Subject:
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Re: Losing hearts and minds - Chaos in occupied Africa (aka something that floats)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 25 May 2004 21:38:24 GMT
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Viewed:
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392 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Don Heyse wrote:
> I'm almost at a loss for words.
>
> http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=524674
>
> At a time when the world's opinion was with the UN for their stance of
> the Iraqi situation, those stupid <insert expletive here> go do what
> they did.
Unfortunately, as with soldierly misconduct at Abu Ghraib,
nobody knows how far up the proverbial food chain this goes.
There is not yet any evidence that it was anyone but the
soldiers involved in peacekeeping themselves; I find it very
interesting, however, that it's the Moroccans and Uruguayans
being singled out by this accusation. One wonders if it's
really just them, or if it's some of the other, more European
peacekeepers as well.
> I don't swear much, but this just makes me seething with anger. 13
> year old children for crying out loud.
Here's the kicker: this kind of thing was *common practice*
during the colonial era, when those partaking were Belgians,
Britons, and French instead of UN soldiers. Yeah, it should
make you seethe with anger, but not because it's new--rather,
because it's 2004 and it's happening again. The very worst
part is that the situation is so very bad that girls are taking
*their own initiative* to sell their bodies--which, beyond its
own horrific nature, points to a whole bevy of terrors that
are only hinted at in the story, terrors that only began
with war and dislocation.
> If I was a passionate man, I'd say pull out the UN forces and drop a
> few really big bombs down on their heads and 'turn the sand to glass'
But then, that punishes the guilty as well as the innocent,
and until you know how far up the guilt goes, it might let
some of the guilty go free. But the guilty may get their own
punishment; the prevalence of HIV in the refugee camps is
sky-high, and most carriers do not know they have it, nor
would they jeopardize their income even if they did.
Sad as it is, this is how the third world often "functions".
This kind of thing is extremely prevalent outside the DRC as
well--witness the very well-known examples of Asian "sex tours"
where European and American businessmen pay big money to sleep
with young girls (and boys). It's disgusting, and it only
operates because of exactly the same dynamic in operation
here. If this story made you angry, then you may burst into
flames if you find out much more about what goes on out there.
The primary culprit behind most of them, unfortunately, is
the global economy of which you and I are the "haves"--the
beneficiaries.
Welcome to the twenty-first century. Please leave your
conscience at the door, as management is not responsible for
any damage it may sustain.
> And now the conspiracy theorists are out in full force, spinning this
> atrocity--'This was only printed to distract us from the atrocities
> comitted by the US forces in Iraq.!" Hey look you guys with foil
> wraps on your head--if it wasn't them, it would have been someone
> else.
Actually, I look at it the other way; someone down there may
in fact have been *inspired* by the whistleblower example at
Abu Ghraib, and decided to stand up for what is morally and
legally right. I hope the story of how this was discovered,
and who was willing to stand up and be counted, comes out.
> See, it's the mentality--when you are born into and taught your entire
> lives that the 'displaced people' are 'less than you', you can commit
> these heinous acts of barbarism and not even remotely consider that
> you're doing something wrong.
It's the power relationship granted by wealth and status
over the powerless. In fact it may have little to do with
what they were taught "their entire lives" but what the
situation brought out in its exigencies. We've seen in the
last few months very, very stark evidence of what can happen
to otherwise level-headed people in extreme circumstances.
And if they are Moroccans and Uruguayans--themselves usually
categorized as "colonized people"--it's even *more* bizarre.
> Do I have an solution? Do I have an answer? I know that the UN has
> mismanaged this fiasco from the beginning, and every shred of evidence
> points to this mismanagement eminating from Kofi's administration.
> But what to do now? Now it's a totally differnt ball-game. We see
> the 'enemy' for what he really is--a spiteful, vengeful group of
> people who have *no* consideration for people who aren't them. The DRC
> isn't the issue. The DRC folks probably just want to go about their
> daily business and be left alone and let 'the powers that be' go do
> something else. But these extreme socialist zealots who believe
> only they have the answers to all the worlds problems... that's an
> entirely different matter.
Now you're getting kind of weird, here. Black-helicopter
weird, in fact. You are aware of what happened in the DRC
before the UN showed up, and even when it was first there
(but before there were significant numbers of people on the
ground), right? Just as people are wrong to point fingers
at the United States as a jackbooted racist terror state for
the actions of a few brutalizers, to scream that the UN is an
imperial, "extreme socialist zealot" (why don't you just say
"communist" and get it over with?) rapacious entity because
of this matter is more than a little silly. Wait and watch
it unfold before deploying the questionable conclusions to
impugn the whole UN.
You might also want to learn just what the socioeconomic
situation in the entire "underdeveloped world" is like,
so you can see just how unremarkable most aspects of this
are save one: that anyone ever found out about it. That
part may in fact be something you can *credit* to the UN,
because if it had been a less accountable force it would
have been disturbingly easy to cover this up.
best
LFB
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