yolland said:
<-- ^ That's the word in my avatar. 
That's what your avatar means! Always wondered, never asked.
I've always really liked it. Cool beans.
*Can't believe I just said "cool beans" in front of cool FYM'ers.*
I wrote this op-ed piece about a month ago. Considering this week marks the anniversary of the Armenian genocide and since today is a day to remember those lost in the Jewish holocaust, I suppose it's fitting.
“Never Again”
The western world has a history of uttering these words after horrific genocide campaigns. Just ask the Armenians, European Jews, Muslims from the Balkans and Rwandans.
In a few years will we offer these same, hallow words to those who have suffered in the Darfur conflict?
We sat by and watched the Armenians, Jews, Muslims and Rwandans suffer. We at least owe them our word.
The online encyclopedia, wikipedia.com, states that this ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a government-supported militia recruited from local Arab tribes, and the non-Arab peoples of the region, began over two years ago.
Reuters reports that 400,000 have died in Darfur during these past few years. If this is difficult to comprehend, imagine a militia group killing everyone living in the Antelope Valley within two years.
While President George W. Bush admits that the crisis in Darfur, Sudan is a genocide, the United States and other western countries are hardly actively responding to the genocide.
''Let us remember: what hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander,” Elie Wiesel once wrote.
How many times must we proclaim, “Never again,” and proceed to remain silent in the face of genocide? This is the real moral crisis for America.
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, Nicholas Kristof condemned American politicians recently in his bi-weekly column.
“In Darfur, we have even less excuse than in past genocides. We have known about this for more than two years, we have photos and eyewitnesses, our president has even described it as genocide, and yet we're still paralyzed,” Kristof writes. “Part of the problem is that President Bush hasn't made it a top priority, but at least he is now showing signs of stirring -- and in fact he's done more than most other world leaders, and more than many Democrats. Our failure in Darfur is utterly bipartisan.”
The American people, Kristof notes, feel as if our government is not doing enough to help the helpless. Nearly 60% of Americans surveyed said that the U.S. has not done enough diplomatically to help end the crisis.
Last November, the Senate passed a bill supporting sanctions against members responsible for the Darfur atrocities. It took the House five months to approve a similar bill.
Five months. How many Africans died during those five-months?
83,333. Goodbye a quarter of Los Angeles.
In addition to the 400,000 people who have lost their lives two years, two million have been misplaced and many, many more have faced kidnap, rape or some other form of harm.
According to Reuters, in addition to freezing the assets of those responsible for the genocide, the bill calls for President Bush “to deny Sudan access to oil revenues by blocking cargo ships or oil tankers from U.S. harbors.”
Furthermore, in February, during its month-long presidency over the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. proposed a motion to begin sending peacekeeping troops to Darfur. The motion, which calls for a 12,000 to 20,000 troop presence in Darfur with the 7,000 African Union troops already, passed unanimously.
While this sounds promising, the U.N. is struggling to find countries that will provide troops. Even though the U.S. proposed the motion, we do not plan on sending any troops to protect the citizens of Darfur.
Such murder, such hatred, such failure is very difficult to grasp. It is sometimes easier to look the other way when confronted with such devastation. However, if America is to lead the rest of the world to an age of freedom, we must not play the role of the silent bystander.
The situation is not hopeless.
Kristof, who has traveled to the region many times over the past two years, agrees.
“Darfur is not hopeless. We need a new peace initiative, focused on the sheiks of the region. We need a well-equipped U.N. peacekeeping force and a no-fly zone,” he writes. “We need a public pledge by France to use its military forces in Chad to stop any invasion from Sudan. And we need Arab leaders to speak up for the Muslim victims of Darfur. With those measures, Darfur might again be a place where children play, rather than one in which they are thrown into bonfires.”
Silence is the enemy.
For more information visit
www.savedarfur.org.
