INDC: Your sign says, ‘Don’t invade Sudan.’ What are you anticipating with this statement?
"David:" Well, both of the … both of the major presidential candidates and even a lot of supposedly peace assessment groups are conducting this media campaign claiming that there’s genocide in Sudan and calling for an invasion. There’s a lot of oil there and they – the US government - might want to get that. The US government has been attacking Sudan for the past 10 years and supporting the various rebel groups that are causing the problems.
INDC: But you don’t think that there’s genocide going on in the Sudan?
David: There are in Darfur … there are like at least 3 or 4 different armed groups fighting and, um, I don’t know who’s to blame for all the violence or how much there is, but I know it’s being caused by intervention. So more intervention is going to make things worse.
INDC: Well most accounts say that the problem lies with government-supported Arab militias that are killing civilians.
David: They say that it’s Arabs exterminating black people in Darfur, black Muslims. In reality, everybody in Sudan is black.
INDC: Actually it’s a very subtle racial war amongst different groups of "black" people (Arab and African). A recent UN report just stated that 70,000 people died in Darfur in March …
David: That wasn’t violence
INDC: … in refugee camps.
David: … that was people dying of diseases and refugee camps and stuff. It requires more money for food aid and medical aid and that kind of thing, not a military intervention.
INDC: But the reason that the refugees are there in the first place is because of the violence that’s going on. So you don’t advocate any military intervention to stop the violence?
David: No.
INDC: So how can the violence be stopped?
David: Well they can stop supporting all the um, groups that are perpetrating the violence, like the rebel groups.
INDC: How are they supporting them? And by “they,” do you mean the United States?
David: The US government and whoever else is doing it.
INDC: And what’s “their” motivation?
David: Um, to continue to destabilize the country and …
INDC: Why?
David: I don’t exactly know what their motivation is, just to keep it from becoming a big power. I mean, it’s a large country and they want to make sure they don’t become a big economic power and they want to go in and control the oil.
INDC: Ah, now I see. Thank you, thank you very much. -- Michael Pugliese