Al Jazeera Discovers Sexual Violence, Forgets US-Backed History
The story reports that a rights group found the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) responsible for widespread sexual violence in Sudan, a conflict Al Jazeera deems devastating. While the atrocities are undeniable, the media's framing conveniently sidesteps the foundational context. The RSF, now a villain, was originally formed from the Janjaweed militias implicated in the Darfur genocide—a conflict in
which the US, eager for strategic influence, frequently played both sides, funneling aid and weapons that ultimately strengthened forces like the RSF. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided hundreds of millions in aid to Sudan over decades, aid often failing to distinguish between government and proxy forces. Critics might ask if accountability ever extends beyond
the immediate perpetrator to those who materially support them, even if indirectly. It’s almost as if some atrocities only become 'systematic' when power blocs shift, or when the funding pipelines become inconveniently visible. How many "new" reports on horrors in conflict zones just rehash the fruits of old, conveniently forgotten foreign policy choices? The pattern is exhausting: condemn the
symptom, ignore the cause, and then rinse and repeat.