'Never Again' to 'Yet, Again'

Darfur is probably not the sprightliest subject to discuss while breaking the Easter fast, but there you go. That’s politics for you. It insinuates itself even in between ambitious gurshafulls of delectable doro weT.

Darfur came about because we had started talking about Rwanda—yet another rosy subject that should not be discussed at a celebration marking the resurrection of our Lord. But there you go.

Rwanda.

I ran across an entry from a journal I kept about this time in 1994 that I oft time wish I had not kept. Some of my entries are frantic epistles about the Rwandan genocide we were all aware was becoming an absolute horror.

Most of us, deservedly, excoriated the Clinton administration for its absolute incompetence in handling Rwanda.

At a State Department briefing, spokesperson Christine Shelley is asked, "How many acts of genocide does it take to make genocide?"

"That's just not a question that I'm in a position to answer."

"Well, is it true that you have specific guidance not to use the word 'genocide' in isolation, but always to preface it with these words 'acts of'?"

"I have guidance which I try to use as best as I can. There are formulations that we are using that we are trying to be consistent in our use of. I don't have an absolute categorical prescription against something, but I have the definitions. I have phraseology which has been carefully examined and arrived at as best as we can apply to exactly the situation and the actions which have taken place ... "

She said that not in April 1994, but on June 10, 1994. Close to 800,000 people had already been slaughtered.

When you read the chronology of events of the Rwandan genocide, you are left with a sense of disgust and shame. Sure the West failed, but as Africans, we failed even more. Whatever the West could have done, it could not make us not want to machete our neighbors to death because of something as inconsequential as ethnicity and color of skin.

As Africans, we failed.

One of the biggest failures among us was Kofi Annan, an African, who was warned about the impending genocide on January, 11, 1994. His response to the cable from Major General Roméo Dallaire will always remind us that an African failed us first.

Annan is on the second genocide of his watch. Even though the Bush administration learnt from Clinton and was early to call Darfur ‘genocide’, and although Condi Rice was dispatched to Sudan to discuss this matter (both much more than what Clinton ever did), Darfur is a reminder that we as Africans are failing Africa more than the West can possibly.

Annan chronicled his proven wretched leadership acumen in a January 2006 op-ed in the Washington Post, Darfur Descending. It reads like the mumblings of a pathetic house negro comforted by small gains and disinclined to take a firm stance lest he lose his Sutton Place social standing.

You want a reason why the West doesn’t care about Darfur? Because Africans don’t care about Darfur. We pointed at the West the last time. And we are doing it again.

By August 2005, an estimated 370,000 Darfuri had died. That figure hovers at about 400,000 today. Over two million have been displaced, and three million suffer from dire food shortages—all because they have dark skin. They are being persecuted by an African nation whose hubris has been augmented by an African Union and an African head of the august United Nations.

After 400, 000 people dead, Annan has this sanguine assessment:

There were other positive signs. The U.N. Security Council had referred the situation to the International Criminal Court and had decided in principle to apply targeted sanctions to individuals who could be identified as responsible for the atrocities of the past two years.

Has decided “in principle”?? Sound familiar? I was wondering where Prime Minister Meles got that wording.

Despite a chronic funding crisis, A.U. troops in Darfur are doing a valiant job.

No, they are not. The African Union went in with such limited mandate into Darfur that it barely rises above Meter Maid status in law enforcement. Just yesterday, more Darfuri were displaced and we saw on TV AU troops take down stories and drive away into the sunset. The AU has extended its pitiable stay in Darfur until September, and that has delighted the Sudanese government. Whatever treaty it signed in Addis to entertain replacing AU forces with UN forces is so laden with preconditions that the likelihood of UN peacekeepers in Darfur is no likelihood at all.

But Annan is floating on Cloud Nine.

On Jan. 12, the African Union decided to renew the mission's mandate until March 31, while expressing support, in principle, for a transition to a U.N. operation this year.

[Emphasis mine.]

Shut the fuck up. Seriously. STFU!

Eric Reeves has an excellent analysis that is a must read, African Union Decision on Darfur Mission Fails ‘Rwanda Test.”

Knowing full well the consequences of leaving humanitarian personnel and vulnerable civilians without protection, the international community has nonetheless disingenuously welcomed the African Union decision to retain control of the Darfur mission---suggesting that somehow this decision represents either a triumph of tactful diplomacy or, at worst, the innocuous preservation of a status quo that couldn’t be fundamentally changed in any event.

Such dishonesty will be recorded by history as the defining moment of the Darfur genocide, inaugurating what will become the greatest cycle of human destruction. It no longer matters what happens in Abuja (Nigeria): peace has been irretrievably lost on the ground and only exhaustion through destruction will bring an end to the killing and dying.

And as if he were told “insert half-assed platitude here” Annan whimpers himself to a soft landing:

Finally, and above all, much stronger pressure must be brought on all parties -- the rebels as well as the government -- to observe the cease-fire and commit themselves to the Abuja peace talks with a sense of urgency. The current delays are inexcusable; they cost lives every day. Those negotiating must be reminded of their personal responsibility.

Excuse me. 400,000 people have died. When do we start getting a little less trite?

Darfur happened because we, as Africans, were unable to stand up to a government that thinks nothing of raiding and raping its own people.

Yes, and I do hold Kofi Annan responsible because his tenure as Secretary General of the UN has been particularly bad for Africa. This was our one shot at this kind of high visibility leadership, hope that “one of us” could knock some sense into a continent that is on a fast track to self destruction. We looked for moral leadership, and instead what we got was a tragically wobbly and fluctuant chief who had two, count ‘em, two genocides under his belt. Maybe after the carnage hits a million people Mr. Annan will amble back to Sudan to offer a “oops we did it again” speech, the same speech he gave in Kigali on May 7, 1998. He can just do a search and replace “Rwanda” with “Darfur”:

The world must deeply repent this failure. Rwanda's tragedy was the world's tragedy. All of us who cared about Rwanda, all of us who witnessed its suffering, fervently wish that we could have prevented the genocide. Looking back now, we see the signs which then were not recognized. Now we know that what we did was not nearly enough--not enough to save Rwanda from itself, not enough to honor the ideals for which the United Nations exists. We will not deny that, in their greatest hour of need, the world failed the people of Rwanda ..."

Sure, the West can give more money, more aid, more troops. But what the West cannot do is make us not want to kill each other. We do that to ourselves with the kind of efficiency and adeptness of a well-run death factory.

I am sick of it. And I am sickened that the Ethiopian government has been using ‘genocide’ so lightly and cynically to silence its opponents. As Africans we should be enraged that the Ethiopian government has cheapened the meaning of genocide. When the Prime Minister of Ethiopia casually and appallingly lobbed the charge of “interhamwe” at its unarmed opposition, the African Union stayed mum.

If we don’t take genocide seriously, why should the rest of the world? The Prime Minister has yet to apologize for his gratuitous showboating, and has in fact repeated the charges. Yet we point the finger at DC and ho-hum what’s in our backyard.

On Sunday, April 30, thousands will march in DC to bring awareness to the situation in Darfur. The world seems to be saying, “Never again.” The whole world, except Africa.

Sign the petition. Tell a friend.

Enough is enough.

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Wow. Who would have thunk it. This is the 100th post on Weichegud. A warm thank you to Gooch and all the contributors who were too shy to come forward as contributors for this milestone.

Um... Happy Easter?