Is American hypocrisy at work in Sudan again?
By Scott A Morgan
June 25, 2007 — Currently there is growing angst in the International Community over the deterioration in Darfur. The Gamesmanship currently being used by the authorities in Khartoum would make the author of the Prince and Discourses a proud gentleman. If one needs an example one only needs to look at the actions of the United States.
The Bush Administration has been one of the most vocal critics of the Sudanese Government over the violence in Darfur. It has sent a Special Envoy to Address the situation after the strong urging of Congress. It has labeled the violence that has on more than one occasion spread into neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic as Genocide. Recently there have been efforts in several State Legislatures to divest Money from companies that do business with Khartoum. Recently the US Government issued targeted sanctions against Sudan over the violence.
The current problem with the strategy planners in Washington is that despite the violence that is occurring in Darfur it needs the support of Khartoum in the ongoing struggle against Islamic Extremists. A case in point was a High Level CIA presence at an Intelligence Summit in Khartoum which was meeting under an African Union Mandate. The meeting was a veiled effort to show how Khartoum has the support of its African Neighbors.
Stability in East Africa and in the Great Lakes Region will hinge on the situation in Sudan. There isn’t a more plain way to make this statement. And despite the loud calls for an augmentation to the current peacekeeping force currently deployed in the region, Peacekeepers cannot bring peace to a region where it does not exist.
Currently despite the launching of AFRICOM the US has yet to determine what will be Mission of the Command. Bad Memories from the Night of the Rangers in Mogadishu back in 1993 still haunt the Pentagon and the Intelligence Services are still cringing after the Kenyan and Tanzanian Explosions at US Embassies back in 1998.
IF the US continues in its Policy of supporting both sides in a conflict both covertly and overtly then it risks a huge credibility problem. On more than one occasion the US has sought to play off both sides if it worked towards the advantage of the United States. The situation in Darfur is not a place where the US should be doing this. But circumstances are in place allowing this to occur and thus the US sends a mixed message again in a crisis where American Leadership is needed.
* The author comments on US Policy towards Africa. He can be contacted at [email protected]
Aldo L Ben
Southern Sudan needs peace and reconciliation conference
Peace and Reconciliation
Nourishing Ideas > Philia in the Community > Peace and Reconciliation
Peace cannot be achieved through violence,
it can only be attained through understanding.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The south needs peace and reconciliation conference soon to ensure the survival of the CPA.The goal of the conference is to contribute to the creation of a caring and inclusive society, one that values the contributions of all citizens and not a section of one-tribe domination as we witness today in Southern Sudan. For surely there is no higher purpose or greater need in our society today than the development and nurturing of the skills and attitudes of peace making.
As the world becomes smaller through the advances in technology, travel, communications and trade, we are challenged to make our communities larger. In truth, all boundaries and borders are arbitrary man-made devices that shift and change over time. Most boundaries have the effect of creating divisions by including those on the inside of the boundary and excluding those on the outside. Nationalism and patriotism are based on a form of exclusion, of “us” vs. “them”.
Individuals who are labeled as disabled know something about the effects of exclusion. They know that exclusion separates people, divides them, and creates arbitrary boundaries that need not exist. Through the act of marginalization and exclusion we lose the participation and contribution of people who can make a significant contribution to our society.Today in Southern Sudan,those who have skills and knowledge are excluded from the government list and those who have little or no skills at all are put at the center of gravity by theirs relatives, friends name it.
Ultimately, marginalization and exclusion breed resentment, hostility, anger and aggression. Humanity has a need for justice and fairness, and we all resist being treated as less than equals. But for most of our history we have been seduced to think along Tribal line. Separating tribes is arbitrary boundaries. Our care and concern extend up to those boundaries but not beyond them. It’s not uncommon for our care to extend to the boundary of family, culture, nationality or citizenship, in the legal sense of the word. As a result, we perceive those on the other side of the boundary as “not our concern” and this is exactly what happen in the south day. That is if you are non-Dinka and you are killed by either LRA or Toposa as the case of Lauro massacre, nobody pay attention to you.
The challenge if GOSS is to view all citizen of Southern Sudan from a global perspective beyond tribal live, legal definitions, national pride or cultural affiliation. Peace occurs when we recognize all individuals as citizens deserving of inclusion, respect, dignity, choice and justice, and when all are given opportunities for contribution. Until the GOSS realizes the important of inclusion in all sectors of the government, the South is embracing another third war, the war that will be much shorter and bloody Similar to that of Rwanda.
PEACE
Peace is the wholeness created
by right relationships
with
oneself, other persons, other life,
our Earth,
and the larger whole of which
we are all a part.