And The Genocide Spreads

As if we needed proof that a genocide in one location shouldn't be left alone to fester...The UN refugee agency is warning that conditions are present in Chad, the neighbor of Darfur for a Rwanda-like genocide. Chad's border region with Sudan has the same ethnic make-up as Darfur. Darfurians have fled into Chad to escape the Sudanese backed janjaweed. The problem is that the janjaweed have followed the refugees into Chad. "There is a hidden force trying to export the conflict between the Sudanese into Chad," said Allami Ahmat, diplomatic advisor to Chadian President Idriss Deby (this is from 2004--it's only gotten worse).

According to the latest BBC article, the Sudanese back janajaweed have undertaken attacks on the estimated 200,000 Darfurian refugees in Chad. Sudan is accusing Chad of supporting the Sudanese rebels. But lest we think this conflict is just spreading to Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR) is also facing raids from the janjaweed, and Chad has pledged troops to help protect CAR.

It is imperative that the United States show resolve to stop the spread of this genocide. While the UN Security Council is expected to discuss sending a peace keepin force to to Chad, this won't happen for some time. While America has its hands full militarily, it must commit the diplomatic resources to end these conflicts. Genocide doesn't occur in a vacuum. As we are watching right before our eyes, conflicts spread and mushroom into other countries. Then these places become either rallying cries for Islamic terrorists or their base of operations (this has already happened with al Qaeda)

In order to prevent more catastrophic loss of lives and further instability in Africa, the West, spearheaded by America, must act decisively to end the conflict in Darfur.