Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: Re: SOMALIA:US delays aid again!
From: Amos.Omondi@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Amos Omondi)
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 00:10:04 GMT
Organization: Inter-Galactic Space Probe No. 42

In article <1471700089@igc.apc.org> Dorothy Morse <dmorse@igc.apc.org> writes:
>
>Hi Amos--we are not criticizng the US government to be "imperialist bashers."
>We've certainly had our suspicions of the Kenyan government in the past,
>when they imprisoned Wangaari Maathai, for example. 

	No, what I was referring to was the continual bashing of the 
	the US for being imperialist and yet in times of trouble, its: 
	"Come save us!".  Read the last line of your next paragraph ... 
>
>Our objective is to get food to the hungry Somalians.  The UN is said to
>be the best hope of doing this, and the US is said to have the most
>influence on what the UN does.  Accordingly, we address our calls to the
>UN and to US officials.  We have also called on the european community
>and some African missions to the UN.  Surely the African leaders should
>speak out, but it is the US and the UN who have the planes, the ships,
>the fuel and the food, and those are the people we want to get moving and 
>keep moving.

	Nobody disagrees with this.  I admire and appreciate the efforts 
	that you and others have been making in this regard.  Neverthless, 
	I think it is possible (notwithstanding the delay there has been) 
	to get people to respond without making dubious statements about 
	the US, UN, etc.  For example, much has been made about the US 
	supposedly using the fighting as an excuse for further delays.  
	I may be wrong here, but I think the Red Cross, which just had 
	11 of its workers killed by khat-chewing hooligans, probably 
	thinks there is a security problem.  So does the Egyptian UN 
	official who lies close to death as I write.  Anyway, as the US 
	is now flying food in ... 
		African countries could do more, even a small token 
	gesture.  If they cannot, and it all boils down to the US/UN, 
	then perhaps they should start trying to be the 53rd, 54th, .. 
	states of the US ...
>
>Unless the immediate Somalian emergency is handled, and the terrible
>problems reduced in severity, Somalians can hardly plan for the future.
>I understand that the US has talked about sending seeds and tools.  Byt
>people who are dying by the roadside from hunger have a hard time planting
>and waiting for the next crop.

	This is very funny.  Nobody was suggesting that the Somalis grow 
	food and wait for it.  What I was trying to say is that in 
	ADDITION to dealing with the current emergency, some thought 
	ought to be given to the future.  This means dealing with the 
	fighting.  It would be nice if fax campaigns were not required 
	to sustain Somali for the next 2 years.  
>
>The delay in handling the emergency to this date may well have meant that
>another emergency will appear next year.  And yes, those who don't want
>to do anything about Africa will be able to use that to say, see, they
>just starve every year.  But anybody with common sense can foresee that
>people dying of starvation one year need to be fed first before they
>can plan for the future.  Our problem is to get government officials to
>act with common sense.

	No, it is the failure to address the fundamental causes of the 
	current problems (and it is not just drought) that will cause 
	a similar situation next year.  Failure to use common sense to 
	see this has resulted in a situation where in the Sudan, for 
	example, it is the same thing over and over again.  
>
>(And Amos, were you calling *my* posts propaganda?  My posts are my
>opinions, based on as much info as I can get together, but I haven't
>got any longterm goal other than getting food to the hungry."-))
>

	I don't remember whose posts I called "propaganda".  So much 
	of that stuff flows through this newsgroup.  BTW, if the fighting 
	is not addressed, you will have the long-term problem of doing 
	the same thing that you are concerned with now.  

	Once again, may I thank you and others for the efforts that you 
	have put into bring the seriousness of the problem to many 
	people.  


Newsgroups: soc.culture.african