Secession?

This is coolbert:

See my previous blog entry on this matter.

It is now official. The voting has been done, the ballots counted, and the results are in. The South Sudan has decided to secede from the northern part of the country [Sudan]. An amazing vote with amazing results.

99 % of those eligible to vote did so. Of those that voted, 99.57 % voting FOR independence! Those figures normally are the type of thing you might associate with North Korea.

NOW, the deed is done? Secession is a "done deal". A new nation and country is on the horizon. The northerners will graciously defer to the southerners? We shall see!

"It's official: South Sudan set to secede with a 99.57 percent vote"

"South Sudan's long-awaited independence referendum produced an overwhelming turnout of 99 percent among voters in the south, one of the poorest and least developed regions on earth."

"Juba, South Sudan - - Cheers and spontaneous dancing broke out as the first official announcement of results from South Sudan’s independence vote was made in the oil-rich region’s capital by members of commission that organized the referendum held earlier this month."

Very poor and undeveloped, to be sure, but also containing VAST amounts of oil that merely awaits exploration? This remains to be seen.

Also, the southern Sudan, the Christian and animist people of the region, subjected to a decades long war perpetrated by the central government in Khartoum against the separatist forces of John Garang! A war that can be categorized as GENOCIDAL in nature!

That central government in Khartoum is NOT going to let the south "go" so easily? The resumption of hostilities is a big "possible"? The north has a BAD track record on this issue of secession and is willing to use "any means necessary" to gain their way.

And here thanks to Ilya, some interesting comments on the entire topic of secession:

"In practice, the morality of any given secession movement

depends critically on the reasons why the secessionists

want to form their own state and the likelihood that it

will be less unjust than the regime they seek to leave.

Some secessions have clearly been defensible on these terms,

including the Baltic States’ secession from the USSR,

the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993,

Norway’s early 20th century secession from Sweden,

and America’s own secession from the British Empire."

Anyone disagree with that? And good luck southerners!

coolbert.