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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Liberia Gone To Hell (graphic) |
| 2010-01-24 |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #4 Liberia isn't all that far off limits, apparently. See the New York Times: http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/travel/24explorer.html?emc=eta1 James was last there in 2007, and we keep close touch with the situation there. There are a lot of hideous situations and a lot of glimmers of hope. We know one pastor teaching job skills and providing shelter to homeless ex-soldiers; we know of well-drilling projects, which (we hope) include "how to maintain the well"; and we know other individuals just rolling up their sleeves and pitching in. One high school, founded by Southern Baptists and still supported by them, is open again. Since a whole generation of young people didn't learn how to farm during the war, this high school is teaching agriculture. The livestock they raise teaches the kids how to farm, how to teach others to farm, and feeds the kids. We know of several other indigenous efforts to help each other out and get the country back on its feet. Mission organizations are helping out in a lot of small ways. The UN is doing a lot of things, not just peacekeeping; including efforts to combat corruption. (no snickering, please) President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is articulate, honest, and up against entrenched evil. The warlords and factions get in the way of progress. The University of Liberia graduating class in 2007 graduated a slew of lawyers and "business administrators" and no entrepreneurs. Too many people have the same motto for government that Mike Royko ascribed to Chicago: "Ubi Est Mea?" (Where's mine?") Animism is to Liberia what Voodoo is to Haiti. Its spirits are arbitrary, capricious, and demonic. Controlling another person is power. This is why African kings and chiefs measured their power by how many people they had under their control; why they made wars on their neighbors to get slaves, and why they sold slaves to the Arabs for centuries. See National Geographic, Feb. 1992; it's right on. The Americo-Liberian regime suppressed but could not wipe out the witchcraft (one heard persistent reports of bodies found with missing parts); and it rebounded dramatically when Doe came to power. Doe was a Krahn tribesman, and during his regime the Krahn and the Mandinke took it out on their tribal rivals, the Gio and the Mano. Krahn and Mandinke soldiers attacked and butchered Mano and Gio with impunity. Charles Taylor rallied Mano and Gio and their allies for revenge. The fighters, superstitious as all get-out, looked for whatever extra help they could find, and the old human-sacrifice magic was available. How many of the reports are real and how many rumor we'll probably never know, but human body part witchcraft is part of the mental landscape again. |
| Posted by: mom (mrs. james) and james 2010-01-24 19:34 |
| #3 Several comments: They advertise 8 episodes but I only find 4. Taylor was hardly US-backed--Libya and Cote d'Ivoire (whose president had a grudge against Doe) were his first backers. The legislature is full of warlord cronies: each faction backed their own candidates. Lots of the footage is quite old--you aren't likely to see anybody brandishing an AK47 today. It makes the movies more dramatic, but gives the wrong impression of what the country is like now. Rambo claims rebels could take over the capitol in a few hours if the UN left. That's an exaggeration, and if one group tried others would start fighting too so nobody would win the city. However, to me the city looks hard to defend, and from what I saw there impossible to police. It could certainly descend into chaos again very quickly. Crime is a huge problem. Imagine day care centers and schools with razor wire topping high walls. Even before the coup and civil wars the US embassy in Monrovia was heavily fortified (possibly because of Hezbulla refugees hiding among the Lebanese population)--today the block is even more strongly built up. The UN is spending a billion a year in Liberia. I saw lots of house construction and cabinetry shops and the like--and wondered how much of that is driven by the money the UN people (soldiers and others) are spending there. When the UN leaves, there'll be a large hole in the economy that I don't think they're prepared to deal with. (Not that that's a reason for the UN to stay, just some musing about what happens next.) |
| Posted by: James 2010-01-24 12:40 |
| #2 Liberia is off-limits to the media and "Human Rights" crowd, as is Mugabe's Zimbabwe and the genocide of farmers and terrible urban crime in South Africa. To decry the failures of tribal governance would be blatantly racist. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-01-24 11:34 |
| #1 Where are all the "Human Rights" groups? These are some sick/perverted a$$holes. Talk about devolution!! |
| Posted by: WolfDog 2010-01-24 11:16 |