Darfur: What is the Conflict and Why Has it Lasted So Long?

[JPC]

hey, i was wondering about Darfur

is it a country ? (civil war)
or a war ?

Google Earth shows it like a country :
http://i20.servimg.com/u/f20/11/43/46/43/dar10.jpg

and why does it last so long ?
Wouldnt it be just easy for the europeans to get their armies and get rid of the genocide leaders and troops
because, why are we acting like diplomats , when the enemies are so cruel

 

[BobG]

It's part of Sudan. http://images.google.com/imgres?img...fur&um=1&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2

Darfur was a semi-independent country (actually, it was invaded by other countries fairly often so hasn't been independent for very long periods of time) until the British invaded and incoporated it into Sudan.

Like most ethnic civil wars, it lasts a long time. Most ethnic civil wars last 20 to 30 years. 10 years would be short - 60 years would be a long civil war.

 

[JPC]

but can't the europeans or americans put a quick end to this with their millitary superiority

and , some blame china for being linked to this ? how come linked ? linked how ?

 

[BobG]

China sells weapons to the government and buys oil from Sudan. The oil makes a continuation of the status quo a good thing for China, hence selling weapons to help keep the current government in power.

China finally quit blocking a UN peace keeping force. EU may add troops to new UN Darfur force The chances of the US or Europe intervening outside the UN were getting pretty high. Even Democrats (Joe Biden in particular) were starting to call for US troops in Darfur.

Still, the best they can probably hope for is something similar to Bosnia - an unresolved situation where fighting is prevented by an outside force (NATO) that can't leave any time soon. You can't force people to like one another with a gun - you can only force them to wait until you leave to start fighting each other again.

 

[Astronuc]

but can't the europeans or americans put a quick end to this with their millitary superiority

Yes they could, assuming they were so motivated. The US and some its allies are invested in Iraq and Afghanistan at the moment. Darfur has little strategic interest.

and , some blame china for being linked to this ? how come linked ? linked how ?

China is certainly enabling the Sudanese government to continue the conflict. It is basically an internal ethnic conflict - something akin to domestic violence.

As for Darfur -
http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/7240/?mission=6733

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/3078

http://www.savedarfur.org/content?splash=yes

http://www.theirc.org/media/www/darfur_hope_amid_the_violence.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict



http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/10144

 

[Moridin]

Darfur is another genocide of the poor and starving by Islamic fundamentalism. It has very little to do with ethnicity; it is Islamic forces butchering black people.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/13129/crisis_guide.html?breadcrumb=%2Fpublication%2Fby_type%2Finteractive

 

[Astronuc]

It has very little to do with ethnicity; it is Islamic forces butchering black people.

There certainly is an ethnic/racial component to this. Arab (predominantly Muslim) vs African (Muslim)

Consider -

The Fur people are a black African people who practice sedentary herding, relying mainly on the cultivation of millet. Their society is a highly traditional one governed by village elders. They speak Fur, a Nilo-Saharan language, and are Muslims, having adopted the religion following the region's conquest by the Kanem-Bornu Empire during the Middle Ages. Some of them have come to speak Arabic in recent years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur_people

The Masalit (masara in Masalit; Arabicماساليت) are a people of Darfur in western Sudan and Wadai in eastern Chad. They speak Masalit, a Nilo-Saharan language of the Maba group. They numbered about 250,000 in 1983.

The Masalit are well-known for their Muslim piety.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masalit

The Zaghawa have been among the tribes in Darfur who have been referred to as "African" even as other tribes that have fought with them have been called "Arab". Both groups are black, indigenous, African and Muslim, although "Arab" and "African" affiliations have been adopted for political reasons, often concerned with gaining support from those outside Darfur. [1]

In the time of the Kanem-Bornu Empire of the 13th Century, they converted to Islam, although they still maintain some of their religious traditions. In Darfur, the Zaghawa is well-known[1] for its piety.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaghawa

Characterising the Darfur war as 'Arabs' versus 'Africans' obscures the reality. Darfur's Arabs are black, indigenous, African and Muslim - just like Darfur's non-Arabs, who hail from the Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa and a dozen smaller tribes.

Until recently, Darfurians used the term 'Arab' in its ancient sense of 'bedouin'. These Arabic-speaking nomads are distinct from the inheritors of the Arab culture of the Nile and the Fertile Crescent.

'Arabism' in Darfur is a political ideology, recently imported, after Colonel Gadaffi nurtured dreams of an 'Arab belt' across Africa, and recruited Chadian Arabs, Darfurians and west African Tuaregs to spearhead his invasion of Chad in the 1980s. He failed, but the legacy of arms, militia organisation and Arab supremacist ideology lives on.

from http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,14658,1268773,00.html

See also - http://www.sudanupdate.org/REPORTS/PEOPLES/Darf.htm

Assessment for Darfur Black Muslims in Sudan
http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/assessment.asp?groupId=62504


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_the_Darfur_conflict

Meanwhile -

Death Rate in Darfur Seen Declining
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13997887

Day to Day, August 28, 2007 · According to The Los Angeles Times, the death rate in the Darfur region of Sudan has come down significantly. Though the exact numbers are debated, as many as 10,000 people a month were dying in the region three years ago; today, the rate is believed to be in the hundreds.

The change can be attributed largely to humanitarian efforts and also to changing tactics by the Janjaweed militia, but people in Darfur remain dependent on help from aid organizations and violence remains a problem. Edmund Sanders, Nairobi bureau chief for the paper, talks with Alex Cohen.

Doctor Describes Scene in Darfur
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13926362

Day to Day, August 24, 2007 · Despite a peace agreement, the fighting and deaths continue in the Darfur region of Sudan. International Medical Corps physician Dr. Jill John-Kall has been living and working as IMC's medical director in Darfur for the past two years. She discusses her work and the tragedies she sees every day.

Rights Group: Sudan Still Sends Weapons to Darfur
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13935733

All Things Considered, August 24, 2007 · Amnesty International says Sudan's government continues to send weapons to Darfur in violation of a peace treaty and a U.N. arms embargo.

Amnesty International released photos of military aircraft, including Russian-made attack helicopters and Antonov planes, that it says belonged to the Sudanese government, at an airport in west Darfur. The photos also show containers being loaded onto military trucks.

The human rights group urged the United Nations to give its planned peacekeeping force for the region the authority to confiscate weapons from combatants.

 

[Yonoz]

It appears the long overdue UN peacekeeping force may not be deployed at all: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN2753756420071127"

Jean-Marie Guehenno told the Security Council Khartoum's reluctance to smooth the path for dispatching the 26,000-strong U.N.-African Union mission meant a decision might eventually have to be taken on whether to go through with the deployment.

Problems detailed by Guehenno included Sudan's objections to some non-African units, failure to provide land, curbs on helicopter flights and quest for a status of forces pact that he said "would make it impossible for the mission to operate."

Those actions cast doubt on Sudan's past promises to facilitate the deployment of the "hybrid" force in the war-torn region, he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was calling on Security Council members and regional leaders to persuade Sudan's government to make a "strategic decision" to support deployment of the UNAMID force it has already agreed to, Guehenno said.

"Should the anticipated discussions fail to clear the path to the deployment of an effective force, the international community will be confronted with hard choices," he said.

"Do we move ahead with the deployment of a force that will not make a difference, that will not have the capability to defend itself, and that carries the risk of humiliation of the Security Council and the United Nations, and tragic failure for the people of Darfur?"

 

[Plastic Photon]

The Chinese hold too much of the US's debt (and subsequently US dollars) for the US or any other 'european' nation to intervene. I think the UK is capable of stopping the genocide, as is the US and maybe France.
Darfur, and Sudan for that matter, are greater strategic interests for Uganda, Libya and Egypt than they are for the US or any european nation.

 

[devil-fire]

FRONTLINE just did a show on the conflict.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darfur/

 

[JPC]

Darfur, and Sudan for that matter, are greater strategic interests for Uganda, Libya and Egypt than they are for the US or any european nation.

Why not that much for the European Nations ? It would make a good publicity ?