At Home On Piety Hill

George Clooney, a card-carrying member of the compassion of the month club, has just figured out that there’s a problem in the Darfur region of Sudan. Memo to George: Sudan has been embroiled in civil strife and committing genocide for a real long time (like, about 100 years). You’re a little late to the party.

Poor George also seems to be unaware that his tribe is actively opposing the US efforts to bring an end to genocide and ethnic cleansing in Iraq, because they are in the middle of a civil war and it’s un-American to meddle in the internal affairs of sovereign nations — especially if George W. Bush is President. “But, wait!” counters George. “I’m calling for the United Nations to step up in Darfur, not the US.” Evidently, George is unaware that the UN is impotent and unable to accomplish anything (except rape, scandal and incompetence) without the US or NATO becoming directly involved. The US invaded Iraq to enforce UN resolution 1441, not to mention about a dozen previously flaunted resolutions and tons of sanctions. The Bosnian situation was spiraling out of control until the US and NATO gave in to the carping and whining of Europe, because they knew they couldn’t handle the problem on their own. Without the United States, the UN is a debate society and oasis for third-world dictators to enjoy all the things they deny their fellow countrymen back home.

On the other hand, the US was run out of Mogadishu by thugs and stood by during the genocide in Rwanda and the murderous civil war between northern and southern Sudan. Of course, that was during the ’90s when most of America thought the world was at peace with us and all those terrorist acts taking place were just unrelated law enforcement problems.

George Clooney and many in the US seem confused and need to make up their minds. Should the people of the US engage the world as a force for positive change or not? What factors determine where and when we use the might of our military? Finally, I want to know if it’s only okay for Presidents with a D after their name to launch cruise missles and commit troops or does that prerogative reside with Republican Presidents, too? As of today, I’m getting mixed signals from guys like George Clooney.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 22nd, 2006 at 5:49 am and is filed under Each and Every, Human Interest, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.