I’m very heartened by Democrat legislators who are giving the South Africa treatment to the genocidal “government” of Sudan. Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus have allowed themselves to get arrested in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington DC. They are:
Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Bobby Rush (D-IL)
...with more to come, no doubt. Julian Bond, the chairman of the NAACP, will submit himself for arrest on July 25. (I never thought I would be saying something nice about him so soon after his words regarding Republicans.)
Though I excoriate black Democrats mercilessly here, when they do something worthwhile, it should be noted and applauded. These types of symbolic gestures paved the way to the end of apartheid in South Africa.
The only misgiving I have regarding this type of action isn’t toward the people taking it; it’s toward the people to which it is directed. The then South African government had a sense of shame and a desire to join the “community of nations,” with all that entailed, both opinion-wise and monetarily. Does the Sudanese government really care what the western world thinks of it or about any trade with the west? Or does cleansing Sudan of the infidels mean more to them? (Recall that many white South Africans regarded black South Africans as infidel as well.)
This action is a great first step, however, and the congressmen are correct in that the Bush Administration needs to do more. Said Rangel:
"The situation in Sudan has clearly reached the level of a genocide. U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Andrew Natsios has declared that at least 300,000 people will be dead by year's end in the best-case scenario, and over a million will perish if things continue on their present course. We must take immediate actions to condemn the government of Sudan for their complicity and save the lives of these innocent people."[SNIP]
"We acted too late to save million of Jews during World War II. We didn't act at all when hundreds of thousands of innocents were slaughtered in Rwanda. We have the opportunity now to stop a genocide and we must act."
