The first thing that grabbed my attention was the claim that the Lord's Resistance Army represents a significant "emerging threat" to the US.
Huh?
Luckily they dropped that bombshell in the first few seconds, so at least you know you're in Bullshit City right away. Nothing worse than thinking you're watching objective news programming for half an hour before you figure out you're being had.
The Ugandan Special Ops are, according to the program, close enough to Kony that they can track him and his few dozen remaining acolytes by their fresh footprints.
If these guys are a threat to the US, America is well beyond any hope.
But we do need to throw a bit of a scary story out there in prime time just to get the idiot public onside for the rapidly expanding role of AFRICOM in the re-liberation of the dark continent.
Frankly, I thought that from the point of view of aesthetics, Lara's prominent bosoms provided a great visual counterpoint to those folks missing their ears and lips.
And of course there was not a word about the dismal human rights record of our friend and ally President Museveni.
Showing posts with label LRA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LRA. Show all posts
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
CAR capital girds for Armegeddon
The defenders of the Central Africa Republic's capital are circling the wagons in preparation for an imminent advance by the Seleka rebel group.
According to this story the defenders of Bangui have bows, arrows and machetes at their disposal. This is not likely to slow down the rebels with their truck-mounted .50 cal machine guns and RPGs, but it seems an effective way to shake down the locals in the interim.
Note how the article glosses without comment the fact that US special forces and the French military are both present on the ground.
The US is there to track down Joseph Kony's LRA, while the French are there with 600 troops to protect it's 1,200 nationals.
What a shabby fate for the concept of "sovereignty." Do African troops maraud through Mississippi and Alabama in search of the KKK? Then why do American troops forage around Africa, with complete disregard for local sensibilities, hunting down the LRA?
And why are there no French boots on the ground in the USA to protect French Nationals? After all, the winds of public opinion could once again turn on the French at a whim.
Remember "freedom fries?"
Sadly, this is a preview of Africa's future. Totally dependent on the whims of the big dogs and foreign conglomerates.
Sovereignty isn't so much as an afterthought.
According to this story the defenders of Bangui have bows, arrows and machetes at their disposal. This is not likely to slow down the rebels with their truck-mounted .50 cal machine guns and RPGs, but it seems an effective way to shake down the locals in the interim.
Note how the article glosses without comment the fact that US special forces and the French military are both present on the ground.
The US is there to track down Joseph Kony's LRA, while the French are there with 600 troops to protect it's 1,200 nationals.
What a shabby fate for the concept of "sovereignty." Do African troops maraud through Mississippi and Alabama in search of the KKK? Then why do American troops forage around Africa, with complete disregard for local sensibilities, hunting down the LRA?
And why are there no French boots on the ground in the USA to protect French Nationals? After all, the winds of public opinion could once again turn on the French at a whim.
Remember "freedom fries?"
Sadly, this is a preview of Africa's future. Totally dependent on the whims of the big dogs and foreign conglomerates.
Sovereignty isn't so much as an afterthought.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Wheels fall off democracy bandwagon length and breadth of Dark Continent
Here's an entertaining and educational parlor game the whole family can enjoy on those long winter evenings.
Get yourselves a map of Africa and rank the democratic countries in order of political stability!
Hmm, that's a head-scratcher, isn't it?
First conundrum; how democratic and by whose standard?
Next problem; once you're into the second hour of head-scratching, countries you may have successfully categorized in the first hour could very well have suffered a "spring", a coup, an invasion, or been sold to Dan Gertler or a Canadian mining conglomerate.
Just last spring the government of Mali, reputedly "one of the most stable and democratic" in Africa, was toppled by a US trained Colonel with less firepower than the Luther Marsh Duck Hunting Club.
And all this week, the President of the Central African Republic has been pleading with his colonial overlords, or his "French and American cousins" as he likes to frame it, to save his sorry kleptocratic ass from the rebels bearing down hard on the capital.
As random happenstance would have it, the US and France both have boots on the ground already in the CAR, ostensibly to track down that most heinous band of evildoers of all time, the Lord's Resistance Army.
Frankly, I'm guessing the boffins at AFRICOM wouldn't care one way or the other whether Kony or Bozize was in charge of the CAR, as long as someone's in charge who will make the place safe for foreign capital.
You see, in Africa there can be no stability without democracy, and there can be no democracy without capitalism, and there can be no capitalism without foreign capital. That's because for the entire capitalist era, foreigners have been exploiting Africa's wealth and sending the profits elsewhere. Ergo, Africa has no indigenous capital and is therefore entirely dependent on foreign investment!
So until AFRICOM has had some time to set things right, the next few dozen years in the history of the Dark Continent will be dark indeed.
And good luck finding those stable democracies.
Get yourselves a map of Africa and rank the democratic countries in order of political stability!
Hmm, that's a head-scratcher, isn't it?
First conundrum; how democratic and by whose standard?
Next problem; once you're into the second hour of head-scratching, countries you may have successfully categorized in the first hour could very well have suffered a "spring", a coup, an invasion, or been sold to Dan Gertler or a Canadian mining conglomerate.
Just last spring the government of Mali, reputedly "one of the most stable and democratic" in Africa, was toppled by a US trained Colonel with less firepower than the Luther Marsh Duck Hunting Club.
And all this week, the President of the Central African Republic has been pleading with his colonial overlords, or his "French and American cousins" as he likes to frame it, to save his sorry kleptocratic ass from the rebels bearing down hard on the capital.
As random happenstance would have it, the US and France both have boots on the ground already in the CAR, ostensibly to track down that most heinous band of evildoers of all time, the Lord's Resistance Army.
Frankly, I'm guessing the boffins at AFRICOM wouldn't care one way or the other whether Kony or Bozize was in charge of the CAR, as long as someone's in charge who will make the place safe for foreign capital.
You see, in Africa there can be no stability without democracy, and there can be no democracy without capitalism, and there can be no capitalism without foreign capital. That's because for the entire capitalist era, foreigners have been exploiting Africa's wealth and sending the profits elsewhere. Ergo, Africa has no indigenous capital and is therefore entirely dependent on foreign investment!
So until AFRICOM has had some time to set things right, the next few dozen years in the history of the Dark Continent will be dark indeed.
And good luck finding those stable democracies.
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