http://www.nypost.com/seven/04062009/postopinion/editorials/cheering_the_butcher_of_sudan_163079.htm President Obama took office de termined to reach out to the Arab world. He might begin by educating those states on the continuing humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
That's because Arab leaders, meeting in Qatar at their annual summit last week, made it clear that they believe Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is being persecuted by the West.
Bashir, of course, was indicted last month by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The indictment charges he has played an "essential role" in the six-year binge of murder, rape, torture and starvation in the Darfur region of western Sudan that already has killed more than 200,000 and displaced some 2.5 million others.
Most of the West has decried the mayhem while doing little about it.
Obama, in particular, has been outspoken on the carnage. And he's encouraged by hawks like Vice President Joe Biden, who last year called for the immediate use of "American force" in the country.
But the Arab leaders in Qatar greeted Bashir like a conquering hero, even as Obama was calling on him to allow humanitarian-aid groups back into Sudan.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denounced the ICC's "weak pretexts about fabricated crimes committed by Sudan."
Other Arab despots vowed to "halt the implementation of the [arrest] warrant."
Of course, there's a good reason why these rulers back Sudan's butcher.
As former Kuwaiti cabinet minister Sad al-Ajmi put it, "They don't want to open the door to an international tribunal of any kind that will open the file of any crimes they committed against humanity." That's no surprise.
AND THIS WAS LAST WEEK IN THE WASHINGTON POST EVERYONE IS DISCOVERING THE QURANRODENTS
http://jtf.org/forum_english/index.php/topic,33614.0.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR2009033103148.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter In Defense of Genocide
An Arab summit embraces the butcher of Darfur
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Wednesday, April 1, 2009; Page A20
FOR DECADES, summit meetings of the Arab League have resounded with rhetoric about the alleged "double standards" of the West in enforcing U.N. resolutions or respecting international law. No communique of the group -- including the one issued from its summit this week in Doha, Qatar -- has been complete without a demand that conflicts be resolved "within the framework of international legitimacy."
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So it was interesting to see what else was in the latest statement issued by the kings, princes and authoritarian presidents of the Middle East and North Africa. First there was a call on "the international community to prosecute those responsible" for alleged "war crimes" committed by Israel in its recent offensive in Gaza. Then came an ardent defense of Sudanese dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir -- who was welcomed to the Doha summit despite an outstanding arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court on multiple war crimes charges.
"We stress our solidarity with Sudan and our rejection of the decision" of the ICC, said the communique, which Mr. Bashir welcomed in a bombastic address to the summit plenary. Leader after leader declared fealty. "We must also take a decisive stance of solidarity alongside fraternal Sudan and President Omar al-Bashir," said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Abbas is hoping that the Obama administration will pressure Israel to stop building "illegal" settlements in the West Bank; the next time he utters the phrase "double standard" in the presence of a U.S. diplomat, we suggest a query about Mr. Bashir.
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To be sure, some human rights groups have alleged crimes by Israeli forces in Gaza. But, according to Palestinian accounts, 1,409 people were killed during the offensive, of whom a substantial number were armed Hamas fighters. In contrast, the United Nations has reported more than 300,000 civilian deaths in Darfur as a result of the genocidal campaign sponsored by Mr. Bashir. Scores of villages have been systematically burned, and thousands of women systematically raped. Mr. Bashir responded to the ICC's arrest warrant last month by expelling international aid groups from Darfur. The result has been growing food and water shortages and new epidemics, according to the Enough Project.
To their credit, a coalition of Middle East human rights groups urged the summit leaders not to protect Mr. Bashir. "There should be no immunity for those who have committed crimes," said the Arab Coalition for Darfur. Predictably, the unelected rulers -- several of whom could themselves be vulnerable to charges of crimes against humanity -- ignored the appeal. If the Obama administration and the rest of the civilized world needed further demonstration of why the promotion of democracy and human rights must be central to any policy for the Middle East, Omar Bashir's reception in Doha ought to suffice
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