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In the north, you have a government run by Arab religious fundamentalists. In the south, you have a black population that's a mix of Christian and pagan (specific religion varies by tribe and area).
The Muslim Arabs see the black pagans as "subhuman", and the black Christians as only slightly better, and they're trying to drive the blacks out of lands that they've held since LITERALLY the dawn of mankind. It's genocide, pure and simple.
But more than that, it's a proxy war. The Arab north is being supported by fundamentalists across the middle east who see the norths actions in that country as a stepping stone to the eventual Islamification (and arabification) of the entire African continent. They see it as a part of the continued expansion of the Muslim world.
Surrounding black nations, on the other hand, are providing funding, training, weaponry, and logistical support to the black Sudanese rebel groups. The surrounding nations know that if the blacks fail in Sudan, they are next in line for a takeover. They are supporting the fight in Sudan as a way to keep the war off their own soil.
IMO, the ONLY way to really resolve this is to split Sudan into two nations, or at least two autonomous federal states, in order to guarantee the rights and freedoms of BOTH groups. This will never happen, though, because:
1) Even though the Arabs control the north, much of the nations oil is in the south. The Arabs will not give up control of those oilfields and the wealth they generate.
2) The Arabs are there for conquest, not compromise. The Arabs are hardcore fundamentalist Wahabbi Muslims who take the Korans directives to kill pagans and spread Islam VERY seriously, and who have so combined both religious and racial hatred that they don't even see the blacks as equal humans.
And so here's the problem with Sudan, and the reason that nobody wants to touch it: There will never be a negotiated end to the war while the Wahabbi's are still in power and see this as a religious war...the only permanent solutions they will accept are those that turn Sudan into a Muslim state, and the southern blacks will never accept that. If we attack and/or depose the northern Arabs, however, much of the Middle East will perceive it as an attack against Islam, with the "West" taking the side of the pagans. It would inflame Arab hatred of the West at a time when those flames are already burning pretty damned high.
If you can think of a solution to this problem that will mollify both sides, you'll win the Nobel Peace Prize. For now, most people are simply satisfied to keep the war low level...no WMD's or large scale military maneuvers, just the occasional village burning or mass rape scenario.
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