It is crazy but it is true. The West is throwing fuel on the fire of Darfur. Through several “humanitarian” lobby organizations and through clandestine military operations from neigbouring countries. But the aim is the same: the destabilization of the present Islamic government of Omar El Beshir in Sudan. Why? Maybe because of the Sudanese oil which is getting more precious as time passes. Or maybe to curb the expansion of China in Africa. Maybe there are more reasons I do not know of…

So, thank you Ana Majnun (“I am crazy” in Arabic). I am crazy too.

I haven’t read Mamdani’s book so I hope I’m not attacking strawmen, but I think one can take the argument that advocacy groups have made things worse, and that the west is partly at fault for the crisis in Sudan a little too far.

First, about 100,000 people were probably killed between 2003 and 2005 according to the only peer-reviewed study I could find. Considering Darfur has a population of about 6 million so that is a pretty significant account. From everything I have read, the vast majority of deaths during the initial “genocidal” period of the war were “African.” Serious war crimes were committed by the Sudanese government, and while the history is much more complicated than meets the eyes, the facts I mentioned (and which are stressed by advocacy groups) remain true. Although the JEM and SLA have committed human rights abuses, they have mostly been in later stages, as the war has transformed into the type of conflict waged in South Sudan.

Second, while advocacy groups may have lengthened the conflict, I think the opposite is far more likely. I don’t think nearly as much aid would have gone to Darfur if people in the west did not care about Darfur. Indeed, the Nuba Mountains Jihad (the closest analogy I can think of) didn’t get nearly the same amount of press or aid. The Nuba Mountains Jihad ended only because the SPLM was able to put up so much resistance that attempting social transformation on a genocidal scale was no longer worth it. Similarly, the government in Sudan as the rebels gained in power, partly because of the help of foreigners (Chad more than the west), and the government was unable to follow its old strategies and discovered they didn’t work nearly as well as expected. Strengthening the insurgency may have shortened the worst phase of the fighting rather than lengthened it.

Dear Abdalla Khalil

I do not see the visits of El-Bashir to Darfur and the reception he received as representing any evidence of the innocence of the man. We all know the capacity of our African regimes in staging such events for public relations and propaganda purposes. I am quite sure the security forces and ruling party did a great job the night before the events mobilizing participants through intimidation and other familiar means.

I agree that one great negative contribution of the not-well-informed activism, was that it presented not quite an accurate information about what is happening in Darfur, and that made it quite easy for the government to utilize it in discrediting these advocacy claims and the advocates.

Other reasons behind the easiness of the government to find allies from within the disturbed region of Darfur are related to our common Sudanese saying ” Me and my cousin against the foreigner, but then, me an my brother against my cousin”. The regime is quite ingenious as well in touching on nationalism issues such as state sovereignty and national security breaches by the West, to portray himself as a national hero, and touching on the religious and ideological emotions of the people by claiming that the West is targeting Islam by targeting him as a president of an Islamic state. He also used a well received propaganda of neo-colonialism in which he blended facts with fiction, but was widely and strongly received by many, turning the “man” into a national and Islamic hero and defender. To a great extent, thanks are to be given to this activism.

In a way or another, the momentum of the R2P, is slowed down by the changes in the US administration. Has the Bush Admin, continued for another while, I would strongly believe that the discussions and advocacy of the use of power and military intervention would have taken a different volume and shape.

Again, from a practical stance, I miss the point of the effectiveness of the, sometimes-purely-academic – semi- personal – intellectual – muscle – showing- type, emphasis on the book, in bringing any positive change to the situation in Darfur. My strong conviction is that we should be focusing on the current humanitarian questions in Darfur as well as the practical steps for peace. Don’t ask me how to bring that peace. Nonetheless, a consensus on the book is impossible and it would definitely not going to bring us one more step towards our perceived goals of humanitarian support and sustainable peace.

Dear Ahmed Hassan

I do not think what happend in the Darfur states during the recent visits of president El-Bashir from the enthusiastic reception to the robust show of support was due to intimidation and the other familiar means pursued by African regimes as you pointed out in your comment. For things to be as you have mentioned, the ruling party and the security forces have had to implement an orginized campaign of intimidation to force the people there to do what they have done. Reading your comment I have imagined the security forces were going from home to home threatening and warning people from the consequences of not recieving El-Bashir. But I have never heard from any source that such a kind of terror or intimidation was conducted by the forces loyal to the regime. Beside that, it is not possible to imagine that the people of Darfur can be inimidated to do something against thier will and anyone suggests the opposite should revise his opinions about and understanding of Darfur and its people. Furthermore, if you mean by other familiar means that the people were paid to show up, I wonder how an immense budget the regime should have to allocate in order to maintain that huge and historical participation and by simple calculations this defies the resources of whoever richer than Sudan.