Has The International Criminal Court Made Matters Worse In Darfur with the Arrest Warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir?

Hear story from NPR.

I say... they probably compounded an already dreadful situation by issuing a warrant against a sitting head of State. These warrants typically aren't pursued.... at least not immediately. In the meantime, the suffering will be a Hell of a lot worse for the people who the ICC wants to protect.

The U.S. is not a signatory to the ICC, so I don't know how this will impact official Obama Administration policy. But Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, has made it clear that she wants a more aggressive approach when it comes to dealing with Sudan.

My point is.... this seems to be bad timing. Sometimes timing is everything. Although I do believe that this situation was neglected by the Bush Cabal (no surprise there... they couldn't care less about starving, terrorized & brutalized Africans... I don't believe that certain elements in this Country even view Blacks as human) and that something should have been done long ago. But at this point... with the economic crisis and other madness keeping Obama's plate full... the Administration should have called for a delay in the ICC decision...or a shelving of the decision for the time being. The consequences were predictable.

America - I Understand That You Love Your Animals, But...

Americans love their animals so much that they have dedicated an entire network to them, largely focused on the welfare of their favorite Pets. An entire network, where Americans get to show their undying love and affection for Animals. Yet, there is an active genocide taking place, and it barely gets a few seconds of coverage in an entire week. Something is wrong here.

Can we get a Darfur channel? "All Darfur, All The Time" would be a good slogan. Since Americans want to ignore the genocide in Africa, perhaps we could bring the genocide into the homes of Americans. Maybe then Americans would care as much about humans as they do about animals. Just maybe. I don't put a lot of stock in that, because I don't have much faith in Americans. But it just might work.

New Darfur Documentary From PBS

A New Documentary on Darfur is now available from PBS. The 1 hour film, entitled "On Our Watch", can be viewed online. Watch Film.

Also watch the documentary on the 1994 Rwandan genocide, entitled "The Ghosts of Rwanda". I have seen this documentary several times and I have posted it here before. "The Ghosts of Rwanda" is one of the best documentaries that I have ever seen...and I watch a lot of documentaries.

After the Rwandan genocide, the world reiterated its pledge of "Never Again".

Watch the madness that Canadian General Romeo Dallaire had to deal with, both in Rwanda and with the UN.

It is clear that there is a disparity in terms of how the world reacts to genocide in Africa and how the world reacts to genocide everywhere else. In 1999, the Clinton Administration was willing to spark WWIII to stop a relatively modest (although brutal) genocide in Kosovo. I believe the response would be similar for any such event in Europe. Yet the World seems to have a clear double standard when it comes to genocide involving dark and poor people around the Globe, especially Africans.

It is clear that Africans are at the bottom of the World's list when it comes to how they are viewed. It is clear that Africans are considered by much of the World to be of lesser value as human beings. This has been clear for decades, but these recent events have highlighted and cemented these sentiments in such a way that they leave no doubt as to where Africans stand in the World.

And one striking irony in the Darfur documentary was China's efforts to ignore the crisis. Yet when it comes to China's own genocide in the 1930's and 40's at the hands of the Japanese, then all of a sudden China wants the World's sympathy and understanding.

Let's Not Forget About Darfur

As a poster reminded me, let's not forget about Darfur.

Act to End Genocide in Darfur Sudan

View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition
To: United Nations, White House


In the Darfur region of Sudan, government-supported militias are attacking and burning undefended villages, raping and murdering civilians, and abducting women and children. Over 700,000 victims of this ethnic cleansing have fled to other parts of Sudan, and another 110,000 refugees have crossed the border to Chad, where they are suffering from malnutrition and disease, and are exposed to daily cross border raids by militias, who murder them and steal the blankets and food given to them by international aid agencies.

The United Nations and member countries have done nothing to stop the militias, who continue to attack villages, burn homes, and rape and kidnap people.

Mukesh Kapila, U.N. co-ordinator for Sudan said, "I was present in Rwanda at the time of the genocide, and I've seen many other situations around the world and I am totally shocked at what is going on in Darfur. This is the world's greatest humanitarian crisis, and I don't know why the world isn't doing more about it."

Sign the Petition Here