Ominous Signs Point To New And Deadly Phase In Darfur Fighting

New York Times:

The janjaweed are back.

They came to this dusty town in the Darfur region of Sudan on horses and camels on market day. Almost everybody was in the bustling square. At the first clatter of automatic gunfire, everyone ran.

The militiamen laid waste to the town -- burning huts, pillaging shops, carrying off any loot they could find and shooting anyone who stood in their way, residents said. Asha Abdullah Abakar, wizened and twice widowed, described how she hid in a hut, praying it would not be set on fire.

"I have never been so afraid," she said.

The attacks by the janjaweed, the fearsome Arab militias that came three weeks ago, accompanied by government bombers and followed by the Sudanese Army, were a return to the tactics that terrorized Darfur in the early, bloodiest stages of the conflict.

Such brutal, three-pronged attacks of this scale -- involving close coordination of air power, army troops and Arab militias in areas where rebel troops have been -- have rarely been seen in the past few years, when the violence became more episodic and fractured. But they resemble the kinds of campaigns that first captured the world's attention and prompted the Bush administration to call the violence in Darfur genocide.

Aid workers, diplomats and analysts say the return of such attacks is an ominous sign that the fighting in Darfur, which has grown more complex and confusing as it has stretched on for five years, is entering a new and deadly phase -- one in which the government is planning a scorched-earth campaign against the rebel groups fighting here as efforts to find a negotiated peace founder.

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Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[ohiomark]

Nobody seems to mention that the genocide that is occurring is at the hands of radical Islamists.

Liberal don't seem to want to acknowlege that Radical Islamists are the cockroaches of the earth.

[ceasenake]

Quick, send in the UN Peacekeepers!

Oh, they're already there? That explains a lot.

[JohnKemp]

I'm 56 and shudder to think how many "Darfurs' there have been in my lifetime alone.

I call Africa "the liberals' favorite playground" because the death, destruction & eternal despair can be traced directly to the failed "policies" of liberalism.

Ronald Reagan had a favorite story that he frequently repeated: "What's the worst thing that can happen to an American? It's to hear a knock at his front door and when opening the door to be met by a man who states, 'I'm from the government, & I'm here to help."

I would make Reagan's case internationally as well: If I were a dirt-poor "Africaner,' starving & diseased like my current family & all ancestors, when someone mentioned "foreign aid" to me, I'd spit on him.

The only thing that "foreign aid" has done on this continent is to entrench sickness, disease, & 30-year life expectancies into the fabric of life while supporting & solidifying the few dictators & their elite friends into positions of unassailable power.

If all Americans and all American "foreign aid" (sic) were banned from the entire continent, it would be the greatest thing to ever happen for the continent's inhabitants.

[bogtrotters]

Excellent points--but one more: Foreign aid enriches American corporations (see Ron Paul, June 5, 2006).

[davidly]

It's a myth that these are liberal policies. It is the interventionist policy, both left and right, which have led to these kinds of conditions. The modern day so-called neoconservatism and neo-liberalism is just more of the same that we've gotten from imperial nations since history only knows when: democratically elected leader toppling and weapons and drug dealing and raw material and people raping, the list is endless, and your Reagan, of all people, was not immune to its influence. Nor was Clinton. Nor were the English, or the French, or the Italians or Spanish and Portuguese, as were the all of the empires before them. "Liberals" indeed.

It's all too easy to point to one politically named spectrum and say, "They did it!" And that's the success of those who profit most from this, the American people most ignorantly, though Europeans share in this more wittingly perhaps. Of course the big profiteers appreciate your support.

[Dendroica]

Here's a great story for you: If it wasn't for the government helping people out, about 20 million Americans couldn't live in the Colorado river valley. Without the 9 dams, the water, the electricity, and the flood control, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and southern California would be as deserted as they were 75 years ago.

But then again, most of America would be dirt poor because if it wasn't for the highway system, goods and services wouldn't be able to travel from one part of the country to another. Take away the massive government-build and paid for infrastructure, and we'd be in shit shape.

[JohnKemp]

Had the "ennironmentalists" (a misnomer if ever there was one) had been around then, none of the things that you mentioned would have occurred.

Our country hasn't built a single gasoline refinery in 40 years; we now import 30% of our REFINED petroleum products.

By the way, I just returned from buying two pounds of hamburger meat at the grocery for our Sunday night cook-out; $7.99.

Not long ago, I could buy the same package for $4.99. (And even worse for me, I read in today's paper that hops are in short supply.)

How's the newest lib boondoggle working out? You know, the ethanol scam?

Skyrocketing food staple products wordwide while giant American farm systems make immense profits thanks to high tariffs; all to produce ethanol when a plentiful supply of oil exists within our own boundaries.

Lib "programs" (sic) ALWAYS produce the ass-opposite of their stated intention; never seen one fail yet.

Nothing worse for the poor & downtrodden than American liberalism.

[watchingthings]

These Sudaneese are systematically exterminated by those roving Arab Malitias. I wonder how Arabs would take it if gangs of displaced Sudanese came to Arab lands and did exactly what these Arabs are doing?

[AmericanNation]

The profound lack of humanity and compassion expressed by the many postings to articles dealing with the death of any nationality other than American is clear and compelling evidence that the judgement of the world community may have merit in regards to a minority of the US finding value only in the lives within their national boundaries. The three major religions born out of Jerusalem, Buddism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Humanism, Agnostacism, and even Atheism have guiding moral principals that bind them together on the path of life - regardless of the corrupting interpretation of human beings with the filter of political, military, or monetary self-interest. Over the past week, I have seen this site allow the terms that all Human Rights groups call hate speech used in not serious political or social discourse but simply to attack other groups: Paki, nigger, sand nigger, and the list just gets worse from there, obviously the site monitors are not adherents to the Southern Poverty Law Centre or B'Nai Brith code of conduct. If anyone was to make a derrogatory or humourous posting about the destruction of the trade towers or deaths on 9-11 there would be a massive outcry,rightfully so, then why is it appropriate to diminish the value of life for others in other nations, races, ethicities, cultures, and religions? It is time for America to return to the roots of morality, ethics, and commitment to progress on a global scale - by that I do not mean according to any religious doctrine - on the contrary - I mean that we must be what the founders of our nation foresaw the greatest and truest democracy on the face of the planet.

[davidly]

Yes, it's sad, this narrow, mostly nationalistic point of view that laments all of the problems that "others" cause, all the while ignorant as to just how it is that they have themselves are able to live so high on the global hog, as it were.

[kevenseven]

FISA UPDATE!

The House leadership is considering a very risky tactic of splitting the Senate bill into small parts and passing them piecemeal.

Please read: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/1/175613/1399/825/467005

Then call Pelosi, Hoyer, Conyers and your own congressman and raise holy hell. Tell them that only the RESTORE act is acceptable.

From the article: “Under pressure to end an impasse over espionage legislation, House Democrats are considering a plan to vote on a bill next week that would give the government broad new eavesdropping authorities but strip out a provision that would protect phone companies from lawsuits.”

Please act!

[init]

Get these greedy old self-centered politicians out. NOW. The Clintons had their days. No country has time for restoring a legacy! Does the average american get a true second chance? There is no second chance; judgement is all there is, especially for higher office. Let me put it this way: my father born 1927 (bi-racial) worked for the Chrysler Corporation, with a degree in music. He paid my brother and my way through college. 1970-80's. We both have degrees. He was able to do this because of Unions. Then comes NAFTA. My father has passed away; but my mother is still with us. Working for Chrysler at that time enabled him to payoff his beautiful home ; build us our swimming pool, educate his children and live a realitively good life. That was then and this is now. The republicans and their triangulation democrats do not want working class people to ever reach this springboard. NAFTA for your future. (low wages.)

[davidly]

Hey gang! Get on over to the blog about SNL so we can all bitch at each other about the senator you don't support. These stories about wars in other countries are old. Get involved in the electoral process!

[HuffyPussy]

Gee, when I first glanced at this aerial picture of Darfur, i expected the headline to sayt "LOOK AT WHAT HILLARY CLINTON'S DONE NOW"! Just so we're clear, she didn't do it right? Are you sure you can't still pin it on her before March 5th?