What About Darfur? ...The case against intervention

[fastpat]

May 1, 2006
What About Darfur?
The case against intervention
by Justin Raimondo

Whenever I speak on campus, I always get the "But what about Darfur?" question. This usually comes in tandem with the inevitable Holocaust question, which goes something like this: "Yes, I agree with your opposition to the Iraq war, and your anti-interventionist sentiments in general, but what about our moral responsibility to prevent another Holocaust?" This is usually accompanied by a paean to "the good war," i.e., World War II, and the assertion that "of course" we had to intervene (and not just because of Pearl Harbor).

I will spare the reader my detailed answer to enthusiasts of "the good war," except to say that if we hadn't intervened in World War II at precisely the moment Hitler turned on Stalin, the likelihood of the two totalitarian monsters destroying each other is a bit more than mere speculation. I will also note that the Holocaust, far from being prevented by World War II, was instead hastened and accelerated by the conflict. American intervention in the European war had nothing to do with the Holocaust, did nothing to prevent it, and may have worsened it.

In any case, to get back to the case of Darfur: my questioner, I should point out, is usually not some warmongering neocon, but the most well-meaning of all lefties, who is savagely critical of the neoconservative agenda of "democratizing" the Middle East at gunpoint, but, when it comes to Darfur, all discernment, all the lessons of the past, are thrown out the window, and emotions take over. It is like an alcoholic, who, after a long abstinence, quaffs a bit of wine, or has half a beer: after just a little sip, all caution is abandoned, and they find him the next day, passed out in the street.
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8922

[sammyg2]

Go watch blackhawk down, then book a vacation to Somalia.
You will see just how much our help and presence will be appreciated.
Hopefully we learned our lesson the last time.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by sammyg2
Go watch blackhawk down, then book a vacation to Somalia.
You will see just how much our help and presence will be appreciated.
Hopefully we learned our lesson the last time.

Number one, "we" weren't in Somalia, the US government was there. The Somali's didn't invite the US government to their country, a warlord did.

The posting about Dafur is in opposition to foreign intervention for any reason.

I support that position in its' entirety.

[john70t]

You have a consistent and extreme isolationist view, which I mostly agree with, but there are a few other factors to consider:

-Muslim attacks/massacres in SE Asia and North Africa are dramatically on the rise and is the fastest-growing religion.
Heck, even in France and Germany! The "west" has opened up to, and permanently incorporated, many other world cultures, but the same can't really be said anywhere else.

-Islamic states with oil are eventually going to get nukes from N.Korea, Russia, Pakistan or China. Someone will give to them out of spite for us, but still those states will have to be able to self-regulate and safely survive regime changes or it's mandatory marshmello time for all.

-the US becoming oil-independant would take control away from moderates over there, and a economic disaster would stir up the hornets in a second.

It would be better for the Islamists to fight it out themselves to maintain world stability. A Palistinian peace settlement would be an ace up the sleeve. It suddenly feels so small on this rock in space.