Darfur's Rebels Divorced from Reality

by Michelle . · 2009-11-16 04:48:00 UTC
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Darfur's various rebel factions seem to be operating in more of a "chaos and havoc" mode than anything strategically oriented towards achieving their insurgent objectives. That is, of course, if you can even rightly call some of the faction "rebels," as they often appear more like common bandits with a steady arms flow, using a hollow ideology to somehow justify their existence.

Either way, their latest tactics reveal more self-interest than concern for the people in Darfur they claim to represent.

Serially-delayed multi-party peace talks due to resume in Doha, Qatar today were once again postponed, after the two largest rebel factions refused to participate. The branch of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) led by leader-in-self-imposed-exile Abdel Wahid has been busy threatening elections officials in South Darfur and attacking UNAMID peacekeepers, while the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Khalil Ibrahim protested that the peace talks should first begin with him.

Ibrahim's arrogance conveniently ignores the fact that direct negotiations with JEM failed earlier this year.

While international mediators, including US Special Envoy Scott Gration, have made recent progress in uniting Darfur's smaller rebel factions, will  peace talks materialize without the participation of Wahid and Ibrahim?

Even more, though, is there anything that will convince the two rebel leaders to set aside their egos and reconnect with the needs of their so-called constituents? With steady flows of arms and a highly-profitably banditry economy, have the rebels lost sight of what they began fighting for?

The prolonged insurgency has Darfur in a holding pattern: The rebels continue their futile attacks -- because, get real, they're never going to win militarily -- and the government of Sudan continues its disproportionate counterinsurgency that targets civilians just as much as it targets rebels, and keeps Darfur in a state of volatile insecurity. Rebel tactics thus give the appearance of a desire to maintain their status quo rather than fight for meaningful political change for the people of Darfur.

[Photo of Darfuri IDPs from Wikimedia Commons.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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