“After All Is Said And Done, More Is Said Than Done”
Posted by supercynic on July 15, 2008
Aesop said this circa 7th Century B.C. This means that in 2700 years, man’s essential nature hasn’t changed much because this is as true now as it was way back then.
On Monday, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court charged Sudan’s president al-Bashir with genocide and crimes against humanity. It’s about time.
Of course, there are those who believe that this will destabilize the region further and endanger the peace process. This brings me to Aesop’s quote. The “peace process” has gone on for at least 5 years. In that time, 2.5 million people have been murdered, raped and/or displaced. This is the equivalent of the entire population of Mississippi being either killed or forced to flee to neighboring states. All of this has gone on during the “peace process.”
Colin Powell has called Darfur a genocide. Condi Rice has called Darfur a genocide. Bush has called Darfur a germicide, but we know what he meant. President al-Bashir has been allowed to talk, and talk, and talk, and talk. And let’s face it — he’s a good multi-tasker because during all that talking he’s been allowed to kill and kill and kill and kill. He’s a busy man.
On July 31, 2007, the U.N. Security Council authorized the deployment of 19,000 peacekeepers to Darfur. One year later, only 2,000 have arrived. Actually, that number is 1,993 because on July 9, 2008, 7 peacekeepers were killed by al-Bashir’s thugs.
Since January alone over 100,000 people have been driven from their homes. Lots and lots of lip service has been given to the people of Darfur, but “when all is said and done, more is said than done.”
How tragic. And the cruel irony is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Visit SaveDarfur.org or the Genocide Prevention Network. There are petitions that you can electronically sign; you’re not expected to just give money. Of course you can do that to — and get a t-shirt out of it. Point being, these organizations and countless others have set it up so that you can do plenty to pressure our government and the other governments around the world to stop the genocide in Darfur. People’s lives are at stake.
It’s time that more is done than said.
revbill said
If only there were white people and/or oil in Darfur, something would have been done long ago.
Yes it is a welcome sign that Bashir has been indicted as a war criminal, and I pray that one day the violence will stop, because it looks as if prayer is our only weapon since the UN and the United States are determined to sit this one out.
supercynic said
What will be interesting to see is how China will react. Under international law, China, which has provided al-Bashir with the vast majority of his weapons, could be charged with the equivalent of aiding and abetting if it doesn’t stop. What are the chances that we’re going to take a hard line against China?
revbill said
less than zero
china can do whatever it wants to, it has a billion people, owns a ton of our debt, and makes all of the products we buy.
supercynic said
But it is kind enough to make sure that many of those products are for our children and contain a healthy dose of lead. After all, who doesn’t want a glowing child? A literally glowing child.