COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Don't Tell Me This Isn't a Religious War


Don't tell me this isn't a religious war. It is a religious war and so far it has been waged by one religion on all other people; religious and secular. But eyes are opening.

SaveDarfur.org has been running an expensive television advertising blitz demanding that President Bush stop the genocide. Wondering who SaveDarfur.org is, I paid a visit to their website. The list of members contains many Jewish and Christian organizations; predominately leftist but primarily religious. Even though it is politically incorrect to dare mention it, is it possible that these organizations are beginning to recognize the early stages of the latest incarnation of an ancient and ongoing religious war? If so, that is encouraging news but unfortunately, unlike the previous "flareups," this time the "enemy" is "within the gates" and we don't yet know what to do about it. The SaveDarfur Coalition has decided that something must be done to stop the madness in Africa.

The Save Darfur Coalition's website has a memo which the reader can email to others:

Everyday, the 2.5 million people chased from their homes in Darfur face the threat of starvation, disease, and rape, while the few lucky enough to remain in their homes risk displacement, torture, and murder. Therefore, I call on you to do the following:

1. Push for the immediate deployment of the already-authorized UN peacekeeping force.

2. Strengthen the understaffed African Union force already in Darfur until the UN force can be deployed.

3. Establish a no-fly zone.

4. Increase humanitarian aid and ensure access for delivery.
In regard to the television appeal to President Bush, the Coalition says this:

The recent television ads sponsored by the Save Darfur Coalition asking President Bush to take the lead in pushing for the deployment of a UN force in Darfur are not meant in any way to “bash” the President, but rather to urge him to follow through on the good work he and his Administration have already begun. We are both cognizant and appreciative of the fact that the President has done more for the people of Darfur than any other world leader. In fact, it is because of his leadership thus far that we direct our pleas to President Bush now. The hard truth is that the United Nations does not have a standing army it can choose to deploy, it must instead rely on its member states to do the hard work necessary to actually deploy a peacekeeping force once that force has been authorized. As the strongest of member states, we believe that the United States, under the President’s leadership, must lead the international effort to raise and deploy that UN peacekeeping force. While we are not calling for U.S. troops in Darfur, we are calling for the strong U.S.leadership necessary to ensure that a capable UN force is raised and sent to Darfur as soon as possible.

It is also worth noting that while these ads running in the U.S. call for stronger leadership from President Bush, similar ads being run internationally call upon various international leaders to provide strong leadership as well. Advocacy directed at President Bush is not the sum total of our advocacy efforts, but is in fact only the directed portion of a larger international advocacy campaign directed at the top echelon of world leaders.
Good Luck to them. They are trying to influence and mobilize world opinion to intervene in Darfur but their first order of business will be convincing the head-in-the-sand left that this is a worthy goal. In the run up to the invasion of Saddam's Iraq, the bumper stickers read, "No Blood for Oil." I suspect that they might just as well have read, "No Blood for Anything."

The Save Darfur Coalition is taking action to end the genocide but do its members foresee the consequences of a successful campaign? The Islamic world will see the intervention as a "crusade" meant not simply to end the genocide but to eliminate Islam. Do the Save Darfur people understand what they are really asking for and how much "blood" it will cost?

4 comments:

  1. If it were you, or your best friend in the camps that you could save only by stopping the genocide?

    Bless you for your concern for Darfur. Join us and we-the-citizens will stop the Genocide. No one else can. No one else will.
    Several of us have decided to begin a RESCUE DARFUR FAST.
    http://darfurdyingforheroes.blogspot.com/2007/09/join-rescue-darfur-fast-till-it-stops.html
    One of us began 5 days ago, and several others today. Links below for the details.
    Nothing less than a worldwide fast-until-the-genocide-stops will be enough to stop it.
    Nothing less will be a sufficient moral response.
    Nothing less will preserve our humanity, yours and mine.
    Please consider linking (below) to increase the visibility of this effort.
    Jay McGinley jymcginley@cs.com
    Day 134 Darfur Vigil at White House; Day 68 Rescue Darfur Fast (since July 4, 2006)
    DARFUR Dying for Heroes
    http://darfurdyingforheroes.blogspot.com
    (you would find this a helpful resource)
    Please consider linking here to increase the visibility of this effort.

    http://darfurdyingforheroes.blogspot.com/2007/09/join-rescue-darfur-fast-till-it-stops.html
    http://darfurdyingforheroes.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete