Sudan's Indecisive State of Affairs

What is the old saw . . . "If you don't like government, try living without it"?

To the Darfuri, the Janjaweed have become mad sheepdogs with weapons--best not to look for humanity, meaning, or purpose in the mayhem or murder: best to stop it cold or get away from it, both actions much easier said than done.

Opheera McDoom's sad beyond sad plea for deliverance that appeared in this morning's Reuters AlertNet [1] may hint at but not quite nail The Problem, but then well Hollywood should pay homage to the misery of the Sudan, man's finest demonstration of virtually unimpeded, self-centered, narcissistic, pleasure-seeking, euphoria-inducing violence on earth.

State martial vanity with its caps and braids, spit polish and ribbons, has nothing on the revolutionary's vanity--these days beard, kefiya, Kalashnikov, and a fierce stare--and neither competes with a bandit's bandolier for macho strut.

Not for nothing did T. E. Lawrence put on Arab robes.

Arm the civilians or arm them with many armies--certainly arm a hardy, reliable, and responsible few with satellite-linked signalling alarms to call in those armies on contact, for no "political solution" exists where no legitimate political cause exists either.

Suffering in Sudan will continue as it would before any other malign force of nature inappropriately addressed.

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1. McDoom, Opheera.  "WITNESS-Five years on, what good can reporting Darfur do?"  Reuters AlertNet, February 24, 2008.

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Correspondence: James S. Oppenheim

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