May 29, 2004

WINNING THE WoT:

Bush Points the Way: President Bush scored a humanitarian victory in Sudan this
week, but unfortunately it is not far-reaching enough. (NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, 5/29/04, NY Times)

I doff my hat, briefly, to President Bush.

Sudanese peasants will be naming their sons "George Bush" because he scored a humanitarian victory this week that could be a momentous event around the globe — although almost nobody noticed. It was Bush administration diplomacy that led to an accord to end a 20-year civil war between Sudan's north and south after two million deaths.

If the peace holds, hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved, millions of refugees will return home, and a region of Africa may be revived.

But there's a larger lesson here as well: messy African wars are not insoluble, and Western pressure can help save the day. So it's all the more shameful that the world is failing to exert pressure on Sudan to halt genocide in its Darfur region. Darfur is unaffected by the new peace accords. [...]

Yet while Mr. Bush has done far too little, he has at least issued a written statement, sent aides to speak forcefully at the U.N. and raised the matter with Sudan's leaders. That's more than the Europeans or the U.N. has done. Where are Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac? Where are African leaders, like Nelson Mandela? Why isn't John Kerry speaking out forcefully? And why are ordinary Americans silent?

Islamic leaders abroad have been particularly shameful in standing with the Sudanese government oppressors rather than with the Muslim victims in Darfur. Do they care about dead Muslims only when the killers are Israelis or Americans?


Far be it from a Timesman to credit the fact, but the Sudanese have made it quite clear that this agreement is fruit of the war on terror (including even Bill Clinton's cruise missile strike) and of the efforts of Christian evangelicals to influence Africa policy.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 29, 2004 8:41 AM
Comments

Of course, there is Lybia's Khadaffi's own admission of what really motivated him to give up before it was too late.

I also want to see more written on how the peace process is going in Sri Lanka. After decades of fighting the Tamil Tigers sued for peace and are talking to the government. It has been said that the biggest motivating factor was the WOT's chilling effect on financial support given the Tigers by overseas "benefactors". In Canada, it was apparently as easy to raise money for them as to raise money for UNICEF. Now it is not.

Posted by: MG at May 29, 2004 9:34 AM

Hmmm. A sort of selective conversion, no?

I have no idea what goes on in the brains of the Sudanese leaders, but obviously the concept of not killing masses of people as an instrument of policy is not yet part of their weltanschauung.

I'll bet that after they've finished in Darfur, they'll keep their heads down till everybody forgets about Sudan (which won't take long) and then they'll go back to slaughtering Christians and infidels.

Posted by: Harry Eagar at May 29, 2004 3:56 PM

The Sudanese government placed an insert in USA Today this week (Friday, I think) which touted Sudan as a place for history, tourism, and business. It was quite disgusting. USA Today even ran a disclaimer, but I'm sure they accepted the check.

An overflight of B-1s (at low altitude) over Khartoum would probably stop everything in Darfur. Would the Democrats object? Forget the factories - bomn all government buildings. Immediately. And watch more leaders like Khaddafi start acting nice. An overflight of Harare would be welcome also.

Posted by: jim hamlen at May 29, 2004 5:42 PM

They know we'll defend Christians and no one cares about black Muslims.

Posted by: oj at May 29, 2004 5:56 PM

Nicholas "Yes-But" Kristoff: the slowly evolving liberal journalist?

Possible future columns:

"Iraqi Future Brighter but at What Price"
"AIDS Down in Africa but a Decade Too Late"
"Vibrant Taiwan Stands its Ground While China Seethes"
"North Korea Seeks Entente with a Recalcitrant US Administration"
"Europe Calls for Mid-East Peace While Bush Stands by Israel"

Posted by: Barry Meislin at May 30, 2004 3:15 AM

We haven't defended the Christians yet.

How have the Sudanese learned this novel attitude of ours, which does not, in fact, exist, either in the Sudan or Indonesia or in several other places I could name?

Posted by: Harry Eagar at May 31, 2004 5:54 PM

Except that we intervened in East Timor, the Philippines etc.

Posted by: oj at May 31, 2004 7:24 PM

But we aren't intervening now in Aceh, our intervention in E. Timor was 25 years late and mostly Australian anyway, and our intervention in the Phillipines is feeble enough.

We are not intervening in Algeria, Nigeria or any of those other sinkholes.

Posted by: Harry Eagar at May 31, 2004 8:31 PM

There's plenty of time. Africa's future isn't Islamic.

Posted by: oj at May 31, 2004 10:55 PM

Plenty of time for Western Civilization...
Not so much time for those being harrassed and killed today.

'Course, if they are Christian, getting sent to Heaven's not so bad.

Posted by: Michael Herdegen at June 1, 2004 3:13 PM

There's an off chance the species won't be perfected in our lifetimes.

Posted by: oj at June 1, 2004 3:23 PM

Not with your approach, for sure.

Posted by: Harry Eagar at June 2, 2004 2:17 AM

Harry:

Ah, you Utopian....

Posted by: oj at June 2, 2004 8:31 AM
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