The Sheep Look Up

Here's an interesting op-ed piece on the genocide de jure in Sudan:

"We at Amnesty International are not going to condone escalation of the flow of arms to the region," said Trish Katyoka, director of Africa Advocacy. "You are empowering (the victims) to create an element of retaliation.

"Whenever you create a sword-fight by letting the poor people fight back and give them the arms, it creates an added element of complexity. You do not know what the results could be."

[...]

Self-defense could exacerbate the situation, Katyoka said. "Fighting fire with fire is not a solution to the genocide. It is a dangerous proposition to arm the minorities to fight back."

Yep, those pesky victims! Better they should go quietly to the ovens or submit meekly to the machete! Otherwise, there could be gun violence!

I'm probably taking it wildly out of context, but I recall the proverbial snatch of verse by Vachel Lindsay: "Not that they die, but that they die like sheep..." Watch either of the two current movies about Rwanda, then tell me again that it's better not to arm "victims!"