Darfur- the real story!

AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to Darfur. President Bush has ordered new sanctions to be placed on the Sudanese government for its role in the violence in Darfur. Last week's announcement blocks thirty-one companies tied to the Sudanese government from using the US banking system.
The sanctions were seen as a victory for the Save Darfur Coalition, a US group leading a vocal campaign pressuring the White House to take action. But the New York Times reported Saturday some of Save Darfur's public efforts have angered aid groups working on the ground in Sudan. The aid groups say Save Darfur's call for imposing a
no-flight zone could lead to a halt in aid flights and put their workers at risk. Aid groups have also criticized Save Darfur for not spending its multi-million dollar budget on aid to Darfur's refugees.
Mahmood Mamdani is one of the world's most prominent Africa scholars. Earlier this year, he wrote a major piece for the London Review of Books called “The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency.” He was born in Uganda and now splits his time between Uganda and New York, where he is a professor at Columbia University. Mahmood Mamdani stopped by our firehouse studio Friday. I began by asking him about the name of his article, “The Politics of Naming.”
MAHMOOD MAMDANI: I think the larger question is the names -- genocide, in particular -- come into being against a background of the twentieth century and mass slaughter of the twentieth century, and particularly the Holocaust. And against that background, Lemkin convinced the international community, and particularly states in the international community, have an obligation to intervene when there is genocide. He’s successful in getting the international community to adopt a resolution on this.
Then follows the politics around genocide. And the politics around genocide is, when is the slaughter of civilians a genocide or not? Which particular slaughter is going to be named genocide, and which one is not going to be named genocide? So if you look at the last ten years and take some examples of mass slaughter -- for example, the mass slaughter in Iraq, which is -- in terms of numbers, at least -- no less than what is going on in Sudan; or the mass slaughter in Congo, which, in terms of numbers, is probably ten times what happened, what has been happening in Darfur. But none of these have been named as genocide. Only the slaughter in Darfur has been named as genocide. So there is obviously a politics around this naming, and that’s the politics that I was interested in.
AMY GOODMAN: And what do you think this politics is?
MAHMOOD MAMDANI: Well, I think that what’s happening is that genocide is being instrumentalized by the biggest power on the earth today, which is the United States. It is being instrumentalized in a way that mass slaughters which implicate its adversaries are being named as genocide and those which implicate its friends or its proxies are not being named as genocide. And that is not what Lemkin had in mind.

AMY GOODMAN: The simplifying of the conflict by the US media, you write extensively about this, who the sides are.
MAHMOOD MAMDANI: Well, I was struck by the fact -- because I live nine months in New York and three months in Kampala, and every morning I open the New York Times, and I read about sort of violence against civilians, atrocities against civilians, and there are two places that I read about -- one is Iraq, and the other is Darfur -- sort of constantly, day after day, and week after week. And I’m struck by the fact that the largest political movement against mass violence on US campuses is on Darfur and not on Iraq. And it puzzles me, because most of these students, almost all of these students, are American citizens, and I had always thought that they should have greater responsibility, they should feel responsibility, for mass violence which is the result of their own government's policies. And I ask myself, “Why not?” I ask myself, “How do they discuss mass violence in Iraq and options in Iraq?” And they discuss it by asking -- agonizing over what would happen if American troops withdrew from Iraq. Would there be more violence? Less violence? But there is no such agonizing over Darfur, because Darfur is a place without history, Darfur is a place without politics. Darfur is simply a dot on the map. It is simply a place, a site, where perpetrator confronts victim. And the perpetrator’s name is Arab, and the victim’s name is African. And it is easy to demonize. It is easy to hold a moral position which is emptied of its political content. This bothered me, and so I wrote about it.
continued on: democracy now

more on Darfur at: Darfur? It's the Oil, Stupid ... China and USA in New Cold War over Africa's Oil Riches

Pakistani President Musharraf

President Pervez Musharraf Family interview:
President Pervez Musharraf Family interview

Musharraf thrilled by student
Musharraf thrilled by student Part 1

Musharraf answers the student
Student thrilled by Musharraf Part 2

IBN KHALDUN

Ibn Khaldun is the most important figure in the field of History and Sociology in Muslim History. He is one of those shining stars that contributed so richly to the understanding of Civilization. In order for one to understand and appreciate his work, one must understand his life. He lived a life in search of stability and influence. He came from a family of scholars and politicians and he intended to live up to both expectations. He would succeed in the field of Scholarship much more so than in any other field.

More at

Allama Iqbal

my all time favorite poet philosopher, allama iqbal

Iqbal is the best articulated Muslim response to Modernity that the Islamic world has produced in the 20th century. His response has three dimensions:

A creative engagement with the conceptual paradigm of modernism at a sophisticated philosophical level through his prose writings, mainly his The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam which present his basic philosophic insights

His Urdu and Persian poetry which is the best embodiment of poetically mediated thought, squarely in the traditional continuity of Islamic literature and perhaps the finest flowering of wisdom poetry, or contemplative poetry or inspired poetry in the modern times.

As a political activist/ social reformer― rising up to his social responsibility, his calling at a critical phase of history.

A buck snoozing in Wednesday’s heat seems to be too low in spirits to bother about the crowing crow. — Photo by Ishaque Chaudhry of dawn

picture of the day

RAWALPINDI - May 15: A boy feeling too hot to keep his shirt on quenches his thirst at a tap in Rawalpindi where the temperature was 40 degrees on Tuesday. — Photo by Tanveer Shahzad of http:dawn

Statement from Johnny Wave:

9/11 Truthers,

First off, thank you all, for what I learned of each person's bold
responsibilities they have taken for this movement. I have nothing but
gratitude for everyone.

May 11th was a great beginning for me, and I look forward to much more.
It was great to experience a team that held my back while service member after service member tried their best to attack us. Each person who approached with negativity was ushered away by facts, and personal responsibilities. I've never actually been so proud of a group of people I had never met. I purposely pushed the envelope by wearing my uniform,knowing that I was still under contract of the Marine Corps' IRR. But it was a statement that had to be made, and I look forward to making it again.

Something that I wanted you all to know is the reactions I received from every astonished service member after they calmed down. The first person to walk up and tell me this movement would leave a black mark on my life, later admitted that he greed with more of our beliefs than he could admit. (Air Force Officer) The second Marine simply told me "you can't do this yet."....yet. The third Marine took my number and later called me with two other Marine Corps Officers to inform me that I was facing a dishonorable discharge, but also saying that I was an outstanding individual and more people needed to voice their opinions to stop this war. The fourth Lt. Col. actually gave me ideas to continue this march after three 9/11Truthers jumped down his throat in protection of our 1st Amendment.

Everyone did an outstanding job! Thank you very much.

I'll see you all soon,
Johnny Wave