France is being well, French

[A_Wanderer]

?In Darfur, it would be better to help the Sudanese get over the crisis so their country is pacified rather than sanctions which would push them back to their misdeeds of old,? junior Foreign Minister Renaud Muselier told French radio.

France led opposition to US moves at the UN over Iraq. As was the case in Iraq, it also has significant oil interests in Sudan.

Mr Muselier also dismissed claims of ?ethnic cleansing? or genocide in Darfur.

?I firmly believe it is a civil war and as they are little villages of 30, 40, 50, there is nothing easier than for a few armed horsemen to burn things down, to kill the men and drive out the women,? he said.

So there you have it, you have a massive humanitarian crisis on your hands where an arab government is murdering the Africans in the South with planes and bombs then sending in Janjaweed Militias to kill the rest off and what does the French Government do? Say that sanctions are a bad idea and that it isn't ethnic clensing just war. I do like the call for the African Sudanese to be "pacified", I do wonder if such Orwellian doublespeak really means genocide. The oil interests by the French in the Sudan show me at least the true villlainly within the UN Security Council. I think this is where multilateralism could accomplish so much but will be unable to because of all the special interest BS that is going to cost many lives.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3875277.stm

 

[A_Wanderer]

Just in case somebody was going the oil thing up here is the list of Sudans Oil and Gas Concession Holders - http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/sudan/map_oil_text.html

and Human Rights Watch had this to say

The oil industry in Sudan sank into the hands of Asian state oil companies, with China National Petroleum Company leading the way, followed by Petronas Berhad of Malaysia and Videsh of India.

No Haliburton, No Bush Ties just a lot of shonky petroleum deals supporting a genocide by a shonky government. Something really must be done and the UN sure as hell isn't doing much.

 

[Salome]

I do like the call for the African Sudanese to be "pacified", I do wonder if such Orwellian doublespeak really means genocide.

that's an interesting way to reason


I don't know enough about this situation to have an opinion on it

 

[DrTeeth]

Muselier really should have his head checked. I don't know what happened overnight according to Reuters France is backing the resolution now.

At initial negotiations on a U.S.-drafted resolution on Thursday, China, Russia, Pakistan, Algeria, Brazil and others were wary of any embargoes, arguing it would be more helpful to get Khartoum's cooperation than force it into a corner, participants in the meeting said.

Europeans, including Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Romania, supported the Bush administration in the 15-member council, they added.

Looks like the Sudanese government has already made some promises but it doesn't look like they're following up on it. I think the UN should be prepared to send some troops, but it would be even better if the African Union took control.

By the way, the only country in the security council that opposes the resolution and has oil interests in Sudan seems to be China.