South Sudan referendum on secession: A tale of blood and oil in Africa

[Hannah Bell]

Media reports of the referendum to determine whether the southern provinces of Sudan should secede have taken on a celebratory character, even before the polls close at the end of the week. The same tone is assumed in an op-ed piece in the New York Times written by President Barack Obama.

This “historic vote is an exercise in self-determination long in the making,” he declares. “A successful vote will be cause for celebration and an inspiring step forward in Africa’s long journey toward democracy and justice.”

Such statements are mendacious. There is no doubt enthusiasm for secession in the south, in the hope that a line can be drawn under the decades-long civil war between the north and the south. Two million people have died in the conflict that began at the moment of independence in 1956 and continued until 2005, with the last 21 years being the most destructive. The number of those displaced is close to 4 million. Generations have been raised in refugee camps.

But the referendum has nothing to do with self-determination, peace or democracy. It is dictated by the efforts of the United States to gain strategic advantage in relation to China, which dominates the Sudanese oil industry, some 80 percent of which is located in the south. Its aim is the creation of a puppet state which will become a platform for US domination of the entire region.

The separation of the south and creation of a new capitalist state will only perpetuate religious and ethnic conflict, with the most likely outcome being a resumption of warfare....

The US is fully aware of such a possibility. Washington has been arming and training the southern Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in preparation for a possible future assault on Khartoum in the north, which the US would support.

This is the threat underscoring Obama’s veiled warnings to the government of Omar al-Bashir that “if you fulfil your obligations and choose peace, there is a path to normal relations with the United States, including the lifting of economic sanctions and beginning the process, in accordance with United States law, of removing Sudan from the list of states that sponsor terrorism. In contrast, those who flout their international obligations will face more pressure and isolation.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jan2011/pers-j11.shtml

[social_critic]

1. Duh

Nothing the US does in the foreign policy field has anything to do with democracy. The effort in the horn of africa is particularly lame and wrong headed. The mistakes started when Clinton tried to interfere in the Somali civil war in 1993, and have continued unabated. As some of you will recall, the US interfered in Somali affairs in 1993, which led to the US forces' defeat at Mogadishu in October 1993. Things have continued to go downhill since then. Bush made things a lot worse when he financed an invasion of Somalia by Ethiopian forces, and US forces continue to operate out of Djibouti acting as contract killers. The oil in Sudan is a minor issue because it's a minor oil stream. What i can't get is just how stupid the US leadership can be, they meddle everywhere, it backfires all the time, and yet they won't learn.