Famine In East Africa

I know a lot of people have been concetrating on other news but has anyone heard anything about the famine in East Africa.I heard it's very bad and there will be major deaths if their isn't aid given.The worse part is there is an Al-Quaida organization brefenting funds from coming to the intended people.I think this is a discussion worth talking about and maybe even take a pledge to help those who are hurting in this terrible time.<( This just makes me sad that so much suffering is in the world.

The UN declared a state of famine in Somalia and have launched a relief effort with the help of aid group and other NG Os.

All that I know that even with news of aid being taken to them,it still sucks for them.I mean this is called the worst famine in sixty years so you know they will an alarming amount of suffering.To make matters worse an Al-Quaida group takes any funds away for their own selfish gains.

It just shows how evil these guys are!!!!

Al Shabaab has been splintering about that actually. Some of their warlords are openly inviting the UN just as teh main leadership is using the famine to control the local population (taking a page out of Mohammad Farrah Aidid's old playbook). The TFG (the latest attempt at a national government) is hoping to score with the local population by providing the necessary services to the famine victims, and sees the splintering as all the more helpful.

In all honesty? Who cares?

I remember reading about the same thing when i was in elementary school, people dyings, famine, civil war; the whole bag. fast forward 20+ years and things are still the same. Exactly what happens to all the food and capital we sent the continent throughout the years? Mismanagement, corruption, fraud, fell off the back of a fuckin truck; take your pick.

It's not our fight; somebody else can pick up the tab this time. And if any of you are still jumping at the bit to head over there, look up what happened the last the we decided to help people in Somalia.

Perhaps they had better die, and decrease the surplus population!

IOW: Sending food and supplies to prop up the dangerous warlords and pirate groups is not the best thing to do. Little to none of the aid will actually reach the people who need it the most.

Most people know that(or they should by now, yet they'll still "Text 911 to donate to Somalia".

I've repeatedly stated that the US government doesn't always have the best reasons for pre-emptive invasion.

THIS, is a good reason. Send a few Marine columns and please wipe these Somali warlords off the face of the Earth.

Sorry, we can't do that anymore; what with international opinion and the perception of imperialism.

Imperialism?!? That would not be a case of imperialism!!It would be a good case of going against people who derserve to get their butts kicked.And what's funny no one makes a fuss about China making shifty,business agreements in parts of Africa that will take advantage of the native's resoruces.

edited 3rd Aug '11 7:51:13 AM by jazzflower14

But these @#$#suckers are preventing people from trying to flee. They NEED to die.

Who could possibly argue with that??

edited 3rd Aug '11 7:49:52 AM by TheStarshipMaxima

Generally speaking, nobody really gives a shit about Africa. As for the perception of imperialism, if we go in, you can bet you ass that peole will say something along the lines of "Why is America going in now? Where were they the last 20 years? They just want to install a puppet dictator and take their resources."

I'm not saying that landing some Marines off the coast and letting them wreck shop is a bad thing, hell there are more than a few countries that could use a bit of applied violence, but alas; we rarely do that anymore.

Shit like that is why I'm getting grey hair.

edited 3rd Aug '11 7:51:01 AM by Kino

Rule of Perception. Kino is right, it doesn't matter why we go in, it matters what people will say we went in for. I could park a Nimitz or two off shore and wreck their shit to kingdom come, and it wouldn't do a damn thing for them; a new dictator would take over and America, as far as the world would care, would have yet another stain on her honor. Why bother? It's Europe's problem, anyhow; they fucked the place up, not us. Let the EU sort it out.

edited 3rd Aug '11 7:55:48 AM by USAF713

Knowing how techinally Europe espically England raised America, this might run in the family.Anyway people got mad at America for not interfening the Rwanda genocide and I have a bet the world would get mad if we don't do anything now.I sometimes hate the rest of the world;we are damned if we do and damned if we don't.

I have to agree with Kino. Africa is a helpless cause, and nothing could possibly be done to help the people there, apart from developed countries stopping to sell weapons to warlords over there (which will never happen).

edited 3rd Aug '11 7:59:42 AM by MilosStefanovic

Don't you just love being a world power? Times like this makes Ron Paul and Bachmaan's isolationist politics sound good.

edited 3rd Aug '11 8:01:22 AM by Kino

Oh, I wish we could go back to isolationism. What does the world do for us, anymore? Our economy is tanking because we can't compete with China and India, the major European powers hate us and the minor ones that like us never speak up, we can't move more than a foot before someone gives us shit about something, and no one will ever shut up about the Cold War. I say let them sort out their own problems. Park the Navy offshore and leave us the fuck alone.

Not that it will ever happen, though. Ah well. Wishful thinking on my part.

Edit: Sometimes I think the US should go through It's a Wonderful Plot to remind ourselves that we are in fact necessary and important in the world. That just might be the only thing that will stop the inevitable terminal decline that seems to be poised on the horizon.

edited 3rd Aug '11 8:04:08 AM by USAF713

It sounds good in theory, but in practice we're too heavily involved with the rest of the world for it to be feasible.

^ This.

And, if you don't mind a minor jibe, facing up to what your country has done is an intrinsic part of politics. As I recall, didn't you earlier say that this issue was Europe's fault, and that they should sort it out?

I did, and it's more or less true. The European Great Powers are the ones who carved the place up like a cake, set up an economy geared to fail, and then dropped everything and walked away to let the place rot. Why should we come back to clean it up when people are just going to tell us off for doing it, and when we didn't even cause the problem? Let the EU and the UN deal with it.

USAF@People will always get mad if we don't do anything anyway.We can't win.Plus most of the world finds excuses to hate us anyway.I know some have legitimate excuses but their are others who just won't give us a break.

It just made me glad that we had a revolution agianst England.

Of course we can't "win." The world wants us to field the largest military in the world so they don't have to pay for one themselves. You know what, fuck that. Europe can buy it's own military. Pull the troops out. The only foreign countries within our realm of influence should be those in the Western Hemisphere. Europe can go back to what it does best: interfering in other people's business in the Old World. If they want to complain when we do something, we won't do it for them. It's that simple.

~rant off~

So, because I forgot to tie this to the discussion, I say this: it's tragic that East Africa is falling to pieces. No, it's tragic that Africa itself is falling to pieces. But I cannot ethically say "yeah, let's go help them!" because it causes more harm to us than it will create help for them. Either they have to fix it themselves, or Europe—who should be the one helping them, if anyone does)—is going to go. Not the US.

edited 3rd Aug '11 8:36:33 AM by USAF713

Simple. Because we are the better men.

Right, yeah, because no other fucking countries invaded Afghanistan or Iraq with you.

Uh, who's your staunchest ally that follows you into every military adventure again?

Somebody call the fucking wahmbulance, Jesus.

So you want to repeat Vietnam and Iraq all over again? Be my guest. But you'll do it in the French Foreign Legion, or some other European outfit. Not with the US military. Because it's just not worth it, for us and for them.

Who is this directed at?

edited 3rd Aug '11 8:40:11 AM by USAF713