If Africa is the horrorzone we have all heard about...?

Yes it is. The Janjaweed militias that are perpetrating the killings are supported in both spirit and money by elements of the Sudanese government, and just a couple of weeks ago, the Sudanese foreign minister characterized the slow-burn genocide there as a dispute between cattlemen and farmers, likening it to 'similar' misunderstandings in the American West during the 1800s. He did this in New York, trying to act like a buddy to us and ease our misgivings. The AU is waffling as is their want (even worse than the UN) and Sudan flatly refuses 'colonialist' interventions by the West. When my friend Thomas went to central Africa and then Liberia on peacekeeping missions (Swedish SpecOps), he found places that stank of death to the heavens, with pieces of corpses strewn everywhere. They were tasked with hunting guerilla forces larger than themselves through the 'green spaghetti' or guarding food points and things, and themselves had to take part in more killing than a Chicago stockyard.