--- Bashir let the UN guys in.
Hmph.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A scorched-earth campaign by Arab
militias to drive black Africans out of Sudan's Darfur region has
spread in its wake hunger, homelessness and deprivation so crippling it
is common to find three women sharing a single dress, senior U.N.
officials said on Friday. "One, there is a rein of terror in this area.
Two, there is a scorched-earth policy. Three, there are repeated war
crimes and crimes against humanity, and four, this is taking place
before our very eyes," said Bertrand Ramcharan, the acting U.N. high
commissioner for human rights. Ramcharan and James Morris, head of the
World Food Program, spoke to reporters after briefing the 15-nation
Security Council on twin U.N. missions they led to the region after
Sudan's government, which has played down the crisis and denied
responsibility, invited them in after initially balking.
I'm not impressed.
Why? The reason is listed in the next paragraph.
Sudan, backed by Arab and African governments and Russia, had
lobbied hard to keep its internal affairs off the council agenda,
obliging it to discuss the crisis in a closed session without any
public signal it was doing so.
We all know the Security Council is all about transparency. /sarcasm
I would lay you pretty favorable odds that Bashir isn't the least bit
worried about what the UN might do. He knows the UN is all talk. He's
put them off in one way or another for over twenty years in regard to
the civil war in the south. He knows the UN's M.O. He had nothing to
fear by letting them in to see what was what: Sudan, it seems, has
friends in high places on the Security Council that will prevent
anything being done about Darfur. And nothing will be done---by the UN
at least. Just like nothing was done about Southern Sudan until the US
got involved post-9/11.
Russia's active involvement is curious, though. Total Fina Elf has a goodly chunk of oil concessions lined
up for a post-civil war Sudan. Bashir, however, wants to gain momentum
on developing his country's astounding natural resources before the
SPLM has the ability to get their fingers into the pie---and if the
Russians can help them to do that, why, gracious! That's good for Sudan
and good for Russia. What we have here are all the ingredients of
another Iraq. Brutal dictator. An Islamic government trying to force
their will on non-Muslims. Fossil fuel rich country. Ethnic cleansing.
Internal strife and an overwhelming desire to keep the international
community out of it. But Sudan is in Africa. If this were playing out
in the Middle East, you could bet that Bush and company would be all
over it.