[Peace-discuss] Darfur rebels enter Khartoum, confusing propagandists

[Ricky Baldwin]

This is an interesting develoment, in my opinion, but the spin on this
one is crude and even a little confusing I think for the intended
uninformed propaganda-targets.  Note how the author or editor seems
obliged to insert "mostly non-Arab" or some such ethnic (politically
symbolic) tag here and there, as if desperate that the reader should
understand this in a ceryain way, which they can't quite figure out. 

Weren't we supposed to believe there were only two groups operating in
Sudan: the evil Arabized Muslim government forces (allied with
al-Qaida, down to their baby formula factories) and the righteous,
defenseless black farmers being "ethnically cleansed" by the former? 
The decades-long war between the (largely Christian) South and the
(mostly Muslim) North was supposed to be long over and bear no relation
to the "genocide" in Darfur, wasn't it?  Of course it's more complex -
and always is - but it seems to be getting too complex for the
spindoctors these days.

Reminds me how useful Sudan has become, as for example in one of those
pro-gun roadside signs I used to see on I-74 west: “In Darfur Sudan it
all started with a gun ban.”  In fact, just the opposite is true.  The
horrific killing and destruction in Darfur actually began when all
sides in a deadly geopolitical conflict, partly fueled by the US
(imperialist)and Libyan (Arab nationalist) governments, began pouring
guns into the region.  

The international players not only established military bases and
trained local militias, sponsoring attacks back and forth across the
border with Chad (which has a similar north-south / Muslim-Christian
conflict, except that in Chad the Christians were in power and the
Muslims were the rebels [another oversimplification, of course] hm, not
much fuss over that one ...) and into southern Sudan.  

But in seeking local allies they also exploited old resentments between
the (black)cattle herders and (black) farmers, between those who took
this or that sectarian path - the Muslim Brothers, followers of
al-Mahdi, those who resisted the British, the Egyptians, or didn't,
etc., encouraged one community to attack another, and generally
encouraged people to settle their differences with violence.  The
result has naturally been disastrous.

When the North-South talks supposedly ended the bloody Sudanese "civil
war", Khartoum was at great pains to demonstrate to the "international
community" how peaceful and happy their country had become, as much as
some disgruntled Southern rebels were eager to keep making trouble for
Khartoum.  Maybe it was as inevitable as anything ever is: a sort of
'Darfur exceptionalism' has separated the region from the rest of "the
land of the blacks" (Sudan) for centuries.  And lately the Darfur
farmers' favored brand of Islam has not been the dominant one.  (Now
there's a long story!)  Disgruntled, neglected, at odds with Khartoum,
and the epicenter (read victim) of major geopolitical conflicts, Darfur
was ripe for a new rebel movement ... 

Without too much more detail, it's clear that powerful people with
high-sounding ideas have destroyed the communities, the livelihoods and
the lives of many thousands of people in Darfur, as well as other
places.  They are certainly not above using racism to do so, whether
it's Arabism or anti-Arabism.  It's easy taken in by such people and
their capacity to exploit other people’s suffering - and our own humane
compassion for them.

But, as a great man once said, it's best to always read the paper as
enemy propaganda.

My 2c,
Ricky

Sudan says rebel attack on Khartoum defeated 
By Opheera McDoom 5-10-08 

Darfur rebels fought with Sudanese government troops in a western
suburb of the capital on Saturday and said their aim was to take power
in Khartoum, but the government said their attack had been defeated.

Heavy gunfire and artillery was heard in Omdurman, across the River
Nile from the heart of Khartoum, capital of Africa's biggest country.
Helicopters and armored vehicles headed for the fighting and an
overnight curfew was declared.

"The main aim of this failed terrorist sabotage attack was to provoke
media coverage and let people imagine that they had the ability to
enter Khartoum," Mandour al-Mahdi, the political secretary from the
dominant ruling National Congress Party told state television.

"Thank God this attempt has been completely defeated. Some high level
JEM commanders were killed," he said, referring to the Darfur Justice
and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels.

It is the first time that fighting has reached the capital in decades
of conflict between the traditionally Arab-dominated central government
in Khartoum and rebels from peripheral regions that complain of
neglect.
The rebels said earlier they had taken control of Omdurman and were now
trying to oust President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

"We are now trying to control Khartoum. God willing we will take power,
it's just a matter of time," senior JEM commander Abdel Aziz el-Nur
Ashr told Reuters by telephone.

"We have support from inside Khartoum even from within the armed
forces."

Sudan's economy, driven by increasing oil production, has grown rapidly
since a peace deal between north and south ended civil war in 2005, but
that agreement did not cover the conflict that erupted in Darfur five
years ago.

International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died and 2.5
million made homeless in five years of fighting in Darfur after mostly
non-Arab rebels took up arms accusing central government of neglect.
The United States describes the conflict in Darfur as genocide, but
Khartoum rejects that term and says only around 10,000 people have been
killed. (Editing by Matthew Tostevin)




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