Three years after midwifing South Sudan's birth, the United States is desperately trying to prevent the world's youngest nation from falling apart. Yet despite shared consternation by the Obama administration and Congress, no one is quite sure what the U.S. can do to bring peace to a country that in many ways owes its existence to the United States. The violence has killed more than 1,000 people and driven 180,000 from their homes in the last month, and spread to neighbours killing each other purely on tribal identification, threatening a place that until recently was viewed by Democrats and Republicans alike as an American success story in Africa. "Each day that the conflict continues, the risk of all-out civil war grows," Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, warned Thursday. "There is clear evidence that targeted killings have taken place, with Dinka killing Nuer, and Nuer killing Dinka. Countless civilians, particularly women and children, have become victims." For the United States, South Sudan's instability isn't just another example of a weak African state struggling to deal with political infighting, endemic poverty and deadly battles between the military and rebel groups. Because of its history as a largely Christian nation that was able to win its freedom from Muslim-dominated Sudan, South Sudan has a powerful constituency in Washington. And the bloodshed is proving an embarrassment to the U.S., which has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the country and been its strongest international champion. The crisis began with a political dispute on Dec. 15 as President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, accused his former vice-president, Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer, of trying to overthrow the government. Machar denies the accusation, accusing the government of rooting out political opponents. Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. had no evidence of a coup attempt, putting the initial blame on the government for raiding Machar's home. But the violence has spread significantly since, sparking a series of ethnically motivated attacks and counterattacks while groups allied to Machar have claimed military victories and greater control of territory. Washington has mobilized on two fronts, organizing peace talks between representatives of both sides in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and getting the U.N. Security Council last month to approve 5,500 more peacekeepers to South Sudan. The peace talks have yet to stop the fighting, though Thomas-Greenfield said a cease-fire was all but agreed if Kiir releases 11 high-level political detainees. Help also could also come soon for the 7,600-strong U.N. force in South Sudan, she added, even if only a Bangladeshi police unit has arrived thus far. "For 30 years the United States has been supporting the people of South Sudan, even before South Sudan became an entity, supporting their right to exist, their right to freedom of religion, and their fight against the government of Sudan," Thomas-Greenfield told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We birthed this nation and there are Americans from all walks of life ... who are concerned about what is happening." Senators agreed. "This is a place people expect us to make a difference," Sen. Bob Corker, the committee's top Republican said. While the focus is currently on diplomacy, U.S. officials and congressional aides said the military also has begun studying scenarios under which the United States could consider supporting local partners such as Uganda, Ethiopia or Kenya to move into South Sudan to restore order. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they said they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Under no scenario are U.S. military boots on the group envisioned in the country. The United States has some leverage. After helping secure peace with the north in 2005, Washington guided South Sudan through a referendum three years ago to the day approving its independence. Since, the U.S. has intervened to secure a series of agreements with Sudan on sharing oil revenue and managing, if not solving, their border disputes. When South Sudan became its own country in July 2011, President Barack Obama hailed it as a "reminder that after the darkness of war, the light of a new dawn is possible." But since winning freedom, South Sudan's patchwork of ethnic loyalties and political rivalries has been tearing at the seams. Before even the latest bout of violence, Secretary of State John Kerry and members of Congress warned Kiir this summer to halt a series of ethnically motivated atrocities against minorities or risk losing vital U.S. aid and diplomatic support. American security funds -- representing just a fraction of the $1.8 billion in total assistance that has been approved since 2011 -- has dried up. And the White House recently vowed a complete aid cutoff to anyone who seizes power by force. The threat carries greater force than in Egypt, for example, because the United States has been so instrumental in creating and sustaining South Sudan over its short history. In response to the violence, Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. was providing an additional $50 million in humanitarian assistance to South Sudan. But with the fighting preventing access to many parts of the country and a dearth of aid workers on the ground to deliver assistance, it is unclear what that commitment will mean in the short-term. Underscoring the danger, four U.S. Navy commandos were injured last month when rebel forces fired on three helicopter-airplane Ospreys during an evacuation mission. The U.S. has sharply drawn down its diplomatic presence in South Sudan. The Juba embassy is currently being staffed only by just an ambassador and two aides, Thomas-Greenfield said. They're being protected by nine diplomatic security agents, seven Marines and 45 additional forces. Despite frustration with Kiir, the U.S. and its African partners still see him as the best of bad options. Kiir is the democratically elected president. His opponents include rebels who've employed child soldiers. Since taking territory, their disruption of oil exports has worsened South Sudan's already miserable economic condition.
Sudan had NO oil and pretty much NO resources, the only thing they do have is (*)(*)(*)(*)ing CHRISTIANS Jesus Bleeding Christ Almighty, just how much longer are we going to support..no not just support but instigate, control and wage what is no less than a ****** full blown Christian Crusade on the rest of the entire ****** world? (*)(*)(*)(*) the ****** South Sudanese. If they want to be Christians in a muslim continent so bad let THEM deal with the consequences. The United States is the United States of AMERICA, not the ****** Vatican or wherever the Protestants have their headquarters. We are a SECULAR country and the only legitimate interests we should have should be secular ones. If people want to have religious conflicts of any kind anywhere we should stay OUT. .
Southern Sudan has the oil. And that is why the USA is there- it certainly isn't for democracy or humanitarian reasons, it never is. We should indeed stay out unless you really want to see a miserable state of affairs become even worse.
Oil is just bull(*)(*)(*)(*). They're not going to drink it so it will go into the world market, a fungible commodity. It doesn't matter whether they like us or not, they're not going to discount it It's always the same. They're "our" brother CHRISTIANS. We have to protect the poor Copts in Egypt and then the Maronites in Lebanon and the Druze in Syria. Yeh, right, just like we "protected" the poor (*)(*)(*)(*)ers in Iraq, They weren't really treated well under Saddam but nobody was, and at least they had a home and were alive. Now the few survivors are wandering refugees. It's been proven over and over again from the very beginning. The people we go Crusading for always would have been a lot better off if we hadn't tried, sometimes even if the alternative was being dead. The (*)(*)(*)(*)ing Christian Crusaders ATE other Christians on the way to Jerusalem and then killed everyone that was there, Christians included, these are the people the Republican (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) Religious Fanatics want us to emulate.
Another Rwanda about to happen... Kerry Warns of Genocide Risk in South Sudan May 01, 2014 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is warning of the risk of genocide in South Sudan if four months of deadly fighting there is not stopped. Kerry on Thursday discussed the violence with regional foreign ministers and African Union officials in Addis Ababa.
Clashes between supporters of President Salva Kiir and vice-president Riek Machar... South Sudan: Heavy gunfire erupts in capital Juba Sun, 10 Jul 2016 - Heavy gunfire erupts in South Sudan's capital Juba after several days of deadly clashes between government troops and former rebels.
Aid blocked in So. Sudan... South Sudan starves as aid blocked, money spent on fighting Oct 14,`16) -- The mother faced an anguished decision: choosing which of her children to save. With hunger gripping this remote region of South Sudan, Elizabeth Athiel could either get urgent medical attention for her 8-month-old daughter, Anger, or make sure her other five children could eat.
UN seeks to prevent "Rwanda-like" genocide in So. Sudan... UN warns action needed to prevent genocide in South Sudan Dec. 15, 2016 -- A United Nations special commission sounded the alarm Wednesday that "ethnic cleansing" is now underway in South Sudan and if there is no international intervention it is likely to descend into a "Rwanda-like" genocide.
