Darfur: A Modern-Day Holocaust

With An Estimated 400,000 Already Killed, Another 2.5 Million Have Been Forced Into Refugee Camps

(CBS)  All this week, people in Washington have been reminded of Darfur's victims of murder, rape and mutilation by chilling images projected onto the exterior of the capital's holocaust museum.

"Darfur is an outrage and nightmare taking place basically off camera and out of view of millions of people around the world," says Reverend Jacques DeGraff, a Baptist minister from New York.

DeGraff is a leading member of a group of American clergy who have pledged to turn around what he says is a lack of international action to stop the fighting and atrocities in Darfur.

"Genocide is the most immediate word; holocaust of present-day proportions and nightmare are the three words that come to mind. They come to mind because the world is aware of what is happening. The international community frankly has blood on its hands," says DeGraff.

The numbers from Darfur are staggering. Since 2003, an estimated 400,000 people have been killed. Another 2.5 million have been forced from their homes into refugee camps in neighboring countries like Chad, CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras reports.

Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, the chairman of the American Red Cross, has just returned from visiting refugee camps in Chad.

"You are just stunned by the size, the scope, the scale. You're stunned by the number of human lives," she says.

The American Red Cross has set up several camps but their efforts are a stop-gap measure. The real solution depends on United Nations peacekeepers to stop the brutal Sudan-backed Arab militia — called the Janjaweed — who have been responsible for the mass killings.

"The Sudanese government has been engaging in dialogue but they have been playing at diplomacy instead of engaging in diplomacy," says DeGraff.

This week, Jan Egeland, the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, also accused the Sudanese of obstructing peace and arming the Janjaweed death squads.

As what seems to be a Diplomatic dance continues, the Darfur crisis is poised to become even more tragic.

"(Refugees) continue to flow in. So, if you ask me do we have the necessary support for additional refugees I would say 'no' we do not. We have seen in many cases, the people that are the least, the last and the lost. I think it's important for America not to forget them," says McElveen-Hunter.

[kailumego1]

Radiob, you hit the nail on the head, this government and country are filled with contradictions and hypocrisies, Americans can consent to fight in an "illegal" war in Iraq, but stand-down to aiding those in Dafur, which, by the way, has be going on for some years now.

This is a holocaust, and it doesn't matter who's financing it, all civilized societies should be or should have been outraged, but, think about, the U.S. hasn't bothered to get involve, because it has nothing to gain.

Never mind, hundreds of thousands of people are being massacred, these people need some serious intervention.

[olebd]

OR how about the Arabs come to the rescue with some of their oil money???

[olebd]

Why don't some Muslim countries come together and help these people??? The U.S. is spread too thin already!!

[agnim]

The aa-rabs/muslims have been at their destructive behavior for quite some time.

Even so, the best thing to target is islam, along with its signs and symbols.
The islamic insanity is the main engine driving this arab destructiveness and muslim mania.

Level some mosques and burn some korans is the way to go, and disallowing their existence outside of the Arabian Peninsula.

[mshades]

It has been two weeks, time will answer you.

[bushrocks1]

Would I send my son to this war? You might ask would I send him to WW II? Or Vietnam? Maybe you would distinguish those conflicts and whether you would send your son to fight in them. But that question is misdirected in a very important way: I can't command my son to go to war. He has to make that choice. So the better question would be: would I volunteer to fight in Iraq, WW II, Vietnam? Would I volunteer to fight in any war? Respond if drafted? I don%u2019t know. I'm not equivocating, only addressing that it is a hypothetical. To a hypothetical, I can answer, sure I'd fight. But I have nightmares of battle (from my past life as a Jacobite). So how do I feel toward those who do volunteer? Impressed and maturely knowing that many things go into their decision. But I do strongly believe that a country that can't find those men is doomed. The fact that we can find them is one reason why I say there is no failure in Iraq. Objectively, I also believe it for other reasons. An attempt to establish democracy in the Middle East is a bold, brilliant, noble effort, facing a high chance of failure. That's why I greatly respect and admire those who have made the attempt--the Bush administration. They have been resolute, something I have not seen in my lifetime. They may not succeed, for reasons outside their control or fault: traitors on the home front, being a big one. But now those traitors have apparently occupied the high ground. Yet... we're still in Iraq. Why?... I'm waiting.

[cbgb31]

I understand, radiob, and agree with you that it is a tragedy of epic proportions. thanks again for info.

[radiob-2009]

cbgb31 This is a world tragedy,I am not a supporter of Bush.This is a crisis that calls for all civilzed countries to intervene.I only posted the information to give everyone an idea of what is behind the genocide that is occurring.

[sevenveils]

Send in the French

[cbgb31]

radiob, thank you for all the information you provided. AFter reading all the comments, it's crystal clear to me that President Bush is on the right track in declaring war against Islamic fascism. Who else could intervene but the "madman" of the US. Sometimes the world needs a leader whose main concern isn't keeping everyone happy. My call would be to President Bush to excercise his so called criminal, unconstitutional leadership and send the US military into Sudan to kill these bloody butchers.

[stiff02]

So accorging to this story the U.S. is leading the way by relief to Darfur, and everyone else is sitting on their duffs. So, why doesnt anyone put that into the media, why doesnt Cyndi Sheehan protest about that?

[radiob-2009]

Everyone forgot the story about bin laden praising the janjaweed.Here is a snippet of the invovlement.Intelligence Report links Janjaweed to al Qaeda
By Douglas Farah

A recent international intelligence document says there are credible reports that a cadre of about 15 al Qaeda operatives in Sudan are providing training to troops under the control of Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal.

This is striking given the recent mentions of the janjaweed in Osama bin Laden's most recent public pronouncements, where the Arabs fighters in Sudan are congratulated along with the Islamists in Somalia.

Sudanese officials, who have done nothing so far to halt the Darfur slaughter by the janjaweed, have seized on the report and others like it insist the government's hands are tied in controlling the murderous raiders because the janjaweed are tied to al Qaeda, not the government.

Such logic may be a useful way to try to deflect the accusations of government participation in the genocide there, when faced with strong evidence of al Qaeda support. But the government, which hosted bin Laden and continues to maintain contact with al Qaeda groups, cannot and should not be allowed to get away with such egregious support for mass murder.

The confidential report says the trainers are foreigners who have arrived in Sudan from Kenya, Mali, Libya, Somalia and southern Egypt, and possibly Yemen. There are indications the cadre came out of Afghanistan and Iraq to join the janjaweed for training and combat

[red1530]

The UN needs to intervene in the conflict with a robust mandate to end the genocide.

[redgrandboy]

Maybe the situation with the Rwandan leader accusing France of being behind the 1994 genocide has something to do with the lack of help. Any foreign involvement in Africa will only put that foreign power under intense scrutiny and they could potenially be blamed in the future for any failures. The inability of Africa to accept responsibly may be scaring other more powerful countries away from helping. In our PC world, whoever is easiest to blame logically would want to stay away. Imagine the one black man at an all white crime scene. Now reverse it, and you have the African dilemma.

[bob_burd]

It's not the least surprising to know that ARAB militias are behind the genocide. Which is probably why Euros and Germany in particular are conspicuously silent over this issue. They prefer to pick their battles carefully to further their own agendas - like bashing Americans.

Selah

[nearsandiego]

To think a corrupt government such as our own could call an end to the actions of an even more corrupt govenrment is absurd. Even more obscure is the clergy stating that the international community has so called "blood on their hands" when religious based groups and ideologies are responsible for most of the blood shed on the planet. Overpopulation is the root of all the conflict, given enough elbow room friction between people will not occur. Perhaps the clergy should be preaching "spay and neuter the hords and save the planet". Shame on everybody!

[brackattack]

im american..im glad we took action for our own after 911 but i could care less about africa. we need to worry about our own..and let them worry about their own..end of story

sorry, I meant to say African Arabs, and I really don't care if they kill each other off, let them have their fight we'll sit this one out

[fryedbread]

ncolsens:

It is not 'arabs fighting amongst themselves'

The genocide is being directed against blacks in Sudan.

[bushrocks1]

Would I send my son to this war? You might ask would I send him to WW II? Or Vietnam? Maybe you would distinguish those conflicts and whether you would send your son to fight in them. But that question is misdirected in a very important way: I can't command my son to go to war. He has to make that choice. So the better question would be: would I volunteer to fight in Iraq, WW II, Vietnam? Would I volunteer to fight in any war? Respond if drafted? I don%u2019t know. I'm not equivocating, only addressing that it is a hypothetical. To a hypothetical, I can answer, sure I'd fight. But I have nightmares of battle (from my past life as a Jacobite). So how do I feel toward those who do volunteer? Impressed and maturely knowing that many things go into their decision. But I do strongly believe that a country that can't find those men is doomed. The fact that we can find them is one reason why I say there is no failure in Iraq. Objectively, I also believe it for other reasons. An attempt to establish democracy in the Middle East is a bold, brilliant, noble effort, facing a high chance of failure. That's why I greatly respect and admire those who have made the attempt--the Bush administration. They have been resolute, something I have not seen in my lifetime. They may not succeed, for reasons outside their control or fault: traitors on the home front, being a big one. But now those traitors have apparently occupied the high ground. Yet... we're still in Iraq. Why?... I'm waiting.