I’ll take Webster’s definition, if that’s good for you, George.

geno-cide

Pronunciation: ‘je-n&-“sId

Function: noun

Definition: the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.

Got that one George? Is that definition clear enough for you? Do you own a copy of Webster’s Dictionary? I’ll mail you one with a few important words high-lighted. (liar, weapon, accomplished, graft…for starters). Today the oval office page-a-day vocab builder calendar has the word “genocide.”

After weeks of media masturbation Secretary of State Colin Powell has used the word genocide to describe the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. Over a year has passed since the war crimes and crimes against humanity began. Sudanese troops (and government supported militias) are responsible for the displacement of 1.2 million Sudanese people and an estimated 200,000 refugees in neighboring Chad.

The crisis began as a decades old conflict between nomadic and sedentary farmers in Darfur. In 2003 an armed group, the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA), was formed. Shortly thereafter the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), was also formed. At the end of March 2003 The government of Sudan decided that it needed to use force to bring about an end to the conflict.

Since that time the government gave free reign to militias known as Janjawid to attack the villages of the farming population. The attacks are always supported and often backed up Sudanese armed forces as paramilitaries. The Sudanese Air force is also using helicopter gun ships and MIG planes to bomb villages and kill civilians.

The human rights violations in Sudan include extrajudicial executions, deliberate killings of civilians, widespread rape, and forced displacement of citizens. The majority of the violations are being committed by the Janjawid and Sudanese army not by the opposition forces (SLA and JEM).
If the United States is in the business of regime change because of human rights violations; if we are interested in “freeing people” who live under a grossly oppressive government; why the hell does it take two-and-a-half weeks to come up with a word for it. I bet we are waiting for a UN resolution. Yeah, that must be it.