May 11, 2006
All Mouth, No Stomach
Sudan is a killing field. No question about it, whatever you decide to call it. Well, now some people have discovered it - like George Clooney. No problem with that, and welcome. I have no doubt Mr. Clooney et al are sincere. But I do have a few questions.
First off, what's the difference between Sudan/Darfur now and Iraq pre-2003? Other than more dead Iraqi's and the prospect of neverending death and destruction? So if you didn't like the intervention in Iraq, why are you urging it in Sudan? Just because you personally visited one region and not the other? Why not go talk to survivors of Hussein's reign of terror then? What will happen when the only way to stop the slaughter now is to give up on the UN and act unilaterally, or at best with the same circle of trusted allies (like the British)? Will you be out cheering President Bush then? What will happen when US forces kill Africans in Africa? What will happen when the US takes casualties in Sudan? Will you stand firm for what you urged, or will you question why we are intervening in someone else's civil war? Will you stand firm, or will you question why the US, stained by slavery, is killing innocent black people in Africa? Will you stand firm, or will you start in with American boys are paying with life and limb for Sudanese Oil?
What I'm asking is, when the going gets rough as most surely it will -- the only way to stop the killing will be to intervene militarily, and we will take casualties, and we will kill innocents and bad guys alike because that is the very nature of a civil war -- will you stay the course, remember how and why we got involved, and rally support in difficult circumstances, or will you cut and run? Because I've got to tell you, the track record of you and your mates on this aren't good. You breath fire when the talk is about putting pressure on somebody else, but when some real pressure is put on you, you cut and run. In the past, you've been all mouth, no stomach. Are we going to see another sequel, or will it be something orginal for a change?
