As of the very minute I am typing this post, there is live coverage on C-Span I of the House of Representatives discussion of the Darfur Accountability And Divestment Act, which is, if I understand i correctly, meant to encourage and support those states, cities, and universities who wish to divest of investments in companies that do business in the nation of the Sudan. Among other things, it provides a list of multi-national corporations that do business with the Sudan, and specifically those that do business with the government of Khartoum.
As of now, some twenty-two states have either divested of holdings in such companies or are considering doing so.
For the time being, this is about as good as can be hoped for. The UN is a helpless non-force, in fact a non-entity, owing to the influence of China, mainly, but also no doubt because of the influence of the many Arab/Muslim nations that would prefer to look with a blind eye toward what their "brothers"-Sudanese Arabs, known colloquially as "Janjaweed"-are doing to the non-Arab residents of Darfur.
This amounts to, as of now, roughly a third of a million Darfur residents killed, another roughly two thirds homeless, and about 2.4 million who are now living as refugees in UN camps. (Okay, so they are doing a little-a very little).
All so a specific group of Arabs can commit genocide-many times involving not only brutal murder, but rape and mutilation-with the long term intentions of settling land (a large proportion of which is fertile farm land) that doesn't belong to them, but to the residents of Darfur who have lived in the area for countless generations.
And yes, the government of Khartoum is complicit, from the top, at Khartoum, to the bottom, involving regional government and local officials.
It should be stopped, even if this has to involve chemical or biological weapons. If this totally wipes out every man, woman, and child of the Janjaweed-even if it only saves the life of one innocent Darfur resident-as far as I am concerned it would not only be justified, but commendable. If it causes the Khartoum government to collapse, that would be another bonus.
But until such time as the US and other "civilized" nations of the world are willing to stop playing nice with inhuman scum like the Janjaweed, then at least the Darfur Accountability And Divestment Act is a good first step.
