Sudan, again . . . again

Remember what I said last week when Colon, er, Colin Powell was there?

I didn't comment on Colin Powell's quick pass through there this past week, but I guess I should. Cruising around the blogosphere I noticed others putting in their two cents about how disingenuous the visit was. That he was just paying lip service to the problems there. I've made my opinion on the subject well known here and here. Today, I proffer this:

Colin Powell was in the Sudan scouting the area of the next U.S. Theater of Operations. I get the feeling the Administration knows their original plan for Iraq is generally blown and the best they can hope for is a good PR moment if the place doesn't descend into civil war. They won't have control of Iraq's oil production and they probably won't have the ability to conduct operations in other parts of the region (Iran) from within Iraq.

Sudan has OIL, ladies and gentlemen, a government in chaos, and all the characteristics the Bush Administration fancies when deciding to attack someone. Connections to terrorism. Sudan has those, and that is not disputed. I say it is ripe for the picking for President AWOL and VP Halliburton in their never-ending war on terror. If Bush/Cheney is reelected, prepare to see Marines and Kellogg, Brown, and Root trucks rolling through Khartoum in a couple years.

And then X over at TAB had this:

When I read the F-man's post about Colin Powell's trip to Sudan, I thought he'd put on his tinfoil hat:

. . .

Colin Powell was in the Sudan scouting the area of the next U.S. Theater of Operations. I get the feeling the Administration knows their original plan for Iraq is generally blown and the best they can hope for is a good PR moment if the place doesn't descend into civil war. They won't have control of Iraq's oil production and they probably won't have the ability to conduct operations in other parts of the region (Iran) from within Iraq.

After catching this via The Agonist, he doesn't seem that crazy anymore:

LAGOS June 4 - A US navy battlegroup is to make a ``show of force'' in the oil-rich waters of the Gulf of Guinea, off west Africa, diplomats said Friday, as Washington hones plans to escape its dependence on unstable Middle Eastern supplies by securing more African crude.

The foray by a heavily armed carrier group into the waters off Nigeria, Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea and other African oil producers, comes at a time when fuel prices are topping the US political agenda and security crises in the Gulf region are pushing demands for greater diversification in energy supplies.

Hmmm . . .

Okay, so today I see this at MSNBC:

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday the Sudanese government has yet to follow through on promises to help those in the Darfur region who are “imperiled by violence, starvation and disease.”

“We need immediate improvement,” Powell said, warning that a Sudanese failure to act could lead to tough U.N. Security Council sanctions against the country’s Islamic government.

[. . .]

A U.S. draft resolution calls on Sudan to immediately fulfill all its commitments to end violence in the western Sudanese region and to give access to aid workers. The resolution also urges the warring parties in Sudan to conclude a political agreement without delay and it commits all states to target sanctions against the government-backed militias held responsible for the crisis.

“The government of Sudan bears the greatest responsibility to face up to this catastrophe, rein in those who are committing this ethnic cleansing and save the lives of its own citizens,” Powell said.

Okay, so doesn't this sound like the bullshit Powell et. al. was peddling when we were looking for an excuse to go into Iraq? Mark my words, we'll be in Sudan or somewhere else in Africa that has oil soon enough. Motherfuckers.