The Hyperion Chronicles

The Hyperion Chronicles
”Maybe I just don’t understand African Politics”

#316 Round 4

My name is Hyperion, and I’m running for President. From time to time, I’ve been writing about what I would do on certain issues.

In my first foray, I wrote about cleaning up our political system; holding politicians accountable for what they say, making bills easy to understand, and getting rid of laws that don’t make sense.

Next, I tackled what it meant to be a citizen, to vote, and other sundries of the political process. I also fixed Campaign Finance woes in one fell swoop.

Third time up at bat, I dove into terrorism, and how I would go about fighting this global scourge.

And now, in Round 4, I’d like to talk about something that has been on my heart for some time: our responsibility to the world.

When the talk of Iraq came up last year, I was in favor of war. That Saddam Hussein would eventually become a massive threat who should be stopped sooner rather than later was obvious, whether or not weapons were ever uncovered. (And for the record, I said they’d never be found in that desert, but it was manifest to me that he’d tried to get some, possibly did, and would try again once the heat was off.)

However, even if all of that were not true, I still would have been in favor of war, because my main concern was the suffering going on there. We watch Iraq on the news every night, and it’s a dangerous place to be sure, but how ironic is it that only now do we care about what’s going on. For years—nay, decades—Saddam subjugated and slaughtered his own people. He used chemical weapons on some of them! No matter how bad things seem on TV, life without that monster is a better place for the region, the people, and the world.

But many don’t agree. They say that American lives were lost, and this is unforgivable.

I grieve for every casualty. But American soldiers are volunteers. They are heroes to me, but they are soldiers, who knowingly sign up to fight, if necessary. And some things are worth fighting for.

But let’s move away from Iraq for a minute, and talk about Africa, specifically the Sudan. Here is a country that has been plagued by genocide for years. Only recently has the United States or anyone else seen fit to even talk about it. There was a suggestion that the U.N. “declare sanctions.”

This is moronic. I can only assume that those who suggest sanctions are either cowardly or ignorant. Because, if they even began to think it through, they’d realize that in a case like the Sudan, sanctions only hurt the people already ripped apart. The government controls what food, money, and other resources come into the country. Do you honestly think they are going to share with the very people they are persecuting?

In the case of the Sudan (and understand; much of Africa is in chaos now, but this is the worst at the moment, so let’s focus on it), the government is allowing radical Arab Muslims to persecute, rape, kill, and do anything else they want to black Africans, and Christian Africans. Sometimes this is the same group.

This isn’t a case of a civil war (and if it was, that wouldn’t mitigate the suffering by the innocent). It’s one side slaughtering the other. At best, the farmers and ranchers and all others are pushed off their land. Most of the time it’s wholesale killing. Then there is rape as a tactic. Soldiers will rape all the women they can, knowing that their own husbands will often refuse to take them back, and leading to a whole group of displaced women.

It isn’t right that the husbands do that. I can’t change that aspect of their culture, though. I can’t change any of it right now. But if I were in charge, I’d sure try.

Look, I’m a realist. I understand that a country like the United States doesn’t usually get involved without a vital interest at stake (or what they perceive to be a vital interest). In the case of the Middle East, the interests are obvious: oil and concerns about terrorism.

The Sudan doesn’t have that. It’s possible Al Qaeda has set up in Chad (next door to the Sudan), but it’s hard to know for sure with so few Intelligence assets on the ground. For all intents and purposes, the Sudan doesn’t mean very much to America and the western world. They aren’t rich, and what resources they do have are hard—if not impossible—to get at. Sometimes it’s hard to find the “strategic interest.”

What’s more, the logistics are staggering. We’re not talking about a country with an infrastructure set up, where food, medicine and other supplies can be quickly gotten to the people who most need it. As difficult as things are in Iraq to get around and figure out what’s going on, it would be much worse in the Sudan. (On a plus note, the Sudanese military wouldn’t be much, but the people left alive are so displaced it would be a Herculean task to find them all and return them to their homes.)

There’s more going on here, though, then just logistics and national interest.

In the nineties, the United States and NATO got repeatedly involved in Bosnia, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and other Balkan states. Granted, ground troops weren’t sent in by the U.S., but there was still military action. At the same time, several spots in Africa were undergoing arguably worse atrocities. The Sudan had their own problems then, Zambia was a mess, and Rwanda was an apocalypse.

I’ve heard from people trying to justify getting involved in the Balkans and not in Rwanda. They make the claim that it was more genocide in Europe, and more civil war in Africa. This isn’t true. As bad as the aggressors were, the others were doing ethnic cleansing too. They just weren’t as good at it.

And even if it were true, that wouldn’t change the fact that somewhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people died in the Rwanda struggle. I watched Schindler’s List with a girl once, and afterward she asked me how humanity could have let that happened. I told her it wasn’t surprising, because it continues all the time and the world does nothing.

Back to my point: I’m not saying this is the biggest reason (I think I’ve made it clear that logistics, national interests, and regional politics play a huge role), but you’re dreaming if you think there isn’t a racial aspect to all of this.

It may not be burning at the forefront of the national consciousness, but at least part of the problem with Rwanda (and now in the Sudan, the rest of Africa, and many places in Asia with humanitarian crises going on), is that westerners (read: Europeans and North Americans) have a harder time getting all fired up when those suffering don’t look like them.

Much of the decision is made at the highest levels and in the Media. News programs—which play a powerful role in deciding the current events of the day—don’t run pictures and stories of the suffering except for every now and then. For example, there has been non-stop coverage of the hurricanes that have hit the South. And I don’t deny the suffering going on there. But relatively speaking, things are FAR worse in the Sudan, but comparatively little is said.

I would hope that if the Media showed us the actual damage every single night on the news that Americans (and who knows?--maybe even Europeans) would demand something be done. After all, when Americans get mad, things happen. It is very sad to me that America can get up in arms over ice-skating gold medals, and demand results, but not for this.

Of course, much of the reason lies in the fact that the Sudanese are “someone else’s problem.” We care more about our own, and some of that is natural.

But I’m saying it’s not right.

To me, those lives (and lives of countless others) are worth just as much as any American citizen. Chalk it up to the fact that I’ve lived in Africa, to my desire to rule the world, or whatever, but I don’t understand why the world doesn’t seem to care most of the time.

Actually, I do understand, but I refuse to take it lying down.

So much more could and should be done. I don’t begrudge the wealth America has. They earned most of it. I think capitalism is the best way yet discovered to make EVERYONE wealthier, at least eventually. But I look around at all the wealth we have, where even most of our poor are “rich,” and I can’t help but think we’re going to stand in judgment one day for what we have not done.

If I were in charge, we would do more. Obviously this would take a world effort. The normal idea would be to go to the United Nations, but I have so little faith in that corrupt organization, I’d be inclined to bypass them. (Forget all their other criminal negligence. On this issue alone, every single delegate should resign.)

I would go to every developed country and talk to the people. You get the idea that the world hates America, and there certainly is jealousy and other factors that permeate much of world discourse. But the world still looks to the U.S. to be a leader on such matters.

I would graphically explain to people what’s going on; not just in the Sudan, but the rest of war-torn Africa and Asia. I would shame people if I had to, until they were as mad as I am and were ready to help whether it be financial support, diplomatic pressure, or if need be, military intervention.

And while I’m on the subject, let me address the self-serving and myopic canard that gets floated around by some: “There never was a good war or a bad peace.”

Let me tell you something, and feel free to quote me: I am sincerely doubtful that anything more ignorant can be said (and I’ve watched day-time talk shows).

Quite often, the only difference between “war” and “peace” are the words. Do you think that fewer people die in peace-time? Often, all “peace” means is that people get slaughtered and nobody notices.

I’m not saying all war is good, but sometimes it is necessary. When people talk about war only leading to death, I just want to shake them. What do you think is going on now? I assure you, no matter what Michael Moore says, Iraq was not an idyllic paradise before the U.S invaded.

And the Sudan is even worse. There is no declared “war” going on there. Just women getting raped and children getting slaughtered. Well, maybe there should be a war, if that’s what it takes. All of America, all of the world should be just sickened by these events, and vow to do what they can to help fix things.

We can’t correct every problem. In Africa and much of Asia, there are so many problems that it would take a lifetime to solve.

But if I’m elected, I’ll spend my lifetime trying to do just that, and I’ll do everything I can to convince you to do likewise.

Like I said, some things are worth fighting for.

Hyperion
September 16, 2004

Credits
Thanks to Laureate, Aviendha, and Tootsie for editing help

Motto Explanation
This is what a (misguided) friend of mine always says when I try to explain some of the reasons the US doesn’t go into the Sudan