If you have not connected with the Save Darfur folks you should at www.savedarfur.org. Genocide is genocide. Not acting in some way makes us a party to it. I hate to put it like that, but there it is. Do something, whatever you want. But if you feel comfortable with the Save Darfur people, they make it easy to do a little something with e-letters and phone calls, that sort of thing.
This is their press release for the Phone Call Day.
Note: if you put your phone on automatic re-dial you'll get through.ÂÂ
This recent story from the BBC says it all:
"Aid agencies and the EU [European Union] have warned Darfur is teetering on the brink of catastrophe and have called for urgent efforts to bolster the peace process."
That is why we are organizing a nationwide call-in day TODAY to request that President Bush appoint a Special Envoy to oversee the United States’ involvement in stopping the Darfur genocide.
Call President Bush today at 202-456-1111 and ask him to appoint a Special Envoy for Sudan of "high rank and stature."
Making your call is easy. When you dial the White House you will speak to a communications coordinator who will take down your comments and then pass them on to the president’s advisers.
Let’s flood the White House with calls and make it clear there are hundreds of thousands of Americans calling on President Bush to do more to stop the Darfur genocide.
I just spread the word to MWU and Naseeb.com. Yes, I know, both areÂÂ
filled with slackers, but I'm hoping that someone will notice and care
enough to call.ÂÂ
Thanks Nakia!
You know, I wonder if people realize how easy it is to contact congresspeople, senators, the white house, etc. They actually log all these calls and e-mails.
Someone who worked in Congress told me that their offices check to see if the comment came from 1. a constiuent, and 2. if that constiuent voted in the last election and in previous elections. If the constiuent voted in 3 consecutive elections, that person is "gold" and their opinions are given heavy weight in considering how one's community would like one to handle a particular issue. Don't let it just be the old folks, we should be in there and be active. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
Can I email George Bush? I don't have the bucks to waste on a transnational phone call.
Yeehaw, yah little missie
you can write me or clickity-clack on the computer thingy to reach me at comments@whitehouse.gov
They don't let me touch computers but somebody reads the messages to me.
My other contact info is here
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contac
>>1. a constiuent, and 2. if that constiuent voted in the last election and in previous elections. If the constiuent voted in 3 consecutive elections,
I'm filing that one in the top drawer for near-future reference...
- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.
Laury Silvers:
Are you happy with the United States’ actions in
other African regions? What do think of what the
United States has done in Haiti? I will not go
through the history of U.S.-African relations here,
but you can read this report about the U.S.
militarization of Africa.
href="http://worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/congo.htm"
It's a long report so I'll just quote the report's findings here:
Finding 1 – Due to the continuing legacies of its
Cold War policies toward Africa, the U.S. bears some responsibility for the cycles of violence and
economic problems plaguing the continent.
Finding 2 – The ongoing civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) is a prime
example of the devastating legacy of U.S. arms sales policy on Africa
Finding 3 – Although the Clinton administration has
been quick to criticize the governments involved
in the Congo War, decades of U.S. weapons transfers and
continued military training to both sides of the
conflict have helped fuel the fighting.
Finding 4 – Despite the failure of U.S. polices in
the region, the current administration continues to
respond to Africa’s woes by helping to strengthen
African militaries.
Finding 5 – Even as it fuels military build-up,
the U.S. continues cutting development assistance
to Africa and remains unable (or unwilling) to
promote alternative non-violent forms of engagement.
WHen I mentioned these things to someone else, he
asked should we just sit around and do nothing. My
answer is we should be trying to stop the actions
the United States has taken part to instigate and
fuel wars in Africa.
A note about the civil war between Northern and
Southern Sudan:
The Western media often claimed that Southern Sudan
was predominatly Christian. The matter of fact is
Southern Sudan is predominantly animist/traditional religions, with a minority of Muslims and Christians.
The United States, Europe, and Israel only cared about having Christians (John Garang) represented in the Sudanese government, but not animists/traditionalists
represented in the government. While mainstream
media talks about the Islamization/Arabization of
Sudan, their also needs to be a discussion of the
attempted Christianization of Sudan.
Oh, great a repost from an MWU forum troll, how original...
- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.
I think the word, "Troll," is akin to any other dismissive epithet that fails to deal with a person as a person, demeans and ultimately dehumanizes.
And to what effect? It just is an admission that one has no time, patience, interest or capability to respond to an opposing view.
Dr. Z.
Do you mean it was just as dismissive as his dismissal of the author's posting about Safe Darfur day...?? Anyway, who said that responding to nonsense is warranted in an orderly fashion as you seem to want? I didn't...
- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.
I understand there is a difference of agreement with respect to what is happening in the Sudan. Note my careful use of words in my post. If one feels comfortable with the Save Darfur group, then they might want to call the President today. RJ, you are free to write and call the President and your representatives and say what you feel is correct. Save Darfur is the most widely acknowledged group working to stop genocide in the Sudan and includes people from all sides of the religious and political spectrum, including those who take divergent viewpoints on just what is happening there. But all of them agree on one thing. It is a genocide and if we stand by we are a party to it. My position as well. It need not be yours. Thank you for your post. If you would like to comment again and provide links to websites and other resources that support your point you are more than welcome. This is a free speech zone and the truth will out.
Laury Silvers,
You completely missed the point of my previous comment. The United States has its own issue with perpetuating violence in Africa. The United States needs to clean up its own house before attempting to clean somebodies elses house. As I have written in my previous comment see the website
worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/congo.htm
The US is not perpetrating ethnic cleansing of people in Sudan. The Sudani government IS. THey do it because they want to, the same way that people in the Congo wanted to. Sure, let's not sell arms to them! Yet, they will get whatever they need on the blackmarket and the violence will continue, because the active perpetrators want to do it, no matter what America says. Surely, you're not saying that Africans have no free will and will only refrain from violence if America prevents it? Africans have agency, too. I hope they use it for thier own benefits.
- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.