Wednesday, May 30, 2007

They Care...Really They Do

We cannot pull out of Iraq, say the wingers, because there will be "chaos" and perhaps "genocide." And you know what, that's why I do believe we need to redeploy to bordering bases in countries like Kuwait and retain a residual force that works with the EU and Muslim nations, to prevent this very horror show from taking place.

Funny though, in virtually all cases, wingers couldn't care one bit about Darfur. I have a friend there, a lawyer, who has been working on trying to save migrants out of the worst areas, I worked on a documentary a year and a half ago on this painful subject and I wrote a column on yes, the acts of TERRORISM taking place there, what seems like forever ago (and is for all those who have needlessly died there).

Am I tooting my own horn, ABOSOLUTELY NOT. Like most people, I have not done nearly enough. Yet, "not nearly enough" is still so much more than the Bush Administration has done.

I co-authored that piece with a man with whom I am staunchly disagree on most issues, in particular Iraq, because we needed action then and my God, do we now. At least in his case, that of my co-author Cliff May, he really cares about this issue. I will also give credit to Senator Brownback on this, another man with whom I disagree on virtually everything, but has tried to push this issue to the front-burner constantly, labeling it a moral issue. But where is the Bush Administration and most Republicans on this?

Nowhere, that's where.

They, as usual, talk the talk but never walk the walk. So does it surprise you to know that the sanctions the Bushies just passed against the government of Sudan, the sponsor of this mass murder, have a loophole that renders them useless?

Nothing like pretending you care when you have a ringside seat to a genocide.

5 Comments:

At 10:29 AM, Blogger Ashen Shard said...

I did research on this in my African history class a few years ago, and think the problem with Sudan and our non-reaction towards it is, surprisingly, due to the oil there. And it is not because we have oil rights there, because we don't have much and our government has been trying to get them. Most of the oil infrastructure there was built and is controlled by China, so heaven forbid we actually take humanitarian action that might disrupt China's oil supply from Sudan.

This is also our fault because we have pushed China to become more like us, and look they have! Before as a communist country, their economy was not a threat and they typically didn't look far outside their borders. Now of course, we've awoken the dragon.

Oh, and I cannot remember the name of the reporter or the program, but awhile back Discovery Times did a piece on the problem with the refugees in Chad. It is so frustrating knowing these people walk for hundreds of miles to flee, and once they get to a camp they are sometimes prevented from receiving food and medication because of the bureaucracy in place.

 
At 10:41 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

its always about the oil anymore. It sickens me.

 
At 11:17 AM, Blogger Cliff Schecter said...

This is exactly right. China has oil interests, and we need China because of things like Iraq, and Bush's screwing up with North Korea, etc.

Which is why Iraq, for example, has repercussions way beyond the actual conflict, because we cannot afford for China to vocally come out against our policy in Iraq in the UN as a permanent member of the Security Council.

 
At 11:27 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's what I don't understand, Cliff. WHY can't China come out against our policies?

 
At 11:50 AM, Blogger Ashen Shard said...

I think it's an agreement of 'we'll turn our backs to your abuses if you'll turn yours' situation. Plus, it isn't like we have the moral high ground to tell China they have to support humanitarian interests over those of economics and making a profit ...

 

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