Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Better than Iraq
The Sudanese Foreign Minister is making some big calls:
Unless, the African/UN solution is actually more akin to the "final solution"; a shorthand for: "everyone's dead, move on, nothing to see here."
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"Sudan's government has said it has handled the Darfur crisis better than the United States has dealt with Iraq."Just in case you're too stunned to instantly react, this is what Osman Ismael means:
"Mr Ismael said although the US has deployed more troops and advanced military hardware to Iraq, it has still not been able to disarm dissident forces there."Two qualifiers spring to mind: firstly, there is no question of any possible ideological affinity, much less collaboration between the Americans and Iraqi jihadis. Secondly, the neo-Baathist, Shia and al Qaeda insurgents in Iraq have not yet managed to kill some 70,000 people and displace another 1.5 million. Other than those two minor points, the analogy is quite useful.
"Mr Ismael said the international community should leave the complex ethnic politics of Darfur alone. 'This is an African problem - it needs an African solution,' he said."No offence to African solutions, but last time they (together with the more broad "international community" solutions) were tried - remember Rwanda? remember the war and strife in the Central African region? - millions were left to die and chaos reigned for years.
Unless, the African/UN solution is actually more akin to the "final solution"; a shorthand for: "everyone's dead, move on, nothing to see here."
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