18 Jul A Remarkable Poll Concerning Darfur
A recent poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org has found that the public in four Muslim-majority and African countries support the ICC’s arrest warrant for Bashir, despite the fact that the governments in those countries oppose it:
That’s remarkable — but the results of another question, designed to assess support for intervening in Darfur, by force if necessary, should the much-feared humanitarian crisis come to pass, are even more surprising:
I don’t support military intervention in Darfur — though certainly not because of Sudan’s “sovereignty.” Nevertheless, the poll reveals just how out of step some Muslim-majority and African governments are with the sentiments of their citzens. Ordinary Muslims and Africans, it turns out, are far more concerned about punishing the guilty and protecting the innocent than they are about neo-colonialism.
thanks for the useful post.
the second poll question is too loaded. it says that people are dieing directly because of the act of Bashir expeling the aid groups and then offers a sensible solution for the u.n. to bring in food aid, to end the dieing, with some ambiguous “military protection.” Thats a long shot from “military intervention” in the style of the bombings of the Balkans, which would most likely involve a lot more then protecting food supplies but also toppling the Sudanese government.