Daily Darfur: A Little Propaganda with your Wheaties this Morning?

Start your morning the right way with a dose of vehement propaganda: Check out this translation of an op-ed from a pro-government newspaper in Sudan. A preview:

"We are not surprised by the announcement [about the prosecution] or by the position of the 'temporary' [U.S.] president, [Barack] Obama. Until recently, the optimists loudly proclaimed their enthusiasm about him in the press. They promised their readers that he would be totally different from Bush, and that he would bring change. They forgot, [however,] that U.S. foreign policy is not dictated by the president, but by ground rules laid down by the institutions that nominate the [American] presidents. After all, the lobbies that brought Bush to power in the U.S. are the same ones that brought Obama to power.

If [Obama] tries to change American policy, he will be one [heartbeat] away from being shot by a sniper who will be positioned on the roof of a house beside his motorcade's route. That is why [we] say that Obama is much worse than his brother, Bush, and the next few days will reveal the truth of our position..."

I'm not quite sure if this self-professed expert on the American political system is threatening Obama himself, or saying that some other power will do it if he steps out of line...perhaps both? When speaking of "the lobbies," he is almost certainly harping on (ridiculous, racist, and absurd) prominent Sudanese anti-Semitic propaganda that accuses an "international Zionist conspiracy" of ruling the world. Scary stuff.

And by the way, Mister, threatening the assassination of a world leader hardly seems like a valid political argument.

It Wasn't Me

The Khartoum denies claims by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) that Sudanese forces attacked the rebels the day after signing a goodwill agreement, claiming instead that the JEM clashed with another rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement faction led by Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM). AFP previously reported that a government official confirmed the attacks against JEM troops.

As I reported yesterday, the JEM did clash with the rebel faction, but as far as I know, the SLM-MM hasn't yet acquired an air force. Reports of a bombing campaign came from many sources, including from Andrew Heavens from Reuters, who wrote:

"Other international sources in El Fasher [North Darfur] said there had been an unusually high number of Antonov aircraft taking off and landing early on Wednesday."

It would be hard to convince anyone that they planes were just out for a leisurely fly over the skies of Darfur.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Governor of South Darfur assured UNAMID access to 100,000 civilians caught in the crossfire of hostilities in the region...which is nice to hear, but I'm not sure it counts for much. Khartoum's Antonov bombers have a way of trumping a deputy governor's authority.

What about the Victims?

In an op-ed Asharq Alawsat, a "pan-Arab" daily newspaper, journalist Diana Mukkaled criticizes the Arab world for indifference and hypocrisy for "jumping on the bandwagon to defend al-Bashir" while ignoring the 300,000 victims of his brutal campaign in Darfur:

"Both the Arab governments, and the Arab public, were outraged at the news that the International Criminal Court was to bring formal charges of war crimes against the Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. The outrage that the Arabs expressed in this right was far louder than any anger they expressed at the death of more than 300,000 Sudanese, the displacement of more than two million refugees, and the rape of thousands of women in Darfur.

Shouldn't the notable Arab media's defense of Al-Bashir have been commensurate with the Arab media's defense of the victims of Darfur? In order to convince the public that we are victims of the West's monopoly on international opinion, we must first show them that we side with the victims of those who were killed.

In spite of the testimonies and documented evidence with regards to the systematic rape of women in Darfur, Al Bashir has found many defenders who do not even refrain from accusing the victims of lying."

It's Not All About Gun Fights and Bomb Raids

This is interesting:

"The African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) yesterday assisted the Ministry of Animal Resources by transporting 10 containers of live fish to a water pond in Um Dafog, South Darfur.

The fish are part of one of the livelihood projects supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other humanitarian organizations in an attempt to provide local communities with additional sources of income."

Just to give you idea of the many, many ways peacekeepers try to help the people they serve.

Other items of interest...

In anticipation of the ICC indictment against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, David Sullivan at ENOUGH provides us with "a brief resume of his long and illustrious criminal record."

At WelcomeObama.ca, a website dedicated to Obama's trip to Canada, Albert Gabri of Woodland Hills, CA asks Obama to end the genocide in Darfur and officially recognize the genocide against the Armenians.

The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations urges its members to "write a letter to President Obama asking him to uphold the commitment he made to Darfur during his presidential campaign."

Finally, George Clooney and Ann Curry in Darfur.

[Photo: Over 100,000 Sudanese protesters in Khartoum Wednesday, Aug 4, 2004 march to the office of the United Nations in Khartoum to protest a UN security council resolution that gives Sudan 30 days to stop the violence of Arab militia in Darfur province.]