Time For A Shift In Priorities
Posted by miharbi on October 30 2009 08:54:59
(NNPA) - Twenty-five years ago, the world was sickened when pictures of starving children flashed across their television screens each night. Extreme famine, drought, and war hit Ethiopia like a ton of bricks and the victims were the nation’s most vulnerable. Ethiopia was riddled by a deadly combination of war and apathy. And while many will never forget the images from 1984, this scene has continued to replay itself over the years.
Extended News
by Nicole Lee
NNPA Columnist
Originally posted 10/28/2009
(NNPA) - Twenty-five years ago, the world was sickened when pictures of starving children flashed across their television screens each night. Extreme famine, drought, and war hit Ethiopia like a ton of bricks and the victims were the nation’s most vulnerable. Ethiopia was riddled by a deadly combination of war and apathy. And while many will never forget the images from 1984, this scene has continued to replay itself over the years.
Today, drought and violence threaten this region yet again. The Horn of Africa, including the countries of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, has received very little rainfall this past year. In Ethiopia, over eighty percent of the population lives off the land. Any change in climate has a devastating effect on the food supply, and leaves the herders and farmers instantly vulnerable to famine. Kenya and Somalia face the same challenges as well, which makes regional stability a fantastical proposition. Shortages in food supply can lead to violence between communities as men and women fight for the well-being of their families. Experts have warned for years that unless the international community undertakes a serious long term strategy to keep food supplies sustainable, cycles of violence will continue in the Horn of Africa.
But even with this knowledge, the U.S. relationship toward the Horn of Africa has barely changed in twenty years. In 1984, our policy was more geared toward containing communism than saving lives. The U.S. government assisted the most conservative elites within the Horn of Africa, many times ignoring the will or the needs of the people. As civil war waged in Ethiopia, we showed more concern for who was fighting communism than who was fighting hunger.
Fast forward to 2009. In as much as the Obama Administration says the “war on terrorism” and its policies are over, that message has not extended to our defense posture in Africa. AFRICOM, the new U.S. military command structure, is actively concerned with bolstering the military power in this region. Certainly, there is some cause for concern. Extremism is bred in places were people are most vulnerable to hunger, disease and oppression, and the bombings in Somalia last year may have killed a few with ties to terrorism, but the cost of those military operations could have built infrastructure rather than destroyed it. Money for bombers could have sewn crops rather than destroyed them. More disturbingly, we have too often turned a blind eye to how dollars marked for aid are spent, provided the governments in these countries show cooperation with our military interests. Over the years, we have provided millions of dollars in military aid to Ethiopia and Kenya, yet have been slow to criticize those governments when they have allied themselves, at least in word if not in deed, with our military. We see the same in Ethiopia over the issue of the Ogaden region, where thousands have died each year from hunger and neglect.
We can do better and more. As a country, the United States professes compassion and democratic values but so often the effects of our international policies retard the ability for democracy to flourish. It is not an accident that, in many countries, famine is allowed to persist so that those populations cannot pose opposition to ruling parties or leaders. We must consider the ramifications of providing millions of dollars of military aid without any consideration to the basic needs of the recipient country’s citizens.
This recent famine gives the Obama Administration an opportunity to redefine our mission in Africa to one that takes into account the long term effects of our short term military solutions. It allows the Obama Administration to show compassion to starving people and take responsibility for our role in the region. Utilizing a blueprint based on aid, assistance and self-determination instead of militarism can redefine the U.S. role in the Horn of Africa, can save lives and actually encourage real democracy.
Nicole C. Lee is the Executive Director of TransAfrica Forum.
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