Sudan's Genocide Policy

[Lief Erikson]

I've spent this evening reading about Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army he created. The atrocities he is responsible for in his war against Uganda's government are unbelievably sickening.

Then I found out that Sudan gives Kony the necessary weapons and money to support his military operations in Uganda, and I learned that his spiritual indoctrination, his military and his torture training camps are in Sudan. Learning this, naturally, reminded me of the genocide Sudan's government and the Janjaweed have engaged in, in Darfur. To see that Sudan's current government is responsible for not just one, but two of the most horrific conflicts of modern times is a new realization for me.

The evil Sudan is directly responsible for as we speak is just shocking in its scale and the level of barbarity. Learning that such a spiritually twisted government exists in modern times is incredible, for they are responsible for both the Uganda civil war and the Darfur genocide. It's no wonder that Al'Qaeda called on jihad warriors to support Khartoum!

I think about Iran a lot, because of Iran's nuclear ambitions and their funding of terrorism. Iran is definitely a more direct threat to the US than Sudan is, and we give it a lot of attention. That is important and right; we should be paying them a lot of attention.

Sudan is meanwhile getting away with unimaginable atrocities both in Darfur and Uganda. I don't know what can be done.

I'm very glad that the new ceasefire is holding between the LRA and Uganda's government at this time. I doubt that it'll hold, but I'll pray it does.

It's just shocking for me to learn how deep the evil in Sudan goes.

[GreyMouser]

Everything I've seen on this says that while Sudan originally supported the LRA, in retaliation for Uganda's support of the SPLA, it improved relations with Uganda in the late 90s and in 2003 actually agreed to allow Ugandan government forces into Sudan to crush the LRA.

The leaders of the LRA, including Kony, were indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes; ironically, the Ugandan gov't. is now asking for those charges to be dropped as part of a peace deal.

A truce actually went into effect on Tuesday- the LRA are supposed to gather into camps in southern Sudan, under the supervision of the Southern Sudanese Government (not the one in Khartoum.)

Though everything you say about the horrors that the Muslim extremists in Khartoum have inflicted on southern Sudan and Uganda in the past, and are currently inflictinfg on Dharfur, is absolutely true.

[Spock]

We could have topics on attrocities ad nauseum.

No one bothers with China's in Tibet; no, we give them the WTO and the Olympics.

I'm sick of the whole thing and this topic in general.

[Lief Erikson]

Originally Posted by GreyMouser

Everything I've seen on this says that while Sudan originally supported the LRA, in retaliation for Uganda's support of the SPLA, it improved relations with Uganda in the late 90s and in 2003 actually agreed to allow Ugandan government forces into Sudan to crush the LRA.

Except that according to people who have escaped the LRA in recent years, Sudan is continuing to secretly give them weapons. I believe those accounts, myself.

Originally Posted by GreyMouser

The leaders of the LRA, including Kony, were indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes; ironically, the Ugandan gov't. is now asking for those charges to be dropped as part of a peace deal.

The ICC indicting Kony for those war crimes actually crushed a peace initiative that was going on between the LRA and Uganda. The top priority of the Ugandan government is establishing peace, and in my view, that is more important than justice against Kony and his main leaders. If these atrocities can be brought to an end at the cost of the perpetrators getting off free of punishment, it's worth it.

Originally Posted by GreyMouser

A truce actually went into effect on Tuesday- the LRA are supposed to gather into camps in southern Sudan, under the supervision of the Southern Sudanese Government (not the one in Khartoum.)

I'm very glad about this, naturally.

Originally Posted by GreyMouser

Though everything you say about the horrors that the Muslim extremists in Khartoum have inflicted on southern Sudan and Uganda in the past, and are currently inflictinfg on Dharfur, is absolutely true.

I don't think it's a good choice of words to say that this is what they've been inflicting on Uganda in the past. It's what's they've been inflicting on Uganda until the last day or two. That's a pretty recent past .

[Spock]

Yep and the "valiant UN troops" will go in as soon as the government says they can; meanwhile the government has been saying for four weeks, they don't want the UN troops in and if they show their face, they will shoot at THEM.
Nice!.

[Lief Erikson]

That's at Darfur, right?

Yes. Many aid workers and people working for the UN have been killed there lately.

[Lief Erikson]

And now we know why Sudan has been so vehemently opposed to a UN force!

Sudan is launching a huge new offensive in Darfur. If the UN force was there, it would be in the way of this plan that they've had in the wings.

Originally Posted by CNN

Eric Reeves, a professor from Smith College in the United States who is a prominent campaigner for an end to the Darfur conflict, said he had information that Minni Minnawi, leader of the only rebel faction to sign the peace deal, was collaborating with the government offensive. Two other Darfur rebel groups have refused to sign.

He said his contacts told him thousands of troops and janjaweed militia fighters, backed by Antonov planes, have carried out bombing missions and taken control of three villages north of el Nasher, Kulkul, Bir Maza and Sayeh.

"They are bombing villages without any regard for civilians," he said. "It is more genocidal violence. The end game is to take full control of northern Darfur and isolate the rebels."

John Prendergast, an expert from the International Crisis Group, a global think-tank, was in Darfur until the end of last week and said the government offensive was provoking spiraling violence and reduced humanitarian access to the region.

Earlier this week, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, warned "a man-made catastrophe of an unprecedented scale" loomed within weeks in Darfur unless the Security Council acted immediately.

Egeland said there could be hundreds of thousands of deaths if aid operations collapsed. The operations are already at grave risk because of rising attacks against aid workers and massive funding shortfalls.

It's just incredible the war crimes that Sudan can get away with.

My guess is that the main reason that Sudan didn't make it onto President Bush's axis of evil is that its violence is a regional rather than a worldwide threat, and it poses no danger to us. But Sudan looks to me like it really has one of the worst regimes of them all. Adolf Hitler couldn't beat these people for evil.

[Lief Erikson]

This http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5311144.stm presents the scenario that could turn the Darfur disaster into its worst possible nightmare. That nightmare is what's occurring right now. When the African peacekeepers have pulled out, the 2 million refugees will be left unprotected.

It's just unimaginable how horrific the consequences of that could easily be.

[The Telcontarion]

Hey Lief, the link is not working.

I am familiar with the situation in darfur. Though what I have heard is slitely different than what you have been saying.

I will try the link when you fix it.

[Lief Erikson]

Fixed it.