From: harelb@MATH.CORNELL.EDU (Harel Barzilai)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,misc.headlines,talk.politics.misc
Subject: SOMALIA ALERT (2)
Date: 30 Jul 92 02:49:29 GMT
Organization: misc.activism.progressive on UseNet ; ACTIV-L@UMCVMB


    "Finally, a top Red Cross official said: "I thought I would never see
    Ethiopia again, and I DIDN'T THINK WE WOULD ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN AGAIN."

    "Why was it allowed to happen again?  The Red Cross predicted this
    disaster 6 months ago.


[..from PeaceNet's pn.alerts via misc.activism.progressive...] 
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Topic 51 More On The Worst Human Tragedy Response 1 of 1 peacenet
pn.alerts 9:07 pm Jul 28, 1992
From: <peacenet> Subject: Re: More On The Worst Human Tragedy
From dmorse Tue Jul 28 17:23:25 1992 From: Dorothy Morse <dmorse@igc.org>
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I called that State Department number.  It is a general line for
public opinion.  A live woman seemed to listen and even to take notes.
She said the calls are summarized and passed onto Secretary of State
James Baker.  Please call if you can.  The number again is
1-202-647-4000.

Here is some background information from the New York Times, July 19:
"Red Cross officials say they believe that about 1/3 of Somalia's
people, estimated to number anywhere from 4.5 million to 6 million,
are likely to die within the next 6 months unless more food is pumped
into the country."

(That's about 2 million people in 6 months, folks.  Please call the
State Department, call your congressperson, write your newspapers,
call in to radio talk shows.)

More from the Times: the Somalians have had a traditional method of
coping with cyclical droughts and clan warfare, because the warfare
was simply carried on in rural areas with spears.  But now they have
drought and war together, and the clan war is carried on with modern
military equipment bestowed on them by the US in the 1980's and the
Soviet Union in the 1970's, decades when Somalia was of strategic
interest to the superpowers. It is no longer.  But their ancient ways
of coping are gone; 25 percent of their cattle are dead, and "untold
numbers" of their camels.  Heavily armed gangs steal grain and cattle,
burn down fields so that sorghum cannot be planted.

"The Director of the United Nation's Children's Fund, Dr. Siad Mure
Aden, pointed to to countless children he said would die in the next
few days, despite the one feeding a day provided by UNICEF.  "Dr. Aden
gestured toward one child, a shriveled 5-year-old named Manour, whose
father tried to warm him with the embers of a kerchief sized fire on
the grounds of the center.  "He will die," Dr. Aden said.  "There is
no hope."

The Red Cross seeks to arrange safe passage for people who come to
their feeding kitchens, after their livestock and supplies are taken
by the armed gangs.

Although violence and technology have created the famine, the violence
escalates now because of lack of food.  An educated Somalian said,
"You have three choices: leave, work for a humanitarian organization,
or grab a gun and loot."  For this reason, some people want a UN
Peacekeeping force in there.  Doctors Without Borders wants to
saturate the area with food, stopping what violence is caused by
frantic people fighting over food. It's not a question of
either/or--everything possible should be done.

Finally, a top Red Cross official said: "I thought I would never see
Ethiopia again, and I DIDN'T THINK WE WOULD ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN AGAIN."

Why was it allowed to happen again?  The Red Cross predicted this
disaster 6 months ago.

For comparison purposes: the UN is supposed to have 50 unarmed
monitors on the scene--the peacekeeping force sent to Yugoslavia is, I
believe, 14,400
Xref: sparky alt.activism:13302 soc.motss:32219 talk.politics.misc:35406 alt.individualism:4452