The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency—

Mahmood Mamdani, Cyrano's Journal

Logo for the savedarfur.org, one of several orgs demanding intervention in the Sudan by the very people who intervened so selflessly in Iraq. Darfur should be a cautionary tale for easily misguided liberals, who apparently never learn, while it presents an opportunity for business for Western-based, corporate-styled human-calamity agencies, such as Save the Children, who find a raison d'etre in ministering to the stubborn wounds caused by backwardness, and the effects of colonialism and neocolonialism inflicted by the very establishments of which they form an integral part. And the Darfur tragedy reminds us, once again, how important it is to use the right words in a modern world dominated by far from impartial powerful propaganda machines...

continua / continued