Sudan

And who's at fault for their problems. Apparently its Israel and Jews. I would not have thought that.

UNITED NATIONS - Sudan's president said on Tuesday his country would never allow United Nations peacekeepers into Darfur and charged that the West wanted to dismember his country in order to help Israel.

"It is very clear there is a plan to redraw the region," especially after the invasion of Iraq, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir told a news conference on the sidelines of a ministerial UN General Assembly session.

"The main purpose is the security of Israel. Any state in the region should be weakened, dismembered in order to protect the Israelis, to guarantee the Israeli security," he said.

So does this dude think he's strong enough to scare Israel? He's a freakin thug. To re-cap the events:

Non-Arab tribes took up arms against the government in February 2003 to protest alleged neglect and deprivation.

In turn Sudan, unleashed and armed Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, who murdered and raped civilians. In recent months, factions of rebel groups and bandits have done the same.

UN and humanitarian groups estimate some 200,000 people have died from the conflict, hunger and disease. But Bashir said humanitarian groups exaggerated the crisis.

Bashir said the United Nations should punish those who started the conflict rather than Khartoum, which had to send in soldiers, a position Arab nations have echoed.

So Bashir wants the UN to punish those who "started the conflict". Where does Israel figure in to who started the conflict?

ps This was a quick post worth looking at. I've said the same myself a time or two.

National or strategic interests? Zero. Liberal reaction on American interventionism in the Middle East - where we have vital national and strategic interests? Unrelenting excoriation of the Bush administration.

What should he do?