The lies of Khartoum

By Michael J.W. Stickings

What a surprise.

It seems that the Sudan wasn't serious about agreeing in principle to a joint international (U.N./A.U.) peacekeeping force for Darfur. As I wrote at The Carpetbagger Report a couple of weeks ago, there was "some promising news coming out of Khartoum," but, of course, I was highly skeptical. And now the BBC is reporting this:

Sudan's president has rejected plans for a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

Speaking from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, Omar al-Bashir said he would only accept African troops under African Union leadership...

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said this month that Sudan had in principle backed a hybrid peacekeeping force.

But Sudan said it needed further discussions on many of the key issues.

Sure. Further discussion. Which means further genocide. The way to keep up the killing is to keep talking, to keep the U.N. on the brink of a breakthrough that will never come. Why does anyone even listen to Khartoum anymore? Why does anyone take Bashir seriously? Even if the Sudan eventually agrees to some sort of peacekeeping force for Darfur, that force wouldn't be able to do nearly enough to stop the genocide. And that's because Bashir will never agree to a force with teeth. At most, it would be there for show, as cover for the genocide that will continue regardless.

And, meanwhile, Bashir lies about Darfur:

He also denied reports that more than 200,000 people have died in Darfur, putting the death toll at under 9,000.

Bashir believes the Darfur crisis is the invention of the Western media, designed to deflect attention from military problems in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Truly disgusting. Truly despicable.

A force with teeth, a force that can fight back, needs to be sent to Darfur. But "peacekeeping" isn't enough. Bashir and his atrocious regime need to be destroyed.