Author: Tim

Posted on

Portents of Iraqi genocide

Yesterday witnessed one of the deadliest attacks since the war on Iraq began. Not surprisingly, it was ethnic minorities who were targeted, specifically a community of Yazidis, a sect of Kurdish speaking people, who are frequent targets for Muslim extremists.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon claimed that it was “an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will, almost genocide.” As I’ve commented since the war began, the invasion will undoubtedly end in a genocidal frenzy regardless of whether US troops remain or withdraw.

It seems quite possible that we’re witnessing the first coordinated moves towards a more systematic policy of ethnic cleansing. Considering that the military is blaming al Qaeda for the attack, it seems clear that unlike previous bombings that are designed to disrupt and terrorize the population (and US military), this particular incident was designed to strike at a single minority group.

Posted on

Only African troops in Darfur

No more than two weeks has passed since the United Nations passed Security Council resolution 1769 – authorizing a hybrid peacekeeping force in Sudan – and Khartoum is already dancing its way around the stipulations agreed to by the attending members. After a meeting with the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, it was announced that the 26,000 hybrid UN-African Union troops would be drawn entirely from African countries.

So is Mr Konare’s statement a challenge to the authority of the UN?

Those close to the African Union argue it is not.

On the question of command for the mission, they point out that the hybrid force commander, Martin Agwai, was appointed by the African Union.

And they suggest that although Africa could easily provide 20,000 troops, it does not have the ability to pay the $2 billion a year price tag, or airlift them into position in Darfur.

So the idea that this will be a totally African force should be seen as an aspiration.

Rather, Mr Konare’s statement should be seen as an attempt to re-assert Africa’s authority on the continent and to re-assure the Sudanese leadership that they will not be over-run by foreign troops.

Even if the meeting with Konare wasn’t meant as a stall tactic on the part of Khartoum, it is obviously creating a number of wrinkled brows in the international community. Curiously, the African Union forces that have been on the ground in Darfur have not only encountered opposition, but have routinely faced problems of funding.

Not surprisingly, even though the UN Security Council has passed a resolution to create a hybrid force, it has yet to fund the operation.

Posted on

Sand and Sorrow

According to Variety, George Clooney is set to narrate (and executive produce) the HBO documentary Sand and Sorrow. The film is the product of Paul Freedman, who follows Nicholas Kristof, John Prendergast, and Samantha Power through the region as they attempt to raise awareness of what’s happening in Sudan.

“Sand and Sorrow” follows the history of the strife in Sudan’s Darfur region, where the Arab-controlled government has killed and displaced much of the indigenous African population. It also looks at the international community’s slow reaction to the crisis.

The documentary is slated to air in December and will also include interviews with Elie Wiesel, Barak Obama, Sam Brownback, Minni Minawi.

Posted on

Raul Hilberg dies at 81

Raul Hilberg, one of the earliest Holocaust scholars, died Saturday at the age of 81. He was perhaps best known for his book The Destruction of the European Jews (originally released as a three volume set).

Hilberg’s reputation was made through his meticulous examination of documents from every facet of German life – the Nazi government, bureaucrats, citizens, etc – which revealed that the Holocaust was not part of a single idea dreamed up by Hitler.

Though some critics said Mr. Hilberg had understated the impact of historic German anti-Semitism, his broad conclusions were based on painstaking research. He examined microfilm of thousands upon thousands of prosaic documents like train schedules and memorandums between minor officials.

“This head-against-the-wall technique is the only virtue I can parade without blushing,” he said last year when Germany gave him with its Order of Merit, the highest tribute it can pay to someone who is not a German citizen.

The historian Hugh Trevor-Roper wrote that Mr. Hilberg’s book “reveals, methodically, fully and clearly, the development of both the technical and psychological process; the machinery and mentality whereby one whole society sought to isolate and destroy another, which, for centuries, had lived in its midst.”

Aside from The Destruction of European Jewry, Hilberg was also known for Perpetrators Victims Bystanders, The Politics of Memory, and Sources of Holocaust Research.

Posted on

Peacekeepers for Darfur?

Yesterday, as I wrote about the haggling that was going on in the United Nations Security Council, the members managed to bring the proposal to establish a joint AU/UN force of peacekeepers in the region to a unanimous vote. The resolution doesn’t set an exact date for the deployment, but states that the peacekeepers will be in place by Dec 31 (2007).

Not only is there no set date for the deployment of this new force, but the wrangling that went into the resolution left it less aggressive than it should have been.

Tuesday’s resolution passed by the U.N. won Khartoum’s praise after it was watered down to drop the threat of sanctions against Sudan if it fails to accept the force and an authorization for the new force to seize or collect arms. The changes were made in negotiations between Security Council members to avoid a veto by China, Sudan’s top diplomatic ally.

With the elimination of any statement holding Sudan to its side of the agreement with the threat of sanctions, it’s still highly likely that Khartoum will interfere as it has in the past. We’ll probably see Sudan’s reluctance to issue visas to UN members and contractors, as well as the quarantining or outright confiscation of equipment.