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Author Topic: Darfur  (Read 3117 times)
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LouiseVargas
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« on: October 06, 2006, 11:20:04 PM »

The same thing that happened in Rwanda is happening in Darfur. I know for certain it has been going on for over one year and a half. No one is doing anything about it.

Here is a review I wrote about the movie "Hotel Rwanda" on May 26, 2005. When this movie came out, the genocide in Darfur was happening and nothing was being done. This month George Clooney and others spoke out about Darfur but why did it take so long? Still, nothing is being done. Anderson Cooper is reporting about it but nothing is being done.

Hotel Rwanda is a haunting, terrifying, emotional and important film. The history of Rwanda is quite complex so I've included a link to the history at the bottom of this post.

In 1994, civil war broke out in the African country of Rwanda between the ruling Hutu tribe and the oppressed Tutsis. During one hundred terrifying days, nearly one million people died in a horrific genocide, as the ruling members of the Hutu tribe began a calculated effort to wipe out the Tutsi minority. Some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in Rwanda and the slaughter was compounded by the fact that in an era of high-speed communication and round-the-clock news, the world stood silently by and looked away and did nothing to intervene. The events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. United Nations peacekeepers were sent there but their power was negligible because they were not allowed to shoot in spite of all the violence and they feared for their own lives in the chaotic situation they were faced with.

This is one of the best movies I've ever seen and focuses on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, the Hutu manager of a posh hotel, who saved 1,268 Tutsis from the genocide by granting them shelter in his hotel. His wife is from the rival Tutsi tribe. (The real hotelier, who is still alive, served as a consultant to the movie.) Hotel Rwanda is much more focused on story of an intuitive and brilliant hotel manager who saved lives rather than the story of the genocide, although plenty of the genocide was shown.

Paul Rusesabagina played magnificently by Don Cheadle, was the manager of the Hotel Mille Collines, a four-star Belgian-owned resort in Kigali, Rwanda, which was an oasis of sophistication and decorum. Paul was trained in Belgium and was very adept at servicing the needs and egos of the rich and powerful, both European and Rwandan. He's efficient, calm, soft spoken and able to think on his feet when it comes to knowing which suitcase should have an extra bottle of scotch or who to give a Cuban cigar to. He understands that to get the imported beer he needs, a bribe must take place. He is a man of quiet, steady competence in a time of chaos. He has stashes of scotch, money, Cuban cigars, everything possible you can imagine because he knows that such commodities cannot be measured in cash. He becomes an expert on situational ethics. He understands that his guests are accustomed to luxury, which must be supplied even here in a tiny central African nation wedged against Tanzania, Uganda and the Congo. He is as adept as a diplomat.

He tried to stay out of the local politics and tried to do the right thing, at whatever the cost. At first, he was reluctant to realize the enormity of the genocide. Then came the assassination of the Rwandan president in 1994 and a clash between the tribes began anew. After a horrible night wherein Hutu gangs arrived to trash his house and family, Paul offers up a bribe of thousands of French francs (which are in the hotel safe) in exchange for the family to be allowed to escape to the hotel. He hides his family, extended family and many other refugees (and many children from a Red Cross orphanage) in rooms of his hotel. While being scared to death of the Hutus on one hand, he is able to maintain his cool and uses his abilities as a manager to keep a massacre from happening at the Hotel. He has spent years storing up goodwill and now he calls in favors. Paul Rusesabagina informs the corporate headquarters in Brussels of the growing tragedy, but the hotel in Kigali is not the chain's greatest concern. He uses his skills of bribery, flattery, apology and deception time after time to save the lives who have come into his care.

Cheadle's character intuitively understands that only by continuing to act as a hotel manager can he achieve anything. The hotel is hardly functioning, the economy has broken down, the country is ruled by anarchy, but he puts on his suit and tie every morning and fakes business as usual -- even on a day he is so frightened, he cannot tie his tie.

I highly recommend this movie. It gives us much to think about. I was fascinated every single minute. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Rwanda
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Carnut
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« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2006, 11:44:22 PM »

I saw the Darfur situation discussed on FOX news earlier today.

Seemed that consensus was that Sadam had killed a million or so of his folks in actions against rivals, kurds and the war against Iran, so Bush went to war against him with a lot of Okee Dokees in congress from the Dems and now look at what the Dems have to say.

It was a consensus on the show that if he took the US into Darfur and the situation didn't go the way the Dems wanted the White House would just get blamed again for the folly of war.

Right now it appears that a bigger problem is Iran and N. Korea developing weapons that can kill a lot more folks than what are dieing in Darfur.

Also the folks doing the killing in Darfur are Muslims, just what would the Muslim world do if the US went after some more Muslim folks in a war?
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LouiseVargas
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« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2006, 12:08:09 AM »

I listened to FOX news from 11 a.m. ongoing even now, and I pay close attention.

I did not hear that Muslims are doing the killing in Darfur. I'm not disputing it, I must have missed it. That complicates the situation enormously.

Do you think we can do anything to make the Muslims hate us even more? I don't think so.

Doing something about this would generate a lot of world good will and eclipse - for a moment - the weapons.
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Carnut
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« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2006, 12:26:44 AM »

Well, here's a report of Bush saying the UN should send in peacekeepers.

Seems like the Dems wanted the UN to handle everything with peacekeepers.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214054,00.html

The government of Sudan (Muslim) is fighting rebel forces in Darfur.

The president of Sudan has blamed, as most all Muslim leaders do, that the Jews/Israel is behind the fighting so that Israel can get to Sudan's oil wells.
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LouiseVargas
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« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2006, 01:14:47 AM »

Why does the press not report on the real facts? I'm angry that "More than 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and over 2 million have fled their homes since 2003 when ethnic African tribes revolted against the Arab-led government - the government is accused of unleashing brutal Arab militiamen known as janjaweed in the remote western province."



READ THIS ONE: http://americandaily.com/article/15911

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=11130
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Carnut
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« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2006, 02:01:52 AM »

Guess you could say that the current administration is more interested in defending the US from terrorists and rogue governments that are out to get us more than trying to help folks who appear to be in a civil war and not a threat to the US.
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