On another note, I cannot for the life of me understand why the lives of various Sudanese ethnic factions are worthy of protest and attention by the same elements of Western society who willingly advocate abandoning elements of Iraqi society to equally violent fates.... Guess it pays to belong to an 'at risk minority' that captures Hollywood's 'concern'.
regardless of reality, certain elements in the US insist on painting the Sudanese conflict as a religious struggle. that is how John Garang kept the SPLA going for so long. It has long been "cool" to look at Sudanese dissident groups as white hats versus Khartoum as black hats. The reality is of course much more complex.

Tom