What Genocide?

It turns out that Bush isn't just ignoring the genocide in Sudan, he's actually making friends with its chief architect:

The Bush administration has forged a close intelligence partnership with the Islamic regime that once welcomed Osama bin Laden here, even though Sudan continues to come under harsh U.S. and international criticism for human rights violations.

The Sudanese government, an unlikely ally in the U.S. fight against terror, remains on the most recent U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. At the same time, however, it has been providing access to terrorism suspects and sharing intelligence data with the United States.

First of all, this is the kind of shit we do that makes them hate us. In this case, the Muslims are the ones doing the murdering, but befriending and propping up brutal genocidal regimes is pretty much our M.O., isn't it. Secondly, I understand the need for good intelligence to protect the American people; I'm not such a dreamer that I don't understand realpolitik, but sometimes it just goes too far, don't you think? How would we have felt if we were meeting with Heinrich Himmler in the 40s? And Bush himself has referred to Sudan as a genocide, so for once the Nazi comparison is apt. How can one decry the genocide while simultaneously sitting down for tea with the head murderer? Might the calls for the end of genocide be politically calculated lies? Hmmn...