Cholera Ruins Everything

In hopes of raising awareness about the reality of genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, Sam writes every Monday about a key issue in an attempt to stop the atrocity. Doing so may not bring about a wave of change, but it is a small ripple that represents the tide that needs turning. And today, he is pissed off.

From Reuters:

The number of cases of acute watery diarrhea has increased noticeably in the past four weeks, with outbreaks reported in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, as well as urban areas, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

Well, crap (no pun intended). It looks like when lots of people are forced from their homes while rebel militias rape and pillage, putting them all in one place with little access to clean water and healthy food leads to disease. Who knew?

Anyone who knows anything about science.

As I say nearly every Monday, the political finesse needed to get a lasting peace deal done is tricky. But, military power can secure borders in order for aid groups to distribute food and alleviate deteriorating medical conditions.

What is sad is that when people die from disease, their deaths will not usually figure into official body counts from the genocide. Never mind that these deaths ARE A RESULT OF THE GENOCIDE. If not for the government-backed Janjaweed, these folks would be living in their homes and not crammed with 50 others in a space smaller than my office.

Get a clue, America. Terrorism is happening right in front of our face and a few F-16s roaring overhead would scare the crap out of Khartoum enough so that they allows border access from Chad to prevent preventable diseases from breaking out in camps.

Thus, cholera is now also a tool of the Sudanese government, but is easily ignored because it's not as graphic as pitchforking newborns is.

Wake up and smell the dysentery, world.