Genocide can be a very powerful word in politics. When it is used, it immediately grabs peoples attention. The word brings death and destruction to mind and, for people who grew up in the nineties, it brings up tragedies such as Rwanda and Bosnia. The most recent conflict to be labelled “genocide” is going on in the African country of Sudan. In 2003, rebels from the Darfur region of Sudan accused the Arab dominated Sudanese government of neglecting their region. The Fur and Zaghawa tribes of Darfur began to fight for their right to the oil profits that the rest of the country was getting. After being funded by China with weapons and helicopters, the Sudanese Government began bombing the Darfur rebels and supported the Janjaweed tribe by giving them weapons to use for raiding the villages. The Arab Janjaweed tribe was fueled by their hatred for the black and non-Arab Fur’s and Zaghawa and began committing mass murders of innocent men, women, and children. It has been estimated that 200,000 to 400,000 have been slaughtered in Darfur and it would be irrational not to label it a genocide. After Rwanda and Bosnia, the world said “never again”. Well then why is it that politicians are refusing to recognize the issue and take action?
The main issue in Canada is political will. Politicians don’t want the pressure of being involved in two wars. The government has given Canadians the idea that we don’t have enough soldiers to perform a meaningful mission in Darfur. This is simply untrue. The Defense Minister of Canada Gordon O’Connor has said, "The Canadian Forces currently have the capacity to maintain two land task forces for potential deployment to two different theatres of operation." While one of these contingents is being used in Afghanistan, the other is currently not in use at all. Apparently it is being saved for something more important than stopping a genocide.
Although none will admit it. The main issue preventing elite countries from intervening in Sudan...