A Start For Darfur

For the first time since violence began in Darfur, Western Sudan, four years ago the UN is being allowed to send in a peacekeeping force. For months on end, negotiations have been ongoing between the UN and the Sudanese government, which is accused of being responsible for supporting the janjaweed militia attacking innocent villages in the region. So far, over 200,000 civilians have been killed, with an additional 2.5 million displaced in refugee camps in neighboring Chad, Libya, and the Central African Republic. So far, the only force that has been deployed to stop the violence was an African Union force of 7,000 troops, 2,000 of which are from Nigeria.

This is finally a bit of good news from what is currently one of the most dangerous places on the planet. The violence started four years ago, and it baffles me that it took this long for the international community to finally send in peacekeeping forces. The 7,000 African Union force already there has not been as effective as was hoped because of their force is to small and underequiped for the task. I also think it's sick that the Sudanese government has resisted letting these peacekeeping forces into their country because Sudanese presient, Omar al-Bashir, thinks they are nothing more than a neocolonial force. It's true that Westerners have a terrible history concerning Africa and its people, but I don't think it's fair to accuse the UN of only wanting to help because we're in it for their own interests. The United Nations was set up specifically to protect all people's in all nations, and the Sudanese government has been doing nothing but allowing the killings to continue by delaying the arrival of a force to help the innocent.