Darfur - The name itself resonates with meaning because we see it linked to loaded terms like genocide, ethnic cleansing and civil war. Echoes of previous such conflicts fill our minds and perhaps cause us to turn away in confusion and helplessness from another such horror. Yet despite the attention given to this slaughter by celebrities such as George Clooney and Nancy Pelosi we actually hear or read very little about it. We see it only sporadically on our T.V. screens, and so we forget about it. Or maybe we think that "somebody, somewhere must be doing something" about it.
"We the survivors of the Holocaust, know the consequences of silence, and this time we must all speak up for those suffering in Darfur"
Elie Wiesel and Nesse Godin Rally for Darfur 4/30/2006
So is anybody listening? Almost a year later from the Rally for Darfur we stand frozen in time, horrified, as the violence continues. Because of this uncontained violence, delivery of humanitarian aid, that is desperatey needed by some 2.5 million homeless Darfuris,has become almost impossible. The Sudanese government's support of the janjaweed militia has only become more pronounced.
The African Union troops that have been sent to stabilize Darfur, and the region, since a cease-fire agreement in 2004 are increasingly under attack. In fact, this past Sunday, five African Union peacekeepers were killed by a rebel attack just outside Darfur.
The attack on Sunday demonstrated that the force also has trouble protecting itself, much less the more than two million displaced people living in camps and hiding in the bush in Darfur.
Five rebel fighters believed to be allied with the faction of the Sudanese Liberation Army that signed a peace agreement with Sudan's government last May ambushed three truckloads of Sengalese peacekeepers who were on their way to guard a water source three miles from their base in a remote area along the border, Sengalese military and African Union officials said.
Despite outnumbering their attackers, the Sengalese took heavy casualties. Four men died at the scene and six more were severely wounded. Officers in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur where the African Union force is based, tried to send a helicopter to evacuate the most seriously wounded soldier, but bad weather and the lack of night-vision gear prevented it from taking off. The soldier died before the rescue team arrived Monday morning.
The African Union has been waiting for relief from the U.N. peacekeeping forces for nearly a year but Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir stands in the way. Al-Bashir has used this crisis as an opportunity to achieve a propaganda victory against U.S. or U.N. intervention by describing those plans as colonial in nature; and then stating that " we do not want Sudan turning into another Iraq."
The Peace and Security Council of the African Union is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the attacks. But what will these discussions achieve? Indeed, what has any discussion thus far done to achieve peace in this war-torn region? What is clear is that however we choose to address the bloodshed in Darfur, one thing is blindingly, brutally clear, the glib words of President Bush will not be enough to stop the genocide.
"Our government has put a lot of money to help deal with the human suffering there."
If we raise our voices, if we educate ourselves, if we pay attention as citizens of the world we can affect change. We have to say "never again" like we mean it. We cannot accept another Holocaust or another Rwands. We cannot be silent.
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