Few Americans have thought about how America would react
if Texas or California wanted to secede from the union and set themselves up as
separate countries. This is not the first time states
have talked of seceding. During the phony "oil crisis" of the early
1970s, Oklahoma and Texas, both oil rich, were talking about seceding from the
union. It was short lived, but it did get headlines for a while. I can assure
you that Washington, DC and the rest of the country would not allow
it.
Then, how is it that America feels it can support the oil-rich area
of Darfur to secede from Sudan? America is all for it, but if the shoe was on
the other foot, we'd have a fit and go to war to prevent it.
Khartoum,
the capital of Sudan, has been under increasing international pressure to free
the "non Arabs of southern Sudan," but the truth is, there are many Arabs
living in southern Sudan. Add to that the propaganda by many that the whole
thing is about "human rights." This may be partially true; however, America's
interest is in the oil that lies under the ground of Darfur.
Since America will
help Darfur break away and set up the republic of Southern Sudan or some such
name, America will get first shot at the oil -- oil that all of Sudan needs for
its survival. Thus, it is clear to me that this is not about "human rights," but
once again is about money, power and the worship of the "golden calf." For the
golden calf is the real god of America, not democracy nor the true God of the
heavens.
This reminds me a bit of when Cheddi Gowon, an Ibo
Christian, wanted to take the coastal oil-rich area and secede from Nigeria.
Gowon was a general who led the rebellion against the national government of
Nigeria in an effort to break the Ibo area away from Nigeria because of the
oil discovered in their area. Both the Hausas -- Muslims who live in the north
of Nigeria and who have basically led the nation since its independence --
and Yorubas who are animists and live on the coast parallel to the Ibos
-- protested and a civil war followed.
Gowon was assisted in his rebellion
with cash and arms from both Shell and Gulf Oil. However, Gowon's rebellion was
put down, and Nigeria stayed intact as a nation. The Nigerians kept their country together and the Western oil
companies and the West were thwarted in this grab for the oil that belonged to
all of Nigeria.
It's possible that southern
Sudan may secede, but the oil rights should belong to all of Sudan -- not just
to the south. If this does not get worked out, then there may be a bloody civil
war, perhaps like the American Civil War, but on a bloodier scale because the
West will certainly come in, as will the Israelis, who also want their hands on
the oil and who have it in for Arabs and Muslims, in order to help the
anti-Khartoum forces.
No doubt there are human rights abuses in Sudan, as there are all over the
world, but for us to help split countries up for our own gain is also
immoral. Look what happened in Timor when it split from Indonesia. Suddenly,
American and Australian companies went in and began cutting down the forests and
taking minerals from the ground for their own profit with cheap Timorese
labor. This is what we term "democracy," so that we can go in and rape countries
for our own benefit.
The same thing happened in Russia. Mikhail Gorbachev wanted to go slow with changes after peace with America. However, President Reagan wanted to get
our corporations in as soon as possible, so he helped push Gorby out and put
Boris Yeltsin in because it
was known that Yeltsin could be bought cheaply.
And it was money well spent.
Yeltsin let American corporations in who raped Russia, and helped set up the Jewish
oligarchs -- who sent their profits out of Russia into American and Israeli
banks, thereby almost bankrupting Russia -- until Vladimir P utin came in and put a stop to
it. That's why, to this day, Mikhail
Khodorovsky -- one of the biggest of the swindling oligarchs left over
from the Yeltsin/American period of rape of Russia -- remains in prison.
Ah, "democracy" -- an enchanting word, but too often misused by
corporations to get in and to rape a country. What would America do if Texas or
California decided to secede? My only words are -- America, learn to walk in the
shoes of others rather than telling others what to do.
Sam Hamod, Ph.D. is a graduate professor; he has taught courses in creative writing, politics, religion, mass media and intercultural relations. He has one of the very few PhDs awarded by The Writers Workshop of The Univ. of Iowa, has published 12 (
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