect millions of Darfuris.

©2007 SaveDarfur.org
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There is so much that we can do as American citizens and as humans in general to pull together the community you live in and the global community as a whole. This is not something you can just think about in your spare time. It isn't on the same scale as walking an old lady across the street or putting change in the homeless bum's cup on the corner. This is so important. What if it was you and your family being tormented, raped, killed, burned, and extinguished all the while staring people right in the face, screaming for help, and seeing them blatantly ignore you?

Here are some things you can do...
-Sign the petition to urging President Bush and the UN Secratary-General to take emmediate and direct action to stop the killing
-Make a tax-deductible donation of any size.
-Lobby congress to take action
-Generate press coverage
-Educate others about this morbid tradgedy.
-Find a local Darfur-related event or start your own.
-Don't be against genocide. But, rather, be for peace and life. What you resist persists.
-Start the conversation. Awareness is key. You can change the world by provoking the right person to take action. You never know that the next person you talk to is going to help out in a huge way unless you try. This is a critical, global issue. Let your guard down and talk to people about this.
-Other than making a donation, lobbying congress, generating press coverage, and talking to people. If you are in a position to do something innovative that will make a great impact, just do it. The world needs you.


Those are some things you can do to make an impact. I made a donation this morning, and it didn't break me, thought I wish I could have given more. I also signed the petition and sent emails to some of my friends about signing it also. It isn't hard, and it makes a difference.

I have so much rage against President Bush. Yes, he invaded a country based on false allegations and weak, turning out to be false, leads. Yes, he has put the U.S. into economical turmoil. Yes, he is the worst president in history. I consider that all minuet compared to his lack of action in Darfur. Sudan won't allow peacekeepers and U.S. aid into Darfur. Hmm... no shit! Do you think Iraq gave us permission to invade their country? I don't think so. It was war. But, since Omar al-Bashir didn't kill any American citizens, who cares? How upset does that make you? We can invade nations that we have no business invading for ultra-benefit, but when there is a blatant and technical genocide going on in a small region in Africa, that is when we decide to start obeying monsters? This is the most ludicrous thing I have ever seen in my life. It seems to me a simple solution: get these refugees to a neighboring ally nation and then kill Bashir and his dogs that are raping little girls and burning their mothers and fathers.

Four years and nobody has done a damn thing about it. What are you going to do? This is not an impossible thing to do. Do you know how many people are in Darfur? A mere six million. Do you know how many people are living in America? 302,325,232. Over 5 times as many people in Darfur, which is the size of Texas.

As I said in a previous post, money is not the issue. The earth has the recourses to supply these people with food and shelter. The issue is motivation. Why are we still wasting out time in Iraq and so adamant about staying there and "finishing the job" when there is a human tragedy that needs immediate attention? Hmm... What is the barrier stopping this genocides extermination? Logic serves no purpose in answering this question. I just hope someone can figure it out and do something valid and efficient. I can make my donations, spread awareness, but world leaders are the ones who are really going to stop this. Let's make them wish they had done it earlier. Let us be in their face. I know that to some of you this doesn't seem important because it doesn't affect you directly. But think of this: we are all one. From the first humans until now, we are all connected in some way. These are our brothers and sisters and grandmothers and fathers dying over there. Save them.