Genocide - The starving of Africans

Boston Globe ^ | June 26, 2002 | Robert I. Rotberg

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I included this story in an "all about the misery in Africa" mass email, so it will get seen.

Thanks backhoe.

Bump!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

You're suffering under the common illusion that democracy equals good government. Most of the founding fathers would have disagreed with you. Mugabe is an elected leader, and although he certainly fixed the last couple of elections, he has a great deal of popular support. Even if he were clearly the choice of the majority of people, would that make him a better leader? Of course not.

I'm annoyed that people would rather have a knee-jerk reaction to the very idea of Africans wanting a better system than Mugabe's illegitamate government, than understand that they're trapped in this hell and want out. They are currently being murdered and starved to death for having the courage to vote against Mugabe. I have no problem with a caretaker government that will assist locals in democratic reform.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

And as long as Mugabe controls the means of distribution as well there is absolutely nothing the U.N. can do to alleviate the starvation. Move the food into warehouses and the thugs will take control of the warehouses, as in Somalia. Air-drop it and the thugs will intercept it on the ground. Move it around the country to distribution points and the thugs will be there to "provide security." This is not really a production problem, nor is it a distribution problem, it's a thug problem. And Western media are stubbornly refusing to admit it.

Who Is To Blame for Africa's Woes?***Here is how Shari Eppel, the director of the African civil-rights group Amani Trust, describes the process: "International food donors are setting up feeding centers aimed at destitute families, but once the donors have moved on, the bullies move in and decide who gets fed and who doesn't." Even the relatives and children of opposition supporters are condemned to starvation.

How can the United Nations allow this? The U.N. and its Western donors are just playing along with the post-colonialist ground rules. The West is supposed to regard Africa's poverty as the product of our evil interference, never mind the facts. So it's our duty to send buckets of money and food - but we are not supposed to enforce any rules on how the money is spent or how the food is distributed, because that kind of control would, after all, be colonialism.

In the middle of the famine he created, Mugabe had the effrontery this week to attend a U.N.-sponsored World Food Summit in Rome. There, representatives from African nations dined lavishly while they blamed their famines on the West's failure to give more aid. Welcome to the "post-colonialist" world, where Third World dictators blame the West for their sins. The West caves in - and lets the dictators keep on sinning.****

[Right Wing Professor]

I'm annoyed that people would rather have a knee-jerk reaction to the very idea of Africans wanting a better system than Mugabe's illegitamate government, than understand that they're trapped in this hell and want out.

Of course, if you disagree with my response, it must be knee-jerk.

Once again, Mugabe is an evil man and a bad leader because he kills and robs people and has run his country into the ground, not because some unknown percentage of the Zimbabwean population doesn't like him. While the African population of Zimbabwe may now realize they're unhappy under Mugabe (although he's doing exactly what he said he'd do when they elected him originally), I have no confidence in their ability to choose anyone better. Where else in sub-Saharan Africa have they done so?

[Search4Truth]

Send them guns. Let them fight for their independence, as we did.

[dougherty]

Good. It's about time some of these other countries pitched in. Now, how much is Bono giving out of his own pocket? He wants us to dole out money, let him dole out his own for this never-ending saga.

[RightOnline]

"Communism is not self-government, it's imprisonment."

True, CW, so true. However, in Africa's case, we can't blame Communism for their ills. Oh, there were attempts at establishing Communist regimes there, but they failed miserably. No..............it's unchecked, blatant, yet historically persistent tribalism. These people still have Stone Age mentalities.

[surely_you_jest]

This is nothing more, or less, than Darwinian selection, "writ large."

[surely_you_jest]

To clarify, I believe that political systems are, in fact, instruments of Darwinian selection. In other words, people get the government that they deserve.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I have no confidence in their ability to choose anyone better. Where else in sub-Saharan Africa have they done so?

Senegalese Loner Works to Build Africa, His Way

[happygrl]

Because of governmental delays and muddles in all three countries, poverty, and transportation bottlenecks, the food donors' valiant efforts will be insufficient to prevent millions from perishing.

I pray it does not come to this.

[happygrl]

It is not about overpopulation. It is about Death by Government.

Yes, in fact Africa has fewer people per square mile than Europe. Bad governance has been the death of Africans.

[happygrl]

We should acknowledge and show the people who are trying (they number in the millions) to establish a democratic government, that we will stand with them.

Well said, CW. If posters would make the effort to learn the facts, they would not resort to cliches and bogus beliefs in commenting on this tragedy. Zimbabweans have done what the gurus of the West have advised them in resorting to the ballot box, not the gun.

Well, it's not working.

Do the savants have any other suggestions meeting the criteria for politically correct responses, or may they just off this mad tyrant, Mad Bob ?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Exactly! The real truth may be they really don't care.

BTW - thank you for the nice remarks the other day. I feel the same about your participation on these threads.

[Right Wing Professor]

Touché. Sounds like a remarkable man. I hope he lasts.

[Right Wing Professor]

Zimbabweans have done what the gurus of the West have advised them in resorting to the ballot box, not the gun.

How the next leader is selected is unimportant. How he leads is what matters. Pinochet came to power by a violent military coup, and turned Chile into a model for the rest of Latin America.

Mugabe controls the military and has suppressed most of his opposition. His neighbors are almost entirely in cahoots with him, and those of us living far afield have little to gain by intervening. The Zimbabweans, in other words, made an extremely uncomfortable bed for themselves, and are now going to have to lie in it.