Quote:
Originally Posted by x-factor
What do I think we should do about Darfur?
Initial Steps
- Sanctions on the Sudanese government
- Increased pressure on Chinese for supporting the Sudanese government
- Continued humanitarian aid to the south of the country
- Support to the African Union force to protect the refugee areas
If those don't garner results...
- Special operations to hunt down any janjaweed found within X miles of effected areas
- Embargo non-humanitarian commerce to and from Sudan (ie seizing Sudanese oil shipments to China)
Last resort...
- Support to partition the country (along the East Timor model)
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x-factor,
I'm with you, but we have already imposed sanctions against the Sudanese Government. The problem is that we aren't following it. I think it's important to note that all of the things described below happened in 1997 & 1998, and that a relationship between Bin Laden & Sudan was suspected even then. In spite of that, lobbyists managed to stop the sanction's effect by exempting the most profitable Sudanes export: gum arabic.
http://www.american.edu/TED/gumarab.htm
U.S. Sanctions Against the Sudan
1. The Issue
In late 1997, the US Congress passed into law a bill that placed economic sanctions on the country of Sudan. The United States decided to punish the Sudanese government, which the State Department declared is a "sponsor of terrorism and a relentless oppressor of its minority Christian population." The original bill was meant to terminate all commercial activities between the two countries, however, this did not come to fruition.
Though the Sudanese government has no active lobby in this country, while the bill made its way through committee, several lobbying groups made a sudden appearance and opposed outright passage of the bill. They did not oppose the sanctions as a whole, they took issue on the possible sanction of only one product, gum arabic.
2. Description
A substance that very few are aware of, but one that almost all Americans have come in contact with. Gum arabic, a derivative of the acacia tree, is an important ingredient in various products ranging from soda and candy to pharmaceuticals. Gum arabic's applications are wide spread, some typical applications are acting as an emulsifier, flavoring agent, and thickener in both food and pharmaceuticals. Gum arabic is also used in the newspaper and magazine printing process, allowing ink to better stick to the paper while keeping it from smearing, as well as protecting the printing plates from oxidation.
Gum arabic is used by a number of industries. When the companies that rely on it heavily realized that their primary source of gum arabic was about to be cut off, the lobbying groups that represent those US companies sprung into action – Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Mexico also export gum arabic, but Sudan is by far the largest exporter.
The result of the lobbying efforts was an exemption placed on gum arabic allowing companies to apply for a license which permits them to import gum arabic from Sudan.
In August 1998, the attention of Congress was again drawn to the economic sanctions placed on Sudan, due to an alleged relation of suspected terrorist financier, Osama bin Laden, to many Sudanese companies - including the Gum Arabic Company, one of the leading exporters of gum in Sudan.
However, most US companies claim that if there is indeed a relationship between Sudanese gum arabic exporters and Mr. bin Laden, they will cease all trade relations with those companies.
The reason why there is such a flap over gum arabic is because it is plentiful in Sudan; in fact gum arabic exports from Sudan compose 70 to 90 percent of the world's supply. The US alone imports 4,000 to 5,000 tons of gum arabic from Sudan, approximately US$9 million a year. In 1995, Sudan exported about US$54 million of gum arabic – about 11 percent of its total exports that year.
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It sounds like we'll need to move on to Step 2 through Step 4 right off the bat.
Bandy