Joachim Martillo, Review of Mahmood Mamdani's Saviors and Survivors," Ethnic Ashkenazim Against Zionist Israel, April

April 2, 2009, Cambridge, MA -- Columbia Professor Mahmood Mamdani, whose new book Saviors and Survivors has been just released, discussed his understanding of Darfur's local, national Sudanese, American, and international politics.

Mamdani began to look at the issue of Darfur in 2003 and was struck by the rapid globalization and the fact-indifference of the SaveDarfur movement, which consistently misrepresented the facts in a media blitz. For example, according to WHO the death toll was 50-70,000 while SaveDarfur claimed 400,000. SaveDarfur ignored drought and desertification, which were probably responsible for 70% of the mortality. A legitimate debate would ask how many could have been saved by timely assistance to the Darfuri population.

The 40 year Chad Civil war was subsumed into the Cold War during the 1980s. Libya and the Soviet backed one side while France, the USA, and Israel supported the other. Whenever one side had advantage, the other regrouped in Darfur, which by the late 1980s was awash with weapons.

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