ME and Ophelia

SOS FOR SUDAN
Bloggers spreading the word on this may help push nations

Below is a copy of a comment I have just posted at six blogs, in response to Jim's SOS for Sudan. I will keep trying Boris at bopuc blog in Canada - his site is down at the moment.

Thanks to Ado in Japan (who is Dutch - the Dutch are airlifting AU troops into Sudan - yay for the Dutch!) for a great line that I've taken from his latest post on genocide in Sudan - it neatly sums the present situation in a nutshell:

"Forces from across the world are poised to help the people of Darfur, but no nation has the will to move forward." Spreading the word on this may help push nations.

Here is a copy of my comment:

A warm hello to Jim and friends. Below is a copy of a comment I have left at six blogs (I'm still trying Boris in Canada at http://bopuc.levendis.com/bopuc/ but his blog won't open). 2 in Australia, 1 in Canada, 1 in Japan, 1 in America (and here at this blog makes 2). Hope it makes sense. Sorry it's a bit scrappy but it's best I can do right now.

Hello Ado (in Japan) hope you are well. I am sending a copy of below comment to six blogs. I've chosen yours as the fifth because it's in Japan and I know you are kind (and the Dutch are doing a lot to help with Sudan crisis). Here's the comment I have left at 2 Australian blogs, 1 Canadian (I'm trying to access Boris but his blog won't open up) and 1 American:

Jonathan (in Wisconsin USA) sorry in a hurry. Hope the following copy and paste of a comment I've left at 2 blogs in Australia and 1 in Canada make sense. Hope readers can help:

Hello Crazy Canuck (in Canada) here's hoping some Canadian readers read this comment. I'm in England and am copying and pasting a copy below the comment I have left at two blogs in Australia. Hope readers here could help pass on the word to show support to their political reps. Sorry for this cobbling together of messages - I'm in a hurry. Time is of the essence. Hope bloggers can help. This comment feels like putting an S.O.S. in a bottle and throwing it out into the sea of cyberspace. Who knows if anyone will read it? And when?

Hello Robert (in Australia) thanks for your message. Interesting comments from your readers here. Forgive me for this rushed comment. Things are changing quickly in Sudan and to save time, I have copied and pasted below a copy of a comment I've just left at John Rowbottom's blog in Australia. Maybe I'll do the same over at a couple of Canadian blogs. And hope anyone reading this - if they know a blogger in Canada, NZ and Oz could spread the word on asking people to show support to their political reps on sending troops to help the hundreds and thousands of Sudanese who are facing death. The death toll appears to be 80,000 according to a US official (UN is still saying 50,000 - but that's in the past 18 months - the figure is 2m under the present regime).

Here's hoping you will get a chance to read the report I've pointed to - and that Australians will show support to their politicians - after Iraq the politicians need all the support they can get when it comes to decisions on sending troops without a UN resolution:-

Thanks John (in Australia) I've just this minute published three new posts - I'd appreciate you casting your eye over the important report I've pointed to - it will give you a good insight into what has been happening in Sudan over the past 15 years and why another 30 - or 60 or 90 days won't make a jot of difference. British troops are on standby at the moment. Tories are calling for them to be deployed within a matter of days. Khartoum has ordered its officials to stop helping with the aid operation and is saying it could send 12,000 of its police to Darfur "if necessary". Khartoum incorporated Arab militias into its police force. It is like getting the foxes to guard the chickens.

My feelings are that troops will go in asap - the crucial aid operation has been ground to a halt - 70,000 are in isolated areas of Darfur and have received no aid yet. The air lift is the biggest (if not bigger) than the Berlin air drop during WWII - the French are helping - one report says the Australians are helping too. The key is the African Union (53 African nations) - they can get troops into Sudan without a UN resolution - mandate etc - and Sudan will accept African help. EU funds the AU and has a huge fund set aside to pay for African peacekeeping missions. An AU-led mission - EU funded - that has been organised by the EU and UN and AU (its taken weeks) will be landing in Sudan any day now. The mission consists of 270 armed troops from S Africa who are to be there with permission from Khartoum (it took days of arm twisting) to protect the 120 UN observers on the ground monitoring the May ceasefire agreement for South Sudan (a separate conflict - Darfur is a second conflict). The hope is that the AU will expand the numbers asap. Here's hoping the British and others go in to provide back up to this mission - perhaps staying over the border in Chad or Libyia. I can't believe I've just bashed this comment out. I need to rest. But its a critical time right now. It'd be great if Australians could signal their support to politicians on sending troops to Sudan.
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PS Yay for the 200 French troops on the Chad/Darfur border helping to airlift urgent food into Darfur!

[Note: this post is not aimed at any of my regular readers as they have done plenty to help already]