Posted by
arandomguy on Saturday, October 07, 2006 12:08:08 AM
Sudan, if not a member of the Axis of Evil, certainly deserves to be a junior partner in the Axis. The horrific human rights abuses that are taking place there are the first (and hopefully only) genocide of the 21st century. Roughly 400,000 people have been killed in 3 years of deadly fighting, and yet still the "international community" does nothing.
The UN has said they will put a peacekeeping force in the region. This would be a good chance for the UN to redeem itself partially in the eyes of the world, but again they have failed. While promising 20,000 troops, the Sudanese government has said any entry by UN troops will be seen as a foreign invasion - yet amazingly, the government still claims it has nothing to do with the fighting that is going on there, and that they are working diligently to stop the violence.
The UN should force itself upon Sudan. 20,000 well-armed UN forces could go a long way to securing peace in the region. This is perhaps, one of few places where liberals and myself agree - the genocide in Sudan must stop. It has gone on far too long, and the "international community" is totally unable to do anything about it.
Which is why I believe the US should step in. We need not use many soldiers - we could have the UN do that. What we could do, is take out the helicopters and fighter jets that are being used by the Sudanese to slaughter their own people. This would eliminate the greatest tools the enemy has to slaughter people. The US could also attack the Sudanese rebels and anybody supporting them with airstrikes, while the UN peacekeeping force moves in to enforce peace in the region.
And the Sudanese government is totally complicit in this. They should be immediately kicked out of the UN, and given rogue-nation status until they shape up and help quell the violence. Considering UN troops foreign invaders is insane. I'm no fan of the UN, but one thing they are not is "invaders." Not only do they rarely go anywhere, but when they do, they are usually incompetent. This may be one situation where the UN might actually be able to do some good - if, like the other situations, they grow some balls and just do what needs to be done.
I'm definitely not a fan of Kofi Annan. He is a smarmy, untrustworthy, corrupt, and unable man, who cannot or will not allow the UN to do the job it is supposed to do. However, when he speaks of Sudan, he is largely on the right track - at least when he talks about the problems. As usual, he fails to propose any reliable solutions, but at least he got the nature of the problem right this time.
The situation in Sudan has grown bad enough that it must absolutely be dealt with, and I see the only solution as a forceable intervention into the country, either by the UN, or by the US. The US does not have the manpower for ground forces, so at the very least an alliance much be reached with another country to insert men into the region. US airpower is certainly more than adequate to eliminate many of the Sudanese rebels.