Save Darfur
Save Darfur Coalition, 2120 L Street NW, Washington D.C., 20037
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A Tale of Oil, Weapons, and the Olympics
China has been the linked to selling the weapons to the militants who have killed thousands in the ongoing genocide in Darfur. China has taken advantage of Sudan’s vast oil fields and has a strong economic interest that has blinded them from the horrendous acts of mass murder occurring in the Darfur region. Their prominent role in the UN could very well prevent a substantial, multinational peacekeeping task force from going in, unless with the blessing from those in Khartoum.
With China’s hosting of the Olympics just months away, many leaders have made moves to boycott the opening games. Steven Spielberg notably withdrew himself from partaking in helping with the games over his concerns over China’s reluctance to persuade the government in Sudan to stop the killings.
(picture from http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/4396)
While boycotting the Opening Ceremonies is a great symbolic gesture, the world community must take bolder, tougher approaches to convince China to use its strong economic ties Sudan to stop the genocide. It is a sad thought to think that money made from the Olympics may eventually end up in the hands of those behind the killings in Sudan. Money should not take precedence over lives, or the existence of an entire people.
An Explication: Why We Care
Why should we actively try to help Darfur, some ask. After all, Darfur is a world away, culturally, physically, even economically. The United States does not have many ties to Sudan. But to the Save Darfur Coalition, and to me, supporting the people of Darfur is deeper than that. We must ask what we as the world’s superpower, wealthiest nation, and world leader should stand for. The United States has prided itself on human rights, namely the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is why the United States exists. Fortunately Americans have traditionally upheld the notion that human beings inherently have the right to live. As humans we have an obligation to protect one another.
This is a matter of standing up for human rights and righting wrongs. If the United States and other world leaders don’t recognize and act, not many others will. This is about helping a people against an oppressor and negative influence in Africa. Hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children have been killed, and thousands more will be brutally murdered and raped unless we take decisive action. We must unite the world community. Economics and politics should not get in the way of stopping genocide. After the holocaust, the world community pledged “never again” to allow a genocide to happen. Will our generation be one which is remembered as champions of human rights, or one that will forever be marked as a generation which allowed a genocide to happen right underneath our noses, doing nothing to stop it? The threat to Darfur and to humanity is clear and present. We must act fast. We can make a difference. We can change the course in Darfur. This is why we care.
Change the paradigm. Do it for Darfur. Do it for the world.
Major Presidential Candidates Pledge Support
“As we campaign for President of the United States over the next several months, we expect there to be significant focus on the many differences between us. After all, elections are about choices in a free society. We have had a spirited contest so far and fully expect a robust debate about issues foreign and domestic right up to Election Day.As we engage in this process, we are fully aware that friend and foe around the globe are watching and sometimes reacting based on their own analysis of the latest developments in the campaign.
It is with this awareness that we are taking the uncommon step of issuing a joint statement about an issue.
After more than five years of genocide, the Sudanese government and its proxies continue to commit atrocities against civilians in Darfur. This is unacceptable to the American people and to the world community.
We deplore all violence against the people of Darfur. There can be no doubt that the Sudanese government is chiefly responsible for the violence and is able to end it. We condemn the Sudanese government’s consistent efforts to undermine peace and security, including its repeated attacks against its own people and the multiple barriers it has put up to the swift and effective deployment of the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force. We further condemn the Sudanese government’s refusal to adhere to the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the conflict in southern Sudan.
Today, we wish to make clear to the Sudanese government that on this moral issue of tremendous importance, there is no divide between us. We stand united and demand that the genocide and violence in Darfur be brought to an end and that the CPA be fully implemented. Even as we campaign for the presidency, we will use our standing as Senators to press for the steps needed to ensure that the United States honors, in practice and in deed, its commitment to the cause of peace and protection of Darfur’s innocent citizenry. We will continue to keep a close watch on events in Sudan and speak out for its marginalized peoples. It would be a huge mistake for the Khartoum regime to think that it will benefit by running out the clock on the Bush Administration. If peace and security for the people of Sudan are not in place when one of us is inaugurated as President on January 20, 2009, we pledge that the next Administration will pursue these goals with unstinting resolve.”
Source
It’s nice to see the candidates recognize an issue early, before presidency. This blogger hopes that whoever will be president will follow through and re-establish the United States as a superpower for championing human rights. Please do your part and support the cause!
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Welcome to the Save Darfur MyLocalCause blog
This blog is dedicated to raising awareness of the Darfur region in Sudan. We hope this blog will succeed and help the general public and the MyLocalCause community learn about Darfur.
Darfur (Reference from Wikipedia)
“An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur which are coordinated by a Transitional Darfur Regional Authority. Due to the Darfur Conflict, the region has been in a state of humanitarian emergency since 2003.”
Darfur has been a recent hot topic in regard to human rights and international intervention. A minority group in Darfur of blacks and farmers is being oppressed by the Janjaweed. Evidence indicates that the central Sudanese government has been providing support to the Janjaweed, although they publicly deny such allegations. Drought, desert, and general economic depression has led many North Sudanese to flock South, to the region occupied by mostly non-Arab farmers. Conflict has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Sudanese. Many have labeled the conflict genocide. Attacks on settlements have displaced many more Sudanese and forced them into poverty. Despite such atrocities, world leaders have not taken definitive action to stop the Janjaweed and the Sudanese government.
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Bloggers for Darfur
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