Demagogue

On Thursday night, the History Channel will be showing "Sudan: Anatomy of a Crisis"

There are two visions of the future in Sudan--one belongs to the minority Islamic government in Khartoum and a second to the traditionally non-Arabic southern Sudanese people. Why is Sudan divided between Northern and Southern factions? Who are the rebels and why is the government raiding the Darfur region? Is the fighting just bloody civil war or is it genocide? Professor Francis M. Deng, former Sudanese ambassador to the U.S. and current Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institute in Washington D.C., joins host Alberto Coll to discuss the "War of Visions" in Sudan.

Save Darfur is coordinating "100 Hours of Conscience" from March 17-20.

Jan Egeland says that there is no money to implement the North-South peace accord and no security in Darfur

"The contrast between South Sudan and Darfur was a tragic paradox," Egeland observed. The south, he added, had the political and security support, but lacked the funding and capacity for humanitarian needs. Darfur, on the other hand, was strongly supported with humanitarian assistance, but the security situation remained deplorable, he said.

He noted that food distribution and health assistance had significantly improved the condition of people inside Darfur IDP camps to the extent that, in terms of malnutrition, IDPs were in a better condition than surrounding communities.

"The problem is what is happening outside the camps - the killings, the rape, the human rights violations," Egeland said. "The world is still not acting decisively to stop the perpetrators of these crimes."

ReliefWeb has this piece

The feeding center in the camp northeast of Zalingei was full of mothers and malnourished babies on this day. Raising children in a camp for IDPs is not easy. Food and water are scarce, and hygiene is poor - especially in Hamadiya camp, where more than 30,000 people live. Many children are malnourished, and the situation in the camp makes it difficult to change their condition. The IDPs also live in clouds of the red dust that is everywhere and gets stirred up by the wind.

The US is accusing Sudan of refusing to grant visas to Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and three foreign policy experts who intend to conduct a fact-finding mission on atrocities in Darfur.

Susan Rice wonders about the nomination of John Bolton to the UN

Finally, Bolton criticized any " 'right of humanitarian intervention' to justify military operations to prevent ethnic cleansing or potential genocide." One must wonder how forcefully he will work to halt what the administration deems genocide in Darfur.

Mark Leon Goldberg asked the same question yesterday.