Yeah so I know no one cares about Africa...

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

...But since the U.S. just sent forces into Somalia, I figured, "what the hell?".

A bit of recent history about Somalia.
Article on the recent happenings there.
Moar.
Different source.

To summarize the articles, the U.S. has decided to send troops to the country of Somalia, which has been in a state of anarchy since 1991. The Christian "government", which is the one recognized by the U.N., lacks the support of the people, as well as the military strength to control the country.

The purpose for U.S. forces being sent there is supposedly the elimination of Al-Qaida operatives there, however, given the state of affairs in Iraq, and our reasons for going in there, I'm a bit skeptical, I'm also against the U.S. backing the actions of Ethiopian troops, whom had fought against the Islamic government there. In addition to this, I'm also unsure if the U.S. should be further destabilizing an already anarchic country, which is really more of a region at this point, by bombing it.

Any thoughts?

[Dagobahn Eagle]

The purpose for U.S. forces being sent there is supposedly the elimination of Al-Qaida operatives there, however, given the state of affairs in Iraq, and our reasons for going in there, I'm a bit skeptical, I'm also against the U.S. backing the actions of Ethiopian troops, whom had fought against the Islamic government there.

Major Cold War flashback. But then again, I know nothing about this situation, so no further comments from me.

[Jae Onasi]

Dr. Rice tried to explain to Bush that Sudan is the country that's really in trouble, but she forgot to bring her map of Africa that day. Bush decided to order action, but when asked where, he told the defense sec'y, "I don't know, some country that starts with an S."

Sigh, yet another pot-stirring.

[Emperor Devon]

*Sighs* As if there weren't enough troops overseas already.

[The Doctor]

Soon there'll be more troops overseas then in the States...

[Windu Chi]

Originally Posted by The Doctor

Soon there'll be more troops overseas then in the States...

Soon there will be no more troops to send anywhere, the bucket of meat to send to the meat grinder is almost empty.

[Samnmax221]

Originally Posted by windu6

Soon there will be no more troops to send anywhere, the bucket of meat to send to the meat grinder is almost empty.

I figured it wasn't happy enough.

[Johnpp]

I care about Africa. I wanna live there later.

[Nancy Allen``]

I'm two minds about America sending troops to Somalia, or indeed interfering with Africa full stop. On the one hand Mohammed Aidid used starvation as a weapon of war, and I'm not sure if he's still around but I'm sure the other clans commit similar atrocities. On the other hand America had failed before, even with the use of army rangers and Delta Force. The point about sending troops all around the world is a very valid one, as especially with Iraq I question how many are volunteering for service. I know they had to drop their standereds for new recruits and there were fears of a draft. There are a lot of other problems beside the warring factions in Somalia. That fat **** Mugabe and his tyrany over Zimbabwe. Pol Pot was African wasn't he? Rape and genocide was rampent, is it still? And there are places you are advised to avoid at all costs, such as the Ivory Coast. Finally if America is so determined to help the people of Africa, it has deep pockets, try helping them financially. To be fair they were pushing for this, did anything come of it?

[Windu Chi]

Dr. Rice tried to explain to Bush that Sudan is the country that's really in trouble, but she forgot to bring her map of Africa that day. Bush decided to order action, but when asked where, he told the defense sec'y, "I don't know, some country that starts with an S."

Sigh, yet another pot-stirring.

Bush don't give a damn about Africa and Dr. Rice is a puppet of that failed administration.
You know it really pisses me off that Sudan is another genocide in progress.
Another example of the failure of the, "never again" statement. : extremely

[Totenkopf]

Originally Posted by Nancy Allen``

Pol Pot was African wasn't he?

Actually, he was Cambodian (or at least his atrocities were committed there).

[Windu Chi]

Originally Posted by Samnmax221

I figured it wasn't happy enough.

It's still not happy.

[Emperor Devon]

Originally Posted by windu6

Soon there will be no more troops to send anywhere, the bucket of meat to send to the meat grinder is almost empty.

The U.S. Army has over 330,000 soldiers on active duty, excluding the National Guard.

So far several thousand have been killed in Iraq.

[TK-8252]

I'm sure I'll sound like a huge bastard here... but I'd like to point out that even with all the people being murdered in Africa, there's STILL not enough food and medicine to go around. Take the genocide out of the picture and the people would just die of starvation and disease instead.

It's a ****ed up situation either way.

[Jae Onasi]

Yeah, the effect of the AIDS/HIV epidemic is horrendous in Africa. 2 million died in '05, I would not be surprised to see the numbers go up for '06. AMREF estimated about 65% of the world's HIV/AIDS population lives in sub-Saharan Africa. Two million _children_ in Africa have HIV/AIDS, and some 12 million were orphaned in '05 by losing one or both parents to the disease. Only about 10% of Africans infected had access to HIV treatment, and the life expectancy in some African countries has plummeted to the '30's and 40's. Estimated life expectancy without AIDS would be in the 60's. Tuberculosis has skyrocketed because of co-morbidity with HIV.

Our church supports a missionary doctor who works in Cameroon--she's reported a significant increase in AIDS in her hospital in the last couple of years. It's taxing the hospital's resources, and she's seeing more mothers and children with HIV as well as more orphans.

Definitely not a positive picture on the medical front in Africa.

[Samuel Dravis]

Originally Posted by TK-8252

It's a ****ed up situation either way.

Originally Posted by Jae Onasi

Definitely not a positive picture on the medical front in Africa.

Yeah, it's pretty bad over there. I've never really understood how the entire middle and southern part of the continent can be so messed up for so long. I guess their leaders really just don't care about anything other than their own personal gain over there. Several movies like Hotel Rwanda (yes, I'm aware that they aren't to be used as factual references, but the idea is basically the same) and news reports over the years have made me question the sanity of pretty much anyone in power over there. Seems like the poor are screwed - they have extremely limited healthcare, they can't get educated, and there's nothing to do with an education even if they do get one, because there's zero infrastructure since it's all being blown up in tribal wars. Ugh.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

Originally Posted by Jae Onasi

Yeah, the effect of the AIDS/HIV epidemic is horrendous in Africa. 2 million died in '05, I would not be surprised to see the numbers go up for '06.

I think the far more telling statistic about Africa is the fact that most people there die of preventable disease and lack of drinkable water.

[Totenkopf]

Sooo...the problem then becomes how to go about imposing/creating some kind of order throughout Africa that would allow for the infrastuture necessary to combat these problems. Simply throwing money at a problem won't help, b/c the most serious obstacles to any real improvement are the people in charge of/in those countries.

[Jae Onasi]

Originally Posted by jmac7142

I think the far more telling statistic about Africa is the fact that most people there die of preventable disease and lack of drinkable water.

That's certainly one of, if not the, leading cause of infant/child mortality.