Jon Holato

There is continued international outrage about the genocide taking place in the Darfur area of Sudan, which borders on Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic. Over 400,000 Darfuris have lost their lives, and governments around the world have pledged support and aid, both economically and militarily, and government of Sudan has even been hit with sanctions.

One such government that has condemned the killings and placed sanctions on Sudan is the the US government. But while President Bush may give speeches in which he pledges to help the people of Darfur, in reality he turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the Sudanese government in return for help spying on the Iraq insurgency.

According to US intelligence officials this represents the complex realities of the post-9/11 world, where the US has relied heavily on countries that are at the bottom of the human rights barrel for intelligence and military cooperation.

“Intelligence cooperation takes place for a whole lot of reasons … It’s not always between people who love each other deeply.” said a U.S. intelligence official.

Sudan in particular has become very valuable to the US as the Sunni Arab nation serves as a crossroads for Islamic militants seeking to make the trek into Iraq or Pakistan. Officials claim that the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq has allowed Sudan’s Mukhabarat intelligence service to get spies into Iraq to spy on al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups.

The benefits for Sudan in return for a bit of intelligence are pretty significant. For one it maintains a close relationship with the CIA, so it doesn’t have to worry about “regime change” anytime soon. Secondly, despite international condemnation, the government of Sudan is getting praise from Bush and co.:

And at a time when Sudan is being condemned in the international community, its counterterrorism work has won precious praise. The U.S. State Department recently issued a report calling Sudan a “strong partner in the war on terror.”

I hope everyone reading this is as outraged as I am about this. We hear so much in the media of how China is to blame for the continuing genocide of the Darfuris, but in reality our own hypocritical government is reluctant to lift a finger for fear of losing Sudan’s help on Iraq. As I mentioned above, the genocide in Darfur has claimed over 400,000 Darfuris to date. While I don’t have any exact estimates, I’d venture a guess to say that the “War on Terror” hasn’t even claimed 1/10th of that amount (not including Iraq which was not the War on Terror but rather Neo-con agenda). So 400,000 vs. < 40,000, which one is the real war here?