UN Fiddles While Darfur Burns

People in Darfur had hoped that once it became clear the attacks against civilians had not stopped, the UN would impose sanctions or other punitive measures against Sudan. But instead, the UN Security Council effectively gave the government more time, saying unless the killing stops, the UN "shall consider taking additional measures ... such as actions to affect Sudan's petroleum sector."

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Inside Darfur, people have no doubt that they are victims of an organised attempt to destroy them. They claim the Sudanese government has continued to support the Janjaweed, even while it promised the international community that it was trying its hardest to rein them in. Abdel Molah, said: "A few days before the Janjaweed and helicopters came to attack my village, some people came to us and said - we will send you blacks away and take this land. There are many riches in the earth and we shall make it ours." Molah's parents and five brothers were killed in two separate Janjaweed attacks in April and August. He has now fled to Chad with his wife and three children, and insists he will not return unless the government changes. "This government does not want blacks in Darfur, only Arabs," he insisted. "As long as they are in charge, we cannot be safe." Others barely understand the politics that are destroying their lives.

More than 50,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and the World Health Organisation has estimated that at least 10,000 people are still dying in Darfur each month as a result of violence and disease.

The families of the bereaved do not care what wording the UN uses against Sudan, as long as the killings stop. Mariam Ayacoub's four sons were shot by the Janjaweed as they slept inside the family's compound in August. Still mad with grief, she looks blank when asked about the UN. "I don't know who they are," she said, rocking back and forth. "My children are dead. I don't know anything else. Maybe God knows. I don't."

Rest of article: UN shies away from action to stop massacres in Darfur

The UN's action- or lack thereof- in this latest crisis is deplorable- disgusting. How much venomous speech have we heard condemning the "evil American imperialist invasion" of Iraq? And yet the same people insist on careful wording in any discussion of the Darfur crisis, lest we offend the noble Sudanese Arab regime I guess. Bush is evil incarnate; the Sudanese government is, at worst, a bit misguided and somewhat lax in their internal security and policing. We can certainly afford to wait a few months- what's another ten thousand? Sickening.

O Lord have mercy.