mattsiller.com Blog

Do you know what the irony is in this mess? As noted in the following excerpt from the Guardian by Brendan O’Neill Darfur: damned by western pity:

“The people of Darfur and Sudan, like the people of Bosnia before them, are likely to pay a heavy price indeed for the patronage of their latte-drinking “friends” in the west.”

The GOS is spinning these “calls to action” by claiming it’s all “an American-engineered conspiracy to turn the Sudan into another Iraq.” It’s been effective in deterring the UN, garnering support with other Arab nations, and winning over the local population. The more people rally (for human rights mind you) and the more the Western World speaks out, then the more ammunition the GOS generates. What a mess.

Darfur has been a hot topic in the news. Last Sunday the 17^th was ‘Global Day for Darfur’ with countless rallies worldwide. I’ve often wondered how small advocacy cells in cities and campuses around the states actually make a difference. How can someone support a cause by attending a meeting in a small church rallying out about crimes they’ll never see taking place 7000 miles away in remote villages? What good is actually being done? I guess living in DC has shown what the “power of people” can do in a democracy. And then it also helps when you associate a celebrity with a cause, like George Clooney has done with Darfur. Articles like this confirm their importance.

The international outrage championing against the crimes on humanity has reached heights that are forcing governments to act, but even this has been a struggle for several reasons.

One of the problems for the lack of action is that despite the US’s claims that a genocide is occurring, it is not that cut and dry. The killing here is not one sided. The fighting is very much based on resources that all sides want. All sides are armed and all sides are not discriminating in civilian vs. military in their attacks. It’s just that the GOS, as a government entity shouldn’t be supporting either side, they should be stopping it. Plus to say it’s Arabs vs Blacks is also misleading because everyone here is African and everyone here is Muslim. Some may be darker skinned than others, but there is no clear cut line.

The region in itself is trapped in the middle. African states call it Arab and Arab states are in denial that Arabs would be doing this to one another. Only recently has the Arab League finally committed funds to extend the mission, but even those are only pledges.

The west has put this on the backburner as long as possible, but now the thinkers are thinking and doers are eager to do, which is good. We’re still uncertain about the UN’s takeover. The recent Arab pledges extending the mission through December are positive in that at least there’s a presence here, but it’s still only band-aiding the real problem and that is ineffective, thinly spread, insufficiently equipped troops, along with a weak mandate which leaves them largely on the sidelines (not to mention a failing peace agreement). Sudan must be happy for the extension because nothing really changes.

One major problem with the UN resolution and current approach is that it only addresses the military and humanitarian aspect of the conflict, not the political side. Just giving food and sending soldiers is not going to bring lasting peace to the region. History has shown that armed intervention is a high-cost and high-risk option that cannot deliver a solution on its own. A political settlement is essential. So bringing the UN or any outside body into the region is moot unless there is a reconfirmation with all sides for a new ceasefire and peace agreement. This cannot be imposed. The warring parties need to negotiate their own agreement. (If they do, it might help minimize the distrust of the Sudanese Government toward international peacekeepers.) But we have seen one agreement fail already. It surely won’t come easily because agreement means compromise and most are unwilling to relent. All sides are deeply rooted in their cause. Knowing this…

The US has responded eagerly by placing Darfur at the forefront of hot topics to resolve. (Nice work rally’ers.) A curious decision, though, was made by the president appointing Andrew Natsios as head of a special envoy to Darfur. He is quite the candidate. Yes, he does have previous experience dealing with Sudanese officials, but he was also in charge of Boston’s Big Dig – a project which dug a huge highway under the city that became a nightmare and ended up $12 Billion over budget. This ominous pattern resurfaced for him later during his tenure as chief of the reconstruction effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he claimed that “the American part of this will be $1.7 billion. We have no plans for any further funding for this.” This a number we now know to be laughable. It will be interesting to see what he can achieve.

He has claimed “aggressive diplomacy” as a solution to Darfur, in addition of enlisting the help of the Arab nations. This has gotten off to a nice start as Egypt has already flip flopped, expressing a “commitment to a UN force” to Bush on Wednesday then confirming Egypt’s loyalties to Sudan on Thursday.

Natsios has said his strategy will “include some carrots” in his dealings with Bashir, including promises of reconstruction and possibly lifting US sanctions against Sudan. Other options are for Natsios to play the tough guy by implementing travel bans and initiating crimes against humanity against the Sudanese leadership. But these don’t hit the nail in the coffin.

I think a solution is going to involve enhanced AU troops, UN management, NATO logistical support, and severe international pressure on the warring sides to implement a political ceasefire and peace agreement (which will probably include some unfair promises). Sudan is going to have to give leeway in their position, and the rebels will have to reunite, unify, and relate under a stronger leader (…that to be decided). This little solution, mind you, is at least a year away. Things just don’t work that fast in this arena. The question is, can the issue remain in the spotlight long enough to see the process through?

We had a new pet around camp for awhile (click and take a look). We caught her during movie night. She came out to nestle up to the speakers’ vibrations. Truth be told, I’m jittery around these bitches (excuse the language). I don’t know, maybe, it’s the umteen legs, the cockyness in their swagger, or just the tail full of fire. I spotted it watching our movie out in the open with 15 or so other folks and got a little nervous. (Due to the range of critters that come out during movie night, I now sit on my feet.) I went to get a flashlight and happen to tell my colleague, a Steve Irwin wannabe, who immediately joined in on the hunt. We went over to the speakers together; I shined the light and he grabbed it with a set of bbq tongs. He put her in a can, then proceeded to bobble the can and pretend drop it on my foot (in front of the movie go-ers), in which case I did an immediate knee jerk, high stepping yelp…only to be immediately relieved when I realized he was ‘kidding’. Moments later I had all intentions to restart my heart and punch him in the face for that little stunt but everyone was laughing at me so I just evil-eyed him and faked-laughed back.

Later the next day, as boys will be boys, I went hunting for a little frog to see if they might consummate. I was kind of right, in the ominous way you might think… stealthy, vicious and swift. The scorpion could have been the janjaweed and the frog a local woman.

We’ll that’s kind of wrong. I guess this whole situation is kinda wrong. ‘But it just felt so right.’  You know what I just realized, after the whole ordeal we let her go right over the fence to our compound, and she was very pregnant….

The Economist publishes a realistic assessment about what in-flight announcements should really say…in this article.

Another soundbite of which I’ll just smile quietly.

To listen to the entire clip, right click on the link, then choose “Save Link As”, save it to a folder and then open it.

When I first came down to Sudan in Dec 04, I remember the project manager telling me, “bring up any subject on this place and I’ll give you a dysfunctional problem and accompanying story”.

This outrageous BBC article from last Feb, although previously circulated, continues to keep me speechless….yet another reinforcement here that absurdity is normalcy.

“Sudan man forced to ‘marry’ goat”

I’ve made it back in Darfur with several warm and friendly welcomings. As shown around the various news agencies as of late, the violence has continued to escalate as the stability of the GOS increases while the AMIS (African Mission in Sudan) decreases. There has been rampant rumors and uncertain chatter about the future of the mission, which I’ll go into in a sec, but more so the problems are hitting home to us here in El Fasher.

I came back to find out about an occurrence last week in which all of our staff were quickly whisked into our ‘safe zone’ as student protests took place 1km away. The GOS (Gov’t of Sudan’s) military and police decided to use force to squash their illusional right to assemble, skipping the tear gas and rubber bullets as crowd control, instead using real ones. The students ran towards the only safe haven they knew, our camps. As our staff peeked out the windows, local military enforcers cracked down outside the camps, killing six innocents.

On top of that, eight aid workers were killed in July, two AU soldiers killed recently, and attacks on villages have escalated. You see government aircraft flying in reinforcement soldiers daily and it is clear they are ramping up to take ‘peace’ matters into their own hands. Aid workers are expeditiously leaving the region, I heard the British Embassy packed up recently and there is a possibility the US consulate will soon as well, in case I go with.

A new Rebel group has formed, with some Freedom Fighter name with a completely new agenda and one of the SLA splintered groups has puzzled many by joining with the GOS. Basically everyone is fighting everyone in various regions. I won’t say hell has broken loose to the point where it’s a visual I now see but tensions are mounting.

To top it off, there’s been an outbreak of Cholera (severe inflammation of the bowel – otherwise referred to as ‘death by diarrhea’), with the contagious germs transmitted by something as easy as a door handle, steering wheel, or worse, through preparation of food. There have been several deaths in my town (several hundred in the region in the last couple of weeks) and being that our chefs are locals, it doesn’t sit pretty with food diversity, as now everything we eat has to be served above a certain heated temperature to kill the bacteria, which rules out salads, greens, or anything considered healthy.

This occurring as the African Union runs out of money at the end of the month. The GOS is capitalizing on this knowledge, refusing to allow the UN in and says it is prepared to take matters into its own hands to instill peace in the region, a bit of a conflict of interest as they have been the indirect supporters of the major problem from the beginning. Bashir’s (the presidents) men, the GOS military, based on past and recent events, are far unlikely to act in accordance with the mandates of normal peacekeeping troops (ie, monitor ceasefires, protect civilians, etc). It’s kind of like asking the cats to watch over the mice.

The international community is stuck in the bowels of diplomacy and they are unwilling to continue to fund the largely ineffective and ill equipped African troops anymore but are not taking a real stance to persuade the GOS to allow a transition of mission to the UN.

The GOS is not happy about the UN, saying they and the US have imperialistic intentions of controlling the region and overthrowing the presidential regime. This is interesting because the president himself has said no about the UN coming so many times and in so many ways (ie, “if the UN comes, I will quit my job and join the ranks to fight against them”), that ultimately he is doomed. There is no way he can maintain the respect of his people if he decides to flip flop and allow them in one day soon. So if the UN does come (and I can imagine they will at some point), his prophecy of regime change will most likely occur, with the likely effect of uniting and igniting the locals into tangible acts of anti-westernism.

As far as diplomatic and military action is concerned, here are the problems. As Western militaries in Africa are like oil and water (think Somalia or lack of action in Rwanda), getting any real troops (I say this with affection to the unmighty militaries out there) to come and clean house isn’t really an option unless hell breaks loose. Getting the UN or NATO in here is a probable option but Sudan is vehemently opposed for the reasons previously stated. Diplomacy has to really stand up and kick in, but up to this point, no one has been the real forward leader and hard charger. Only recently have countries like China and France actually acknowledged there’s a problem and action needs to occur. But China has so many interests (oil, oil and oil) in this economy, dare they (the strongest direct influencer of sanctions) actually flex their muscles with Sudan because it will aversely affect them. So they have not been as cooperative in providing any real assistance.

Just now the US has said they do not want downtime, or lack of int’l presence, in the region (remember, just cats and mice = problem). So this gives hope in that the US may lead the way in funding additional support to the AU until such a time that all outside countries can agree to squeeze Sudan hard enough to allow the UN or similar force in.

This commitment is good for me because I still have a job as long as AMIS is here. Either way, we will see soon enough. This should be an eventful month, definitely not a boring return.

I finally came to the R&R portion of my trip, taking a flight from Cairo down to Sharm el Sheik, a city nestled on the tip of the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, sitting between the base of sandy rock mountains and the clear blue-green bays of the Red Sea. It is one of those once hidden, now exposed locations in the world where divers and tourists flock, both so eco-sensitive that fishing is a bad world. It’s paradise without the lush green oasis, with great diving right off the desert into the surrounding reefs of the region. The area is unbelievably hot and you find yourself cooled by a layer of sweat at all hours. It’s become a popular vacation getaway for those from Europe and elsewhere in the region. British, Spanish, Russian, and Italian families are the main draw to the resorts lining the beaches but there are a number of global divers here as well. The city is overwhelmingly tourist oriented and so this does pose a drawback from Egypt’s uniqueness or feel of isolation, but there is a good nightlife and neat little Café de Mar type establishments on the beach with DJ’s spinning for the chill out crowd.

It’s fun to see various sorts of people stroll down the sidewalk, from very typical British families to rich Russian businessmen with high priced call girls. At my hotel watering hole, a local hotspot of sorts, England was playing some other team in a football friendly and there were an overwhelming amount of Brits catching it on satellite TV. Some of their kids were there as well. My eyebrows smiled when four of the tikes, probably 12 years old, do-ed up in David Beckham style mohawks, England jerseys, and british flair were up on the rooftop bar having races down the isle of the tables. A worker came up and asked them to stop as it was disturbing to the establishment and one of the 12 year olds promptly stomped on his foot and told him to ‘buggah off’. The worker’s response to the boy was ‘don’t be cheeky cheeky when you come to Sharm el Sheiky’. My points go to the lil’ Brit.

I’ve met several Americans here, one that works in Baghdad for the USG, one on an around-the-world ticket, and a couple from San Francisco that quit their jobs, sold their home, took their savings, and are traveling around the world together. They just sold the landcruiser they bought in South Africa after making the trek by vehicle up Africa. They had some great stories. Mostly it’s folks from this side of the world though.

No matter where you go in Egypt, the first line from vendors, waiters, taxi drivers, and locals to the tourist is “Where are you from?”. At times, it’s easier for me to just say I’m Canadian instead of dealing with the stereotypes of being American which I’ll go into later. I can generally pull it off and for grins try a botched Canadian accent that slides downhill fast. I catch myself and just add an “eh” at the end of my statement and those listening usually catch back on and nod in acceptance. But most of the folks here can’t tell the difference between the various accents of English.

Sharm has been the victim of three suicide bombs over the last few years, not even directed at mass tourists but more-so at damaging the tourist industry and you see the increased security around the area as a result. While people watching on a lounge sofa at a sidewalk café or just in public places you can’t help but keep your wits about you, taking a closer look for anything strange or out of the ordinary as the various government paddy wagons and taxi’s drive by. It’s sad that when I grab a spot, I look for the safest place of escape or place to dive in case of an attack, so I suppose the terrorist movement still lingers in people’s mind, at least for mine, but the place is packed and I would attribute it to the added security measures, so it seems that overall, Sharm has picked itself back up again.

I say that sometimes it’s easier to say you are not an American because, one, they think all are rich and do very much like to take advantage, and two, it somehow seems to stifle conversation. My 10 year old camel guide in Cairo said his name was Osama, and then laughed and repeated multiple times, Osama Bin Laden, Osama Bin Laden, Osama Bin Laden as if that was a role model. I was from Vancouver when he later asked.

I’ve spent these afternoons relaxing on the beach, snorkeling, taking up a little windsurfing, and then feeling more at home with some wakeboarding. Most here have never boarded before so I tried to finish cool when my time expired by jumping wake and gliding smoothly up to the beach but as soon as I landed and let go of the rope, I caught a front edge and it smacked me in a sudden and painful head first crash into the salt water that left me with a head ache and feeling stupid in front of the sun bathing crowd.

I’m headed back to Sudan today which is kind of a bummer. I could still travel for another couple of months without tire but that is out of the question. I’ve enjoyed the trip though, lots of cities. Sometimes I think it’s better to spend all the time in one place and really get to know it as power travel is so touristy and exhausting, but overall, I’d say this one was worth it.