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Darfur War Is Over (if You Believe It)

The United Nations military commander, General Martin Agwai, says that although the area will likely continue to see things like banditry and...

 Patrick James
08.29.09

The United Nations military commander, General Martin Agwai, says that although the area will likely continue to see things like banditry and skirmishes of local violence, the "real war" between rebels in Darfur and the Sudanese government is "over." According to the BBC, Agwai says that as rebel groups have split so thoroughly into factions, the fighting is now significantly less serious. He's set to leave his post, this week, to be succeeded by Lieutenant General Patrick Nyamvumba.The BBC piece doesn't exactly inspire confidence that the situation has been resolved, and some analysts think Agwai's done a tremendous disservice to the millions of refugees-and hundreds of thousands of families of war-dead-by describing the war as over. I don't want to get all "remember when that one guy said 'Mission Accomplished' when in fact the mission in question wasn't even close to accomplished," but, um, remember when that one guy said Mission Accomplished when in fact the mission in question wasn't even close to accomplished?For more, check out Wikipedia's surprisingly decent timeline of the Darfur conflict, or our out-of-date but nonetheless poignant info-comic exploration, Tell Me More.Photo (cc) of Darfur refugees by Flickr user hdptcar.
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BIll Maher started a debate about fat-shaming and James Corden finished it beautifully

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Me Too Kit

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Photo by Henry Sempangi Senyule

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Widjifake, a hard-to-reach village in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with a population of 6,500, struggles with having consistent access to healthcare supplies due to the Congo River and its winding tributaries.

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via Keith Boykin / Twitter

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