EDITORIALS : Genocide Olympics
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007
IF IT WEREN’T so sad, what’s
happening—again—in Darfur and Sudan
would make a good sequel to the movie Groundhog Day. In that Bill Murray romp, his character kept waking up every morning destined to relive the same day over and over—until he got it right. Darfur’s no romp. It’s part of western Sudan, which is a big part of its problem. And this is no movie. It’s certainly no comedy. But as a bloody farce, it has some possibilities. The latest ? Sudan’s president has agreed to the deployment of 3, 000 peacekeepers from the United Nations, along with some attack helicopters to support them.
The catch is, President Omar al-Bashir has agreed to let in UN peacekeepers before, only to change his mind later and back out of the deal. There’s little reason to think this time will be any different.
Sudan’s president has dithered while the genocide in Darfur rages on and on, year after year. It’s in President al-Bashir’s interest to dither, since that allows his militia, aka the janjaweed, to go on killing. They’re awfully good at it. In Darfur, hundreds of thousands have been massacred by the janjaweed and the Sudanese military. Some two and a half million people have been displaced, many along the unstable border with neighboring Chad. The attacks have been relentless, complete with mass rapes of women, destruction of villages, burned crops, slaughtered livestock and the poisoning of wells. Everything in the old, old book. Hatred doesn’t seem to change much over the centuries, it just acquires new technologies.
The world—some of it anyway—has expressed its outrage. But there’s been little effective response. The African Union has a small contingent of 7, 000 trying to keep the peace, but they’re outnumbered and outgunned. The UN’s peacekeepers were supposed to reinforce those troops up to a total of about 20, 000. The Sudanese have mostly resisted, saying the arrival of UN troops would violate their precious sovereignty, which continues to be used as a cover for mass murder.
From time to time, the Sudanese announce a concession—like this latest one from President al-Bashir. But nothing ever seems to come of it. Meanwhile, the slaughter continues.
Sudan has its friends in high places, most notably Red China’s conscienceless regime, which (a ) buys a lot of oil from Sudan, and (b ) can cast a veto in the UN Security Council. Until lately, Beijing has been helping out its Sudanese friends and trading partners by sidetracking any effective action in the UN. The UN’s approval of a peacekeeping force for Darfur marked the first time Mao’s heirs have voted for any kind of an effective measure aimed at slowing the killing there.
Those who search for the tiniest signs of hope are looking to Beijing once again. Here’s the reasoning: Mainland China will host the Olympics in 2008. As the grand moment draws near, Red China wants to present its best face to the world. But, lately, it’s been taking a beating on the Public Relations front for its support of Sudan.
In a stroke of rhetorical genius, actress Mia Farrow labeled the 2008 Games the Genocide Olympics. China seldom explains itself, but it’s just possible the sting of that label has made the Chinese more helpful of late. If they don’t improve their image by doing something helpful about Darfur, that tag could stick. Let’s hope it does—and that Beijing keeps trying to prove it isn’t a genocide enabler.
Good for Mia Farrow. At this rate, she’s going to change our whole attitude about the general usefulness of Hollywood types in politics. More power to her and to all the other decent people in the world who are yelling bloody murder, or rather Genocide Olympics, about what the world is permitting in Darfur. Should Miss Farrow ever tire of acting, she’d make a heck of an editorial writer. She understands the power of a phrase.
There are times when Mia Farrow seems awfully alone out there on the picket line. It’s rare to hear an official of any government complain about Darfur any more. Business goes on as usual, the world’s conscience is dulled, everything we buy seems to be Made in China, and the voices of protest fall silent when all of us should be screaming.
The nations of the world can do better. They need only choose to do so. Otherwise, we’ll just keep repeating this Darfur Day over and over—without ever getting it right.
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