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U.S.
Needs to Save Darfur Now |
Posted:
07.20.07
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Shannon Mason, a rising 11th grader at Manchester High School,
in Connecticut believes that the United States needs to intervene
more directly in the crisis in Darfur to prevent the loss of more
innocent lives.
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 The
"Save Darfur" campaign has been circulating quickly
throughout the United States. Signs have been posted on front
lawns, school-based activist organizations have been founded,
and protests against what some believe is inaction by the U.S.
government have been held.
Yet, the tragedy in Sudan still continues today. Men, women,
and children are suffering each day in the Darfur region. Whole
villages have been destroyed and deserted. Women cannot leave
their homes due to the threat of murder and rape. The situation
is one of the worst genocides of our time. But it is not the first.
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Not the first
genocide |
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The Holocaust throughout Europe during World War II, the killing
of millions of people in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s,
and the mass extermination of hundreds of thousands of ethnic
Tutsis and moderate Hutu in Rwanda in 1994 are three of the most
commonly referenced genocides.
In each of these situations, the world refused to interfere until
too many innocent lives had already been taken. And after each,
the world rendered statements promising to "never again"
allow these atrocities to occur. But now, as we are watching these
murders happen before our very own eyes yet again, we are doing
nothing to prevent it.
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The argument
against intervention is wrong |
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Our government is hiding behind the pretense that the Sudanese
government is opposed to foreign intervention. But were the Nazis
receptive to the Allies' intrusion? The U.S. government has imposed
sanctions on the Sudanese government but refuses to send reinforcements
to the victims of the Darfur region, even though the small numbers
of peacekeepers stationed in the region are having obvious difficulty
maintaining the peace.
President George Bush and his administration have told our citizens
that the price of such an invasion would be too great. In my opinion,
an invasion against a foreign country to find weapons of mass
destruction without evidence proving they exist would also be
too costly. However, we did attack one such country and we continue
to occupy it.
In Darfur, the media has already uncovered the cruel realties
that exist in the country. This motive is far greater and more
justified than the basis we had for entering Iraq. Is there any
amount of money in the world that should not be used to save innocent
people? Why are we continuing to stand idle at the foothold of
the next Holocaust?
Already, as many as 450,000 people have been murdered by the
infamous "Janjaweed" rebels. There are indications that
it is just the beginning of the ruthless murders if we do not
stop this vicious slaughter.
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The U.S.
must act |
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Our great country is a world superpower. We alone have the ability
to protect and defend not only ourselves, but the rest of the
world. If we rally behind this cause, the rest of the world will
follow. It is the U.S. who must act before it's too late, before
another country is hurled onto this dangerous path that so many
have already journeyed upon. A journey that allows them to dehumanize
their fellow citizens. A journey that ends in genocide.
There is no more denying that the occurrences in Darfur are indeed
a genocide. Too many innocent lives have been taken to let these
atrocities continue any longer. The U.S. must act to stop these
heinous murders before the very basis and moral center of our
society is shattered.
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Shannon Mason, who will be a junior at Manchester High School
in Connecticut in the fall, became passionate about Darfur earlier
this year while writing a research paper on the International
Criminal Court and the need to prosecute criminals who violate
human rights.
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American schools and financial aid should be only for legal citizens of the United States. There should be no exceptions to this.
