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South Sudan Mired in War Declares Independence As World’s Newest Country

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In August 2010 Tanya Domi spent a few weeks in Sudan advising the Government of Southern Sudan in preparation for its long-anticipated independence that was overwhelmingly approved by voters on January 9. This past weekend Southern Sudan celebrated its independence and America, a key partner in the effort, gave its blessing and pledged its continued support for the fledgling democracy that faces a difficult journey in the months and years ahead.

The Republic of South Sudan this past weekend became Africa’s 54th newest nation and the world’s 195th country, declaring its independence from the Republic of the Sudan, forged by more than 50 years of war, two million dead, and millions of refugees dispersed throughout the world.

The United States has played a key role in supporting Southern Sudan’s quest for freedom, with significant support by the Bush Administration who brokered a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 between the North Arabic speaking and Muslim region of the Republic of the Sudan, led by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and the Christian and animist African south, led by  President Salvaa Kiir, a former general in the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA).

Al-Bashir is an indicted war criminal who is wanted for war crimes committed in Darfur by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Consequently, Sudan has been isolated by most of the world community, although al-Bashir has visited China and the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent months.

South Sudanese citizens overwhelmingly voted for independence in a Janurary 9 referendum that was stipulated to by the CPA. Ironically, the Republic of the Sudan became the first nation to recognize South Sudan yesterday.

Other nations who joined in recognizing the world’s newest country include Britain, China and Russia, according to Voice of America. China has a major presence in Sudan as it is the majority consumer of Sudan’s crude oil commodities. A testament to its growing influence in the region, was an appeal issued by the U.S. to China, exhorting it to assist in pressuring al-Bashir to recall his Army out of the border states, which has caused a major humanitarian disaster resulting in more than 70,000 internally displaced persons who have fled violence.

President Barack Obama “welcomed the birth of a new nation” on Saturday and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered her congratulations. Clinton said in her remarks that the South Sudanese people had overcome many obstacles, with remaining issues to address:

The realization of this historic day is a testament to the tireless efforts of the people of South Sudan in their search for peace. We commend South Sudan’s  current leaders, including President Salva Kiir Mayardit, for helping guide Southern Sudan to this moment. And we recognize the determination and courage of the many southern Sudanese who never abandoned their hope that peace was possible and who stood in long lines on January 9 to cast their votes.

…The challenges are many, but the South Sudanese people have demonstrated their capacity to overcome great odds. The United States will remain a steadfast partner as South Sudan seeks to peacefully meet these challenges and build a free, democratic and inclusive society. The strong ties between our peoples go back many decades, and we are committed to continuing to build on the partnership we have already established in the years ahead.

War continues on South Sudan’s northern border in Abyei, a disputed region between South Sudan and the Republic of the Sudan, where a majority of Sudan’s oil deposits are located that provides hard currency to both governments.

The other area of dispute between the North and the South is the Nuba Mountains located in the  Southern Kordofan State, which borders South Sudan and is presently experiencing calculated violence instigated by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) according to the UN and other Sudan experts tracking the situation,  such as highly regarded expert human rights lawyer and journalist Bec Hamilton.

Advocates have documented troop movements by the SAF through satellite photo imagery resulting in countless murders of civilians who have been senselessly slaughtered in an ongoing campaign that has been actively prosecuted under the leadership of ICC indicted war criminal Ahmad Muhammad Harun . This military campaign by the North has been underway since at least late May, although the situation has been fraught with tension for many months, which began with Harun’s ominous reassignment from Darfur in March 2009.

The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) is believed to have evacuated its international staff in the Southern Kordofan State on June 12, due to an escalation of violence by the SAF, which also resulted in the displacement of more than 70,000 civilians.  The Sudan Army has been reinforcing its presence in the area documented by satellite photography by governments, NGOs and  activists, published here by Voice of America.

On June 27 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1990 that called for the deployment of 4,200 peacekeepers to address the escalating violence in the Abyei region, but not in South Kordofan.

Khartoum relies on the hard currency generated by oil sales and has disputed South Sudan’s territorial claims.  These unresolved issues have demanded the attention of U.S. Special Envoy Ambassador Princeton Lyman who was sent out to the region by Secretary Clinton in August 2010 to bolster referendum preparation a and replaced Special Envoy Scott Gration in March.

Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the UN and head of the U.S. delegation that traveled to Juba for its inaugural celebration, spoke about the challenges ahead.  She remarked:

Yet even on this day of jubilee, we remain mindful of the challenges that await us tomorrow. No true friend would offer false comfort. The path ahead will be steep and pitted. But the Republic of South Sudan is being born amid great hopes—the hope that you will guarantee the rights of all citizens, shelter the vulnerable, and bring prosperity to all corners of your land; the hope that you will be able to live in peace and justice with your neighbors, bind up the wounds of war, and work with the Government of Sudan to resolve swiftly and peacefully all outstanding issues in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

South Sudan has some of the worst human development indicators in the world, where it is estimated that 90 percent of its population lives on less than $1 a day.  It also has one of highest illiteracy rates in the world estimated at 78 percent of the population with only eight percent of women reported to be literate. Vastly underdeveloped, with little infrastructure and dependent on oil revenues shared by its difficult relationship with Khartoum, virtually all of its food is imported into the country.  Last year the U.S. spent nearly $700 million on food aid to the region alone.

 

Tanya L. Domi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, who teaches about human rights in Eurasia and is a Harriman Institute affiliated faculty member. Prior to teaching at Columbia, Domi worked internationally for more than a decade on issues related to democratic transitional development, including political and media development, human rights, gender issues, sex trafficking, and media freedom.

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‘Good Chance’ Trump Will Be Electorally ‘Humiliated’ in November: Carville

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Democratic strategist and pundit James Carville, responding to the international outcry and condemnation over President Donald Trump’s failed efforts to acquire Greenland, predicted that he will likely lose big in the November midterm elections.

“I think the world wants to return, with the United States as being part of the world,” Carville said on his podcast. “And I think the way that that happens is Trump has to be humiliated.”

“He has to be electorally humiliated, and I think there’s a good, good chance that’s gonna happen this November in our elections,” he said. “It’s not enough that he just walk away, and the Democrats take over the presidency.”

There has to be “a well laid plan and strategy to utterly humiliate him, to the point that everybody around the world says, ‘This m — —, or no one like this m — —, is gonna ever come back and lead the United States,'” Carville declared.

READ MORE: Trump ‘Miscalculated’ and It ‘Backfired’: Columnist Explains What Led to Trump ‘Failing’

“I think that’s the possibility, and I think if that happens, I think we can renormalize the world a lot faster than most.”

“And he’s completely crazy,” Carville also remarked. “He’s going downhill.”

According to the New York Post, Trump will be campaigning during the midterm elections as if he were on the ballot.

“President Trump will treat the November midterm election like a presidential campaign, his senior leadership team tells The Post — traveling like he’s on the ballot, flooding key races with cash and hammering home how his policies will help Americans with affordability,” the Post reported.

Susie Wiles, Trump’s White House Chief of Staff and his former campaign co-chair, told The Post, “He’s going to campaign like it’s 2024.”

READ MORE: Trump Unleashes Wild Ego-Fueled Social Media Grievance Storm After Davos Defeat

Image via Reuters

 

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Trump ‘Miscalculated’ and It ‘Backfired’: Columnist Explains What Led to Trump ‘Failing’

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President Donald Trump “miscalculated” his level of support — especially on the issues that won him re-election in 2024, and it has “backfired,” according to an opinion columnist.

In “Why Trump is failing,” Steven Roberts in the Columbia Missourian writes: “Trump has called 2025 ‘the greatest first year’ of any president, but a majority of Americans strongly disagree.”

“To hardcore MAGA loyalists, the president can do no wrong. But rabid Red Hats account for only about 35% of Americans,” observes Roberts.

He identifies where the president is losing support: “since Trump received almost 50% of the popular vote, that means about 15% of his backers were not true believers, and they are the ones who are slipping away.”

Roberts identifies why.

“The single biggest reason Trump won a second term was economic discontent with the Biden administration, and it’s the single biggest reason so many voters are now disillusioned,” he says, pointing to a CNN poll that, he writes, finds “55% say Trump’s policies have actually made things worse and almost two-thirds say he has not done enough to reduce their cost of living.”

But Roberts offers more.

READ MORE: Trump Unleashes Wild Ego-Fueled Social Media Grievance Storm After Davos Defeat

He explains that Americans supported Trump’s policies on immigration when it was about immigrants at the border.

“They were ‘others’: easy to demonize and dehumanize. They had no voice and no identity, and Trump and his media managers could control what voters knew and felt about them.”

But, he continues, “Trump miscalculated, and his show backfired,” because his targets are no longer “faceless hordes but real people with jobs and families, friends and neighbors.”

The came the shooting of a Minneapolis mother of three, Renee Good.

“The administration tried to brand her as a domestic terrorist who had caused her own demise by driving at the agent. But the videos — seen by more than 80% of Americans — told a different story,” he writes. “Good simply did not look like a terrorist. Plus, independent news organizations analyzed the cellphone footage and concluded that it ‘contradicted’ the official line.”

Trump “lost control of the narrative, and public opinion turned against him.”

The president’s other miscalculation: his stance on the affordability issue, an issue that arguably got him re-elected.

With just 36 percent of Americans saying Trump has the right priorities, Roberts surmises that is simply his “loyal MAGA base.”

And he warns that if this trend continues, voters at the polls in November will “take it out on his party.”

READ MORE: These 19 Democrats May Already Be Jockeying for a Presidential Run: Report

 

Image via Reuters 

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Trump Unleashes Wild Ego-Fueled Social Media Grievance Storm After Davos Defeat

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President Donald Trump on Thursday unleashed dozens of rapid-fire social media posts after what critics described as a difficult few days at Davos. His speech there reportedly further strained relations with U.S. allies, following his Greenland gambit, which produced few if any clear gains and drew criticism over its diplomatic costs. The rollout of Trump’s Board of Peace also struggled to gain traction, with a handful of European allies participating in the inaugural signing ceremony.

In spoke of the more recent posts, Trump went off on “Fake Polls,” while admitting that they have his approval rating “in the low 40s,” although The Economist shows his net approval rating currently at 37%.

“We have the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country, we have the Strongest Border in History, nobody has ever done a job like I have done, and they have me in the low 40s,” he complained. “The Democrats destroyed Healthcare, I’m trying to fix it, and they give me FAKE low numbers. Fake Polls on the Economy, on the Border, on just about everything, are ridiculous and dangerous. The REAL Polls have been GREAT, but they refuse to print them.

“The Times Siena Poll, which is always tremendously negative to me, especially just before the Election of 2024, where I won in a Landslide, will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times,” he wrote. “Our lawyers have demanded that they keep all Records, and how they ‘computed’ these fake results — Not just the fact that it was heavily skewed toward Democrats. They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!”

READ MORE: Top Conservative Think Tank Roasted Over ‘Retrograde’ Marriage and Family Report

Some posts promoted questionable claims, including suggesting that annualized U.S. GDP grew to more than 5 percent — while most expectations and Congressional Budget Office predictions are currently about half that number.

He promoted a claim that he “helped create ‘The Martin Luther King Jr International Freedom Games’ in 1966,” when he would have been about 20 years old.

Other posts he promoted talked about the U.S. trade deficit, alleged illegal voting in the 2020 election, immigration, tariffs, globalism, Don Lemon, Supreme Court oral arguments for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and one declaring Trump the “greatest President in the world.”

Another post offered the transcript and video of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller allegedly claiming, and without evidence, that James Comey, Jim Clapper, John Brennan, Lisa Monaco, and President Barack Obama “all conspired and worked together to sabotage, undermine, unravel, and overthrow the United States government and the democratic institutions and structures of this country.”

That post, as Raw Story reported, appeared to be in response to former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s currently ongoing congressional public testimony.

Another post included video of Argentinian President Javier Milei attacking “wokeism” while praising the “Americas.”

READ MORE: These 19 Democrats May Already Be Jockeying for a Presidential Run: Report

 

Image via Reuters 

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