Foreign vs. Domestic Policy in Darfur

The problem with Darfur, in terms of the rationale for why there has been a universal lack of action to end the genocide is the inability for the international community to recognize what it would feel like for the genocide to be happening to them. What if your mother, sister, or any other female was raped? What if your son, daughter, niece, nephew became child soldiers? What if your family was systematically murdered before your eyes? You might not want to imagine any of these scenarios, but the truth is these actions are occurring the people in Darfur every hour, every day. The United Nations reports anywhere from 200,000 to 400,000 people have been brutally killed in the atrocities in Darfur and another 2.3 million people have been displaced by the violence, many fleeing to neighboring Chad. These numbers can be altered if the conflict in Darfur was viewed as domestic policy, instead of foreign policy, or something that is happening "far away."

Fidelity Must Divest From Darfur

Fidelity must divest funds that have been involved in multiple transactions in Darfur, which is one the many companies still fueling the genocide in the Sudan. Save Darfur Coalition (www.savedarfur.org) has encouraged Fidelity and other compaines to completely divest all transactions with the Sudan in an effort to stop financially fueling the genocide. As of today, Fidelity has released a statement, citing that they are simply "engaging in business" and downplay their role in the genocide. For an informational ad about the Fidelity memo released visit this link to be disgusted by bureaucratic idiotcy. http://www.savedarfur.org/page/content/newsroom

Bush Finally Speaks About the Genocide in Darfur After Nearly a Year Since His Last Comment

President George W. Bush spoke about Darfur a couple days ago in front of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He did not say much except calling the crisis in Darfur, a "genocide" and he assured the public that tougher sanctions will be enacted on the Sudan and Basshir if he continues to refuse to help end the genocide in Darfur. The question or skepticism that remains from that speech is whether or not the president will actually act with China and Russia backing the Sudan.

Sultan in CHAD Expresses to the U.N. humanitarian chief, "I can't even tell you how bad things are going"

The link below leads to a International Hearld Tribune story where the Associated Press interviews the Sultan of Silla in Goz Beida, CHAD regarding the millions of Darfur refugees getting sandwiched in between CHAD and Sudan.
Click on the following link:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/01/africa/ME-GEN-Chad-Darfur-Spilling-Over.php

NBC News's Ann Curry Talks with Sudanese President Omar Al-Basshir about the Atrocities in Darfur

Tune into NBC Nightly News tonight @ 6:30/5:30c for an interview conducted by NBC news's Ann Curry where she asks questions about the crisis in Darfur to Sudanese president Omar Al-Basshir. Last night the first part of the interview aired where the president denied any affiliation with the militia group terrorizing the people of Darfur, the Janjaweed. He also raised his disgust when asked about his top minister being tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and continously said that his minister is innocent. He also denied when shown a map of burnt villages that there were any significant issues and said the map was fabricated by the United States.

Breaking News: Another Opportunity For Peace

In the next few weeks, the Government of Sudan will have the opportunity to make the difference between life and death, security and instability for the people of Darfur.
The African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) will put a detailed proposal for an AU-UN peacekeeping mission there, to implement the agreement reached with the Government of Sudan in November 2006.
That mission forms a crucial part of international attempts to support the people of Sudan by helping to end a conflict that has resulted in the deaths of an estimated 250,000 civilians, driven millions from their homes to squalid camps that lack the resources necessary to give them shelter, food and security, destabilised the region, and meant that four million people - two-third's of Darfur's population - are now dependent on international aid for food and basic needs.
Even since the Darfur Peace Agreement was signed in May 2006 another 230,000 people have been driven from their homes, taking the total number of those displaced to over two million.
But, despite this desperate situation, humanitarian organizations are having to draw back from Darfur because of the increased instability and restrictions placed on their movement. The Government of Sudan has refused access to Darfur for a Human Rights Council mission seeking to establish the facts on the ground, and the UN arms embargo on Darfur is willfully ignored by all sides.
For their part, the rebel groups have refused to join the Darfur Peace Agreement, and are today responsible for much of the instability in Darfur.
This cannot go on. The AU recognizes that, and the UN recognizes that.
That is why the AU asked the UN to take over peacekeeping in Darfur, after it became clear that the AU peacekeeping force there was not big enough or well-equipped enough to provide protection to refugee camps, towns and villages across the whole region.
That is why both the AU and the UN have both worked patiently with the Government of Sudan to try to establish exactly what sort of peacekeeping force it can accept to bring an end to the violence.
And that is why the international community should play its part by looking at ways to limit the flow of weapons and violence into Sudan and Darfur, such as extending the UN arms embargo and seeking to restrict the ability of those responsible to commit further atrocities.
The international community must also continue to work to reinvigorate the political process between the Government of Sudan and the rebels in Darfur, and encourage all parties to implement the cease-fire. For this to happen, the rebels will have to engage with a degree of seriousness and responsibility that they have so far failed to demonstrate, and the Government of Sudan will need to make good its commitment to allow a fully-staffed, effective international peacekeeping mission into Darfur.
If these conditions are met, that mission might be able to stop the bloodshed, the raping of women and children, the pillaging of villages, and the uncertainty and vulnerability that has been all that many in the region have known for the past four years.
We must all, including the Government of Sudan, do everything we can to ensure that the people of Sudan are given this opportunity to bring Darfur, Sudan and the wider region forward into peace and not backward into internal conflict.
Story by Google News
Do you think the Sudanese Government will take this opportunity to end genocide in Darfur after over 400,000 have been brutally murdered?

Special Interest Groups: Why is Darfur a Minority Amongst Reps?

Money truly rules Washington D.C., as many interest groups are represented in our nation's capital, but when it comes to legislation getting passed, representatives do not respond unless your interest groups buys that representative(s) tangible items or favors. But when a serious issue such as the mass annhilation of over a half million people is occuring and special interest groups lobby on behalf of a dire situation like Darfur, nothing happens. Darfur is a minority because without money in Washington, you have no policy changing abilities.