Darfur crisis puts Sudan top of 'failed states' list (Iraq No. 4)

[leftchick]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article361582.ece

The humanitarian crisis in Darfur, which is now spilling over into neighbouring Chad, has pushed Sudan to the top of the Global Index of Failed States.

The report - compiled by the American magazine Foreign Policy and the think- tank Fund for Peace - was published as diplomats from Britain and the US flew to Africa to push for a peace settlement in Darfur.

African nations made up six of the top 10 failed states in the study and the regional impact of the Darfur crisis was reflected in Chad's presence at number six.

The US trade representative, Robert B Zoellick, and Britain's International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, made unexpected arrivals at the talks in Nigeria in an attempt to pressure rebels and the Sudanese government into striking a deal before a midnight deadline last night.

The failed states index ranked nations by giving them a score based on criteria such as the massive movement of refugees and internally displaced peoples, widespread violation of human rights and intervention of other states.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Where's the US on that list? nt

[marmar]

2. It won't be long...

If a despotic leader is one of the qualifications, that hurdle is cleared. :scared:

[Radio_Guy]

9. US will be on that list soon

With murders happening yearly in the triple digits in ten cities and Bush doing nothing about it, it won't be long before Darfur will look like a vacation place compared with the US.

[applegrove]

3. "Failed State" sounds like such a euphamism for Darfur. Are not 400,000

dead? Do people collecting firewood have to choose between sending out men (who will be killled), women (who will be raped) or old women (who may not be raped - but there is no guarantee)??????????????????????

[Bhaisahab]

4. Pakistan stands among top 10 ‘failed states’ (Foreign Policy magazine)

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Pakistan stands among top 10 ‘failed states’
By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has plunged from 34th on a list of failed states last year to the ninth slot this year, according to a list drawn up by the US-based journal Foreign Policy. The ratings are based on tens of thousands of articles from global and regional sources from May to December 2005, examined by experts using special software. The top 10 “failed states” are: 1) Sudan, 2) DR Congo 3) Ivory Coast, 4) Iraq, 5) Zimbabwe, 6) Chad, Somalia, 8) Haiti, 9) Pakistan, and 10) Afghanistan. Pakistan suffered one of the sharpest declines in the overall score of any country on the list, mainly because of its inability to police the tribal areas, the devastating earthquake of October 2005 and the rise in ethnic tensions.

CONTINUED:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C05%5C03%5Cstory_3-5-2006_pg1_2
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just curious - isn't Foreign Policy Magazine a PNAC-aligned unit? If so, why would they put Pakistan AND Afghanistan in the Top 10. This is bad PR for the monkey, isn't it?

[wookie294]

5. The magazine wants more U.S. money for Pak and Afghan

Reich wingers want to inform Americans that, if we don't send more U.S. taxpayer money (and troops) to the Middle East, then another 9/11 will happen. They are claiming that Iraq is an "al-Qaeda" haven when, in fact, al-Qaeda doesn't exist. The news story you uploaded is designed to keep the American sheep afraid and supportive of congressional candidates who want the USA to police the world. So, the story fits perfectly with the Bush agenda.

[Demeter]

6. And Who Is Number 1?? US!

We (USA) constitute the #1 failing state on the planet: for both the depths to which we are falling from hitherto unimagined heights, and the speed, which probably exceeds that of any catastrophe save the Black Death of Medieval Europe or Chernobyl's fire, or the atomic bombs in Japan; and then there is the range of the consequences, which could take down a considerable part of the global economy and set back the progress of democracy 1000 years. Quite an achievemnt, a record of which we can be justifiable ashamed.

[Dogmudgeon]

7. If Pakistan was a "failed state" ...

... then its nuclear weapons (between ten and fifty, depending on whom you listen to) would be held by the super-militants. And if and when that happens, a Giant Economy Size can of Whoop-Ass™ will be opened on the Middle East and South Asia from the Straits of Bosporous to Bali.

Pakistan's nukes fallen into The Wrong Hands -- that's my fear.

When it comes to thermonuclear bombs, I barely consider the USA to be "the right hands".

--p!
Whoop-Ass™. Ask for it by name.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. On the subject of the failings of the Pakistani state

Here's a Guardian commentary piece from today on the chaos possible when a successor to Musharraf has to emerge:

Inside Peshawar's cloistered mosques, high in the rugged passes of the North-West Frontier, and deep in the upholstered opposition salons of Lahore, there is growing consensus it is time for Pervez Musharraf to go. But who will replace the general-president, Pakistan's unelected leader since 1999, and how his departure can be achieved are questions so far lacking answers - meaning that, as often in the past, an eventual shift in power is likely to be messy.

As the country moves cautiously towards promised elections next year, the two main political parties, currently in opposition, doubt whether free and fair polls are possible under the present leadership. They are demanding a pre-election caretaker government and a truly independent electoral commission. Some activists claim the fix is already in.

The parties' exiled leaders, Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan People's party (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League, both former prime ministers, have temporarily joined forces in an "alliance for the restoration of democracy".
...
But the two leaders are old enemies who both worked closely with the military in the past. There are suspicions that one or the other may break ranks and cut a deal, if that is their surest route back to power.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1766251,00.html