Not on Our Watch: Final Thoughts

After reading the book, I can say that it has had an overwhelming influence in my political views. Not all have been good, however. For example, how civilian action will only take place if the government has the same interests. The reality is that civilian action alone will not do anything. Neither will unilateral action – we need a coalition and multilateral approach, something which will be close to impossible to obtain. I have also confirmed my belief in the United Nations: totally ineffective. With both China and Russia (who are war profiteering) on the Security Council, the UN cannot change Darfur.

Overall, I had a good experience with the book. For better or worse it has made me realize how wrong the authors are. I appreciate their work, but I believe their suggestions will be ineffective. Well, at least most of them anyway. They have made exceptional strides in the awareness campaign and have also inspired many people. I learned a great deal on the way and have come to an understanding of the situation. The last chapters talked a great deal on what can be done and I hope the people that read this will be drawn to action. If nobody ever speaks out against the immoral, nothing will ever change. This is true with African American and women’s rights across the US. We can make a difference – it just depends on what is done.

Not on Our Watch: Response 2

In reading three more chapters, I have come to develop a strong opinion on the book. It delivers vital information while providing ideas on how you can help. For those who don’t have a clear idea to what is going on in Darfur, there are numerous chapters which explain the situation. The motives for killed non-Muslim Africans, the groups involved with the genocide as well as countries who sponsor the genocide are all discussed. I really like the way this book explains the crisis – Don and Ron give a full analysis of every aspect of the problem and what can be done to stop it.

The authors also make connections to the Rwandan genocide and how similar they are. This helps by putting matters in context so as to understand the full problem with Sudan. They also explain why the US hasn’t been actively involved. What they are trying to do is get the word out to the people. However, I believe the suggestions they offer will be ineffective. How can you use economic and weapon embargoes if they are not enforced? How will the US gain support from the United Nations if China and Russia can just veto the bills? Sure, the more people involved the better. But if major countries are actually supplying the killers with arms, helicopters and military jets, how can we solve anything. In some ways, I truly believe that Darfur is a lost cause. Economic sanctions won’t help a poor country. Putting political pressure on a government that is so intent on killing will not change a thing. Even with the military, it will be a mess. The United Nations Secuirty Council has the power to employ military action but with two of the big five countries giving arms to Sudan, the UN is useless. Options are limited, if anything. If anything, we can learn how genocide can be stopped. And yet we said this about Rwanda and the Holocaust. I don’t think there is an answer to this problem.

Class Discussion: Darfur

I thought our discussion about Darfur and Not on Our Watch was very interesting. The majority of the conversation dealt with the actual content of the book. I thought that too much time was spent talking about whether the book should present only facts, statistics and data rather than the author’s political and activist stories and anecdotes. Personally, I feel that adding the Don Cheadle’s and John Prendergast’s back stories and accounts of how they got involved with Darfur and preventing genocide is essential is understanding how the average American can thwart genocide. You cannot have all facts – it would get repetitive very fast. Moreover, the majority of the book is explaining how you can help. It outlines key strategies to get your voice heard so that you can make a difference. You also need to know where these people are coming from to understand their objectives.

The open forum was interesting in many respects. For those who think that military options are not required are not well informed. Diplomacy was tried with North Korea and their nuclear program for many years with Bill Clinton bearing no results. Same goes with terrorism: you cannot bargain or negotiate with extremists who intend on killing people. It just cannot be done. Using sanctions on one of the poorest countries is not going to work either – it will just hurt the innocent. As for political pressure, the government will not back down to any demands that are not supporting the Muslim agenda. One comment I heard today said that China would counter any attack made against the Sudanese government. China would never risk sending their troops to battle the Western powers. They pick their battles and Darfur to them is insignificant.

Not on Our Watch

“Never again.” These were the words spoken after the tragic and horrific events of the Holocaust. The world vowed that never again indifference would be the cause of a annihilation of a people. It was thought that no longer would be sit idly by while innocents were being systematically slaughtered. However, as we look at the past fifty years, these words have been missing in action. The citizens of Uganda, Rwanda and Burma have been attacked without any action by the international community. Ultimately, this by standing will result in the death of Darfur. The mission of Don Cheadle and John Prendergast is to end genocide forever. Not on Our Watch documents numerous case files and outlines how we can stop it.

So far, this book has been great. It has outlined the history of Darfur and why it is a troubled region. I find out the history rather interesting. By far, the most important chapter in our reading was number three. The authors describe numerous amounts of civil wars Sudan was experiencing in the mid 21st century. In it’s later years, Sudan has been influenced by the radical Muslims who are very dangerous. This is very disturbing as Osama bin Laden was given safe haven for more than five years in Sudan. They claim they have no more relations with Al-Qaeda and bin Laden but I seriously doubt it. One way they are garnering the lack of support for the native Africans is through the radicals and extremists. This might sound strange but if we incorporate military action in Sudan, we might be relieving the terrorist threat. However, it could also drastically increase the number of jihadists and their anti-Western agenda.

The only part I didn’t like is the emphasis on that Sudan can be changed. Methods such as economic sanctions and political pressure are not the best solutions. If we look at North Korea, Bill Clinton spent much of his time as president using diplomacy, threat of sanctions, etc. only to fail. Additionally, sanctions usually hurt the people rather than the government. As for political pressure, it will be ineffective. The international world knows what’s going on – it’s just that they do not want to be involved. Britain, the former occupier of Sudan, must know what is happening in Darfur. I bet former imperial colonies (Britain, France, Japan) have already talked about Darfur privately and have decided in is not in their best interest to intervene. Some countries might try to convince their citizens that it is a civil war. With both scenarios, failure is inevitable.