Roanoke Times, VA
Jan 2 2007
Here’s how killings continue
Dick Baynton
Baynton lives in Cloverdale.
Referring to the situation in Darfur, Susan D. Blanding concludes her
op-ed piece ("How do we allow Darfur to continue," Dec. 22) with the
question, "For the love of God, how does one turn a blind eye to the
reality of deliberately perpetrated human suffering?"
There are no simple answers, but perhaps we can turn up some useful
information by reviewing history.
Armenia, with a land area slightly larger than Massachusetts and a
population a little less than Connecticut, was the first nation in
the world to adopt Christianity as its state religion in 301 A.D.
When Armenians pushed for more rights under the Ottoman Empire,
Sultan Abdul-Hamid II massacred from 80,000 to 300,000 people between
1894 and 1896 under his strict Muslim social system.
>>From 1915 to 1917, through state-sponsored mass killings or genocide,
another 650,000 to 1,500,000 Armenians were slaughtered. Turkish
authorities insist that the deaths were the result of civil war,
disease and famine.
The League of Nations, created in 1919 to prevent wars and to help
settle disputes between nations, was unable to prevent the demise of
about 6 million Jews and 3 million to 5 million other Europeans
between 1932 and 1945. The League of Nations was dissolved in 1946.
In March of 1988, Saddam Hussein attacked the Kurdish town of Halabja
with mustard gas and nerve agents, killing at least 5,000 people.
Following the Gulf War, uprisings by various groups in Iraq led to
the killing of an estimated 30,000 citizens of several ethnic groups.
Saddam gave $25,000 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
In the meantime, the United Nations discussed, debated and produced
resolutions and sanctions, all ignored by Saddam.
Darfur, in Sudan on the western border with Chad, is where trouble
started in 2003. Finally, in late August of 2006, the U.N. Security
Council approved Resolution 1706, calling for troops to be sent to
the Darfur region. The genocide continues where an estimated 400,000
or more people have been slaughtered.
Why did the French police round up and turn over to the Gestapo more
than 12,000 Jews, including about 4,000 children, in July of 1942?
Why do you suppose the Vichy government of France turned over the
names of 76,000 Jews to the Nazis starting in 1942? Why did Vidkun
Quisling of Norway immediately start collaborating with the Hitler
regime and provide 6,000 troops to fight on the eastern front during
World War II? Why did the League of Nations allow the mass execution
of millions of people?
Why has the United Nations missed opportunity after opportunity to
get tough with tyrannical leaders and rogue nations? Perhaps because
members relish living in New York, evading parking tickets and the
euphoria of debate about international issues.
The Nuremberg Trials of 1945-46 tried and found guilty many of
Hitler’s regime. Recently, Saddam was given a death sentence. But
these events of punishment occur after millions have died. A majority
of U.S. citizens are opposed to the Iraq war, probably because
Saddam’s torture and mass killings had no noticeable effect on our
daily lives.
Perhaps the answer to why nations don’t step up and take action when
they know atrocities are occurring in another country is the same
reason why some citizens don’t come forward when they witness a
crime: They don’t want to get involved. Another possible answer may
be: "Let somebody else do it."
The real answer is that some nations may value self-preservation at a
higher level than they treasure life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness for themselves and others.