Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Thoughts inspired by sanctions...

I was watching the news the other night when the report came on that the United States was issuing sanctions against the Sudanese government in reaction to genocidal violence in Darfur.

Basically, 31 companies and three people will be prevented from doing business in the United States or with U.S. companies.

The Darfur region has been subject to violence, rape, bombings and murder.

The Sudanese government says the violence is the product of rebels…we say the rebels are backed by the Sudanese government…and Darfur continues to writhe under the never ending horror that is genocide.

So, what now?

What next?

It is tempting to turn away from something that feels so out of my control.

But that isn’t really possible, is it?

Not really…right?

But it’s not as if media has been consistently putting Darfur in our face. Some local St. Louis papers have provided some coverage. But the lack of urgent coverage by both local and national media sources…unless, of course, a brave movie star straps on a camera…is beyond disturbing.

It seems that we are the puppet and media is the puppet master…that we can only achieve anxious concern if they tell us and we are capable of calming down only after being instructed to do so.

But genocide still happens...regardless of coverage...in defiance of sanctions...in real time.

What now?

What next after sanctions?

Tick…

There is genocide in Darfur.

…tock…

Is the whole world is watching?

…goes the clock.

4 comments:

christine mtm said...

i can't help but think it's because the faces of those hurt in dafur are dark colored that is why the world finds it so easy to ignore. it hurts my heart and my soul.

Maya's Granny said...

I think that Cats is right. Somehow we are able to ignore people who don't look like our family. I don't know how. But we can.

Anonymous said...

I was listening to BBC radio yesterday radio this commentator pointed out that China has a huge hand in the continued violence in Darfur. They get about 6% of their oil from them so protect the government in Khartoum, who are responsible for the violence in the main part. So if you want to pressure anyone pressure China.

Do you think the US is in a position to ride China about the situation in Darfur, with China holding our debt and whose cheap labor is making mountains of money for American investors? Whatever gets done, if anything, is going to be pretty much on the milquetoast side.

The commentator points out something that the rest of the world does not seem to be grasping yet: We are no longer the superpower we were. We have nuclear arms stockpiled and some billionaires, but think about it - other than by a military measure (and even that is not so hot - see below)we are not doing as hot as we once were.

And another big point they made is that we are completely depleted military wise - all our soldiers and auxillary types are either in Iraq or Afghanistan, so no troops will be going over there.

Please pardon my limitations in writing this up at 3:30am in the morning half asleep, but these are some pretty good indicators of what is happening and what will happen in the future. Maybe one day they will send some international peacekeepers in, withthe US's blessings maybe. After they figure out how to get around China.

Unknown said...

Sanctions- what do they accomplish but let the US say "See, we're doing something" while actually not really doing anything at all. And what happened in Iraq after sanctions were imposed? Saddam got richer, while children with leukemia caused by "dirty bombs" couldn't get basic pain killers, let alone proper treatment, and died agonizing deaths.

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