During the run-up to the Iraq phase of the war on terror, while France actively undermined US efforts to create a unified coalition of Western nations, people throughout Europe and the US protested against the war, chanting, "No War For Oil". The BBC now reports that the Sudan, like Saddam's Iraq, is experiencing genocide while the global community dithers. The US and British are working the UNSC for a resolution that would try to stop the Sudan from becoming another Rwanda, but have run into a familiar stumbling block:

France says it does not support US plans for international sanctions on Sudan if violence continues in Darfur. The UN Security Council is debating a US draft resolution imposing sanctions on militias accused of "ethnic cleansing" against non-Arabs. ...

Some one million people have fled their homes and at least 10,000 have been killed in what the UN calls "the world's worst humanitarian crisis."

A rebellion broke out in Darfur early last year, when two groups took up arms, accusing the government of ignoring the region. ... France led opposition to US moves at the UN over Iraq. As was the case in Iraq, it also has significant oil interests in Sudan.

Mr Muselier also dismissed claims of "ethnic cleansing" or genocide in Darfur. "I firmly believe it is a civil war and as they are little villages of 30, 40, 50, there is nothing easier than for a few armed horsemen to burn things down, to kill the men and drive out the women," he said.

Human rights activists say the Janjaweed are conducting a genocide against Darfur's black African population.

While Saddam brutally oppressed Iraqis for over a decade, practicing annihilation against the Marsh Arabs and filled mass graves with at least 300,000 victims, the French opposed efforts to enforce sixteen UNSC resolutions. In fact, the French (and other Iraqi oil-client states Russia, China, and Germany) actively led efforts to cancel or weaken economic and military sanctions against Saddam.

Now France pursues the exact same policy to the exact same end in the Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of non-white deaths mean little to the French as long as they get their oil, and yet the people of Europe have the gall to protest the US? And let's not forget, the Europeans begged us to intervene in the genocide occurring in the Balkans, which happened on a much smaller scale than either Iraq or the Sudan. If the Sudanese were white, Europe would have a much different take on the matter.

I say we need to start counterdemonstrating the fools and fellow travelers who tote "No War For Oil" signs at these rallies. We should prepare banners exclaiming "No Genocide For Oil," "Stop The Racism -- Sanctions For Sudan," and "Chirac Lied -- Africans Died." At least our signs would have the elegance of truth. (via Instapundit)

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