Darfur

This blogging session will be a little different, as I won't cite sources - mostly just my own personal mussings over a situation that no one seems to care about.

It should be clear by now that Darfur has become the first incident of genocide in the 21st century; with a death toll past half a million. So why is it happening? More importantly, why isn't the world reacting?

The causes of the conflict aren't really as clear as some crazy dictator wanting a "pure" (homogenous) populace. They're partly rooted in colonialism, partly in climatic changes, partly in racial politics. The arab portion of the populace lives in the Nile-valley region, which, due the presence of the river is a bit more resistant to climatic change, and has received much more development during and after colonial times; and ultimately a larger propotion of persons can (or at least claim) to trace their ancestory back to arabs. Arab ancestory, or claiming it, isn't uncommon in east Africa; as many slaves in the past (both pre-colonial, and during the colonial period) were pre-dominately of african origin; as tends to be the pattern all over east Africa (though with sooo much African history, this pattern isn't always true everywhere).

In any case, Darfur lies in the marginal lands not bordering on the Nile, and is largely populated by non-Arab africans. When rains didn't come to this Sahel-region, starvation and a certain amount of internal anarchy ensued. Of course, it wasn't completely internal. Lybian President Muammar Gaddafi was obsessed with creating an Arab-dominated Sahel (believing in the racial superiority of Arabs).

To say the least, my brief explanation isn't the end-all be-all. But it shines some light on the situation.

So why isn't the world reacting?

Perhaps its the cynic in me, but most people, even if they know of the situation, figure they won't get anything out of it if they do offer assistence. Plus, in terms of governments; the Sudan is home to large oil reserves; which quite a few nations are willing to overlook a few hundered-thousand deaths for a few hundered-thousand barrels (that's you China).
Perhaps its an isolationist ideal? "It's not our problem, let them work it out."

Given that's it's almost the fourth of July; lets take a look at the awe-inspiring Declaration of Independence, and one of my favorite lines from the document: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.."
Indeed, it's a western-value: equality, and basic human-rights. Just because these aren't American's dieing, much less 'westerners', shouldn't matter to an honorable person, indeed, any person that holds american values close to their heart. How can we proclaim such rights, and never stand behind them with action?
I'm not calling for american forces to jump into the fray; I would like to see some major UN involvement in the area; akin to the Bosinia situation. I would also like to see America declare sanctions against any nation that deals with the Sudanese government (that includes China, as well as Saudi Arab, both of which are the poorest excuses for American allies I've ever seen). Just to bring the point home; close the holocaust museums, and the war-memorial momuments in protest. How much history will view us as the supreme hypocrites if we didn't.