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| Africa Horn |
| US Responsible for Darfur Killings, says UN |
| 2007-06-18 |
| Climate change behind Darfur killing: UN's Ban UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the slaughter in Darfur was triggered by global climate change and that more such conflicts may be on the horizon, in an article published Saturday. "The Darfur conflict began as an ecological crisis, arising at least in part from climate change," Ban said in a Washington Post opinion column. UN statistics showed that rainfall declined some 40 percent over the past two decades, he said, as a rise in Indian Ocean temperatures disrupted monsoons. In Roman times Tunesia was the 'breadbasket' of the Empire. "This suggests that the drying of sub-Saharan Africa derives, to some degree, from man-made global warming," the South Korean diplomat wrote. To some 'degree' - or fraction thereof, global warming is likely man-made. To a larger 'degree' it is likely not - witness climate change on Mars, for instance. "It is no accident that the violence in Darfur erupted during the drought," Ban said in the Washington daily. Siberia and Canada should be awash in immigrants eager to exploit the more comfortable and productive climate there. When Darfur's land was rich, he said, black farmers welcomed Arab herders and shared their water, he said. With the drought, however, farmers fenced in their land to prevent overgrazing. I have seen it written that deforestation of the tropics leads to drought leads to further deforestation; does an analogous process operate through overgrazing? "For the first time in memory, there was no longer enough food and water for all. Fighting broke out," he said. Is the issue less food and water, or more mouths? A UN peacekeeping force may stop the fighting, he said, and more than two million people may return to rebuilt homes in safe villages. "But what to do about the essential dilemma: the fact that there's no longer enough good land to go around?" "Any real solution to Darfur's troubles involves sustained economic development," perhaps using new technologies, genetically modified grains or irrigation, while bettering health, education and sanitation, he said. But genetically modified grains are against nature/Allan/whoever and/or are part of a western genocidal plot, aren't they? Sudan is not the only country with such problems, Ban said, and pointed to Somalia, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso as African countries with "food and water insecurity." Khartoum agreed this week to accept 23,000 UN and African Union peacekeepers after four years of fighting, which has killed at least 200,000 people. |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #28 I am with 3dc. Goats and sheep have a smell that my nose does not agree with, no matter how well prepared. Game (deer, reindeer, moose) has its own smell and taste, but that does not bother me. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-06-18 23:52 |
| #27 Ban Ki-Loon seems to be following the distinguished tradition of former UN Secretary Generals |
| Posted by: Captain America 2007-06-18 23:40 |
| #26 Mutton's not bad, but like Glenmore sez you don't fry it. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-06-18 19:35 |
| #25 3dc - sheep and goats do not taste awful. You must not be preparing them properly. Best to eat them while they're young and tender though (lambs & kids.) |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-06-18 17:43 |
| #24 TW: as part of the goat-spin, the Seattle DOT was doing some actual mechanical mowing and hit a bum sleeping in the tall grass. while it kilt him, there has as yet been no word as to the condition of the mower. and all the liberals are up in arms about this, and how the DOT needs to be more sensitive and provide more warning, etc, etc. so am I, blood is corrosive, hope they washed it off in time. and upgrade to NERF blades. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-06-18 17:32 |
| #23 In the 80s desertification was credited with poor farming practices and overpopulation. Now we blame global warming because it takes the heat off the ignorant third worlders and puts it on the USA. Clever, if perverted. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-06-18 16:50 |
| #22 Proper invasive species bare names like "Black Angus". |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-06-18 15:57 |
| #21 Just leave the grass growing on the hillsides. Don't invite in sheep and goats. Sheep and goats are invasive species and taste awful. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-06-18 15:56 |
| #20 They're using goats in California to clear out invasive non-native plants like the eucalyptus, too, USN, Ret. Apparently they're quite effective for that purpose, but perhaps in your part of the world sheep would be a better choice. I'm under the impression that sheep don't graze quite so close to the ground, leaving a little something to hold the hillside to the hill. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-06-18 15:02 |
| #19 Sort of topical since the NYTimes Sunday Magazine has two recipes for goat. Probably a big hit as canapes on the West Side chattering class circuit. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-06-18 14:59 |
| #18 Can't you just imagine all the frustrated little jihadis if they didn't have their goats? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-06-18 14:55 |
| #17 TW: Related ( i think) goat story: Seattle has hired goats to act as eco-mowers along the various hillsides. Your comment about them eating everything was one of my first thoughts when our Dreaded Western Washington Rain Festival (Jan. 1- Dec. 31) begins and we experience massive mudslides.... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-06-18 14:21 |
| #16 60,000% sunshine :> |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-06-18 14:02 |
| #15 Fascinating, Oldcat. Of course the Romans were fabulous engineers, and presumably devising irrigation systems is much like devising aqueduct systems, in principle at least. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-06-18 13:37 |
| #14 Early in the empire, Egypt was the major supplier, but when the Empire split into East and West Constantinople took Egypt for its own. Rome and Italy then used Tunisia, Libya, and Sardina for its supplies. Excavation shows Rome was producing crops so far into the desert that annual rainfall was less than an inch a year. |
| Posted by: Oldcat 2007-06-18 13:26 |
| #13 The UN headquarters should move to Darfur--great idea whose time has come. That should save the U.S. a lot of money and get some "carbon credits" for us. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-06-18 13:10 |
| #12 Turn the place over to Israel for five years and see what the harvest looks like. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2007-06-18 13:02 |
| #11 In Roman times Tunesia was the 'breadbasket' of the Empire. I thought Egypt was the granary of the Roman empire? Better to have more than one, I suppose. I have seen it written that deforestation of the tropics leads to drought leads to further deforestation; does an analogous process operate through overgrazing? That's certainly my understanding. The expansion of the Sahara desert to the south had for decades been blamed on an excess of goats, which eat even the thorny bushes that are the last defense before the sand blows over everything. Of course, that was before it was realized that global warming resulted in the spontaneous generation of goats from wind-blown dust particles. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-06-18 12:55 |
| #10 Jewish Moms are Responsible for Darfur Killings, Says Binki. Climate change is responsible for Darfur Killing. USA is responsible for climate change. Everybody, in Binki's country, knows that Jews rule USA. Jews are ruled by their mothers. Thus, jewish moms are responsible for Darfur killings. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-06-18 11:55 |
| #9 I guess he also believes that the US was responsible for the political climate change that turned Rhodesia, the breadbasket of Africa, into Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, home of Farmin B. Hard. |
| Posted by: RWV 2007-06-18 10:46 |
| #8 So mush for Mr. Ban pulling his head outta his striped pants, huh? |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-06-18 10:14 |
| #7 Actually Rome got most of its wheat (staple) from Egypt. But most of Africa fed itself AND exported food to Rome and other places (Persia). Everywhere you see famine, economic standstill, and violence can be directly linked to either Communism or Islamism rulers. And of course it's the U.S. fault we need to unilaterally take out bad goverments/leaders....oh wait only if there is a consensus. How about all those blowhard leaders in the unsc step up to the plate and take care of what is a very small problem that will give them big kudos in the end? Calling Russia, France, China, et al. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-06-18 10:06 |
| #6 Siberia and Canada should be awash in immigrants eager to exploit the more comfortable and productive climate there. And if we are especially lucky, we can have more Muslims move to their holy lands of Nunavut and Yukon! |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-06-18 09:47 |
| #5 My, how interesting, Mr. Secretary-General. More wine? And will we be having dessert today? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-06-18 09:42 |
| #4 We're responsible for Sun Spots too. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-06-18 09:28 |
| #3 As I said yesterday, move the UN to Gaza. Those idiots were made for each other. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-06-18 09:18 |
| #2 Yeah, it's going to get real friggin' hot in that part of the world when Iran gets the bomb. My forecast: Mushroom clouds, thousand mile-per-hour winds, firestorms, high of 5000 fahrenheit, 60,000% sunshine. US out of UN, UN out of US. Move these useless vermin to Greenland or somewhere so they can overpark their Mercedes and patronize whores somewhere else. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2007-06-18 09:02 |
| #1 I don't think so: why in Darfur, but not everywhere else? He's tiptoeing around the 5 letter "J" word that ends with "D". |
| Posted by: ptah 2007-06-18 08:39 |