Dot connecting

Here goes. When you read the mainstream media papers and what they say about Sudan, think of this:

"The tragic, years-long conflict that has raged in Sudan's three Darfur states, is again competing for headlines, as new estimates on the number of dead are being debated, and yet another United Nations Security Council resolution (1591), is on the table. But neither haggling over figures, nor casting blame and meting out new punishment, is the issue: the issue is peace must be brought to the war-torn region. And for that to happen, key international players backing the rebels, must change course.

Jan Egeland, the former Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and now advisor to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, told Associated Press March 28 (www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23848444/) that he thought the figures he had given in 2006, of 200,000 dead, should be revised upward, to double that number. Although the anti-Sudan "genocide lobby" seized on the statement, demanding that Sudan allow new mortality studies to be conducted, Christina Bennett, a spokeswoman for Egeland's successor John Holmes, made the point that their organization was less concerned with statistics, and they were "working as hard as we can to assist the living." And a leading World Health Organization coordinator Richard Garfield, said that, on the basis of surveys conducted throughout last year, "Darfur is not experiencing the very high levels of mortality it was experiencing only a few years ago."

The numbers game has been cynically exploited by organizations and personalities who allege that the Sudanese government has been involved in genocide, i.e. systematic killing of the people of Darfur. These groups, led by "Save Darfur," represent largely a coalition of interests usually labelled the "Zionist lobby" in the U.S., the Christian fundamentalist right wing, and several misled African-American organizations.

(www.savedarfur.org/pages/organizational_members/). (1)"

"In the 1990s, Sudan's attempts to develop were hamstrung by financial constraints, exacerbated by the pressures exerted by the International Monetary Fund, to exact payment on debts contracted prior to the accession to power in 1989 of the government of Gen. Omar al-Bashir. The IMF demanded exhorbitant monthly payments on the debt, which it calculated in 1993 to be $1.4 billion, and, after initially refusing to pay, Sudan began to pay off about $35 million per year. This took a tremendous toll on the economy, but at the same time, the country launched a national development effort, which worked, as Sudan began to pump, refine and sell its oil. Since then, these increasing oil revenues have provided the means for targetted investment in big infrastructure projects. And the stress is on "big." Over the past seven years, several giant projects have been started, that are transforming the nation. If Sudan is allowed to continue on its current course, it could positively impact the entire region, and set an example for development throughout the continent.

The major projects include oil refineries, highway construction, and a hydroelectric dam. The first oil refinery, located about an hour's drive from the capital Khartoum, is the fruit of Chinese-Sudanese cooperation, with the participation also of Indian and Malaysian interests.

The two agencies in the joint venture are the Ministry of Energy and Mining (MEM) of Sudan, and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). As the Administration Division director, Eng. Tarig Mubark Habib Alla, told participants of the Sudanese-European forum who visited the refinery, the contract for the project was signed in March 1997, and construction started in May 1998. By May 2000 the joint 50-50 project was refining Sudan's crude oil. Starting at 2.5 million tons per year, the plant increased its capacity in 2004 by one million tons more, and again, in 2006, leading to its present capacity of 5 million tons per year. Most of the production is targetted for domestic consumption, which has increased twelve-fold over the past eight years. LPG capacities have doubled and consumption of gasoline and diesel is expected to follow suit. The plant also produces jet fuel, heavy coker diesel, and petroleum coke. In addition to the processing of the three types of Sudanese crude oil, the refinery also has its own power station, water purification station (on the banks of the Nile River), air separation and air compression unit, cooling water treatment system, boiler feed water treatment system and a waste water treatment system. The latter facility provides irrigation, thanks to which, 100,000 trees have been planted in this largely desert area, and as many again are planned.

A second major refinery is slated to be expanded and upgraded. This project, at Port Sudan, was designed by the private Italian oil company, APS Engineering Company Roma, whose president, Engineer Antonio Quadrato, has already delivered the basic engineering design. The idea behind the project is to expand Sudan's refining capacities, so as to augment its export of crude, which generates about $7 billion per year, with refined products, which could double that figure. The project is a joint venture between the Sudanese MEM and Petronas of Malaysia. The international bid for the project was won by APS, which signed a $70 million contract in 2005. The refinery is projected to start by the end of 2010. Again, as Eng. Quadrato told me in Khartoum, it is expected that the Chinese will provide the manpower for construction. Here, too, the complex is fully self-sufficient, with an electric power plant, a water treatment plant for plant water, and boiler feed water."

Then this:

"Just weeks after President George W. Bush signed the Order creating a new US military command dedicated to Africa, AFRICOM, events on the mineral-rich continent have erupted which suggest a major agenda of the incoming Obama Presidency will be for the son of a black Kenyan to focus US resources, military and other, on dealing with the Republic of Congo, the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, the oil-rich Darfur region of southern Sudan and increasingly the Somali ‘pirate threat’ to sea lanes in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. The legitimate question is whether it is mere coincidence that Africa appears just at this time to become a new geopolitical ‘hot spot’ or whether it has a direct link to the formal creation of AFRICOM."

"The US is slowly shifting its military needs towards Africa and Sudan in particular. While the Barack Obama administration will force the UN to declare a no-fly zone over Darfur, the US forces in so called peacekeeping missions will establish their bases in Darfur or Kenya and other surrounding nations in order to keep Sudan under its umbrella.

The main objective of the mission in Darfur and the no-fly zone over the region will be to slowly strangulate Sudan's economy and render it impossible for the Chinese to exploit Sudan's oil.

The no-fly Zone will be enforced by NATO forces that will be under US command.

On January 14th, the U.S. Air Force has begun airlifting Rwandan peacekeeping equipment and supplies from Kigali to the Darfur Region of Sudan as part of the United Nations-Africa Union peacekeeping mission.

Rwanda has four battalions of peacekeepers in Darfur, totaling 2,566 personnel, with a goal of increasing the peacekeeping force to 3,200, Rutaremara said. The Rwandan peacekeepers are assigned to the hybrid United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID.

The decision to airlift the equipment was announced January 5 by President George W. Bush as part of the U.S. government's ongoing support international peacekeeping efforts in Darfur.

With the massive movement of NATO forces across the globe from Afghanistan to Sudan and Israel the world seems to be heading for a massive conflict between the Americans and its allies and the rest of the world which comprises of Russia, China and most of the Muslim state. Included in the rest of the world are the 'socialist' states in Southern America indeed. Venezuela and Bolivia are also the target of a possible 'energy' squeeze in the Southern American region in which NATO forces may altogether be involved soon.

Following the Ukraine declared war on Russian gas, which signalled the beginning of the 'energy' war against non-US friendly states, the NATO is shaping up its 'future' war strategies with clear goals. The control of all the canals and straights that are not under US/allied occupation.

The Straits of Malacca will once again become the prime target of the US administration and will be used as a bargaining tool by the Obama administration to woo into the NATO helm countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, which are opposed to US or foreign troops and naval patrol in their waters.

The US – thanks to Defense Secretary Gates visit to Indonesia in 2007 – has already set a foot along the Straits of Malacca with the installation of at least 7 military radars (given free of charge to the Indonesians apparently). The radars has the capacity to scan the entire Malaysian, Singaporean and Brunei nations not withstanding large areas of Indonesia altogether. This has been seen as a risk to the integrity of the nations mentioned by experts in the matter.

To enhance its presence in Sudan and the surrounding regions, the US and the NATO command will wage the old and overplayed card of the conflict in Darfur. The US media is already claiming that the Obama administration will have to deal with the problem in Sudan where they say an estimated 2.5 million people have been displaced and 300,000 died, citing UN figures.

Since 2004, the United States has spent more than $15 million to airlift 11,400 peacekeepers and their equipment to and from Darfur and has provided more than $100 million to train and equip those forces, according to a White House fact sheet. Much of this support is coordinated through the U.S. Department of State.

From now on, the US will also count on the AFRICOM or the African Military Command set up at the Pentagon to deliver blows to the nations that are giving leeway to the Chinese and Russian nations. China has a long term deal with Sudan for the exploitation of its oil reserves. The China Oil Corporation was partners with Malaysia's National oil corporation Petronas in some of the operations over Sudan.

Sudan represents the most viable cheap oil alternative for the Chinese regime while the Russians are now in military partnership – short of an alliance so far – with Tripoli where the Russians will be building an extended and sophisticated Naval base for its warships. Sources indicate that the military agreement between Libya and Russia will eventually lead to an 'oil' and 'gas' deal between Tripoli and Moscow, a deal that may cause ire of Washington, Italy and the UK.

Strangulating Sudan over Darfur will not be of good news to Libya which is bordering Chad. Chad and Sudan were battling each other until last years peace deal 'brokered' by the Senegal during the OIC summit that took place in Dakar in March. The French are to play a major role in the future US blockade of Darfur, which will help strangulate the Sudanese regime and cutoff China's access to the cheap and easy oil finds (for the Chinese) in Sudan.

The domino effect of this strangulation strategy will lead to Libya being under pressure with a military build up in its backyard and one of its long time adversary Chad ending up being occupied by both French and US/NATO forces. Chad and Libya had a long conflict experience over a stretch of the desert land bordering the two nations. The area is rich in oil and was coveted by the French in the 1980's and surely the Americans of the Ronald Reagan era.

The heavy NATO presence in Chad will definitely re-ignite the conflict between Chad and Sudan while light armed Somali Islamic fighters may want to hit the NATO on its vulnerable flanks in the vast African desert land in order to disrupt its operations to strangulate Sudan. There is little wonder which states would end up supporting the brave Somali fighters into enlarging the conflict in the region. The aim of such an escalation will be to achieve two goals: An arms race in the region that will allow Libya and Sudan to acquire additional weapons. This will also allow the Islamic Courts and the militias in Somalia to be re-equipped. And to destabilize Kenya and the southern Sudan region further in order to give the NATO a real military headache that will probably force it to miss its target of 'killing off' the Sudanese regime.

While it is obvious that the recent US 'surge' in peacekeeping efforts (see attempts at conquest of African states instead), the US want to consolidate its US. Africa Command that was formally activated on Oct. 1, 2008. This will remove the US European Command, which had responsibility for Africa prior to the activation of U.S. Africa Command, from duty since the EU command will have to concentrate on Ukraine and on how to push further the idea of strangulating and suffocating Russia's energy business.

A statement by a US military spokesman on the US Africa Command says the following: 'The U.S. military has been working with African nations for years," said Vince Crawley, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command. "The command wants to add value to what the U.S. military has been doing; that is helping African partners develop their security capabilities in order to promote security and stability throughout the continent.'"

"Conflict in Darfur escalated in 2003 after in parallel with negotiations "ending" the south Sudan war. The U.S.-backed insurgency by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the guerilla force that fought the northern Khartoum government for 20 years, shifted to Darfur, even as the G.W. Bush government allied with Khartoum in the U.S. led "war on terror." The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)—one of some 27 rebel factions mushrooming in Darfur—is allied with the SPLA and supported from Uganda. Andrew Natsios, former USAID chief and now US envoy to Sudan, said on October 6, 2007 that the atmosphere between the governments of north and south Sudan "had become poisonous." This is no surprise given the magnitude of the resource war in Sudan and the involvement of international interests.

Darfur is reported to have the fourth largest copper and third largest uranium deposits in the world. Darfur produces two-thirds of the world's best quality gum Arabic—a major ingredient in Coke and Pepsi. Contiguous petroleum reserves are driving warfare from the Red Sea, through Darfur, to the Great Lakes of Central Africa. Private military companies operate alongside petroleum contractors and "humanitarian" agencies. Sudan is China's fourth biggest supplier of imported oil, and U.S. companies controlling the pipelines in Chad and Uganda seek to displace China through the US military alliance with "frontline" states hostile to Sudan: Uganda, Chad and Ethiopia.

Israel reportedly provides military training to Darfur rebels from bases in Eritrea, and has strengthened ties with the regime in Chad, from which more weapons and troops penetrate Darfur. The refugee camps have become increasingly militarized. There are reports that Israeli military intelligence operates from within the camps, as does U.S intelligence. Eritrea is about to explode into yet another war with Ethiopia.

African Union (AU) forces in Darfur include Nigerian and Rwandan troops responsible for atrocities in their own countries. While committing 5000 troops for a UN force in Darfur, Ethiopia is perpetrating genocidal atrocities in Somalia, and against Ethiopians in the Ogaden, Oromo and Anuak regions. Uganda has 2000 U.S.-trained troops in Somalia, also committing massive atrocities, and the genocide against the Acholi people in northern Uganda proceeds out of sight. Ethiopia is the largest recipient of U.S. "Aid" in Africa, with Rwanda and Uganda close on its heals. France is deeply committed to the Anglo-American strategy, which will benefit Total Oil Corp."

Along comes Israel:

"Israel has supplied a rebel group involved in the Darfur conflict in Sudan with a considerable amount of weaponry, a new report says.
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has received considerably heavy military logistical support from Israel, Sudan's state media reported on Sunday.

The shipment has been sent through France, which is in charge of training military personal inside neighboring Chad, the Sudanese Media Center, a news outlet with links to Sudan's security service said.
France maintains a 1,650 soldier mission to Chad as part of the EUFOR mission to protect refugees who have fled the conflict in Darfur in neighboring Sudan.
The JEM which seized the city of Muhageriya about two weeks ago is considered Darfur's most powerful rebel group.

The group managed to capture the city form forces loyal to the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction of Minni Minawi, which is the only rebel group to have signed a peace deal with Khartoum.
Sudan accuses Chad of providing military and logistical support for the rebel group's attacks on Southern Darfur.
Chad, however, blames Sudan for the creation of the Union of Resistance Forces, an umbrella group for the main Chadian rebel factions created in late January 2008.

The two neighbors broke off diplomatic relations last year, with each accusing the other of supporting rebel assaults on their capitals."

Then this:

"Sudanese government officials and rebels have resumed talks in Qatar towards ending an armed conflict that erupted in 2003 and finding a lasting peace in the country. However, rebels have expressed skepticism on government commitment to the talks after deciding to go to negotiations table with Justice and Equality Movement abandoning other rebel groups.

Reports from Qatar said rebel representatives have already announced a boycott of the negotiations, saying the reunion will be one of the main groups excluding Darfur groups.

The rebel group Movement for the Liberation of Sudan, announced on Monday that the intention to boycott the talks was an agreement between the rebel groups to seek a different route in resolving the Darfur crisis.

The rebel groups took up arms in Darfur in February 2003, and until now have failed to sign a peace deal that includes the government and all rebel groups.

Meanwhile, the joint mission of UN peacekeeping and the African Union in Darfur (UNAMID) reported an investigation into an incident in which one of its helicopters was shot by unknown assailants.

The aircraft, which distributed food in El Fasher, was damaged but landed without serious problems and no casualties were reported, according to UNAMID.

The mission has also reported that clashes continue to cause massive displacement of the recent conflict in Muhajariya in southern Darfur.

On a visit to the area to assess the situation after clashes between government forces of Sudan and rebel group that seized Muhajariya town, the UN humanitarian agencies noted serious shortages of food, medicine and water.

The agencies expressed concern about the situation, saying some 89,000 people in Muhajariya and adjacent areas still have not received food rations.

The United Nations says about 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur since ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government in 2003, complaining of discrimination.

Sudan says 10,000 people have died, and denies charges that its soldiers and allied Janjaweed militiamen have committed war crimes and genocide in Darfur."

***

It is not really that hard to figure out what's going on. Africa has become a continent for a new Cold War. The mines and oil are of great strategic importance for Russia, EU, China and the US. The Bush policies of October 1st (AFRICOM) are a pretext of what is to come concerning energy domination and guerilla warfare. This is dirty and bloody. Sure, there are corrupt people leading these poor nations, but the policies of Brzezinski, Rice and the rest of these Trilaterals are not going to stop the genocide but to continue it. All quotes are from Global Research.