Africa's Unworthy Wars

There are currently fifteen African countries involved in war, or are experiencing post-war conflict and tension. In West Africa, the countries include Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo. In East Africa, the countries include Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. In Central Africa, the countries include Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda. In North Africa, the country is Algeria and in South Africa, the countries include Angola and Zimbabwe.

At the base of these wars are the rich natural resources each of these poor countries holds of timber, oil or diamonds, compounded in many cases by the foreign extractive industries presence, their opaque, unreported payments to the governments and the governments’ opaque, unreported use of the money to create and fund wars. The wars serve the purpose of creating a distraction, as the countries and their fleeing, displaced citizens are robbed of their countries’ natural resources, easily converted to cash, for the personal use and fortunes of ruling parties. Tribal conflict is deliberately antagonized, so it can be blamed for the conflict.

The American government knows about these conflicts, however, it is getting no media coverage.  It appears there is no personal gain for America, so they are staying out of it.  The same way they sat and watched genocide happen in Rwanda and Darfur.  The government claims every nation should have a right to freedom and a democratic society, but seems that ideology only applies to certain people.

 

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