Sam Brownback on Sudan: Credit Where Credit is Due
I’m doing some research at the moment on a beating death of a Sudanese refugee in Melbourne. Though an Australian citizen, the framing by the press largely concerned the ‘refugee problem’ in Australia, etc., etc.
Now firmly behind the 8-ball, I’ve been doing journal research for about the last three hours. Just as I was about to call it a day (or, rather, call it a dinner and then study more at the Standard), I saw an article by S. Brownback.
And wouldn’t you know it, the Senator from Kansas wrote an article for Mediterranean Quarterly in 1999 condemning the situation in Sudan, calling it a ‘genocide’:
If I bring anything to the debate on Sudan, I hope it is the ability to sound the alarm regarding the crimes against humanity and the genocide practiced by the government of Sudan. Please note my lack of polite phrasing–this is deliberate. Our failure to use the word genocide against Rwanda in 1994 helped facilitate the deaths of a reported eight hundred thousand people within a short, three-month period, even as we watched these events unfold on CNN. We should not make this mistake again.
It’s almost as if he isn’t evil just because I disagree with most of what he says. I know rationally this can’t be the case but… maybe I’m just hungry. Yesterday I had laksa with a side of mild food poisoning. Here’s hoping food w/o sickness will put my head back on straight.
* - In fairness, Brownback wrote an op-ed for the NYT explaining his stance on evolution and creation, lamenting the that in our ’sound-bite political culture, it is unrealistic to expect that every complicated issue will be addressed with the nuance or subtlety it deserves.’ I don’t agree with his views, but his justified lament gets the link.
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