Comments on: Questions for Aaron Brown

By: Professor Peter

Professor Peter — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:57:04 +0000

To Paul #36.I don’t know what SFU is,but my website http://www.drbechtold.com has a contact space at the bottom.

By: Diana

Diana — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:34:40 +0000

I’ve missed you, Aaron. Especially on the anniversary of 9/11, the day you comforted me while I waited to hear if my niece was in the Twin Towers when they went down. (She wasn’t. She’d called in sick that day.)

I’ve missed the news, too, especially now that cable is all politics all the time (sans issues) and the rest of the world has ceased to exist.

So rest assured…I’ll be there for each and every episode of Wide Angle. My question about the Darfur episode is the same as Lynn’s: what is China’s interest in Sudan?

Welcome back!

Diana

By: Nancy Carothers

Nancy Carothers — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:03:20 +0000

Aaron, I just discovered you are doing Wide Angle. Although I missed it yesterday, I will be sure to see the next one because you are the best!! I’m so happy you are back on television! See you next week!

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:05:37 +0000

Professor Peter,

Thanks very much for your comments. Wish I knew how to get ahold of you. Would like to see your material. This is clutching at a straw, but are you per chance from SFU?

By: Lynn G.

Lynn G. — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:18:28 +0000

Aaron, welcome “home” to television :) It’s simply splendid to see you on air again!

My questions:
- what exactly is the Chinese interest in Sudan (as opposed to any other oil producing country)?
- who is normally the counter-balance to China?
- what would/could the Sudanese government do if non-Africans were part of the UN contingent?
- who or what is holding up the assignment of the full complement of soldiers to the UN?
- given the total international silence on this, what is the underlying issue that is preventing nations from getting involved? What is Sudan bringing to the table that makes it worthwhile to look the other way on the topic of Darfur?

Thanks for being on the air again, and congratulations on an excellent first episode :) I’m going to enjoy this summer interlude!

By: Pam

Pam — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:57:24 +0000

This interview/report was so informative. I felt I had a much greater understanding of what role the Sudanese government and China play in this horrific situation.
It was so very good to see Aaron Brown again.
Thank you.

By: Harry Vann Phillips

Harry Vann Phillips — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:59:15 +0000

During my first visit to Darfur in October 2004 the size of the Abu Shouk camp outside El Fasher was about 25,000 people or so. On my second visit in March 2005 the camp seemed to have doubled in size. On my last visit in December in 2005 Abu Shouk had become a small urban center.

What a difference from the Zam Zam camp on the other side of El Fasher. Zam Zam is/was a collection of ramshackle make shift dwellings built out of whatever material was available. In comparison, Abu Shouk looked like a pristine arrangement…which of course it is not.

Many people in Darfur have died or been displaced. The tragedy is that the power to prevent this travesty resides with the government in Khartoum. It is a lack of political will on the part of civilian and military leadership in Khartoum and also on the part of the rebel groups that most significantly contributes to this ongoing debacle. In the meantime, the people of Darfur suffer.

Thank you for an excellent report.

By: Fred Albuquerque

Fred Albuquerque — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:50:10 +0000

Welcome Back, Aaron Brown. My wife and I missed you, your professional journalism and balanced approach. When we saw you were returning, from an article in the Times, we made sure we were there to watch your first appearance. We hope your time in Arizona was productive for you. We would have enjoyed listening to you in person. Thank you for bringing your sincere and calm intelligence, once again, to the public’s attention. We are avid viewers of PBS broadcasts and will continue to watch Wide-Angle. Our sister-in-law, Jane Wells is an active participant in bringing Darfur to the forefront of the world’s problems. We wish you conintued success with PBS and again, it is so refreshing to see you again. Thank you.

By: Professor Peter

Professor Peter — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:35:25 +0000

To Aaron Brown: If you want some better,or different, sources than N.Kristof,pls contact me.You have my e-mail; I will be happy to provide my website.thanks.

By: Professor Peter

Professor Peter — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:31:40 +0000

I am an academic specialist on Sudan of over 40 years–yes,we do exist although we are few. The program HEART of DARFUR deserves a B-,not bad,but would have scored higher had the killings of UN peacekeepers,the infighting among tribes and sub-tribes, the competition over land been more detailed,and in the active voice,as in,the UN troops and World Food Program trucks have been attacked by splinter rebel groups”,instead of the impression left e.g.”Janjaweed”.
I am quite disappointed, but not surprised, that Nick Kristof continues to have a forum for his highly misinformed stories which have evolved into a campaign with nation-wide followings.He is discredited not only among academic specialists but in the international community because he has taken a few incidents–very serious ones–and generalized without ever understanding the larger context. Consider this: Not a single country in The Americas,Asia,Europe and Africa agrees that there is genocide in Darfur.Don’t you think that at least one African country out of 53 besides Sudan would speak up if Arabs,or Arab “Janjaweed”, were massacring African villagers in Darfur?? I was recently in two IDP camps in Darfur,incl.one featured in your program. The quality of life is similar to,and superior in some cases, to village life in other parts of Sudan.Most residents will not return to their former homes in outlying areas which have none of the amenities in the camps, e.g.water, food,clinics,schools.Un-fortunately, the SAVE DARFUR campaign, which has raised $15 million in 2006 yet spent not one dollar in Darfur but only on Political Action has been quite successful in spreading misinformation.If anyone on this blog is genuinely interested in learning more about the 80-105 different tribes in Darfur,their religious and economic lives, the history of the conflicts,relationships to other actors, I will be happy to speak to your school or church group.The administrator will have my e-mail address.

By: Cherie Tiffany

Cherie Tiffany — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:17:00 +0000

Thank you Wide Angle for bringing this most desperate situation in Darfur to the airwaves.

Sad to say that too many will not have watched preferring to view America’s Got Talent or some other mind numbing drivel.

I wonder how anyone could watch this and hear of parent’s having to send their young children off to fetch water guarded by the Janjaweed because the men would be killed and the women raped if they went, without an incredible sense of outrage and sadness. My fear is some will see the pictures of the women smiling, making pots and say “well, this is all left wing propaganda…see these women don’t have it so bad”. Kind of that Barbara Bush mentality when she made the comment after Hurricane Katrina that “these people in the Superdome are really better off than they were before”

I was wondering if that was a thought as you brought this story to the air? Also, how much approval did the Government have over what was filmed/shown? I can imagine your filming was strictly limited to “what they wanted you to see.”

Nice to see you back on the air, by the way, Mr. Brown.

By: Shannon Adams

Shannon Adams — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:20:30 +0000

I’m just glad to see Aaron Brown back on the air after the required absence.
It seems the mainstream media have left Darfur behind for the story du jour.
It’s sickening to hear the stories of the refugees, mostly women and children, it is heartbreaking.
Where are the critical thinkers of the world who can unravel this tortured mess and help bring peace to the innocents who are as usual, enduing the most torture and suffering?
Who will exert the patient and persistent pressure needed to change the way the government and its agencies operate? Africa? The United Nations? The European Union? The United States?
Welcome Back, Mr. Brown. You were sorely missed, yessir.

By: Georgette

Georgette — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:20:21 +0000

Don’t have any questions regarding the issues in Darfur but I feel for people who have to suffer this way. I honestly wish I can help, but how?
Good program, well done Aaron. See you next week, and the next, and the next… Hurray, he’s back!

By: Annie Jones

Annie Jones — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:09:02 +0000

This is a response to Sam, the first & last commenter, who complains about media & others not looking past the surface. Sam, I wonder why you are angrily focused on where some Darfuris obtain weapons or skills with which to defend themselves but you do not ask where the Sudanese govt. or the janjaweed have obtained enough weapons, and training, to kill millions of southern Sudanese for more than 20 years and hundreds of thousands of Darfuris and thousands of Chadians during the last 5+ years. Your words and tone sound like you are in the camp of those who believe that, in essence, there is no genocide or land-grab in Darfur – that this is a cover for the CIA to topple the Arab govt. of al-Bashir. You also did not ask where the rebels got the weapons or intelligence to literally almost topple the govt. of Chad in January, causing massive death, destruction & displacement in a capital seeming protected by the French.
Based upon Sam’s second comments, I hope he is not saying that, if a small group of, for example, Italians, decided to attack one site [such as the small group of Darfuris who attacked an airport in 2003, leading the govt. to respond with a scorched-earth policy against all native Darfuris]
that he would understand the American govt. responding by seeking to annihilate all Italians and Italian-centered towns. Further, Sam is giving JEM a lot of credit if he thinks they “almost sacked Khartoum”: the main fighting, which was insignificant, was in a suburb, Omdurman, and the quantity of govt. soldiers or sites harmed was insignificant even if notin comparison to number of JEM killed and captured (apart from the illegal sweep-arrests of Darfuri residents of Khartoum who were not involved). The fact that JEM dared to venture toward Khartoum does not mean they considered themselves sufficiently forceful to take the capital. My understanding from people in the area is that there are independent weapons dealers permitted to operate in the Chad airport & not necessarily aligned with a specific country, who are making a fortune selling weapons to the highest bidders. My concern about Aaron Brown is that the show did not mention the fact that the UNAMID forces have almost no training, weapons, helicopters or bases.