A Moment of Silence for Sudan

Sunday was "Global Day for Darfur," if you didn't know. In a couple weeks all African Union troops will pull out of Sudan and no UN "blue helmets" will take their place. Sudan's government has refused to let the UN troops into its borders, regardless of circumstance. The people will be unprotected and aid may not last for long under insecure conditions. 250,000 people have died between 2001 and today and the militias show no sign of weakening or stopping.

Remember Rwanda. 800,000 dead. The world stood by and did nothing... I was 15. What did I know? I think about what I did on a typical day, a 15 year old kid with my superficial wants. I knew about the Holocaust. I knew what "genocide" meant. I didn't know how many there have been in this century, or that one was occurring at that moment. I've read what happened in 1994 when I was blissfully ignorant. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about it happening again... and again... This a critical time for Sudan and it may be the last chance for action. Call your elected official. Write an editorial to a newspaper. Inform friends and family. Say a prayer.

A blind eye to genocide
"A few years ago an American politician commented that if his phone had rung off the hook with his concerned voters asking him to do something about Rwanda he would have been forced to act."

Will anyone step in, help Sudan?
"After the Holocaust, the world said "never again." Never again will we stand by and watch while millions are slaughtered. After the Cambodian genocide of the 1970s, the world said "never again." After the Rwandan genocide of 1994, the world said "never again." After the mass killings in Srebenica (in Bosnia) in 1995, the world said "never again." Probably in 2008 the world will say "never again" after the slow-motion genocide in Sudan is finally brought to its terrible completion."

Activists around the world focus on Darfur

Open to attack

The cost of Sudan

Genocide Watch

I cannot recommend enough: "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" by Samantha Power. It is not light reading, but it is eye-opening.