.. " Regime change needed in Khartoum " ..

Quote: Regime change needed in Khartoum By PETER WORTHINGTON The tragedy of Rwanda a dozen years ago was that no one was concerned until the genocidal rampage killed some 800,000, and the UN vowed "never again." The tragedy of Darfur today is that everyone is concerned -- but little is being done, least of all by the UN. The 7,000 soldiers representing the African Union (which used to be the corrupt and useless Organization of African Unity) are hopeless at protecting civilians, whose death toll rises daily and already exceeds 200,000, with a couple of million people homeless and refugees in their own country. The AU acknowledges it can't stem the violence, and justifies or explains its failure by saying the military personnel from different African countries are too few to risk combat with rebels or government-supported militia like the janjaweed. Besides, AU troops are only there by grace of the regime in Khartoum; if they actually tried to be effective, Khartoum would kick them out. So, the AU apparently feels a token presence that does little is better than no presence, which does nothing. A questionable viewpoint. The proposal for 20,000 troops from NATO countries, authorized by and representing the UN, is rejected by Khartoum on grounds that as well as protecting innocent civilians, the Western troops would encourage a regime change in Khartoum. NATO and the UN deny this, but it's probably true. If any country deserves a "regime change," that country is Sudan, where the government has imposed sharia law, with its barbaric practices of hand amputations for theft and stoning for adultery. Virtual civil war Virtual civil war, or savage reprisals, have been intermittently underway in southern Sudan for some 25 years, not just the past two years as is generally publicized. Violent subjugation of the non-Muslim southern Sudan escalated when in 1983 a young Sudanese army colonel, John Garang, was dispatched to tame a mutiny of southern soldiers -- and stayed to lead the rebellion for 22 years. By the time of a peace accord a couple of years ago, some two million had been killed. Last year, Garang died in a mysterious helicopter crash after he was named Sudan's vice-president, touching off the unrest that reigns today. Garang was an interesting man. Little known in the West, he had A Ph.D in agriculture from an Iowa college, and later took military training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Charismatic, autocratic and with a keen sense of humour, he saw what was going on when he reached southern Sudan in 1983 and changed sides and joined the rebels in their fight for justice and equality. Until his mysterious death, he was on the verge of forcing a compromise with the Khartoum regime. Now, all bets are off. Romeo Dallaire and others warn of similarities between Rwanda and Darfur. Several times Dallaire has reversed himself on what should be done -- send soldiers, don't send soldiers, send more soldiers. In my view, judging from his leadership heading "peacekeeping" in Rwanda (the greatest administrative disaster in UN history), Dallaire is the last person likely to have a workable solution for Darfur. Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay met with his Sudanese counterpart at the UN to "explain Canada's feelings," which, when you think about it, is about as helpful as a glass of water to fight a forest fire. We are spending money to help the AU military, which is more waste. Meanwhile, the Khartoum regime and its proxy militia kill on, and Darfur differs from Rwanda only in that it goes on longer with no let-up. Just as the tyranny of Saddam Hussein in Iraq warranted UN involvement to stop his homicidal tyranny, so Khartoum's genocidal practices demand UN intervention. Yet in both cases, the UN has ducked decisions -- talked, but never acted. What's needed is a new government in Khartoum, but that would require fighting soldiers, and that's a non-starter with the EU, NATO, the UN, and certainly Canada. If the African Union took responsibility to change Khartoum's government, perhaps it would then deserve recognition as a force for good, as well as an instrument for self-indulgence. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • Have a letter for the editor? E-mail it to [email protected]