OT: Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing and Death and Denial

[Guest guest]

-

Butch Owen

Sunday, June 27, 2004 9:03 PM

OT: Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing and Death and

Denial

 

 

 

Some things I have been thinking about today. About the Denial Syndrome

and its effect on the lives of human beings. And about the loss of

objective reporting by the American media the last few years ..

especially since the Vietnam War. And about putting priorities in the

right place.

Mornin Butch,

I think herein lies much of the problems that ordinary people are faced with,

we don't think, we react. Maybe we don't have the time or the desire or maybe

the education, but we let others, president, media etc. do it for us. I don't

consider myself a liberal by any means but I love whales and other " critters " as

much as the next person, and from experience I don't trust the media or the

government, let me explain. My husband was in special forces during Grenada and

my father was in the Air force during Viet Nam. What they did and what we were

told, by the media and the government, were two very different things.

Propoganda is alive and well in this government and is apparently necessary to

keep its agenda going.

People like Moore will eventually bury themselves but hopefull in the meantime

they cause people to think, to feel, to get angry and to eventually DO

SOMETHING! We are spoiled in this country to a large degree when it comes to

solving our own problems and assisting others around the globe. We don't want

to get our hands or our hearts dirty.

While working on my masters degree we did a lot of research on Veterans of

Viet Nam and learned that in order for these men to venture out of their Leave

it to Beaver and Ozzie and Hariett world they had to be programmed into thinking

they were killing folks that were less than human, totally unlike " us " in any

shape and fashion. I guess nothing much has changed has it. If we don't have

to look into the faces and the lives of these people it is easier to kill them

and also easier to turn away and not help.

I don't have any solutions, unfortunately, only a deep sadness that history

continues to repeat itself and we all become less humane.

Keep safe and keep smiling Butch,

Melissa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Butch,

 

 

, Butch Owen <butchbsi@s...>

wrote:

 

>I believe the Liberal U.S. Media is more concerned about twisting

and censoring news to makes American leader appear to be monsters

than they are about telling the whole story .. and I believe that a

nasty, sick man who should lose weight and either shave his ugly

face or grow a beard, a man who hates America and sees himself as

the Liberal propaganda minister of the Far Left, and has made two

propaganda films and who has made the following statements in

Europe, is working to confuse the American people and the world and

heap disgrace on his country of birth ..

 

I have to agree with you on Moore needing to lose weight. (LOL)

 

I found it's interesting that you said the liberal media twisting

the news, because I've heard people talking about the opposite, the

conservative media twisting the news.

I guess, no one is perfectly neutral.

 

I don't think Moore hates all Americans. I think he hates some

issues in America which he thinks destructive for American values,

such as freedom of speech or basic human rights. I personally don't

like any extremes, but I recognize them as necessary. We need these

extremes that push the limit, so that the rest of us can settle

somewhere in between, with diversity that works as " check and

balance " . The problem right now is, I think, that even though the

majority of us are in somewhere in between, the current president

has set the standard of two extremes, by divisive talk such as " you

are either with us or with them " . So, for example, I believe in non-

violence and I'd disagree with any killing including this Iraq war,

then some people say that I was with Saddam. It doesn't work that

way. Can I disagree with Bush and Saddam at the same time?

 

I believe that being able to criticize one's own government is very

important for a free nation, to watch what the people who represent

us are doing. How do you prevent, otherwise, that a president to

become like Hitler or Stalin? Remember, Hitler's party was

elected

by votes and became majority (and started killing).

 

I was raised in post war Japan, and received the education based on

the Japanese constitution written by the U.S. (I love the

constitution, by the way. It's beautiful.) The president Bush said

he wants to make Iraq like Japan, and that's where I came from. So,

you can assume that I'm a typical post war Japanese, who are exactly

what the U.S. wanted when the WW2 was over. Now people here in the

U.S. label me as a liberal or a Democrat. I found it very strange.

As a Japanese, I learned so much about WW2 and Hitler, and things

happening here after 9-11 scare me a lot, because so much

resemblance. During the WW2 in Japan, there were a lot of flag

waving, calling people " unpatriotic " , and women who lost

their

husbands and sons in battles had to pretend like they felt honor

even though crying to death inside. So, I think it's reasonable that

some Americans fear that Bush might do something very destructive

for this country. It may not to be true, but better careful than

sorry.

 

 

> > " They are possibly the dumbest people on the planet, " Moore told

> > Britain's Mirror newspaper recently, referring to his fellow

citizens as a whole.

> > And that's not all Moore had to say about his brother Yanks

across the pond. " We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We

don't know about anything that's happening outside our country. Our

stupidity is embarrassing. "

 

Again, I don't like extremes, and this Moore's statement is too

much. I agree that some Americans don't know much about the world,

but people from other coutries don't know about it either, including

Japanese people. There are stupid people everywhere, and most people

think " I'm not one of them " . " stupid " is very subjective word, too.

I look very stupid to a math teacher, but not for my husband

(LOL).

 

>My concerns for all of us .. and for the European governments and

the United Nations .. and all the " caring " governments and peoples

of the world. And for those who are not cared for in the world.

Why did the world allow Adolph Hitler to go so far? History it is

but was it because Jews were not Christians and 65 years ago that was

important enough to the world to disregard their plight?

Why did the world allow Pol Pot and his blood-thirsty minions to turn

Cambodia into the " Killing Fields " and slaughter over a million

people? History it is but was it because they were brown colored,

non Christian folks who ran around half naked, were ignorant and

didn't bath often?

 

I'm not a white or Christian, so I don't know about the issue.

I agree with you that these things in the world are awful and we

need to do something about them. But also, I have to think that

going to war will always kill many innocent civilians. It was always

women and kids who suffered the most in Japan during the WW2. When

the U.S. dropped A-bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was teenage

girls who were working at the factories. Think about that if it was

your daughter. Also, people are still dying by leukimia or other

cancer now because of the bomb. I've seen the photos of the Iraq

kids, whose limbs are missing, a dead girl whose head was blown off

by the U.S. cruster bomb, and kids whose lymph nodes are swolen as

big as melons because of the depleted uranium bombs. These photos

don't make it to the U.S. media, but to some Japanese media.

 

Because of this, I need to be fully convinced that a war is the only

solution for a certain issue. And I haven't been convinced that this

war was a must. Did the government try all the means to solve the

conflict with Saddam before it's decision to go to the war? Or was

it a little bit too quick or wreckless? How about the issue that CIA

might have been leaking its codes to Iranian spies? Were they

realistic about how much it would cost and how long? Was it

realistic in terms of balancing budget between foreign policy and

domestic policy? How about international aids? Was it a good idea to

ignore the UN, or would've been better if the government could

convince the UN before the war? Why didn't the president tell the

world more facts and details to convince us?

I'm not challenging you. I totally agree that the U.S. should help

other nations if it could. But there should be a lot of questions to

ask before any action is taken, because even for the U.S., resources

are limited. And the U.S. has its own problems here. I believe a

govenment should try deplomacy as much as possible, even it needs a

lot of patience and skills. And a war should be the last, and the

most carefully considered option.

 

> And a few minutes ago I saw Jonathan Mann quote statistics showing

that a Saturday poll showed that 58% of Americans believe Bush lied

about the connection between Saddam and al-Quaeda .. but just now I

looked at the CNN poll at http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/ and I

see the following:

> Do you think President Bush lied about Osama's ties to Iraq?

> No, Bush had no reason to lie. ............... 62%

> Yes, he just wanted to go to war. ................ 38%

> But like Goebbels was once quoted as saying, " If we repeat things

enough times they will be believed and they will become facts. "

 

The poll at the website is not the same poll he is talking about.

 

> Seems to me that the health, welfare, life, liberty and property of

> humans oughta be the top priority for nations and people ..

especially those who see their mission in life as being do-gooders

and saviors of mankind. Seems to me that one doesn't have to be

Christian to recognize a real need to be " Our Brother's Keeper " ..

 

I agree with you totally.

I guess it's a difference in method for achieving this. Some people

believe that domestic happiness is basic foundation for world peace.

Some people believe that each nation has to achieve their own

freedom based on their cultural background with international aids

(maybe it's what UN is saying on African issues). In the past,

Christian missionaries caused not only good but also destructions of

local cultures, and some of those nations are still in chaos.

 

> And while I'm riding this negative colored camel .. I'll point out

what many of you already know .. that there are many groups out and

about and in harm's way that are truly do-gooders .. unsung

heroes .. out not for the clam of fame but because they are truly

devoted to helping their fellow man. One of the finest is Doctors

Without Borders! I've had the pleasure and honor of working with

them on three different occasions and can attest to their

professionalism, dedication to duty and to mankind.

 

I admire their effort also.

 

Just one more thought. Maybe because I'm a woman, and would like to

have a couple of kids soon, I don't like to think that my kids might

have to go to a war in the future. Or they might have to go to any

risky area. I know you may think that I'm selfish. Maybe it's my

mother instinct. If I can't protect my kids, who can? I will protect

my kids like a mom cat does. I won't let anyone take my kids for any

reason. Plus, it's my religious belief that one shouldn't kill. So,

I won't let my kids to handle any weapons. I'm not trying to force

or convince anyone, but I want to protect my right for freedom of

religion. You are allowed to omit the phrase " I'll fight for the

government " when you become the U.S. citizen if it's against your

religious belief.

Also, I heard someone saying on radio that if the government starts

draft again, now they have to draft girls also. I don't think anyone

likes the idea of sending own daughter to a war.

 

Anyway......I agree with you on helping the world to become a better

place, and it's a great thought. I just disagree with the current

president on the methods. I think most people have good will and

concerned about the world and the U.S., so it's sad to see that the

people are so divided and the nation looks like it's two nations in

one right now. It doesn't have to be this way.

 

Thanks, Butch for sharing your thoughts. It's very important for me

to read and listen to other people's opinions without falling into

political jargons. I have had many people who got mad because I

asked so many questions and they labeled me as a liberal or

whatever. They are not used to have different opinions, and seems

threatened by disagreement. But I believe that everyone has

different opinions and listening to others is the best way to

understand the issues.

 

Take care!

 

Akiko

 

P.S.

Oh, by the way, I got my first order from you a couple weeks ago,

and I love your rose hydrosol!!! I'd like to order some rose petal

jam and oregano oils, but we are in midst of house selling & moving

chaos. How long do you think you will have the jam? Can I order

after we move, maybe in September or later?

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

Some things I have been thinking about today. About the Denial Syndrome

and its effect on the lives of human beings. And about the loss of

objective reporting by the American media the last few years ..

especially since the Vietnam War. And about putting priorities in the

right place. I am just wonder what's really happening .. maybe someday

I'll understand it .. not as a partisan or supporter for any political

party .. just as another human critter.

 

I believe mankind should have concern for the environment but we should

not have more concern for trees and whales and Three Toed, Bug Eyed

Somali Piss Ants than they do other human beings .. and I believe that

some European governments are more concerned about American actions in

Iraq and the fear of terrorist actions against their own countries than

they are about stability in the world .. and as I said above, I believe

the Liberal U.S. Media is more concerned about twisting and censoring

news to makes American leader appear to be monsters than they are about

telling the whole story .. and I believe that a nasty, sick man who

should lose weight and either shave his ugly face or grow a beard, a man

who hates America and sees himself as the Liberal propaganda minister of

the Far Left, and has made two propaganda films and who has made the

following statements in Europe, is working to confuse the American

people and the world and heap disgrace on his country of birth ..

 

> " They are possibly the dumbest people on the planet, " Moore told

> Britain's Mirror newspaper recently, referring to his fellow citizens as

> a whole.

>

> And that's not all Moore had to say about his brother Yanks across the

> pond. " We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We don't know

> about anything that's happening outside our country. Our stupidity is

> embarrassing. "

 

I did a web search on Michael Moore and find no indication that he has

ever lived outside the USA .. so I conclude that his disrespectful

remarks about Americans are just intended to push his film .. to tell

folks he meets what he thinks they want to hear for his own financial

gain and to boost what some think is popularity.

 

> Turns out, when the Democratic Party's all-but-official filmmaker is

> speaking at home, he has nice things to say about at least some of his

> fellow citizens. But according to New York Times columnist David Brooks,

> when Moore travels abroad it's not just the Bush administration he

> trashes - but the American people en-masse.

 

(The New York Times is NOT Pro-Bush!)

 

Here's a few more comments from the Democratic campaign's leading Hippy

supporter, as cited by Mr. Brooks on Saturday:

 

> " That's why we're smiling all the time, " Moore told a rapturous throng

> in Munich. ''You can see us coming down the street. You know, 'Hey! Hi!

> How's it going?' We've got that big [expletive] grin on our face all the

> time because our brains aren't loaded down. "

>

> To a crowd in Cambridge, Moore intoned: " You're stuck with being

> connected to this country of mine, which is known for bringing sadness

> and misery to places around the globe. "

>

> Here's Moore's reaction to the 9/11 attacks, offered while the rubble at

> Ground Zero was still smoldering: " We, the United States of America, are

> culpable in committing so many acts of terror and bloodshed that we had

> better get a clue about the culture of violence in which we have been

> active participants. "

>

> As for the terrorists currently killing American soldiers in Iraq, Moore

> compares them to Revolutionary war heroes who fought off British oppression:

>

> " The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not

> 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION,

> the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win. "

 

But Michael Moore's anti-Iraq War, anti-Bush, anti-Republican crusade is

not stopping with President Bush. He says he now wants to make a movie

about Prime Minister Tony Blair's role in the war, Reuters reported.

 

Recently, at the Cannes Film Festival, Hate-America Moore said that he

now wants to take a close look at the British Prime Minister's role in

backing the war in Iraq and sending troops into harm's way.

 

> " I struggled with it because, I think, what I decided is that I need to

> make a separate film about Blair, at some point here. I need to do something

> about Blair and Britain, " said Moore.

 

He wants to do " something about Blair and Britain! " Such pomposity!

Such an ass this man. I wish nothing but bad things for such people!

 

But I'm happy to note that a film is now being made about Michael Moore.

http://www.michaelmoorehatesamerica.com/

 

I believe all the above .. I might be wrong but I believe. But my real

concerns are not about the actions of a sloppy, pompous ass like Moore

who is useless aside from his political propagandizing. My concerns for

all of us .. and for the European governments and the United Nations ..

and all the " caring " governments and peoples of the world. And for

those who are not cared for in the world.

 

Why did the world allow Adolph Hitler to go so far? History it is but

was it because Jews were not Christians and 65 years ago that was

important enough to the world to disregard their plight?

 

Why did the world allow Pol Pot and his blood-thirsty minions to turn

Cambodia into the " Killing Fields " and slaughter over a million people?

History it is but was it because they were brown colored, non Christian

folks who ran around half naked, were ignorant and didn't bath often?

http://www.cybercambodia.com/dachs/killings/killing.html

 

Why did the world ignore the recent genocide in Rwanda, Africa that

killed millions of people in a matter of months? History it is but the

UN policy at that time was " Any solution to Africa's problems ... must

be sought primarily among Africans. International organizations should

see their principal role as facilitating and supporting attempts by

Africans to address their own problems. " Did the world allow it ..

because the victims were ignorant, non Christian, ragged Black Africans?

http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno1-3-02.htm#P21_7273

 

Why did the world allow continuation of the genocide and ethnic

cleansing in Bosnia-Herzgovina till it caused death to millions of

folks? History it is but was it because they were Moslems? Finally,

the US pushed NATO to get involved.

http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o & d=24653099

 

Why did the world allow Saddam to continue to brutally murder hundreds

of thousands of Kurdish Iraqi and Arabic Iraqi citizens .. some killed

with weapons of mass destruction (gas) used against their villages ..

others rounded up and executed and buried in unmarked mass graves? The

US was as guilty as anyone is this neglect as we knew and disregarded

it. Was it because they too were just Moslems? History it is but

finally, the world took action to save Kuwait (oil) and later the US and

allies took action against Saddam .. and are being criticized for this

even now by those who consider themselves to be superior strategists but

are really just Monday Morning Quarterbacks.

 

And why has the world waited so long to notice the Arabic rulers of

Sudan committing genocide against those Sudanese citizens who consider

themselves to be Black Africans? This is not history .. it is happening

right now. The world has been watching this for some time. Is it

because people would rather avoid hostilities altogether if the bear is

not knocking on their own doors? For saviors of the world like Moore I

understand that its not profitable to make films about Arabs killing

Black folks and I suppose that for non-profit organizations and those

individuals who support them its better to protest and become passionate

about safe issues so they don't have to show support by going in harm's

way .. issues like trees, whales and Three Toed, Bug Eyed Somali Piss

Ants .. perhaps it WAS more important to the American Liberal Press to

continue their efforts to bring down the Bush administration .. but now

they are forced to address the problems in Sudan .. and perhaps for some

European governments its not politically or economically in their best

interests to take unilateral action to get involved in international

concerns that might not be popular with their voters .. perhaps the UN

delayed demanding attention of the UN Security Council for fear that

refusal of a request for international support and/or UN peace keepers

would highlight the fact that they are already castrated. Or perhaps it

was just not on their list of high priorities.

 

But now the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is taking a trip to

Sudan to try to get the Arab leaders of Sudan to get their heads out of

their butts or face UN Sanctions .. which would be pushed through by the

USA. And since he announced his trip, the UN Secretary General also

determined he oughta make one there too .. but a bit later. And just

today I see CNN giving attention to the issue .. and I see the Director

of CARE saying that what is needed now is involvement by the USA and the

UN. Did I get that right? Yea .. I did .. He said the USA and the UN.

Why not just the UN?

 

But a few minutes ago I heard Jonathan Mann of CNN (not an objective

reporter) say that America needs to understand and accept that we are

NOT the world's peace keeper .. nor the world's policeman. If we are

not .. then who is? The United Nations?

 

And a few minutes ago I saw Jonathan Mann quote statistics showing that

a Saturday poll showed that 58% of Americans believe Bush lied about the

connection between Saddam and al-Quaeda .. but just now I looked at the

CNN poll at http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/ and I see the following:

 

Do you think President Bush lied about Osama's ties to Iraq?

No, Bush had no reason to lie. ............... 62%

Yes, he just wanted to go to war. ................ 38%

 

But like Goebbels was once quoted as saying, " If we repeat things enough

times they will be believed and they will become facts. "

 

So .. should I conclude that Jonathan Mann is propagandizing as is the

case with most of the Liberal Media in their Crusade to unseat the

present administration?

 

Below you will see it reported that ........

 

> Aid workers and analysts say they hope the visits will push the United

> States to lead an intervention.

 

This does not say " United Nations " .. it says " United States. " Along

with position and authority goes responsibility .. it can't be avoided!

 

Seems to me that the health, welfare, life, liberty and property of

humans oughta be the top priority for nations and people .. especially

those who see their mission in life as being do-gooders and saviors of

mankind. Seems to me that one doesn't have to be Christian to recognize

a real need to be " Our Brother's Keeper " .. just in case we need a bit

of keeping ourselves someday. But keeping is easily forgotten after the

blood of keepers has been spilled and the danger has passed. Then we

have the luxury of examining only things we don't like and casting blame

like good little Monday Morning Quarterbacks .. at least until the bear

comes knocking on our door and we have a need for keepers again.

 

And while I'm riding this negative colored camel .. I'll point out what

many of you already know .. that there are many groups out and about and

in harm's way that are truly do-gooders .. unsung heroes .. out not for

the claim of fame but because they are truly devoted to helping their

fellow man. One of the finest is Doctors Without Borders! I've had the

pleasure and honor of working with them on three different occasions and

can attest to their professionalism, dedication to duty and to mankind.

And I salute them. :-) Butch

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

In Sudan, Death and Denial

Officials Accused of Concealing Crisis as Thousands Starve

 

By Emily Wax

Washington Post Foreign Service

Sunday, June 27, 2004; Page A01

 

MORNAY, Sudan -- There are tents here that no parent wants to visit.

They are called feeding centers, shady rectangular units where children

fight death. Sitting on a mat and holding his son's frail hand, Mohammed

Ishaq and his wife, Aisha, have been here five days, nursing 9-month-old

Zohar on drops of water from a large pink cup, praying that somehow he

will survive.

 

Zohar spits up the water. His cough is rough, and his thin skin clings

to his ribs. His withered left arm is connected to an IV. He is

suffering from malaria, complicated by malnutrition. Near him, other

parents rock, nurse and pray for their babies, who are passed out or

moaning, their eyes rolled back as they vomit emergency rations of corn

and oil.

 

Six hundred miles to the east in the capital, Khartoum, Mustafa Osman

Ismail, the foreign minister of Sudan, stretched back in his plump

leather chair in an air-conditioned office overlooking the Nile.

 

" In Darfur, there is no hunger. There is no malnutrition. There is no

epidemic disease, " he said in an interview. Yes, he conceded, there is

" a humanitarian situation. " But the hunger, he said, was " imagined " by

the media.

 

Both hunger and denial are weapons in Sudan, according to U.N. officials

and international aid workers. After accusing the government of imposing

a policy of forced starvation on the people of Darfur, they now say that

official attempts to conceal the crisis are endangering efforts to

prevent famine among an estimated 1.2 million people.

 

Mornay is the largest refugee camp in the region. It is a labyrinth of

suffering, where one child in five is acutely malnourished, aid workers

say, where for six months 75,000 people have lived on less than half the

food they need to survive, where six people die every day, mainly

children and the elderly, from hunger and disease.

 

In the town of Mornay, near the camp, there is a market with no food.

There is a tiny mosque where no one is praying, because 3,000 people are

crammed into its dank and fetid spaces. There is arable land outside the

camp, but crops cannot be gathered because militiamen on horseback, clad

in government uniforms, roam the scrubby landscape. Assault rifles are

balanced on their laps, and whips hang from their belt loops. Women are

trapped inside the camp, unable to forage for firewood or food.

 

There are 129 such camps across Darfur, 31 of which are inaccessible

because they are in areas held by the government or the rebels in the

region, which stretches along the border of Chad. More than a million

people live in the camps, many of which lack water, supplies and

sanitation, and operate without any feeding centers.

 

The people in the camps were driven from their villages and farms by

pro-government Arab militiamen, a ragtag collection of traditional

tribal fighters and criminals known in Arabic as Janjaweed, which means

" men who ride horses and carry G3 guns. " The Janjaweed fighters have

terrorized and killed, witnesses say, and are also accused of rapes and

beatings.

 

Tensions in Darfur have simmered since the 1970s, when drought and

competition over scarce resources sparked clashes between largely

nomadic cattle and camel herders, who view themselves as Arabs, and the

more sedentary farmers, who see their ancestry as African. Both groups

are Muslim.

 

The tensions flared in February 2003, when groups of students and

political activists from three of Darfur's African tribes started a

rebellion against the government, complaining that the Arab ruling elite

had failed to develop the area.

 

The Darfur groups thought it was time to press their case when a peace

deal finally began to take hold in an unrelated conflict between the

Islamic government in the north and rebels based in southern part of the

country, a region that is largely animist and Christian, after 21 years

of war and more than 2 million deaths.

 

The first major victory of the Darfur groups was the capture of the

military town of El Fashir in a battle last year. They killed 75

government soldiers, stole weapons and destroyed four gunships and two

Antonov aircrafts, government officials said. In response, the

government began to arm local militias to boost the army and also

launched an aerial bombardment of villages, witnesses say.

 

Over the past 16 months, more than 10,000 people have been killed and

thousands driven from their homes by the Arab militiamen. Human rights

and aid groups accuse the government of carrying out an ethnic cleansing

campaign, targeting three tribes: the Fur, Massaleit and Zaghawa.

 

Sudanese authorities tightly restrict access to the region. But this

week, NASA satellite photos still being reviewed provided a clearer

view: 56,000 houses, with conical roofs known as tukels, have been

destroyed in nearly 400 villages.

 

(Lucky those folks are that the USA has wasted so much money on NASA)

 

Aid workers predict that many more people will die, and that the U.N.

World Food Program will be able to reach only 800,000 of the 1.2 million

displaced people because of continuing violence. Aid workers are also

concerned the rainy season will slow or stop food shipments. And

waterborne diseases in crowded camps with no latrines will increase the

number of deaths, they said. The U.S. Agency for International

Development estimated that at least 350,000 people will die of disease

and malnutrition over the next nine months.

 

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell plans to visit Darfur next week to

urge the Sudanese government to disarm the Arab militias or face U.N.

sanctions. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has also scheduled a visit.

 

Aid workers and analysts say they hope the visits will push the United

States to lead an intervention that will provide airlifts of food and

medicine. The U.S. military is considering sending a team to Chad to

assess the feasibility of a humanitarian mission that would help

refugees who have fled Sudan, State Department officials said.

 

Aid workers also hope the attention will remove a crucial obstacle to

stopping the famine: government denial. Headlines this week in a

government newspaper, Sudan Vision, read: " Situation in Darfur Under

Control " and " Ethnic Cleansing Sheer Fabrication. "

 

A U.N. report issued in May on conditions in the village of Kailek in

western Darfur accused local government officials of ordering " a policy

of forced starvation " by insisting that the villagers faced no problems,

even as militias prevented food deliveries. Nine children in the area

reportedly died of malnutrition every day.

 

At the same time, the government has also restricted access to

humanitarian workers and journalists, granting travel permits

infrequently and allowing only a small part of the affected areas to be

visited. Last week, Jan Egeland, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator,

said the government was holding up visas for non-U.N. relief workers and

delaying the shipment of necessary equipment.

 

Pacing inside a Doctors Without Borders compound in El Geneina, the

capital of West Darfur, Jean-Hervé Bradol, president of the group, said

he was angry at the Sudanese government and the United Nations for their

slow responses after officials toured feeding centers in Mornay. He

puffed frantically on a cigarette, his face ghostly, his brown hair

strewn wildly.

 

(Good for you Jean-Hervé Bradol!!!!!!!)

 

" This is the attitude that accelerates crisis. If you deny there's a

problem, you don't have to address it, " Bradol said. " We asked for food

planning. We asked for trucks. They say they will come -- yes -- in six

months, when it's too late. I am hoping I am wrong. In the meantime,

thousands will die. "

 

" By denying that there is a humanitarian crisis, the government can

continue phase two of its ethnic cleansing campaign, " said John

Prendergast, a former Clinton adviser on Africa and an analyst for the

International Crisis Group, a research organization based in Brussels.

" Phase one consisted of driving people out of their villages. Phase two

is designed to use starvation and disease to finish the job started by

the government-supported Janjaweed militias. "

 

" If Khartoum is pressured to remove the obstacles, and the U.S., EU and

U.N. vastly increase the airlift and delivery capacity for moving

humanitarian supplies, hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved, " he

said. " Rarely in the history of these kinds of humanitarian emergencies

is the choice so stark, so simple. "

 

Not Safe to Go Home

 

On a recent afternoon, the Sudanese government's commissioner general

for humanitarian affairs, Sulaf Din Salih, visited Western Darfur and

told aid workers that refugees should be encouraged to return home. Aid

workers said that similar orders to return were being issued across Darfur.

 

In Zalingei, a camp about 50 miles southeast of Mornay, elders from the

village of Zulu told aid workers that officials said the villagers would

be paid to return home, in the hopes that others would follow. When they

journeyed back, they said they found 40 corpses of their relatives

rotting in the sand, the aid workers said. They returned immediately to

the Zalingei camp, where a food shortage is raging.

 

On a recent visit to the city of El Geneina, the governor told the

French Foreign Ministry's envoy, Renaud Muselier, " Everything is fine.

No problem. Everyone can go home. "

 

A trip with the French official down a dirt track, however, exposed a

war zone where gunmen roamed. Sunburned men rode on camels, guns

cradled on their laps, just steps from Mornay camp. One held a whip.

Others herded hundreds of sheep, cattle and camels, smiling and waving

as visitors passed. Aid workers and the displaced people in the camp

said the animals were stolen.

 

Rapes and attacks continue around the edges of the camp every night,

women there said, as they rocked sickly babies with hollow eyes. Each

week in Mornay, at least five women and girls as young as 12 have been

raped when they left the camp, according to a report by Doctors Without

Borders. The real number is thought to be far higher because many women

are reluctant to report attacks.

 

Stalked by Disease

 

With her 8-month-old malnourished twins at her breasts, Khadija

Mohammed, 32, did not know how to help her children. Habiba was crying,

and Hussein was passed out, unable to drink her milk. He has malaria,

fevers at night, diarrhea and vomiting, his medical chart shows. His

weight is half what it should be.

 

Mohammed came to the Mornay camp six months ago from her village in Ber

Medina, 3 miles south. Her 6-year-old son and two brothers were killed.

 

" The nomads said, 'Lie down on the ground.' One pointed his gun toward

me. Then he aimed his gun up and started firing, " she said.

 

Her 5-year-old daughter, Arfe, who has a halo of curly braids, was hit

in the buttocks but survived. " Now she sometimes gets fever, she

sometimes gets headaches. She has trouble walking, " her mother said.

 

Arfe tried to help her mother with the twins and struggled to help lift

Habiba. Her mother shook her head no and lifted her daughter's frayed

yellow dress to show nine stitches, a scar and a bullet lodged in Arfe's

right buttock.

 

" We are hungry here, " she said. " But where else can we go? I am afraid. "

 

Others in the camp also said they would not leave. Mohammed Ishaq, the

father of tiny Zohar, said he couldn't leave even if he wanted to,

because his son is too ill to be moved.

 

" I am very much afraid for my son, " he whispered, looking at his child's

hand, each tiny finger clinging to his. " I can't love him. He is too sick. "

 

In the noon heat, Sandrine Normand, an exhausted-looking physician with

Doctors Without Borders, ran her hand over Zohar's mother's back. She

then took the pink cup from her hands and gently, drop by drop, tried to

make the baby swallow the water.

 

There will be many funerals here soon, Normand said, crouching down to

sit with Zohar's parents.

 

© 2004 The Washington Post Company