"Blood Metals"
The video above offers some insight into the situation currently taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or the DRC. For those of you who have very little knowledge of just how serious this conflict is, please watch it, and then think of it together with the story below. The article says the demand for this so-called “coltan” has tapered off (not too many people are buying a Playstation 2 these days) but it also reminds us that Africa is full of plenty of other resources genocidal militias and despotic regimes would love to get their hands on and sell to unsuspecting prospective buyers in the west.
The ongoing violence in Eastern Congo could very well threaten another regional war if a catalyst would set the stage for one. Who’s to say the latest must-have piece of technology won’t be it?
Did Rare Metallic Ore Fuel African “PlayStation War”?
Remember the 2006 movie Blood Diamond? Academy Award nominated flick starring Leo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly about conflict diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to diamond manufacturers to profit warlords and fund brutal wars involving shocking human rights violations? According to a report by progressive media site Toward Freedom, subtract diamonds and insert Sony’s international sales-record-trouncing PlayStation 2.
Blame it on a dull black substance called coltan, also known as columbite-tantalite, also occasionally dubbed “black gold.” Coltan has been a source material in the manufacture of cell phones, DVD players, computers, and you guessed it: game consoles. Earlier this month, Toward Freedom claimed the metallic ore had exacerbated a decade-old conflict in the Congo, controversially rebranding it “The PlayStation War.”
The allegations include charges that hundreds of millions of dollars worth of coltan was stolen from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during its bloody 1998-2003 conflict, mostly by Rwandan military and militias supported by the Rwandan government, but also by several western-based mining companies, metal brokers, and metal processors that allegedly partnered with the Rwandan factions.
Darfur update…
Are there any doubts remaining about whether or not the regime of Omar Al-Bashir, the Sudanese President, is actually looking for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Darfur?
From AP:
The peacekeeping force in Darfur said Tuesday it was still trying to evacuate those wounded in airstrikes two days earlier that an aid group reported left 12 people dead, including six children.
The U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Ameerah Haq, called for immediate access to the wounded.
“I am deeply perturbed by the reported bombings of a school, water installations and a market where civilians, especially women and children are present,” she said in a statement.
Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, commander of the joint African Union-UN peacekeeping mission, said the bombings were “unacceptable acts against civilians” and said recent Darfur violence reflected a “total lack of commitment” by the government and the rebel groups to the peace process.
U.S.-based Darfur Diaries said six children, ages 4 to 11, were killed in an airstrike Sunday on a school it funds in the village of Shegeg Karo in North Darfur. Six more people were killed when the village’s market area was bombed.
Residents reported that a Sudanese government aircraft hovered over the area for some time before repeatedly bombing it, the aid group said.
At the same time, Bashir’s government is facing an unprecedented threat from ethnic African rebels, who just recently mounted an assault on the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Unfortunately, this will only give the Sudanese government another opportunity to continue its scorched earth policy in Darfur.
From Reuters:
Sudanese forces hunted for suspected Darfur rebels in Khartoum on Monday after an unprecedented rebel attack at the weekend and detained Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi before releasing him.
Bursts of gunfire kept Khartoum on edge. It was the first time fighting had reached the capital in decades of conflict between the traditionally Arab-dominated central government and rebels from far-flung regions in the oil-producing country.
Darfur rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim told Reuters he would keep up attacks until President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s government fell. About 65 people were believed to have been killed in the attack that began on Saturday.
As we head into an election year and news of the economy and rising oil prices take center stage, the Darfur Genocide may very well be disappearing from view. For those of us who still care, we must do everything to make sure the voices of Darfur’s victims do not go unheard…because this is far from over. Peace in Darfur will never be possible if the Sudanese government is not revealed for the murderous force that it is.
The West’s double-standard
At this time, the citizens of Myanmar are coping with the aftermath of a devastating cyclone. The death toll from the disaster is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, with many more missing and homeless. Aid Agencies are lining up to send in aid workers to provide much-needed relief, and even U.S. military vessels have been deployed off the coast of the Southeast Asian nation.
Unfortunately, this is not the only time the people of Myanmar have been suffering. Last year, the brutal military regime, known as the “Junta” orchestrated a campaign of ruthless murder against pro-democracy demonstrators.
For some reason, it seems that tragedies caused by mother nature take priority over those being caused by our fellow human beings. I suppose it is easier for people to rally together in the face of a storm or some other natural disaster, but much harder when the human suffering is being caused by a repressive military dictatorship.
Myanmar is not the only example. Is it necessary to invoke the Rwandan Genocide? The response to that spasm of destruction was merely a small presence of UN troops and an occasional voice of concern coming from the Clinton White House. For over three months, no one had the courage to do anything, and over a million people were left to die. Then there’s Darfur, where some 400,000 people have been killed by the regime of Omar Al-Bashir. If correct, that estimate would be almost twice as many casualties as the 2004 tsunami that devastated coastal towns on the Indian Ocean. But because of our failure to even fully assess the situation, we may never know the exact number of victims claimed by the Khartoum Government. I probably shouldn’t even mention violence-racked Eastern Congo, a nightmare that has claimed more lives than any of the above tragedies (both human and natural) combined. And then there are the occasions where human-caused death and destruction and natural disasters go hand and hand, like the Tamil Tigers’ recruitment of child tsunami victims to fight as soldiers in the wake of the disaster.
To be clear, the outpouring of concern for the victims of Cyclone Nargis is a VERY good thing, and we can only pray that the regime in Yangon will accept every bit of aid and relief being offered. But it is a shame the international community can not take the same course of action in the face of threats that do not come from mother nature, but instead from a government that has betrayed its responsibility of protecting its citizens. Sadly, this storm is only salt in the wound for the people of Myanmar.
Empty promises
Almost four years ago, both President Bush and his opponent, Senator John Kerry, stood in front of a crowd declaring that the atrocities being committed in Sudan’s western Darfur province were indeed genocide. The international community decided that action needed to be taken. The phrase “never again” was invoked on numerous occasions. Advocacy groups took root, and promises were made that the people of Darfur would not be abandoned.
Then why, may I ask, is this happening:
From AllAfrica.com:
Five years after fighting first erupted in Darfur between Sudanese Government forces and rebel groups, the world has still not found a durable solution to the suffering of millions of people in the region, the United Nations humanitarian chief told the Security Council today, warning the situation will only deteriorate unless urgent measures are taken.
John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told a Council meeting that he was saddened and angry to inform them that the situation inside Darfur had only worsened in the past 12 months, despite the efforts of the international community.
“We continue to see the goalposts receding, to the point where peace in Darfur seems further away today than ever,” he said in a statement. “Further progress in the deployment of UNAMID [the hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force], equipped to protect civilians and improve security, will help.
“But only an end to all violence and concrete steps towards a political settlement will make the fundamental difference needed, as the rebel movements themselves above all need to recognize. Otherwise the reality is that the people of Darfur face a continued steady deterioration of their conditions of life and their chances of lasting recovery.”
Maybe its time for an end to the empty promises and false pledges of action. How many hopes of peace have been fluttered about only to be smashed beneath the boots of Sudanese government soldiers and Janajaweed militiamen as they burn villages and bury the corpses of innocent villagers in sandy mass graves.
Is an example of “false hope needed”?
From CNN in 2004:
The Sudanese government and rebels in the country’s Darfur region have signed security and humanitarian agreements in Nigeria after two weeks of talks, the press officer for Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo has said.
More than 1.5 million people have been forced from their homes because of fighting in Darfur, creating what the United Nations has termed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The government abandoned its objection to a no-fly zone in the area to make the security agreement happen.
The agreement moves the government closer to disarming the brutal Janjaweed militias, and it calls on both sides to allow monitors to observe the cease-fire.
But this is not the most recent example. Let us never forget the infamous “Darfur Peace Accord” of 2006. At this stage, there are really only two options left. First off, we can do what needs to be done and take a stand against the regime of Omar Al-Bashir and his hired thugs, or we can be honest with the people of Darfur and declare that, judging by our actions, that we do not care about them and are only worried about the problems happening inside of our borders. Why make meaningless and empty promises of action if we have no intention of following through with it?
It is a moral tragedy that after five years, nothing has been done and no one is putting forth any serious solutions to solve this conflict. Has the world completely lost its nerve? Even in the parts of the world that have had severe repercussions for the west, such as Afghanistan, western countries have become more reluctant than ever to confront those who pose a threat to peace and stability.
During these last five years, this tragedy has been brought up during campaigns and political events. It has been the focus of rallies calling for action…it has been featured on the nightly news, and it has been the subject of many debates. But let’s remember one thing: at the end of the day, this is still happening…and no matter how many pledges of action and support we make to those who are suffering, it will not go away if it is followed by inaction and becomes an empty promise.
14 years ago…
I found the video above on Youtube, and I thought it put things into perspective pretty well.
14 years ago, in April of 1994, the tragedy that would become the Rwandan Genocide was underway. In the end, it would become the most efficient killing spree in human history, with some 1,070,000 people killed by the ruthless Hutu militiamen roaming across the countryside. The UN ran away and the international community did nothing. It gave the world yet another opportunity to mumble the phrase “Never Again” after the killings were over. Basically, we said we would do better next time.
But Rwanda was that “next time”. Before Rwanda, there was Cambodia, where Pol Pot’s reign of terror wiped out a portion of the country’s population. And of course, after Rwanda, there was Eastern Congo, which would basically become a sequel to what had happened in Rwanda several years earlier, this time leaving even more bodies in its wake. Today, the people of Darfur find themselves at the mercy of a genocidal madman barking orders to a band of thugs and militiamen from his palace in Khartoum. Somalia is being overrun by fanatical Islamic insurgents who are driving tens of thousands of people from their homes each month and killing anyone who gets in their way, and Iraq is under siege by Iranian-backed militiamen and the murderous force that is Al-Qaeda.
Most of these conflicts we choose to ignore..Darfur, Somalia, and Congo are the best examples. Then in the case of Iraq, we have people who march through the streets waving signs and calling on the US to simply pack up and go home, even though a sudden withdrawal would lead to chaos that would threaten the lives of millions and could very well find a way to follow us back home. I’m not trying to make this a right-wing conservative post, but if we learned anything from 9/11, Al-Qaeda, and Afghanistan, it proved to us that events happening on the other side of the world in some desolate, forgotten region can affect our homeland in ways we never thought possible. It’s not only the antiwar (so-called) movement and the American far-left that embrace the “get out now” approach, but the isolationist right as well–the Pat Buchannans and Ron Pauls of the conservative movement who believe that simply building a wall around the country and only focusing on what’s happening inside our borders will somehow prevent conflict.
One of my fellow bloggers just recently wrote a great post about the poor decision made by the United States to simply pull back and give up in Vietnam, and I must say, he summed it up pretty good. The sad thing is, its not the only time we made that mistake. Had we finished the Gulf War in 1991 by helping the Kurds and the Shiites like we said we would, there’s a very real chance that we never would have had to go back into Iraq in 2003. Instead, we decided it would not be worth it, and we pulled back as Saddam Hussein unleashed his fury on Southern Iraq and the Kurdish north. Two years later, after the infamous “Blackhawk Down” incident in the Somali Capital, Mogadishu, we packed up and went home. We did so to prevent the further loss of American life, but ironically, we gave the extremists and the insurgents of that country a training grounds to coordinate future attacks…and a chance to direct their attacks against the civilian population on a daily basis, although the odds are you are not hearing about this on the Nightly News. In the end, Somalia will not be on the minds of most voters who will be heading to the polls this November.
An old phrase comes to mind: If you do not learn from history, you are destined to repeat it. Well, we’ve been down that road several times now, and still we have not learned from history. As the world marks the anniversary of one of the greatest human tragedies in history, maybe its time we do so.
Harry Reid’s words of wisdom
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid had this to say about the situation in Iraq earlier today…
“Americans need to start taking care of Americans.”
If only Harry Reid could have been the spokesman for Bill Clinton during the Rwandan Genocide, when we sat back and did nothing as the bodies of almost one million innocent people piled up in the countryside and cries for help echoed throughout the hills of central Africa. Come to think of it, Bush 41 could have used him in 1991 when he abandoned the Shiites in southern Iraq, after we “defeated” Saddam.
I know I’ve said this before, but isolationism and non-intervention are failed policies and always will be.
Africa burning…
Over the weekend, rebels based along the border between Sudan’s violence-racked Darfur province and the central African nation of Chad pushed across the desert into the Chadian capitol, engaging in fierce battles with government forces. At one point, the rebels managed to seize control of most of the capitol city of N’Djamena and surround the presidential palace where President Idress Deby found himself holed up. A counter-attack by helicopter gunships and tanks appears to have driven the rebels into the outskirts of the capitol, at least for the time being.
A lull in fighting on Tuesday has allowed for a mass refugee crises to develop in neigboring Cameroon, where some 20,000 people have crossed the river border to flee the violence. An exact death toll in the fighting has yet to be reported, seeing as many aid workers have been evacuated. However, those who remain in the city are reporting that the streets are littered with dead bodies.
This is from the BBC:
One refugee, who preferred not to give his name, escaped the fighting in Chad and fled south to Nigeria.
“I am now in Kano but have no money left and don’t have my documents,” he told the BBC.
“I don’t know what to do. I telephoned my friend in N’Djamena and he told me that my mother, my father and my fiancee had all been shot. I don’t know whether to cry or kill myself.”
The horrific and heart-wrenching quote above shows just how serious the situation has become. Chad is accusing the regime of Omar Al-Bashir in Sudan of supporting the rebels. Bashir, a military dictator who is among the most repressive leaders in the world, is also suspected of arming and supporting Arab militias in Darfur that continue to committ atrocities and genocide against the black African population.
Interestingly enough, a peacekeeping force from the European Union was set to arive in Chad with a mandate to protect Darfur refugees when the rebels began advancing on N’Djamena. Perhaps the Sudanese regime is trying disrupt the progress of a solution to the Darfur conflict. Back in 2006, a “peace accord” was agreed upon by the government only to be violated repeatedly.
United World analysis:
As the Presidential Election nears, we are sure to be hearing about important issues that will be politicized and used to score points with voters. Just look at all this talk about an “economic recession” and the continuing obsession with all things negative in Iraq. Interestingly enough, oil prices have fallen since the fighting began raging in Chad, supposedly over economic worries. Seeing as the central African nation is a major oil producer, the “speculators” should be a lot more concerned about rebel militiamen seizing control of an oil-producing nation than the “recession” so many in the media are hoping for. Not to make this a pro-Bush post, but there’s little doubt that a recession is taking priority over Africa’s woes because it can be used as another example of a failure by the Bush Administration. The horrific events happening in Chad today can only be blamed on the rebels carrying out the the assault and the international community that will more than likely stand by and do nothing to stop it.
Kenya fighting rages on
Violence in Kenya has taken a turn for the worse with Tuesday’s assassination of an opposition lawmaker who had been working to end the crises. Ethnic militias armed with machetes continue to terrorize the slums of the capital Nairobi and towns across the country’s west while the death toll in the fighting has topped more than 850.
Lord Mark Malloch Brown, who visited Kenya from the UK, issued a serious warning about the crises:
“We are greatly concerned at what we see as a step change in the violence from something bloody and ugly but perhaps spontaneous to something much more organised and sinister,”
He continued on to say:
“What is so alarming about the last few days is that there are evidently hidden hands organising this now. Militias are appearing, street gangs are being organised.”
I hope I’m wrong when I say this, but this kind of violence seems all to familiar. In 1994, sporadic violence between Rwanda’s Hutu and Tutsis ethnicities quickly spiraled out of control and became the infamous Rwandan Genocide, where over one million people were slaughtered across the country. Since then (and even before) this type of violence has reciprocated again and again in Africa, whether it be Rwanda, Darfur, Eastern Congo, South Sudan, or Somalia. Kenya’s current situation may very well find its place up there if the conflict is not peacefully resolved and the machete-wielding militias are not disarmed.
Tensions grow next door:
While not really related, violence is also being reported in neighboring Somalia with the continuing street battles between Ethiopian/Somali coalition forces and Islamic insurgents armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Yesterday, two foreign aid workers and a Somali journalist were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb outside of Mogadishu. Kenya, which was once one of East Africa’s most prosperous democracies, had the potential to serve as a role model to the struggling UN-backed government in Somalia. Kenyan forces have also wielded positive influence in the capture of Islamic militants along the border.
What can we do?
One of two things needs to happen in order to stop this from becoming the latest “Never Again” pledge. Either the people of Kenya must agree to put aside their differences and solve their problems through dialogue as opposed to the blade of a machete, or the UN and the international community must step in and do something before the militias become too powerful and the bodies of innocent men, women, and children begin piling up in the countryside. Leaders here in the U.S. need to play a constructive role as well. Senator Barack Obama, who is of Kenyan descent, has been actively involved in pushing for dialogue and an end to the killing. If everyone in Congress did so, it would certainly send a strong message. Today’s violence in Kenya is a perfect example of how we can all put aside our political differences to work together and impact the world in a positive way.
…or we can continue doing what we’re doing and have another “never again” pledge that we failed to live up to and add it to the pages of history.
(Photo courtesy of AP)
Congo tragedy takes its toll…
A new report has been released suggesting that over 5.4 million people have died in Eastern Congo since the conflict began in 1998 (previous estimates suggested 4 millio had died). The report also says that over 45,000 are dying every month…45,000! That comes out to around 1,200 a day. Assuming this is correct, the jungles of sub-saharan Africa are the setting of the bloodiest conflict since WWII, when the Nazis killed over 9 million Jews and other Europeans in the Holocaust.
…and all we can do is sit back and do nothing, just as we’ve done with Darfur and just as we did with Rwanda. This tragedy, however, outstrips both of those conflicts combined. Even if you include the most extreme estimates in the Iraq War as well, the numbers don’t even come close, although it should be noted that Congo’s slide into despair is partly due to the ongoing ripples of the Rwandan Genocide almost 14 years ago, when the militias that had left nearly a million bodies in their wake were driven into the Congo to continue their killing spree.
In addition to genocide and war, many groups roaming the lawless region are also seeking to exploit Congo’s vast minerals and natural resources. Children continue to die from easily preventable diseases, and untold thousands are perishing every month because of hunger.
But what does it matter to us? It’s only Africa after all…
A Genocide Forgotten
Africa has been on my mind a lot lately. It’s such a tragedy that so much of what’s happening over there goes unreported in the mainstream media. For example, not very many people know about Ituri, Katanga, or North Kivu, three provinces in Eastern Congo that have been plagued by continuing bloodshed for years. The Congo War started shortly after the Rwandan Genocide ended, when RPF rebels drove the Interahamwe militia into Congo’s vast jungles. Unfortunately, the militiamen did not stop their killing spree, it simply continued in a new location. After Rwanda finished counting its dead and the world remained in shock over the horror of the most efficient mass killing in human history, the Hutu miltia who took so many lives continued to wreck havoc on the innocent in Congo. Eventually, Rwanda and a half-dozen other African nations would be drawn into the battle, and hundreds of thousands would die. Millions more, many of them children, would sucumb to disease and staration. Other militias would form, including Tutsis rebels led by a General named Laurent Nkunda. Hoping to get even with the Hutus, the Tutsis militias would committ atrocities almost as bad as their rivals. Natural resources also came into play, and greed and corruption dragged Africa into even more mayhem. By 2002, some 4 million people had died in the Congo War and its sub-conflicts, some of which are happening today. A small contingent of 17,000 peacekeepers has had some luck in tamping down the remaining Interahamwe militia, but Nkunda’s Tutsis rebels continue their siege of Eastern Congo, killing and raping countless innocent people. This year, tens of thousands have been driven from their homes as the rebels battle it out with government and UN forces, vying for control of lawless region. It’s hard to know exactly what type of conflict this is. Obviosuly, its a genocide, but its almost like a mix of Somalia, Iraq, Darfur, and Rwanda. As of today, the death toll in the Congo War surpasses all of the previous conclicts mentioned above combined. If this isn’t the definition of tragedy, then what would be? If you care about Africa like I do, then take action. Even something as small as donating a soccer ball to children can go a long way. Then there’s always volunteer opportunities, something I’m considering doing in the near future. A good group is Volunteer Africa, where volunteers are sent to build school houses in Tanzania. I plan on writing a letter to Nancy Pelosi (I live right near her district) so I can ask her why she cares so much about condemning the Armenian Genocide that happened 90 years ago, but has never once urged action to intervene in war-torn and genocide ravaged parts of Africa.
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