In a message dated 3/10/1999 5:43:10 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< I don't know, but there was a lot of talk in the program about the
questionable behaviour of the militaries that were hanging round in Uganda at
the time (including US
forces), and waited for the genocide to stop before they went in a pretended
the delay was an honest mistake. >>
Do you happen to know the other countries that have military forces in Africa?
Let me help - as I previously noted, France had its troops ready in Djibouti
during the recent Eritrean -Ethiopian conflict. During that conflict, the
amount of western intervention is amazingly substantive - perhaps you have
facts to the contrary about that conflict to tell me my view is "interesting"?
Having been actively involved on the grassroots (Eritrean and Ethiopian), UN,
OAU, NGO and national/african governmental level I am confident in my feeling
- and it is agreed upon by a multiplicity of far more worthy and active and
higher level intelligensia in my field. This carries a little more weight than
hearing talk from a program.
According to your reasoning, shouldn't the troops in Djibouti also be
considered questionable behavior and fit the following comment (applied to
France):
<< America may turn out not to be the main international player, but it is
probably incorrect to suggest that it was not involved in a way that
deliberately contributed
to the genocide that took place. >>
America is complicit in its failure to react to the outbreak of genocide - its
complicity with its western ally, France. However it is not enough to say
America "may turn out not to be" and it is "probably incorrect". Especially
when you seem to reject the idea that other western nations are not involved
in ways that deliberately contribute to oppressions around the world.
In 1994, I was working in an organization focused upon Africa and we had
series of conference calls with one of our Rwanda representatives in the
country. The news at that point was about french-speaking (european) troops in
the area and consistent radio broadcasts by french-speaking (france-french)
people appealing to the tensions between hutu and tutsi. The "questionable
behavior" by military troops were overwhelming french troops, and this came
directly just before and during the conflict from eyewitnesses on the ground
over conference calls during meetings which included NGO and UN staffers. We
all sat there and heard it - not from irrational or unaware people, but from
coherent witnesses.
Around this same time there was a major agenda to redistribute land - as what
little fertile agricultural land that was available was held by French/Belgian
colonial holdovers. The plan was to respond to the demands of a population of
African people tired of being marginalized - oppressed and force to scrap out
a living on a portion of their country. It is a significant issue in many
African countries.
In the weeks of bloodshed that follow, and the day to day basis of dealing
with new reports of deaths, massacres, even of the families and friends of
colleagues, close friends, few directly involved had any question that this
was the escalation of tensions fermented and manipulated to maintain colonial,
then neo-colonial power.
I suggest you read the UN report. Also useful are the testimonies from the
Rwanda Tribunal preparations, the highly revealing interviews with hutus and
tutus, victims and agressors.
Another interesting read is the Multi-lateral Agreement on Investment -
founded in the heart of the OECD which is based in Paris and now moved to the
WTO because the WTO has the "teeth" to enforce the conditions of this treaty
on the developing nations. The effects of this treaty would be substantive
environmental exploitation, displacement of indigenous enterprises, repealing
and/or blocking of public health regulations and a host of other oppressive
and destructive actions. This treaty is endorsed by the U.S. and a mass of
western nations with a target goal of applying it to the "third world",
primarily applicable to their former colonies - which is another reason why
the WTO was chosen as a forum.
Nicole
