I had just finished reading a great article in The Sunday Times (Aug 24, 2008) by Simon Jenkins, entitled 'We tilt at windmills as world war looms' . He opened with the question "Is the world drifting towards a new global war?" I think so, and I agree with him that "there is no strategic justification for sitting American missiles in Poland". It is a MUST-READ.
Today, Monday August 25, 2008, the Sudan Tribune published the following report, 'Obama’s choice of Biden as VP is Sudan’s NCP worst nightmare' which seems to be a fair summary, in a nutshell, of what I saw Mr Biden saying on the four short MUST-SEE video clips (listed here below).
Obama’s choice of Biden as VP is Sudan’s NCP worst nightmare- - -
August 24, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese ruling National Congress Party (NCP) are likely to be very concerned by Barack Obama’s pick of Senator Joe Biden as his running mate.
The Democratic presidential contender made the announcement of Biden as his Vice President over the weekend ending weeks of speculation.
The NCP considers the Democratic Party generally hostile to them let alone a figure who was strong proponent of military intervention in the war ravaged region of Darfur.
Biden is the chairman of the foreign relations committee at the US senate and presided over many hearings discussing the situation in Darfur.
In April 2007 the aspiring presidential VP said that “it’s time to put force on the table and use it”.
Biden said that senior US military NATO officials in Europe told him that 2,500 U.S. troops could “radically change the situation on the ground [in Darfur]”.
The Delaware senator was also a co-sponsor for a resolution asking for a no-fly zone over Darfur and Sudan Divestment Authorization Act.
“It is within our power to clip their wings. Yes, a no fly zone could make it more difficult for humanitarian groups to operate – so we should do everything possible to design it with their concerns in mind” Biden said last year.
“This is incredible what is happening and I promise you, we will all going to sit here 5-10 years from now and ask ourselves why didn’t we do the things we can do? “ he told the former US special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios in a hearing last year.
In September 2004 the US, in a unilateral move, officially labeled the conflict in Darfur as genocide.
Khartoum denies genocide and blames the Western media for exaggerating the four-year-old Darfur conflict. European governments are reluctant to use the term. (ST)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Joe Biden, D-Del., listens to testimony by Andrew Natsios, the special US envoy to Sudan, not pictured, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 11, 2007 (AP)
Senate Hearing on Darfur
YouTube - Added: April 11, 2007 from JoeBidendotcom
Title: "Senate Hearing on Darfur - Senator Joe Biden asks why more has not been done to curb the genocide in Darfur. Biden outlines his strategy to end the violence and prevent another Hotel Rwanda"
URL - Views: 1,701 (as at Aug 26, 2008)
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Joe Biden Calls for Tougher Action on Darfur
YouTube - Added: April 13, 2007 from JoeBidendotcom
Title: "Joe Biden Calls for Tougher Action on Darfur - In an exchange with Andrew Natsios, President Bush's envoy to Sudan, US Senator Joe Biden argues that it is time to "stop the bleeding" in Darfur"
URL - Views: 3,586 (as at Aug 24, 2008)
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Joe Biden: Darfur
YouTube - Added: December 02, 2007 from iowacaucuses
Title: "Joe Biden: Darfur - Delaware US Senator and Democratic candidate for president Joe Biden met with The Des Moines Register's editorial board Tuesday, May 29. [2007] Biden answers a question about what the U.S. should do concerning Darfur"
URL - Views: 232 (as at Aug 24, 2008)
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Biden on Darfur at New Hampshire Debate (1 of 2)
YouTube - Added: June 03, 2007
Title: "Biden on Darfur at New Hampshire Debate (1 of 2) - Senator Biden makes an impassioned plea for United States intervention in Darfur. (1 of 2)"
URL - Views: 2,178 (as at Aug 24, 2008)
Hat tip: milkandcookies.com
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George Clooney and US Senator Barack Obama
Photo: Hollywood actor George Clooney (L) and US Senator Barack Obama at a press conference April 27 [2006] at the National Press Club in Washington to bring attention to the atrocities in Darfur and the rally. Click here for a video from CNN.
Source: Sudan Watch archive Saturday, April 29, 2006: Protestors at Sudanese Embassy, Washington - Massive rallying across the USA in protest of killings in Darfur'
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UPDATE Tuesday August 26, 2008:
Barack Obama on Darfur
YouTube - Added: November 26, 2007 from savedarfurcoalition
Title: "Barack Obama on Darfur - Barack Obama answers the Save Darfur Coalition's questions about his plan to end the genocide in Darfur"
URL - Views: 23,290 (as at Aug 26, 2008)
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UDATE Wednesday August 27, 2008:
Barack Obama's half-brother, George Hussein Onyango Obama
Rob Crilly (pictured below) is a freelance journalist writing about Africa for The Times, The Irish Times, The Daily Mail, The Scotsman and The Christian Science Monitor from his base in Nairobi. Also, he blogs at 'From The Frontline'. Going by some of the comments Rob has made online, he has a great sense of humour.
Here is a sample of Rob's fascinating reports and photos:
Photo: Barack Obama's half-brother, George Hussein Onyango Obama (Rob Crilly/From The Frontline August 22, 2008)
'Finding George' (by Rob Crilly, August 22, 2008)
Nairobi’s slums are filled with hundreds of thousands of people living cheek-by-jowl in tiny shacks. Each of the muddy streets looks the same and within minutes the visiting mzungu is completely disoriented. So finding Barack Obama’s half-brother George was never going to be easy. Especially as he had made a point of telling no-one but his closest friends about his famous relative.
I’d already spent two months trying and failing to trace him. It was sickening to discover that an Italian team from Vanity Fair had simply bumped into him at the Obama family home close to Lake Victoria - a place I must have visited about 10 times.
But in the end it was pretty straightforward. The sprawling slums are just like villages. Ask enough people and eventually you find what you’re looking for. So within an hour or so we were sitting down to nyama choma and handfuls of ugali chatting about Kenya’s medal haul at the Olympics.
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'Life is good in my Nairobi slum, says Barack Obama's younger brother'
Photo: George Obama, half-brother of Barack, hopes to become a car mechanic (Rob Crilly/The Times)
Source: The Times, August 22, 2008, by Rob Crilly: 'Life is good in my Nairobi slum, says Barack Obama's younger brother'
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UPDATE SATURDAY 04 OCTOBER 2008:
See Sudan Watch October 04, 2008: YouTube videos of US Vice Presidential Debate 02 Oct 08: Biden vs Palin on Darfur, Nuclear Weapons & Bailout Bill
