"What's behind the crisis in Darfur?"

The province of Darfur in western Sudan is the newest global hot spot. All of a sudden our corporate media are full of reports by U.S. and UK-based human rights organizations alleging mass murder, rape and ethnic cleansing.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) have recently toured the region. The have called, in effect, for a "humanitarian intervention." U.S. and British imperialism, their hands still stained by Iraqi blood, are threatening to send in military troops.

The situation on the ground is certainly bad. Human rights groups suggest that, over the past year, thousands of people have been killed and more than 1 million people have been displaced in the region.

But wait a minute. How can we tell if the U.S. government and the mass media are telling us the truth about Sudan, when they lied to us about Iraq? Perhaps Washington and big business have another, less obvious agenda in Sudan.

The remoteness of Darfur, the small number of journalists inside the province, and the traditional Western demonization of the Sudan and Arabs generally — all these factors color mainstream news reports about the situation and should give us pause.

A better understanding of the crisis in Darfur requires an objective overview of the situation in the country and the region. It also requires looking at Washing-ton’s imperial ambitions in the world today.

Full Article : pww.org

Check out AfricaSpeaks.com Sudan's Crisis page at:
www.africaspeaks.com/articles/2004/sudan.html