Escalating Darfur

Never again should we have to say never again. Yet, here we are. Darfur is experiencing genocide and the world watches in veritable silence. The UN can't act - paralyzed by its own internal politics and leadership that wouldn't know how to actually lead instead of leading towards the worst of all possibilities.

Kofi knows that there is genocide ongoing in Darfur. He knows that the war is spilling into neighboring Chad. The entire region around Darfur is being destabilized by the ongoing purges in Darfur by the janjaweed and the silent assent by Khartoum. But, even assuming that he wants to act, which isn't exactly a given since he can't bring himself to utter the phrase that pays, he can't:

Sudan continues to receive the support of other Arab nations, especially Egypt. The Arab nations oppose bringing in UN, and especially European, peacekeepers. This would offend the dignity of the Arab world (the way overthrowing Saddam Hussein did), thus the Arabs allow the ethnic cleansing of Darfur to continue, even though the victims are Moslem. These attacks are less painful to Arabs because the victims are black Africans, who have always been held in low esteem by Arabs, even if the Africans are Moslem. The UN, however, will not stop criticizing Sudan for its support of the violence. However, a coalition of Arab and Moslem nations, plus China (which wants to protect its business interests in Sudan), block any too aggressive operations by the UN.

And therein lies the entire problem with the UN being the cure-all for security and international agreement to stop violence. Or nuclear proliferation. Or protecting human rights.

When coalitions or even single countries (Russia and China) refuse to go along with those seeking an immediate cessation of hostilities in nations where Russia or China have an interest, it results in stalemate - and no action. Which means, in the case of Darfur, thousands more die because no one wants to take the action themselves.