If Canada wants to secure a “Canadian role in the world,” a place betweenthe single-mindedness of the United States and the inertia of the UnitedNations, we should begin with Sudan.

Sudan is at the nexus of so many important themes for Canadians in thispost-September 11 world, yet it garners so little attention, particularlyfrom our political leaders. Ignorance, in this case, is folly.

To begin with, there are real terrorists in Sudan, and a government inKhartoum that loves them.

Osama bin Laden, terrorism’s poster child, spent his salad days in Khartoum,strengthening his network and preparing for the first attack on the WorldTrade Centre in 1993. But while the authorities kicked him out in 1994, binLaden left behind an active terrorist network in the region.

It’s this network in Sudan that the U.S. tried unsuccessfully to disrupt withcruise missile attacks immediately following al Qaeda’s bombing of U.S.embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The recklessness of these missile attackshas paradoxically given the U.S. and its allies less influence on Khartoumthan before. Sudanese President al Bashir has garnered a great deal ofsympathy, particularly in the Arab world, with the American destruction of apharmaceutical plant in Khartoum.

Today, there is the Janjaweed, a loose grouping of mostly Arab militiasbacked by the Sudanese authorities raping and killing entire communities ofBlack Africans, spreading terror throughout the country.

Which brings us, tragically, to genocide.

Ten years after Rwanda, 60 years after the Holocaust, and almost 200years after the last Beothuk walked the ground of Newfoundland, anotherpopulation risks being wiped out. The world should be up in arms about theforced death marches, the executions and the mass rapes of Fur and Marsalimen and women of western Sudan by the militias, but the internationalcommunity’s attention seems obsessed with Iraq and Afghanistan, consumed byAmerica’s “war on terror” and not Africa’s.

Finally, there are the rock stars, Bono and Bob Geldof.

Encouraged by them, both Paul Martin and British Prime Minister Tony Blairhave urged the international community to do more to fight poverty anddisease in Africa. While these efforts should be applauded for increasingattention on Africa, they fall seriously short, saying nothing aboutrich-world actions that led to shortages of food, drugs and worseningcrises in the first place.

Canada’s Talisman Energy is being sued by the Presbyterian Church of Sudanin a U.S. court for “genocide, crimes against humanity, and other violationsof international law” for its activities in southern Sudan, for example.Rather than take responsibility for one of our own, the Canadian governmenthas asked their U.S. counterparts to make the case go away.

So, while the nexus of Canadian issues in Sudan is real, the interest of ourleaders is not.

Why? The answers are not as clear as one might think.

First, the West cannot be seen beating up (even rhetorically) another Arabregime, so Canada continues to soft peddle. With parts of the Middle Eastalready in flames, Sudan will tragically be left to burn as the regime inKhartoum is given a pass. The war on Sudanese terror, like the war onRwandan terror ten years before, must wait.

Second, and most upsetting, Canada got burned by the UN in Rwanda. As wepushed for a more robust United Nations’ force to halt the killing, the UNSecurity Council pushed back, and Canadian Lt. General Roméo Dallaire wasleft holding the (mostly empty) bag.

In the Sudanese case, therefore, Canada has acquiesced to UN indolence,including a string of weak Security Council resolutions and zero calls toaction. Any nation could take the situation to the floor of the GeneralAssembly for debate, but no nation wants to take responsibility andpotentially fail, especially Canada. Once burned, twice shy.

The irony this time is that it’s Dallaire who’s pulling his punches. As amember of Canada’s Taskforce on Sudan, Senator Roméo Dallaire has beenchastising members of the Liberal party for being too outspoken againstKhartoum, for calling the leaders of Sudan what they really are, “a cabal ofthugs, murderers, and pathological liars.” What happened to Canada’snational hero? Did he shake hands with a Liberal devil?

Finally, Africa is ignored because of a weakness in our (read, Western)democracy. Elections are not won on tragedies overseas, even when millionsof people are dying. Remember Bill Clinton’s “it’s the economy, stupid!”Canadian politics are much the same. As a consequence of our electoralprocess, interest in ethnic cleansing in Sudan remains low.

The consequence of our indifference, however, is displacement and, beyondthe obvious human tragedy, this costs us money. So, Canadians onlyinterested in more mundane issues like taxes and deficits at home have areason to care about Sudan.

As insensitive as this may seem, the over five million people forced from theirhomes by the various conflicts in Sudan has cost Canada and the Westenormous sums of money. In Canada’s case, the sum is well over $250 million.But until we make a serious attempt to secure peace with genuine developmentthroughout the country, the killing will continue and the refugee crisiswill get worse, and we’ll continue sending money.

The other response to our indifference is terrorism.

One only need look around the capitals of Africa to see how bin Laden hasbecome the new Patrice Lumumba, or Che Guevara, even, to see how dangerousit is to continue with a policy of ignorance. Posters and t-shirts ofAmerica’s no. 1 enemy are everywhere, not because people agree with him, orbecause they are Muslim, even, but because they see him as standing up fortheir plight (even if inelegantly) and urging Western leaders to notice.

Shunning Sudan, like shunning Africa in general, is not wise. Worse,however, neglect of Africa while we continue to reap riches from thatcontinent, like colonialism before it, is cruel and Africans deserve betterfrom Canada.