Darfur

Well it looks like Hollywood has decided to turn its face towards Darfur. You have to be thankful and yet it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. How long now has the blogosphere been pointing towards the problems in Darfur now? Years.
So the speakers at the rally, line up and rally against genocide. Good for them. Who wouldn't be against genocide?

Almost without fail, speakers bemoaned the litany of the last century's ethnic slaughters and pleaded not to instantiate Darfur on that list--the Holocaust, Cambodia (is this a genocide?), Rwanda, the Balkans. But, of all the speakers I heard (and there were over 50), only one mentioned the Anfal campaign, wherein Saddam Hussein gassed as many as 200,000 Kurds. Progressive-minded people, it seems, do not delight in noting that the invasion of Iraq toppled a perpetrator of genocide. You know, it undermines the case against war, especially for those (admittedly few) at the protest yesterday calling for American troops in Darfur.

Emphasis mine.

Today the LA Times is suggesting that diplomacy won't work so, well..... read it:

JUST ABOUT EVERYONE KNOWS what it will take to stop the slaughter of innocents in Sudan. Yet the international response to the crisis hinges on a kind of domino effect, with the world waiting for the first tile to fall; meanwhile, soldiers and government-armed militias murder and rape with impunity. There's a chance that the first domino could drop today. If it doesn't, the United States and its allies should kick it over.

The US and it's allies, should "kick it over"?! This is the same US who the LA Times thinks should never have invaded Iraq because they were no threat to us. Now they want us to invade little old Sudan?

All I'm trying to say here is that President Bush gets skewered every day for going into Iraq. It was a right decision then and it still is. All of these people who think we should go into the Sudan need to realize that if we go in, it's a war. Yes, another one, just like the one we have now that you are bitching about. It may well be justified. We are the white hats, but why is Darfur so different than Baghdad?

As long as we're talking about new wars..........
Powerline has the specs for Iran today. I'm not as sure that right now is the time to go in and I don't believe Iran is in the same position Iraq was in when we invaded. Iran doesn't have previous agreement they aren't living up to. (yes, I realize there is the IAEA agreements, but they've opted out. That's different than saying they are in while finagling on the side) They aren't a dictatorship. They haven't committed genocide. They haven't been shooting at out planes in "no fly" zones. But yes, they are a threat. .........I think I've mentioned before that I'm glad I'm not in charge and just get to spout from my safe little corner of the 'verse'.