US Imposes Sanctions on Sudan

Before we get into anything else, let's take a stroll down history...

In 2003, Darfur, Sudan, was the home of millions of people, predominately either Black or Muslim Africans. The ruling powers of Sudan were Muslims, and an inequality was felt, with the blacks of Darfur feeling that they were thought as inferior to the Muslims. The blacks wanted more equality and asked for a place in the conversations for power sharing agreements in Sudan. Unfortunately, these calls went unheard. In early 2003, rebels calling themselves the Darfur Liberation Front, along with two other rebel groups (the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement) , began to attack different targets in the country, including military convoys and governmental buildings. Much like our ancestors did during the American Revolution, these rebels tried to take the power that they were asking for. Unfortunately, the Sudanese government had some other plans.

The government sent out an Arab militia, called the Janjaweed, to terrorize the Black Darfurians, and blacks outside of Darfur also. Since then, anywhere between 200 and 400 thousand black men and women have been killed by this militia, with over 2 million becoming refugees. Women are being raped as their mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, husbands and children, are forced to watch. The majority of children are not being fed or treated properly because of the lack of aide, and many men, women and children are undergoing a famine. The fighting has been going on for four long years now, and the possibilities of it continuing seem to be very good.

The UN, and specifically our nation, must have some type of hand in ending this violence. People, it is no longer war. It is a genocide! They are targeting one group of people, the blacks, and trying to dispose of them. We call it a conflict, but ever since the Janjaweed has been unleashed it was no longer a conflict. Did we call Hitler's Holocaust a conflict? No. That's because Hitler targeted a group of people, the Jews, and tried to rid the world of them. That is what is happening in Darfur, except you can take out the word "Jews" and subsitute it with "blacks".

We forget about history far too often in society. Let's look at the early '90's, in a small nation called "Rwanda", in which a genocide, much like this, occured. We turned our back on Rwanda, took all of our citizens out, along with our troops and many UN peacekeepers, and tried to close our eyes. The conflict ended, with the rebels winning. Sadly, horribly, when it was all said and done, over 1 million people were killed. One million! Americans have no clue what that is like. We all banded together around 2973 people dying in the World Trade Center attacks. This is 1 million people! I am sorry, but I really don't think any of us can put our heads around the amount of people that is. Let's put it into perspective like this, too. Saddam Hussein is said to have killed around 100 to 300 thousand Iraqis in his reign of power, which was over 20 years. It is possible that the genocide in Darfur has surpassed that number by miles, in less than five years. So, my friends, what area needs the real help?

Today, our fearless leader, President "Dubya", said that he was putting new sactions on Sudan, including restrictions on thirty-one companies that can no longer do business in America, along with two government leaders and one rebel leader. Wow.

I am sorry, but I really do not believe this is going to change anything. This Darfur Genocide can only be stopped through the force and power of an actual "Grand Coalition".

I know what you are thinking, I know. You are a liberal! How can you say this about Darfur when you think we should have never invaded Iraq. Good question. At first, I'll admit, it does seem a bit..."flip-floppy". But it truly isn't. There are huge differences between Iraq and Darfur.

First off, Darfur is a GENOCIDE. The UN has labeled it the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. Its possible that 400 thousand people are dead. Two million have been sent away from their homes. Iraq was not a genocide, it was an authoritarian dictatorship. I am sorry, but you can go around the world, and you will see that there are many other cases of this type of a government. We should limit our interventions to the genocide, the humanitarian crises. There is no parallel between Iraq and Darfur.

Now, if you don't see the difference between the two, you can look at what we have done to both. So far, in Darfur, we have tried sanctions- they have been imposed for years. We tried discussions- Presidential hopeful Gov. Bill Richardson went to the country and spoke to the leader, President Umar al-Bashir. In Iraq...well, I don't really remember us speaking with Saddam Hussein before entering his country and killing 655,000 Iraqi civilians...but that is another story.

The fact is that we no longer have the niceties of time. If we don't stop this genocide, we will no longer have any black Darfurians left, and the areas around Darfur will be left without any of this race of people. The world will no longer contain them.

We need to do much more than just sanction them now. We must learn from history. We must act now. The US must go to the UN and ask for nations to accompany us into Darfur, Sudan, and end this terrible crisis. If we don't, well...if we don't, Darfur is doomed.