Once a month, on the 27th, a campaign to remind us we are not alone.
A campaign, small at this time but sure to grow, in which a simple question is asked.
AM I NOT HUMAN
We can sit by an rationalize on how the Olympic games are about athletes, sportsmanship, and coming together. We can try to convince ourselves The Olympics, and where they are being held, have nothing to do with the the plight of those who are being obliterated by their own government.
Or we can think, and post, about those who are rarely treated as, and sometimes not even seen as, human.
We can admit, that by ignoring the humanitarian plights, (in the face of such as Darfur it is immoral to do so), looking other way while the host of the Olympics considers it’s relationship with Khartoum, it’s financial investment in Sudan’s oil and the selling of arms to Khartoum to to be economics, and no violation of human rights, we are complicit.
We also have to remember that the United states is the largest arms exporter in the world, true we have more arms manufacturers, so that must be taken into account, yet according to the latest data accessible to yours truly…
Largest Importers:
Greece
South Korea
China
India
UAE
Poland
Turkey
Israel
Venezuela
South Africa
Pakistan
Largest Suppliers:
USA
Russia
Germany
France
Netherlands
UK
Italy
Spain
Sweden
China
According to The World Security Institute,
“the United States is sending unprecedented levels of military assistance to countries that it simultaneously criticizes for lack of respect for human rights and, in some cases, for questionable democratic processes. As a foreign policy, this is confusing, short-sighted and potentially very dangerous. Once weapons are delivered to a country, it becomes increasingly difficult to control how they are used, and prevent them from being illicitly diverted anywhere in the world. While these countries are currently considered important to U.S. efforts in the “war on terror” now, political and military instability makes their continued allegiance to the United States questionable. Arming such countries to the hilt with top-of-the-line U.S. weaponry could allow them to target the United States, or its allies or to allow the weapons to fall in the hands of enemies of the United States. Selling arms for short-term political gains undermines long-term U.S national security and strategic interests. “
By selling arms to countries who then sell to countries which obliterate their own, we are no better than those who sell directly to those countries.
What kind of game do we play when we spend billions on humanitarian aid yet to not push with all our political might for the tracking and prosecution of those who committed crimes against humanity in Darfur?
A losing game.
crossposted at Darfur:An Unforgivable Hell on Earth
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Tags: human rights, news and opinion, Society
