Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation

7. The Middle East Spills Over: The Sudan and the Crisis in Darfur

93 THE฀MIDDLE฀EAST฀SPILLS฀OVER The฀Middle฀East฀Spills฀Over 7 The฀Sudan฀and฀the฀Crisis฀in฀Darfur The฀Middle฀East฀is฀not฀merely฀a฀geographical฀designation฀ but฀a฀cauldron฀of฀ideological฀and฀material฀conflicts.฀Its฀ borders฀are฀arbitrary.฀Neither฀religious฀intolerance฀nor฀ancient฀ tribal฀and฀ethnic฀hatreds฀respect฀them.฀Conflicts฀of฀this฀sort฀ have฀been฀rife฀in฀the฀Sudan.฀It฀is฀a฀huge฀country฀roughly฀the฀ size฀of฀western฀Europe,฀the฀largest฀in฀Africa,฀and฀it฀borders฀ nine฀other฀states.฀The฀Islamic-Arab฀world฀intersects฀with฀Africa฀ in฀the฀Sudan.฀Its฀oil-฀and฀resource-rich฀provinces฀in฀the฀south,฀ most฀of฀whose฀citizens฀embrace฀Christianity฀or฀animism,1 ฀ have฀for฀decades฀been฀resisting฀the฀authoritarian฀government฀ of฀the฀north,฀with฀its฀strong฀Muslim฀mass฀base.฀Overlapping฀ with฀these฀traditional฀religious฀tensions฀are฀roving฀groups฀of฀ armed฀bandits,฀blood฀feuds,฀tribal฀hatreds,฀conflicts฀between฀ cattle฀herders฀and฀farmers,฀and฀an฀ongoing฀competition฀over฀ shrinking฀natural฀resources,฀livestock,฀and฀water.฀Such฀is฀the฀ landscape฀for฀the฀civil฀conflict฀that฀has฀been฀taking฀place฀off฀ and฀on฀since฀the฀early฀1950s,฀which฀has฀decimated฀the฀Sudan฀ as฀surely฀as฀the฀Hundred฀Years฀War฀once฀destroyed฀Europe. Darfur,฀which฀constitutes฀the฀western฀part฀of฀the฀Sudan,฀is฀ administratively฀divided฀into฀three฀parts฀running฀from฀north฀ to฀south.฀Darfur฀is฀nearly฀the฀size฀of฀France฀and฀is฀marked฀by฀ 153฀squalid฀camps฀for฀millions฀of฀internally฀displaced฀persons฀ (IDPs).฀These฀refugees฀fled฀their฀villages฀to฀escape฀the฀Sudanese ฀military฀and฀the฀armed฀bandits฀on฀horseback฀known฀as฀ 94 PEACE฀OUT฀OF฀REACH the฀Janjaweed.฀Such฀roving฀marauders฀were฀organized฀by฀the฀ government฀of฀President฀Omar฀Hassan฀Al-Bashir฀in฀Khartoum฀ to฀quell฀the฀ongoing฀rebellion฀in฀the฀region.฀Hunger,฀thirst,฀ disease,฀filth,฀the฀threat฀of฀rape฀and฀other฀violence,฀and฀a฀ stultifying฀idleness฀abound฀in฀these฀IDP฀camps,฀with฀their฀sea฀ of฀thatched฀huts,฀flimsy฀tents,฀and฀mud฀streets.฀The฀refugees฀ wish฀only฀to฀return฀to฀their฀villages.฀But฀repatriating฀them,฀ rebuilding฀their฀homes,฀and฀compensating฀the฀victims฀for฀what฀ they฀have฀undergone฀is฀an฀expensive฀undertaking.฀Issues฀of฀this฀ sort,฀coupled฀with฀the฀government’s฀unwillingness฀to฀disarm฀ the฀Janjaweed,฀are฀at฀the฀root฀of฀the฀controversy฀concerning฀ implementation฀of฀the฀Comprehensive฀Peace฀Agreement฀of฀ January฀2006฀and฀the฀Darfur฀Peace฀Agreement฀of฀May฀2006,฀ brokered฀by฀the฀African฀Union.2 ฀ A฀new฀bombing฀campaign฀by฀the฀Khartoum฀government฀ against฀Darfur฀in฀August฀and฀September฀2006฀drove฀tens฀of฀ thousands฀more฀villagers฀into฀the฀camps,฀and฀the฀ten฀thousand฀ troops฀amassed฀by฀the฀Al-Bashir฀regime฀might฀drive฀the฀IDPs฀ over฀the฀border฀or฀disband฀the฀camps฀entirely,฀leading฀to฀death฀ on฀a฀massive฀scale.฀About฀seven฀thousand฀troops฀from฀the฀ African฀Union฀were฀stationed฀in฀Darfur฀to฀protect฀the฀camps,฀ but฀they฀have฀been฀harshly฀criticized฀for฀their฀incompetence฀ and฀inexperience.฀Even฀before฀September฀30,฀2006,฀when฀the฀ mandate฀of฀the฀African฀Union฀troops฀was฀set฀to฀expire,฀the฀ requisite฀funds฀for฀maintaining฀them฀had฀almost฀run฀out.฀On฀ August฀31,฀the฀UN฀Security฀Council฀passed฀a฀resolution฀calling฀ for฀“rehatting”฀some฀of฀them,฀adding฀a฀few฀thousand฀civilian฀ police,฀and฀mixing฀them฀with฀roughly฀seventeen฀thousand฀UN฀ troops.฀This฀force฀would฀be฀used฀to฀protect฀the฀refugees฀from฀ the฀Janjaweed฀and฀the฀Sudanese฀military฀in฀the฀future.฀Nevertheless ,฀President฀Al-Bashir฀was฀adamant฀in฀his฀refusal฀to฀either฀ extend฀the฀mandate฀of฀the฀troops฀from฀the฀African฀Union฀or฀ allow฀the฀United฀Nations฀to฀intervene฀in฀Sudanese฀affairs. 95 THE฀MIDDLE฀EAST฀SPILLS฀OVER Many฀refugees฀living฀in฀the฀IDP฀camps฀would฀undoubtedly ฀welcome฀UN฀intervention.฀This฀is฀also฀true฀of฀certain฀ rebel฀groups฀such฀as฀the฀Justice฀and฀Equality฀Movement฀led฀ by฀Khalil฀Ibrahim฀and฀the฀Sudanese฀Liberation฀Movement฀ army฀faction฀led฀by฀Abdelwahid฀Mohamed฀al-Nur,฀which฀have฀ refused฀to฀sign฀the฀Darfur฀Peace฀Agreement,฀thereby฀initiating฀ conflicts฀with฀other฀oppositional฀groups฀that฀have฀signed฀and฀ heightening฀instability฀in฀the฀region.3 ฀Some฀have฀even฀insisted฀ that฀it฀would฀be฀best฀for฀all฀concerned฀if฀the฀southern฀region฀ of฀the฀Sudan฀and฀Darfur฀were฀to฀secede.฀Given฀the฀wealth฀of฀ oil฀and฀other฀resources฀in฀the฀south฀and฀its฀natural฀concern฀ with฀national฀sovereignty,฀however,฀the฀Khartoum฀government฀ will฀do฀everything฀possible฀to฀prevent฀that฀from฀happening.฀ In฀Khartoum฀no฀less฀than฀in฀Iran,฀Libya,฀and฀elsewhere,฀antiWestern ฀radicals฀have฀argued฀that฀the฀United฀Nations฀is฀nothing฀ more฀than฀a฀front...