This week's installment of International Pariah Weekly
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, jealous that Kim Jong Il has been getting more than his share of the coverage in International Pariah Weekly these days, is back in the news singing the same old refrain about the Holocaust and death to Israel and yada yada yada. Frankly Mahmoud, this is getting boring; either get new material, build a nuke, sell oil in Euros or shut the fuck up. I tip my hat to your persistance and ingenuity in declaring it necessary for one of the world's leading sources of natural gas to develop peaceful nuclear power, but you can't be on the cover every week without new schtick. You have to face reality dude, every dog has his day. I mean, have you seen Jerry Seinfeld recently?
It is interesting that in this world of troubles and conflict we choose to obsess over one international pariah at a time. I think that might be the reason that Darfour and Rwanda aren't getting the attention that they deserve and require from the international community; the line-up for pariah-du-jour has been filled up for sometime with the likes of Osama bin HidingInPakistan, Saddam Hussein, and the current one-two punch of Ahmadinejad and Jong Il.
[psst]
Huh?
[murmer murmer murmer]
Wait a minute, the little voice in my head that I don't listen too very often is saying something. He thinks that maybe Rwanda and Darfour would get more attention if they were not so dark.
Ooh, that voice is silly, isn't he? I mean, lighting can't be the problem, can it?
It is interesting that in this world of troubles and conflict we choose to obsess over one international pariah at a time. I think that might be the reason that Darfour and Rwanda aren't getting the attention that they deserve and require from the international community; the line-up for pariah-du-jour has been filled up for sometime with the likes of Osama bin HidingInPakistan, Saddam Hussein, and the current one-two punch of Ahmadinejad and Jong Il.
[psst]
Huh?
[murmer murmer murmer]
Wait a minute, the little voice in my head that I don't listen too very often is saying something. He thinks that maybe Rwanda and Darfour would get more attention if they were not so dark.
Ooh, that voice is silly, isn't he? I mean, lighting can't be the problem, can it?
The last time I checked, the Government of Darfur was still refusing to let Western Peacekeepers in, so we're pretty limited to providing material and financial support to the African League peacekeepers already on the ground. Unless you're advocating overiding the sovereign government - in which case I fail to see how an armed invasion of Iraq was immoral, yet it seems to be perfectly moral in this case.
Posted by
Dan |
Sun Oct 22, 09:28:00 PM
They won't let Western peacekeepers in, but they will (and have) let in those from other African nations. Besides, if the UN had the will there is all sorts of other pressures that could be applied to Sudan that might have a chance of working. Whether they would work or not is a different matter, but the fact is we're not trying.
Posted by
kevvyd |
Mon Oct 23, 08:50:00 AM
Yes, they'll let peacekeepers from other African nations in - and if you looked closer at my post, you would have seen that I had acknowledged that and that we were providing support to those peacekeepers, just off the top of my head, I know we're providing LAV's for instance.
As for other pressures, what are you suggesting - sanctions? Funny, I can recall you in 2001 bitching about the sanctions that had been placed on Iraq - you're being slightly inconsistent here. Besides, considering the one to implement the sanctions would be Kofi Annan, whose son was taking kickbacks from Iraq during the oil-for-food program, I have little faith that anything the UN can do would be anything more than window dressing.
Posted by
Dan |
Mon Oct 23, 01:52:00 PM
Actually, if you're still maintaining that Canada isn't doing anything in Darfur - you might want to let this guy know - I'm sure he'd love to find out he's an illusion.
Posted by
Dan |
Mon Oct 23, 04:13:00 PM
Loved reading this thhank you
Posted by
Adrian |
Tue Mar 22, 03:25:00 PM