The way to protect the people of Darfur is to give them the means to protect themselves. If you give every woman in Darfur a pistol and a hundred rounds of ammunition, that quaint custom, rape, will die out over night. If you give each man a rifle, they will very shortly have their farms back, and with much less bloodshed than currently.         The fact that our country has one of the lowest murder rates in the world is largely because we have the right to bear arms. A country, Switzerland, in which every citizen is REQUIRED to possess a gun, has an even lower murder rate than we do, even though it has 3 different languages and two different religions. Countries in which it is illegal to own a gun or are de facto unarmed have bizarrely high murder rates. Rwanda, Cambodia, Russia, and Germany come to mind, for instance. Even worse than murder is the fate of citizens who are ground under into tyranny or enslavement by ruthless men when those citizens are unarmed.        The next best thing would be for someone who has guns to defend those people. We are too lazy, stingy, and/or cowardly to do it in the foreseeable future, so the only way is to give them the means to defend themselves.           Sincerely,  Charles Weber, MS  isoptera at mchsi.com

The horror in Darfur is the result of one thing, unarmed citizens. If the victims had guns for self defense, they would not be slaughtered at random. Gun control means only the law breakers, power mad authorities, and murderers have guns. This must never happen in America.The end result is powerful nations must help to end the genocide as well as other human rights violations since the people are powerless to help themselves.

The genocide (Holocaust) in Darfur needs to be one of our priorities.  Too many people and politicians alike talk about the 'Greatest Generation' and America's role in ending the Holocaust, giving lip service to the idea that our ideals, our strength, and our compassion are still as present with us today as they were then.  The truth is, however, that we stand idly by.  We watched the genocide in Rwanda take place.  We need to, as a people, and as a HUMAN RACE, do something to end the slaughter in Darfur. 

As for guns, I lean toward gun-control, but I can see the logic in what you are saying.  Definitely if the people of Darfur could protect themselves the situation would not be so dismal.  I wonder, however, what guns will do to protect them from planes that strike from above and the Janjaweed on horseback who have guns with the advantage of speed.  While I believe women are very capable, I wonder about the effectiveness of guns when the men who would do most of the fighting have largely been killed already.  I wonder if arming will create a quagmire like the rebel armies fighting in Sierra Leon or a circle of retribution like we see between Isreal and Palestine.  Would we raise a generation of child soldiers?  Better than losing a generation of children.  Arming the people and giving them some defenses may help more than it hurts. 

Either way, help needs to go beyond that.  We need to step in and provide protection.  We need to disable the Janjaweed and those who slaughter the people of Darfur.  I realize that the economy and our engangements in Iraq and Afganastan diminish what our contributions may be, but they must be more than they are now.  We need to lead in prioritizing human life and ending genocide.  How much genocide is enough to act?

Are you people insane?  Giving everyone a gun is not the right answer!  Controlling who gets to bear arms and making sure weapons don't fall into the wrong hands, by means of gun trafficing is what needs to be done!  Although Sudan is different as it is primarily the government arming the Janjaweed.  We need more helicopters and more peace keepers in Darfur right away, we need Canada & the US to get in there right away - enough is enough.  For over 5 years we have let this go on and it makes me sick.  al-Bashir needs to be arrested and tried for crimes against humanity and should never see the light of day for the rest of his life, for he is as bad as Hitler.  As for a lot of your comments about guns, I respectfully and passionately disagree.  Think of your neighbours to the North and South for instance.  According to: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita the US ranks #24 on the murders per capita list and have the right to bear arms, #6 is MEXICO (whose policies are stricter than the US) but are none the less still able to bear arms, CANADA is #44 (we are aloud to bear arms but under strict regulations) and almost no one here carries gun.  People have hunting rifles under lock and key in their homes, if they are hunters.  No civilian, under any circumstance should be carrying a handgun and police officers should leave theirs at work.  They shouldn't even make them, as their sole purpose is for killing people.  If no one had a gun, people would have to resolve to the old fashion fist fight to settle an argument and far fewer people would be die.  I could argue this point for days, but wrapping up with Sudan, if the Janjaweed were stripped of their firearms and al-Bashir replaced we would be on the right track.  They rape and plunder because it is easy and the governement is giving them free reign.  Giving everyone a gun is not even an option and in my opinion is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. 

If WE need to 'step in and provide protection', it ought to be an all-volunteer force, and any U.S. soldier who volunteers ought to get their regular pay PLUS pay from the Darfur government...(I'm guessing the Blackwater Mercenaries would be happy to respond if the $$$ was right)...UNLESS Darfur collectively asks to become an American state. THAT would be when "we" would be able to interfere. These African slaughter countries are sickening, but it's just as sickening to have our soldiers--who sign up to defend America--thrown overseas to fight battles they have nothing to do with.
--K.K.

We are in a greatest moment of history to change the world once for all by our influence around world. We can change the world by being even handed. We can stop genocidal action not only in Dar fur and also in Palestine. We must not kid our-self that, for so long we have support most corrupt and brutal regime on the face of the earth by arming them to suppress their on people for so call fighting against communism. Still we support all these dictators around world such as Saudi Arabian regime or Hosni Mubarak of Egypt or even regime in Sudan whom not only suppress their own people and also people in Dar fur.

While the right to bear arms may be encouraged, or disputed, the citizens of other nations will look to us for leadership in addressing conflicts as a whole.  In many cases, we may directly intervene; however, our greater strength will rely on the duplication of efforts indirectly applied.  As we value life, we must communicate it through our actions. 

Seriously, what can we do, short of military intervention?I can see  economic sanctions, a trade embargo, political asylum for refugees...but American soldiers SHOULD NO LONGER BE SACRIFICED FOR ANY COUNTRY EXCEPT AMERICA, no matter how pathetically war-torn it may be. As Mr. Pointer says, we must communicate our value for life through our actions. We have to find another way to solve Africa's myriad problems.Best, K.K.www.rockherworld.net 

Idi Amin was overthrown because the villagers in Uganda armed themselves and organized.  I've met a former child-soldier from Idi Amin's Lord's Revolutionary Army who, after escaping the LRA, ran food and supplies behind enemy lines to feed refugees for many years, but then realized that arming and training the villagers to fight was the only way to stop the killing.  It worked.  The villagers were mostly responsible for the downfall of the LRA.

Seriously, what can we do, short of military intervention?I can see  economic sanctions, a trade embargo, political asylum for refugees...but American soldiers SHOULD NO LONGER BE SACRIFICED FOR ANY COUNTRY EXCEPT AMERICA, no matter how pathetically war-torn it may be. As Mr. Pointer says, we must communicate our value for life through our actions. We have to find another way to solve Africa's myriad problems.Best, K.K.www.rockherworld.net 

The soldiers in our army would not have to be Americans. If the French can have a foreign legion for nefarious purposes, there is no reason why we can not have one for good purposes.