Letter to the Guardian (unpublished)

The letter below was submitted to the Guardian (UK) on June 15th but was never published. (SF)

Dear Editor,

Eric Reeves’ recent article, “Whitewashing Darfur,” (Comment, 14 June) speaks grandly of a “large-scale revision” of the narrative of Darfur in an attempt to minimize the magnitude of the crimes against the Darfuri people. As evidence of a “genocide” being “re-written” out of current history, Reeves points to Mamdani and his “fellow-travellers,” who “suggest no meaningful solutions.”

Since Mamdani is virtually alone among prominent commentators in proffering a sensible corrective to the standard propaganda, one wonders who these hordes of revisionists are. An open letter signed by Mamdani, ourselves, and others, enumerates a list of practical actions for the West to undertake. Its central demands include the cessation of the CIA alliance with Khartoum’s notorious central intelligence agency, headed by Saleh Gosh, and rectification of the starvation-level support for peacekeepers.

Contra Reeves’ claims, these points have been repeatedly highlighted in our work – precisely because the Save Darfur movement has so glaringly ignored them for so long.

The naïve underlying ideology of Western benevolence that drives Reeves is impervious to the lessons of history – or even current affairs. Sadly, the record of past interventions justified with grand humanitarian proclamations reflects a graveyard of corpses.

Sincerely,

Steven Fake and Kevin Funk, authors of Scramble for Africa: Darfur – Intervention and the USA, Black Rose Books, Montreal, 2008