Tensions rise in South Sudan

[Crepitus]

IF that storey is true I'm all for them evacuating our folks and telling them to NEVER go the $#@! back or they are on their own.
On the other hand it's also the only explaination of us being there that the public would tolerate. Excuse me but given our governments propensity to lie to us, don't know if I'm buying the explanation

Was true back in 2013. This is an old thread.

[waltky]

Widespread corruption among South Sudan's top government leaders...

George Clooney: 'It Pays to Commit War Crimes' in South Sudan
9-14-2016 | Actor and Hollywood director George Clooney claims he has uncovered widespread corruption among South Sudan's top government leaders.

Clooney says a two-year investigation by his human rights group found the country's president, Salvar Kiir, and other prominent leaders profiting from a deadly war. "The evidence is thorough, it is detailed and it is irrefutable," Clooney said during a press conference in Washington, D.C. Kiir became South Sudan's president in 2011. But since then, tens of thousands of people have lost their lives, many of them civilians, as a conflict pitting him and rival political leaders have gripped the nation.

Clooney is accusing Kiir and his rivals of making fortunes from the deadly conflict. "We're prepared to give evidence of massive criminal behavior by the president of South Sudan and by his opposition, the ousted vice president of South Sudan and their generals," Clooney claimed. Clooney, who co-founded a human rights group called The Sentry Group, found that South Sudan's warring parties had "manipulated and exploited ethnic divisions" in order to build up wealth for themselves. "The simple fact is they are stealing money to fund their militias to attack and kill one another," said Clooney. It's all found in a new report called, "War Crimes Shouldn't Pay: Stopping the Looting and Destruction in South Sudan"

Clooney claims politicians who earn modest salaries are amassing fortunes with help from offshore properties and business deals. "It involves arms dealers, international lawyers, international banks, international real estate." South Sudan's government called the report "rubbish" and "misleading." Still, John Prendergast, a human rights activist who co-founded The Sentry Group with Clooney, says what's happening in South Sudan is tantamount to war crimes, and the country's leaders are getting away with it. "South Sudan leaders no longer take seriously the threats made by the United Nations, the United States and others to impose consequences for their behavior." said Predergast, founder of Enough Project.

MORE

[donttread]

Was true back in 2013. This is an old thread.

Yeah , I just realized that. So may reborn threads these days. But just because it's old and the feds said so doesn't mean it was close to true.

[Crepitus]

Yeah , I just realized that. So may reborn threads these days. But just because it's old and the feds said so doesn't mean it was close to true.

It was true.

[waltky]

Aid blocked in So. Sudan...

South Sudan starves as aid blocked, money spent on fighting
Oct 14,`16) -- The mother faced an anguished decision: choosing which of her children to save. With hunger gripping this remote region of South Sudan, Elizabeth Athiel could either get urgent medical attention for her 8-month-old daughter, Anger, or make sure her other five children could eat.

The little girl was shockingly thin, but the medical clinic was a half-day's walk away, and she would have to wait there for days until recovery. "I can't leave the others alone here," Athiel said, holding Anger in her arms. The baby is another casualty of South Sudan's civil war - in a part of the country that hasn't even seen fighting. Here in the government stronghold of Northern Bahr el Ghazal region, there are indications of famine. One-third of children in the region are estimated to be acutely malnourished. If resources remain limited, more children will die, said Mahimbo Mdoe, the UNICEF representative in South Sudan.

The food crisis is evidence of how the conflict has devastated South Sudan's ability to function. Since December 2013, tens of thousands of people have been killed. More than one million refugees have fled. The U.N. calls South Sudan one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Even as President Salva Kiir and his government have repeatedly promised full humanitarian access to this and other areas, South Sudanese officials have restricted aid amid hostility at the international community over its attempts to calm the fighting and protect civilians.

Elizabeth Athiel holds her 8-month-old malnourished daughter Anger, at a UNICEF clinic in Aweil, South Sudan. Between 4 and 5 million people are at risk of death if they do not receive food assistance, according to the World Food Program, and even as the government has repeatedly promised full humanitarian access to this and other areas, South Sudanese officials have restricted aid amid their hostility at the international community.

During a visit by The Associated Press to Aweil in mid-September, aid airdrops by the World Food Program had been suspended because the government imposed what it called additional security requirements. They later resumed but were suspended again this week. Minister of Information Michael Makuei recently told reporters that WFP had been "intransigent" with his government. "Did they come here for humanitarian services? They came there for their own ulterior objectives," Makuei said, reflecting some officials' view that the U.N., with its peacekeeping mission and aid agencies, had too much authority.

Meanwhile, South Sudan's government spends 44 percent of its budget on military and security, but just 11 percent on health, education and humanitarian affairs, according to the finance ministry. "The government knows that it doesn't have to spend money on health care and education because the international community is always going to do it for them, and they can spend it on weapons instead," one diplomat said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. South Sudan has long suffered from periods of hunger. The fighting has only made it worse.

MORE

[Peter1469]

Obama tried to end the war there.

For President Obama, the birth of South Sudanfour years ago was the capstone of his Africa policy. He sent his United Nations ambassador, Susan E. Rice, for the independence celebration, and she took her 13-year-old son to stand in the joyous crowds of the new capital, Juba.

Four years later, that triumph has degenerated into tragedy. The country is racked by a brutal civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people,displaced more than two million others and dashed Mr. Obama’s hopes of forging a brighter future for that corner of Africa. Now he is trying to pick up the pieces.


Mr. Obama convened a meeting of the region’s leaders here on Monday to try to halt the conflict in South Sudan, in his most direct personal intervention since the violence broke out more than 18 months ago. He and the other leaders agreed to press the combatants to agree to a peace agreement by Aug. 17, and threatened both sides with sanctions or other measures if they do not comply.

I don't think the West can do anything to fix that place. Tribal and religious differences are going to keep it in a state of war or near war.

[waltky]

F-16's moved to Djibouti for Possible Crisis Response in South Sudan...

US F-16s in Djibouti for Possible Crisis Response in South Sudan
Oct 14, 2016 | U.S. Air Force F-16s and KC-135s were quietly deployed in July to the U.S. military’s counterterrorism hub in east Africa, where they remain on standby amid concerns over threats to Americans in South Sudan.

F-16s based out of Aviano Air Base in Italy and KC-135’s out of RAF Mildenhall, along with airmen in support, were deployed to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, U.S. Africa Command said. The move was a "precautionary measure in order to protect Americans and American interests in South Sudan if required," AFRICOM said in a statement. The deployment came at the request of the State Department and embassy in the South Sudanese capital of Juba, where violent unrest posed a risk to U.S. personnel and facilities, AFRICOM said. "These assets have remained in Djibouti out of an abundance of caution in response to that situation in South Sudan," AFRICOM said. In July, AFRICOM dispatched about 50 combat-equipped troops at the order of President Barack Obama to protect U.S. diplomatic personnel amid widespread violence and civil unrest in South Sudan.

A 555th Fighter Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon taxis across the runway while a 510th Fighter Squadron F-16 lands at Aviano Air Base, Italy

The deployment was defensive in nature, officials said at the time. On July 7, a group of U.S. diplomatic personnel were fired upon by government troops, U.S. officials have said. "I can say that we do not believe our vehicles and personnel were specifically targeted in the attack," Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, told reporters at the Pentagon in September. "It’s our assessment that the attack was connected to the breakdown of command and control among South Sudanese government forces, and we have demanded that the government of South Sudan investigate this incident and punish and hold accountable those responsible for it."

For AFRICOM, unrest in South Sudan, a country that gained independence in 2011, has been a source of recent concern. Sudan had been roiled by violence for decades, including the most recent civil war, which stretched from 1983 to 2005. After South Sudan gained independence, tensions continued with its neighbor to the north, but armed militia groups and tribal conflict within its own borders also posed a security risk.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...uth-sudan.html

[Peter1469]

The US has no vital interests in South Sudan. We should stay out.

[waltky]

Genocide a possibility in So. Sudan...

UN warns that South Sudan risks spiraling into a genocide
Nov 11,`16 -- South Sudan's festering civil war risks spiraling into genocide, according to the U.N.'s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, who cited recent examples of ethnically targeted rape, civilians being killed with machetes, and villages being burned to the ground.

Adama Dieng warned Friday of a "strong risk of violence escalating along ethnic lines with the potential for genocide," speaking at a press conference in Juba after visiting South Sudan for five days. Dieng said South Sudan is awash with weapons, has an undisciplined military, and is in a humanitarian and economic crisis in which civilians are desperate for employment. "Genocide is a process," said Dieng, adding that all the elements are present for a disaster. The accusation that South Sudan is at risk of genocide is "very unfortunate," Minister of Information Michael Makuei told The Associated Press. "I don't agree with him. It is a negative report and it won't be of any help. Here in South Sudan what is happening has nothing to do with genocide," he said.

South Sudan is the world's newest country and there were high hopes that it would have peace and stability after its split from neighboring Sudan in 2011. But the country plunged into ethnic violence in 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to his former vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer. A peace deal signed in August has not stopped the fighting. Kiir said in a recent speech that the army was mostly comprised of his Dinka tribe because other ethnic groups are part of the rebels. To stop South Sudan's slide into ethnically based violence, Dieng proposed a strategy of reconciliation and dialogue to build trust in the East African nation. But even as Dieng, the U.N. expert on genocide, spoke, a radio station was shut down by South Sudan's National Security Service.

Eye Radio is one of South Sudan's largest national radio stations and known for its reggae music and messages of unity and peace. It is funded in part by the U.S. Agency for International Development. On Friday three officials from the country's security service seized the keys to Eye Radio's studios, told journalists to leave, and ordered the head of the station to report to security officials, said Nichola Mandil, a senior journalist for the station. A spokesman for the security service declined to give an explanation for the shutdown. When informed that Eye Radio had been shut by the government, Dieng's voice rose with ire and he recalled how radio had been a tool for spreading hatred during the Rwandan genocide.

MORE

[Peter1469]

Oh well. Not something the US should invest in outside of diplomatic circles.