No Moral Clarity in Darfur

Driven from their prosperous village, Ahmed and his tribesmen now huddle under crude shelters made from tree branches and strips of cloth and tarpaulin, so destitute they don't even have enough glasses to share in the ritual tea offered to visitors. Ahmed says his people, as Arabs, get no international sympathy. "Even these [relief agencies], they came here with the idea that we are criminals," he says. "Everyone thinks we are criminals, so they do not help." He insists his village never took up arms against its aggressors, but the conspicuous absence of young men in his group suggests otherwise. Stripped of their homeland and modest wealth, they've almost surely joined the war that no one seems able to stop.