Monday, February 13, 2017

Peace on the River

Of the many strange aspects of the Trump visa ban, one worth considering is that it applies to Sudan. Sudan has many problems, but being a source of terrorism is not one of them. There is the matter of Osama bin Laden's sojourn there, but of course bin Laden was not a Sudanese citizen, and anyway, there is an argument that it would have been better for everyone if bin Laden had stayed in a country where it was easier to keep an eye on him.

The immediate question is why Sudan is on the Trump list. For one thing, the CIA appears to have had ample cooperation with the Sudanese government. In addition, for a supposed terrorist haven, Sudan has very little terrorism. The Sudan Tribune explains, in the context of the discovery of a possible terrorist cell in Khartoum --

The last terrorist attack in Khartoum was in 1993 when the Palestinian Black September Organization carried out an attack on the Saudi embassy in the Sudanese capital.

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