Sticks and Stones and Darfur...

When discrimination escalates to the fourth and fifth levels where ethnoviolence and genocide become acceptable, the civilized world needs to intervene. Institutionalized discrimination can be even scarier than bigotry by the citizenry. Had the Third Reich not made it the norm to discriminate against and then to eventually start to exterminate the Jewish population, the general populace would never have done such horrific acts of ethnoviolence on such a large scale. My grandmother who was raised in Nazi Germany went to her grave with a deep hatred of Jews that was ingrained in her as a child by the government and other institutions, such as schools, that shaped her life. It was very difficult for her to accept that Jews were not villains intent on destroying non-Jews. Thank goodness for the Allied military intervention that prevented the next generation from being raised with the same bias.

But this is not an isolated incident. Across the globe, people have been and are currently being slaughtered and abused for no other reason that being born different. This phenomenon is easily illustrated with the way jihadist Muslim groups, like Al Qaeda have been terrorizing Western civilization, particularly the United States for the past couple of decades. But the United States has the luxury of being able to use its resources to fight back. In many corners of the globe, people are being murdered by the hundreds, and can’t defend themselves. Shouldn’t the rest of the world step in and stop the bullying?

In Nazi Germany, the world intervened. In Kosovo, the UN intervened. But when the problem is at a greater (presumably safer) distance, perhaps it is easier to ignore the problem and hope it resolves itself. In addition to being geographically distant, the African interior is quite culturally distant from the Western world as well. Since the end of colonialism, the Western interest in the continent has dwindled considerably.

Plus, as my cynical husband points out, they don’t have anything we want. I would argue that they have oil, but he is right in that we are not out looking for new sources.

But shouldn’t doing the right thing be an international duty. In the Darfur region of Sudan, when men are being killed, women are being raped, and entire villages are being destroyed by the Janjaweed, shouldn’t someone step in and stop them? The Sudanese government seems impotent at dealing with the problem, and the UN seems to have gladly handed the problem over to the African Union, but the African Union is not empowered to actually go in and effect change. Since the end of 2004, the AU has been discussing the situation and they recognize that it is escalating in severity and that intervention is needed, but they are unable to stage an intervention without Western help.

Yes, a war in Darfur would be about as winnable as the one in Iraq, but that doesn’t mean that a military operation would not benefit the people and bring peace to the region if handled properly. Peace versus justice would be the main obstacle to making peace in the region. People would have to balance their need for justice with a peace that could be achieved more easily if they were willing to let some of the perpetrators of these vile actions off the hook with an immunity deal, and lesser punishments.

While it is about a different place at a different time, I think the movie, Hotel Rwanda illustrates the importance of acting now and not dragging out discussions in such matters. The director very nicely captured the sense of urgency of those people who were holding out that very moment hoping for a rescue. Why aren’t we already involved?

Who knows, maybe the United States and China could work together to bring peace to the region? China could bankroll another US-led war, and then enjoy greater access to Sudanese oil without leaving the US with a larger war debt. Just a thought. President Hu and President Obama, you guys should talk…