Raping Africa: Sudan
The Sudan is beset with civil war which came serendipitously after the discovery of massive oil deposits. This is a scenario that plays out across the African continent, as we saw in both Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the case of Sudan, the Christian south sought independence from the Muslim north for religious reasons. A partial independence was granted in 1972, but after the discovery of oil in 1978, hostilities broke out.
It was not until many years later that the south of Sudan gained independence. An uneasy peace followed mostly for economic reasons. The oil was in the south, but the refineries were in the north. The unrest was also exacerbated by tribal animosities. This is going on in the south until today. In the late 1990's oil was discovered in Darfur, the westernmost part of Sudan. Predictably, religious and ethnic violence followed. Darfur wanted independence and self-determination, basically the same concessions given the south. It was on the heels of this that ethnic cleansing began.
The UN was, of course, silent. Fear of offending Muslims fueled inaction. American oil giant Chevron fled Darfur only to be replaced by a Chinese oil company. Every time a vote to intercede in the violence came up in the UN Security Council, it was immediately voted down by the Chinese.
Islamic soldiers have been targeting the citizens of Darfur causing many of those not slaughtered to flee into neighboring Chad where over 300,000 Sudanese live in constant fear. The refugees aren't even safe there as the border in many places is just an imaginary line through the desert. The SPLA (Sudanese People's Liberation Army), a misnomer, typically crosses on raiding parties, striking terror into the people seeking refuge in Chad. The government of Chad is unable to provide proper protection and the UN is unwilling. Recently, peace negotiations at the UN supposedly provided protection, but the Sudanese government has insisted that only African soldiers be allowed to participate. Most of these are the same Rwandan soldiers that have been terrorizing the inhabitants of the Congo. There is no freedom in Darfur or Sudan for that matter. My new friend on Steemit, @araki laments his inability to go home. He says that the government forbids free speech and that he had to leave because he dared to speak out against the cruelty.
In the oil rich south, a civil war rages that is supposed to be about corruption. The vice president, Riek Machar has accused the president Salva Kiir of embezzling and has begun hostilities that have continued for several years. Under the guise of "democratizing" the south, Machar's army (dubbed the "White Army") is wiping out entire villages as they march northward toward the oil-rich northern part of the province. This amounts to just more ethnic cleansing. In this video, Vice President Machar is interviewed along with his wife. What's going on is blatantly transparent. There are no plans for democracy, only murder. The White Army is just a band of disorganized thugs, some 30,000 strong. They loot, murder and burn.
Once again, the UN has proven themselves to be an incompetent, corrupt organization. As long as there is a dollar to be made from raping Africa of her natural resources we can expect silence.
Thanks for covering countries in Africa! I knew vagueries about Darfur and the like, but this is yet another example of how the UN tends to make more problems than it fixes.
Good well structured blog my friend, you covered most important points
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.mersadnews.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/%D9%83%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86.jpg)
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.noonpost.org/sites/default/files/qm_ltzhrt.jpg)
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.sudanjem.com/_upload/2016/01/Sudanese-faces.jpg)
If you allow me i want to add my opinion in short.
Sudan still a hot zone waiting to explode if Gov continue to ignore
1 - Corruption in the center, Ruling party members above the law, they can do literally anything, actually there almost no decent law in Sudan.
2 - Darfor ethnic conflict (both side are Muslims but Gangawed are Islamic radical group)
3 - unfair development which focused only in North Arab Islamic part
4 - Freedom of speech, anyone at anytime can be arrested by spicial government force without any charges, happen to me and they can arrest any one dare to spake.
5 - Poor infrastructure, Health and Education budget lees than 3% while secure budget (special force, army, police ,,, etc) more than 60%.
6 - In spite of diversity in religions, culture and ethnicity, ruling party insist to follow his Radical IslamoArabic approach and that in my opinion is the root of all evil in Sudan.
Thanks again @richq11, your blog was a relive for me
Upvoted, resteemed and already following you
Thank you!!! I wanted to talk about Gangawed so I could make the point about both sides in Darfur being Muslim but I couldn't find out how to spell it anywhere and I didn't want to look like an idiot so thanks again. I'm going to resteem your comment so my followers can get your perspective.
State aggressors, instigated by the U.N. to make a population easier to control, and extract resources out from under them? No way, never happened, except, every single time.
I think U.N. incompetence is the best case scenario here. It looks like deliberate failure, so as to enable the theft of resources to me. I take anything that Vice or Frontline tells me with a grain of salt the size of the moon.
Did you notice how this conflict is being used by the U.N. to undermine the concept of sovereignty? Problem, reaction, solution.
Absolutely! I made the point in my last article on Congo that dictators are easier to control than democracies. UN= institutionalized corruption & incompetence on a global level!
It has been said that, if it was only incompetence then sometimes a mistake would be made, that would be in the favor of the people. From this point of view, it looks to me, like a game of king of the hill being played by crabs in a bucket.
You got that right...Like the old saying goes: Follow the money!