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| Africa: Horn |
| Genocide in Sudan - Death By Nuance |
| 2004-09-05 |
| EFL ... The scope of the disaster is all too clear and it will only worsen as the rainy season sets in. Less apparent, however, are the origins of the catastrophe and how it can be fixed. In its eagerness to simplify and no doubt impelled by a logic shaped by America's perception of Sudan's other civil war — Northern Arab Muslems bad, Southern Sudanese African Christians good — the media have described the disaster as a conflict between "Arab" militias, known as Janjaweed, egged on by the Sudanese government and defenseless villagers. The UN's investigator, Asma Jahangir, has reinforced this perspective by laying the blame for the crisis squarely on Khartoum, while US Foreign Secretary Colin Powell has boldly announced that as the Sudanese government "turned the crisis on, they can turn it off." ...Reading many of the reports in the media, one could be forgiven for believing they are an ethnic or political entity, supported by the Muslems in the north and opposed to the Christians (and so called animists) in the south. On the contrary, the word "janjaweed," roughly translated, means little more than men on horses armed with guns. Although they are now equated with bandits, when they were originally constituted in 1989, the Janjaweed were regarded as a popular defense force, designed to fill a security vacuum created by the Sudanese government's inability to police the region. While it is true that many of the Janjaweed are Muslem fanatics, many of them are not and few have anything in common with the Muslem elites in the north. In fact, they look (and are) more African than Arab and largely derive their "Arab" reputation from having gone off to Libya during the 1980's to join Colonel Muammar Ghaddafi's Islamic Legion, a mercenary force which the Colonel used to invade Chad in a bid to open up an "Arab corridor" northwards out of the Sahel. It's all so complex! I guess we should all just go home and wring our hands. But whatever we do ... we shouldn't blame this war on Muslim agression. No, no! Heavens no. |
| Posted by:B |
| #2 Whew! I am glad that we now understand all the shades of gray of the 'weeds that are killing people by the thousands. Now I feel educated. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-09-05 11:48:50 AM |
| #1 " the word âjanjaweed,â roughly translated, means little more than men on horses armed with guns... " Sounds like someone needs an updated dictionary. |
| Posted by: jules 2 2004-09-05 11:48:10 AM |