Tale of Two Genocides

[xcoldricex]

I don&#39;t know how political most of the readers are of this board, but I&#39;ll just put this out there for those who care to read. Africa Action just put out a report analyzing the U.S. responses to the Rwandan genocide in 1994 and the current genocide in Darfur.</p>

Report</p>

</p>

</p>

[droogist]

Re: Tale of Two Genocides



Thanks for posting this, coldrice. Today (September 17th) is the NGO-organized Global Day for Darfur.</p>

Unfortunately the Clinton administration&#39;s cowardly political
manouvering during the Rwandan crisis and the Bush administration&#39;s
current equivocations are neither unexpected nor unprecedented. At the moment I am reading the book &quot;A Problem From Hell&quot; by Samantha Powers, which chronicles America&#39;s lack of response to incidences of genocide throughout the 20th century, from the Turkish slaughter of the Armenians onward. To quote the grim conclusion at which Powers arrives in the preface of the book:
</p><blockquote>Before I began exploring America&#39;s relationship with genocide, I used to refer to U.S. policy toward Bosnia as a &quot;failure.&quot; I have changed my mind. It is daunting to acknowledge, but this country&#39;s consistent policy of nonintervention in the face of genocide offers sad testimony not to a broken American political system but to one that is ruthlessly effective. The system, as it stands now, is working. No U.S. president has ever made genocide prevention a priority, and no U.S. president has ever suffered politically for his indiference to its occurence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on.
</blockquote>

History seems destined to repeat itself yet again in Darfur, because the fact of the matter is that when confronted with impending atrocities like this one public opinion, not just in the U.S. but throughout the international community, simply does not demand action. There are no political consequences to non-intervention. Our governments will do a little hand-wringing, send massive amounts of humanitarian aid once the blood is dried, and a few months or years later, express regret; we - that is, the public - will not object. I desperately hope that this time things will be different, but without increased activism and a massive awareness push it doesn&#39;t seem likely.
</p>

I don&#39;t have the right to get all preachy about this, but if anyone can spare a moment, please take it to read the report coldrice posted, and to visit the above site and add your name to the Day for Darfur campaign.
</p>