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9:00 A.M. Slept in a little bit this morning. I need to pack for the trip home. We are scheduled to leave the hotel for the airport around 4 P.M.
9:30 A.M. Mtume, Jules Allen and I leave in a private security vehicle for the open market known as Omarduraman in central Khartoum. Mtume and Jules purchase beautiful “snake” shoes. “Very fly”, as the kids say. The Omardurman market is a major economic engine for Sudan. The government of Sudan does not charge a sales tax of items purchased in the marketplace. Islamic law does not allow the government to charge its citizens any type of tax.
5:30 P.M. We board the bus for the airport. About one half of our delegation stayed behind for a few more days of fact-finding. I had the option to remain. It was time to head back home.
7:30 P.M. We board the plane to Dubai to connect with Flight 203 to JFK. We are on our way home.
I am thankful for the opportunity to see firsthand the crisis unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan. The government of Sudan was open and did not limit our access to people and information. Government officials answered all of our questions --- no matter how skeptical, direct and tough they were. I say thank you to all the Sudanese officials who participated in our briefings and to the government for being so open and transparent on the issues. The government of Sudan was doing its job of feeding us information on the Darfur crisis and our job, as fact-finders, was to pierce the nation-state veil and ferret out the truth of this horrible crisis. I tried my best to get at the truth of the crisis. I believe that I was able get some part of the truth as a result of this find-finding mission. I had the good fortune to make numerous observations from within Sudan on the crisis. Many of the critics of the Sudan government have not had that opportunity. Two critical facts that were cleared up for me and the delegation: The first had to do with who is an “Abrab” in the context of the American and international press continued insistence that the “Janjawee or Arab” attackers were killing African blacks in Darfur and the second had to do with the number killed in Darfur. I learned that the so-called “Arab” attackers, as characterized by the American press, are also black Africans who range in color from light to dark coal. The same rainbow mix as American blacks in the USA. Indeed, I was able to confirm the government’s assertion on this point and interviewed several people of very dark complexion who described themselves as an “Arab” by virtue of the fact that they speak the Arab language only and has nothing to do with their ethnicity. Most of the people I talked to during our mission who identified themselves as “Arab” also identified themselves as “African” as well. The American and international press have failed to correct that impression that the “Arabs” are white or light skinned Saudi looking Arabs. The worst-case scenario in this crisis unfortunately is that you have black Africans killing other black Africans in the Darfur region of Sudan over who will control the resources of the region and who will control the money flowing from the resources. The struggle is about money and who controls it. During our various meetings with government officials, they consistently advised us that the number of people killed in the Darfur region does not exceed 9,000. This death number is at serious odds with the death number being thrown around by various Save Dafur agencies. These relief agencies have reported anywhere from 200,000 to 400,000 “men, women and children have been killed in Darfur” since 2003. The Sudan government officials also reported one additional Darfur fact: That the total persons displaced as a result of the attacks by the Janjawee is approximately 1,000,000.00. The Save Darfur agencies have pegged the number from 2,300,000 to 2, 500,000. The disparities are confusing and troubling. The reality is that the problems in the Sudan and the crisis in Darfur are much more nuanced and complex than the American and international press have suggested. In our various meetings with government officials, it was suggested over and over again that the government welcomes international assistance with the crisis in Darfur but it does not want to lose its sovereignty in that process and want to retain some control over the flow of assistance and aid from the international community into the Sudan. The beautiful people of Darfur desperately need help and need to return to their home villages. It is incumbent upon the Sudan government to begin marshalling the resources to protect all citizens of Darfur from any future attacks by the outlaw group known as the Janjawee. The failure of the Sudan government to actively and aggressively protect its citizens will leave the world with the clear impression that it does not want to protect those citizens and that it has given its tacit approval to the Janjawee rampage and killings. This must stop. It is incumbent on the Sudan government and the international community to come together to resolve this crisis. The Sudan government must accept aid and assistance from the international community. The international community, including the U.S., must accept the sovereignty of Sudan and not seek to impose their collective will and vision on the Sudanese people and not seek to assume control over their valuable natural resources. The government of Sudan and the people of Darfur need our help. Based on my visit to the Sudan and discussions with numerous people, I am very afraid that if this Darfur crisis continues beyond 2007, Sudan will split into at least three separate nations / states. That will not benefit the Sudanese people and all of Africa. It will only benefit those who are waiting in the shadows to gain access to the vast oil reserves in Sudan.
The truth is somewhere in the middle. Stay tuned. |
