Somalia

davidk14: .



Somali Children Die En Route to Refugee Camp
Published July 11, 2011
| Associated Press

Somalis from southern Somalia, erect makeshift shelters in Mogadishu Somalia on Monday July 11, 2011. after fleeing from southern Somalia . Thousands of people have arrived in Mogadishu over the past two weeks seeking assistance and the number is increasing by the day, due to lack of water and food.

Faduma Sakow Abdullahi and her five children tried to escape starvation in Somalia by journeying to a Kenyan refugee camp. Only one day before they reached their destination, her 4-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son died of exhaustion and hunger.

At first the 29-year-old widow thought the two were merely sleeping when they wouldn't get up after a brief rest. She had to leave their bodies under a tree, unburied, so she could push on with her baby, 2-year-old and 3-year-old.

She saw more than 20 other children dead or unconscious abandoned on the roadside.

Eventually a passing car rescued the rest of her family from what could have been death.

"I never thought I would live to see this horror," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks as she described the 37-day trek to Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp.

Tens of thousands of Somalis have watched their land dry up after years without rain. Then the livestock died. Finally all the food ran out. Now they are making the perilous journey over parched earth to refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, regions that also have been hit hard by drought.

The U.N. expects at least 10 million people will need food aid, and a U.S. aid official said Monday he believes the situation in Ethiopia is even worse than the government acknowledges.

The Ethiopian government announced Monday that 4.5 million people need food aid there, 40 percent more than last year. Jason Frasier, mission director of USAID in Ethiopia, the U.S. government aid arm, suggested that Ethiopia might even be undercounting those who need help.

Aid agencies are appealing for more than $100 million in emergency funding while warning of dire consequences if help does not arrive.

Dadaab was originally built for 90,000 people; more than 382,000 are now here. People die here every day, though no one can provide a reliable estimate of the drought deaths.

"I must say that I visited many refugee camps in the world. I have never seen people coming in such a desperate situation," the head of U.N.'s refugee agency, Antonio Guterres, said Sunday while visiting the new arrivals area.

Most of those coming to Dadaab are former subsistence farmers whose lands were rendered idle and animals decimated after successive seasons of no rain hit their already war-ravaged country.

Hundreds of mothers and children with dust-caked faces gather at 6 a.m. every day at registration centers in Dadaab's three sprawling camps.

Abdullahi, whose two children did not survive the journey, said her family's problems took a turn for the worse after her husband died in May. Still, with 20 cows and a small parcel of land, her family had enough to live on.

But when the rains failed, the cows died and the supply of maize was depleted.

"We started to dig up roots of trees to survive," Abdullahi said, while her 3-year-old daughter who survived the arduous journey played near her.

Abdullahi lost her 4-year-old and 5-year-old, but in many cases parents are dying first


Andrew Wander, a spokesman for Save the Children, said his agency provides care to more than 300 unaccompanied children who were found on roadsides after their parents died or abandoned them.

"More children have died of malnutrition in the first four months of this year than in the whole of last year," he said.

Abdi Aden, a former farmer who lived in Sakow town before the drought forced him to flee, said he lost an 8-year-old son after eight days of trekking.

.

davidk14: .


"He tried to cry before he died, but he could not. He was so weak. He died peacefully from hunger," he said. "I buried him by myself in a shallow ditch so hyenas could not eat him."

On her way to Dadaab, Abdullahi said she walked with friends for three days before she and her children lagged behind. She saw around 20 children dead or unconscious abandoned on the roadside.

"I saw two elderly people on the road," she said. "They cried out, 'Ma'am, give us a helping hand.' They wanted to sweet-talk me, but I said to them 'I can't help' and moved on.

"You will feel kind only when you have something," she said. "I wanted to give the little water I had to my children."

.

Sables:

davidk14: I started to thing about this further.

Let’s just say the following information we are getting is true.

• The U.N. expects at least 10 million people will need food aid, and a U.S. aid official said Monday he believes the situation in Ethiopia is even worse than the government acknowledges.
• The Ethiopian government announced Monday that 4.5 million people need food aid, USAID in Ethiopia, the U.S. government aid arm, suggested that Ethiopia might even be undercounting those who need help.
• Dadaab was originally built for 90,000 people; more than 382,000 are now here.
• Aid agencies are appealing for more than $100 million in emergency funding while warning of dire consequences if help does not arrive.
• The U.N. expects at least 10 million people will need food aid,
$100 million divided by 1 million souls = $100. How long will that last per person? We’re not even talking about housing or education. We’re talking about water and mush and perhaps a little medicine. Perhaps a month?

$100 million divided by 10,000,000 souls = $10. How long will that last? Perhaps a day or two?



Here we are again. Let’s not talk about money. Let’s just say we are seriously committed to provide UN resources to these souls. What will it take to distribute food, water, housing, hygiene, medicine, etc. to hundreds of thousands if not millions of souls?

Soldiers.

You guessed it. American soldiers and American military support of these troops as we did in 1990’s Somalia. Yes, there will be others from other countries like Canada, Britain and perhaps NATO but none…I mean none…based on past history…from major Islamic countries that are capable of providing support. Perhaps Pakistan or a few others but not much more.

This will fall on Americans primarily. Will the American people once again send military forces into foreign countries and most likly be attacked by terrorist organizations and outlaws as we were in Somalia in the 1990’s?

There will also be those that believe America is trying to “steal” something or that the big bad USA is trying to take advantage and create colonies of these countries which of course is ridiculous!

Will Americans knowing that our economy is in dire straits where benefits, lack of jobs and a weak dollar are hitting every American, will Americans ONCE AGAIN want to spend HUGE amounts of money ($BILLION$) we do not have and more importantly, will Americans want to send 10’s of thousands of troops once again into foreign Islamic countries to face populations that may not be friendly to westerners even for the most honorable reasons? To save lives????

.

davidk14: .

I'm actually rather surprised...not a peep...not a comment. I thought at least someone would blame Bush.

.

davidk14: .

U.S.: Somalia Food Crisis One of Biggest in Decades
Published July 15, 2011
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A U.S. State Department official says the drought emergency roiling East Africa is one of the biggest humanitarian crises in decades.

Reuben E. Brigety said Friday that the U.S. will provide aid for the crisis in a "significant" way despite the debt ceiling impasse being debated in Washington.

Tens of thousands of Somali refugees are flooding camps in Ethiopia and Kenya in search of food after several seasons with no rain in Somalia.
The United States already has pledged an additional $5 million. That's on top of a previously budgeted $63 million for refugees. Brigety said Washington is now studying how much more it will give.
AP



And this amount of money is just a drop in the bucket of what is actually needed short term.


.

FogofWar: After what happened in the 1990s; I wouldn't be surprised if many nations do not want to send their military there. Somalia spat in the face of help; and then cried and wanted it back when it left. Will things be different this time? Ask Somalia.

FogofWar: ...of course there will be people who hate on us for helping; even if it is for these reasons. Don't worry too much about them David; as caveman and outbackjack prove here; nothing is good enough to satisfy them. Remember; there were people who opposed our involvement in WWII to stop Hitler. Dumb people have always been around; the internet just lets them get their stupidity across. Thankfully; no one cares what idiots on here cry about; as it solves nothing.

If we did get involved; it wouldn't be the same as the 90s anyways. The UN doesn't handle such missions anymore; they just sit back and give it approval or not; and as we all saw with Bush; it really doesn't even matter if they don't.

I can guarantee that Canada would be hesitant to get involved in Somalia; there is a really dark stain on our military history because of our involvement there. Such intervention would hit a deep vein in our political motives; our public opinion; and more than anything; in the hearts of our soldiers. That nation took more from us than we would ever want to give. You would be hard pressed to find a Canadian soldier who would want to go there; and probably just as hard pressed to find a civilian who would not be weary of involvement there.

davidk14: .

Analysts: Somali War Helped Turn Drought to Famine
Published July 21, 2011
| Associated Press

Somali soldiers beat back desperate families with gun butts as they fought for food supplies in front of a weeping diplomat, a day after the U.N. declared parts of the country were suffering from the worst famine in a generation.

"I will knock on every door I can to help you," the African Union envoy to Somalia, Jerry Rawlings, told the gathered families in the capital of Mogadishu on Thursday.

Somalia's 20-year-old civil war is partly to blame for turning the drought in the Horn of Africa into a famine. Analysts warned that aid agencies could be airlifting emergency supplies to the failed state 20 years from now unless the U.N.-backed government improves.

"Corruption is a major part of the problem in Somalia," said Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group. "This drought did not come out of nowhere, but the (Somali) government did not do anything to prepare for it. Instead they spent all their time fighting each other."

The U.N. has appealed for $300 million to over the next two months and aid agencies warn it will take at least $1 billion to provide emergency food, medicine and shelter for 11 million people in East Africa until the end of the year. Pictures of skeletal children and grief-stricken mothers stare out from Western newspapers in mute appeal.

The suffering is real. The U.N. believes tens of thousands have already died in the inaccessible interior, held by al-Qaida linked Islamist rebels who denied many aid agencies access for two years.





The thorny scrub around the overflowing refugee camps in Kenya is littered with tiny corpses abandoned by mothers to weak to even dig their children a grave.





But Somalis will continue to suffer unless the international backers who support the Somali government also demand that it does a better job, said Abdirazak Fartaag, who headed the government's finance management unit until he fled the country after writing a report detailing tens of millions of dollars in missing donations from Arab nations.

"The Somalis are very grateful for what the international community is doing for them, but they need to be a bit more forceful in holding our politicians to account," Fartaag said.

Currently, the government only holds half of the capital with the help of 9,000 African Union peacekeepers. The salaries of 10,000 Somali soldiers are paid by the U.S. and Italy, and the police are paid by the European Union.

The rest of south-central Somalia is held by insurgents who kidnap children to use as child soldiers and carry out stonings and amputations. Last year, the group claimed responsibility for their first international terror attack, killing 76 people in Uganda.

.

davidk14: .

Colon said: if nothing else it makes me grateful my problems are zero compared to these poor ppl.

David responds: Colon, maybe “we” have our priorities (please excuse my language) all f*~^*w up. I work in the restaurant industry. Generalizing, the amount of “edible” food that is left on the floor and in the trash could feed untold numbers of people. We take that for granted, as part of our “society”. The fields in America and other nations that are not seeded for financial reasons should be questioned. The amount of food that is destroyed because it is “out of date” is obscene.

I watched a documentary a few decades ago that will stay with me forever. It was of the daily life of a poor African family’s existence. The woman was preparing cow dung, straw and water like we do making bread, to make bricks to repair her home. She also used the dung prepared with straw for fuel to cook food. What got me even more emotional, her kids were playing in the dung and covered with it…and covered with swarming flies…and smiling….and that was a few decades ago.

We here on wire b%&w~ and complain about ideas. These people are leaving their dead children on the side of the road, too weak to even bury them.

You asked why cant African countries send aid and help out? Perhaps because they too are in trouble. Many if not most African countries are already receiving aid from the UN and from USAID. They report they need a billion dollars by the end of the year for this disaster. The US has already separately spent $400 million we do not have. There are those who believe in ending all US foreign aid to all countries because of the serious financial situation the US is currently in.

What’s really sick? The US takes in approximately $200 billion dollars a month in taxes. The US spends $300 billion dollars a month to pay the bills. Many like me believe in a Balanced Budget Amendment. If this was in place a few years ago, the billion dollars needed “today” to feed these poor souls, I believe, would have taken place sooner rather than later.

You want to know what’s really, really sick? There was a report out recently that the UN has billions and billions in reserve. They said that this money "being held in reserve" is committed “for future” projects. Now that’s really sick.


10,000,000 lives at stake. Dead babies being left by the side of the road. And on the radio in the back ground I hear, football players are on strike for more money.

Unbelieveable.

.

Sables: oh god that is unbelievable

FogofWar: "Generalizing, the amount of “edible” food that is left on the floor and in the trash could feed untold numbers of people. We take that for granted, as part of our “society”."

Elaborating on that; we have a policy in the Canadian Forces in regards to food: What doesn't get consumed is thrown out. If we are in the field; and the base mess cooks us lunch, brought out in thermal containers (known as a haybox); whatever doesn't get eaten is thrown out. Every time I have had a haybox lunch; we have thrown out more than enough food to feed 20 or more people. The reason for the waste is to protect ourselves from lawsuits. Should that food go to a shelter; and heaven forbid someone who is starving to death gets a little food poisoning; then the Canadian Forces would be sued; and the media would destroy our image with headlines reading "Canadian Forces feeds poisonous food to the homeless".

Our spoiled culture forces us to be so wasteful in order to protect ourselves from the 'do-gooders' who are trying to 'defend' the homeless and starving people.

David said: "There are those who believe in ending all US foreign aid to all countries because of the serious financial situation the US is currently in."

One need not look past the 'intelligent' posters on here to see this:

caramel lady: "America promotes democracy; you can’t be serious sought out your own backyard before messing in others lol" [1]

motherfingsuperwoman: "I think America needs to start looking out for America." [1]






1. http://www.wireclub.com/Forums/ViewTopic.aspx?ForumId=772986&ParentId=1340926&Replied=88

davidk14: .

Somali Extremist Group Bans Samosas in Country
Published July 26, 2011

A powerful Muslim extremist group in Somalia banned samosas in the country because their three sides may remind people of the Christian Holy Trinity.

Members of Al-Shabaab recently boarded trucks with loudspeakers and announced that the popular pastries are banned in the country, UPI reported. The group did not fully explain its decision to ban the snack that is often filled with minced meats and vegetables, but witnesses told a local paper that their ubiquitous three-cornered shape may invoke thoughts on the Holy Trinity, according to the report.

The Islamic militant group, which controls wide swaths of the country, bans music and watching sports on TV.

The ban comes at a time where 800,000 children could die in a famine that reaches across the Horn of Africa. Aid workers are rushing to bring help to dangerous and previously unreached regions of drought-ravaged Somalia.

The United Nations estimates that more 11 million people in East Africa are affected by the drought, with 3.7 million in Somalia among the worst-hit because of the ongoing civil war in the country.

Somalia's prolonged drought became a famine in part because neither the Somali government nor many aid agencies can fully operate in areas controlled by al-Qaida-linked militants, and the U.N. is set to declare all of southern Somalia a famine zone as of Aug. 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

.

Juba_The_Sniper: Yeah! Lets throw more money into the financial black-hole that is Africa!!

Sarcastic Dots: Yeah. Let them starve instead. I mean our lives are so unbearably hard that we can't spare a dime.









I'm typing this from a desktop pc with constant internet access btw. My life is pretty difficult, as you can see.

davidk14: Rains Add Misery to Somalia's Famine Refugees
Published July 31, 2011
| Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Tens of thousands of famine-stricken Somali refugees were cold and drenched after torrential rains pounded their makeshift structures overnight into early Sunday in the capital, leading to appeals for aid.

Rains are needed to plant crops and alleviate the drought that is causing famine in Somalia but they added to the misery of many refugees who live in structures made of sticks and pieces of cloth.

Disgruntled refugees in several camps in Mogadishu said that more aid is needed.

"We are living in plight, we left our homes, lost our animals and farms so we ask everyone to help us to survive," Abdi Muse Abshir said.

Lul Hussein, a mother of five, said her family had a sleepless night after their makeshift home crumbled.

"We are starved and we don't have enough help," she said. "Who's helping us? No one! So we are already between death and bad life."

Aid agencies have limited reach in Somalia where Islamist militants are waging an insurgency against the country's weak U.N.-backed government.

The most dangerous group among the militants ---- the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab ---- has barred major relief organizations from operating in the territories it controls.

The U.N. said tens of thousands already have died in Somalia in areas held by the Islamist rebels because food aid could not reach them.

The African Union peacekeeping force fears that al-Shabab may try to attack the camps that now house tens of thousands of famine refugees in Mogadishu, disrupting even further the distribution of food aid. The AU force launched a new offensive Thursday to push the militants' front line farther back from the camps.

The drought and the famine it has caused in Somalia have affected more than 11.8 million people in the Horn of Africa and created a triangle of hunger where the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia meet.

The World Program says it cannot reach 2.2 million Somalis who live in al-Shabab controlled territory in south-central Somalia.

_________________________________


Should the US out of humanitarian concern, put boots on the ground to help save the lives of millions?


.

davidk14: .

U.N., Aid Groups Push for More Somalia Famine Money
Published August 02, 2011
| Associated Press



NAIROBI, Kenya-- The U.N. and aid agencies are warning that the famine in Somalia will grow in size and severity unless the world community responds with more aid.



Oxfam said Tuesday that Somalia famine crisis is "spiraling out of control" and that donations are failing to keep pace with the level of need.



The U.N.'s humanitarian aid office warned that unless it sees a massive increase in donations, the famine will spread to five or six more regions inside Somalia. Currently two regions of Somalia are classified as famine zones.

The U.N. says another $1.4 billion is needed. More than 12 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti need food aid.

.

davidk14: .

U.S.: 29,000 Somali Children Under 5 Dead in Famine
Published August 04, 2011
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya -- The drought and famine in Somalia have killed more than 29,000 children under the age of 5, according to U.S. estimates, the first time such a precise death toll has been released related to the Horn of Africa crisis.

The United Nations has said previously that tens of thousands of people have died in the drought, the worst in Somalia in 60 years. The U.N. says 640,000 Somali children are acutely malnourished, a statistic that suggests the death toll of small children will rise.



Nancy Lindborg, an official with the U.S. government aid arm, told a congressional committee in Washington on Wednesday that the U.S. estimates that more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia.



That number is based on nutrition and mortality surveys verified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.N. on Wednesday declared three new regions in Somalia famine zones, bringing the total number to five. Out of a population of roughly 7.5 million, the U.N. says 3.2 million Somalis are in need of immediate lifesaving assistance.

Getting aid to Somalia has been made more difficult because al-Qaida-linked militants control much of the country's most desperate areas. Al-Shabab has denied that a famine is taking place, and won't give access to the World Food Program, the world's biggest provider of food aid.

Tens of thousands of refugees have fled south-central Somalia in hopes of finding food at camps in Ethiopia, Kenya and in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been donated to fight the hunger crisis, but the U.N. says it needs hundreds of millions more.

franklin1950: how many dollars of donated money does it take to get 1 dollars to a place in in a crisis situation.?
and of all those dollars that do make it to the place in a crisis situation actualy make it to those in actual need after the theft and corruption in the distribution process ?

some would say that if only one child is saved the cost is worth it .
a statement used to rationalize many programs not just the one being discussed.

better a token something than nothing.

the trickle down principal applied in the 3rd world.

davidk14: .

Franklin...so true. Imagine Los Angeles County, California which has the population of about 11 million people, the same sized population starving to death in Somalia and the surrounding areas which is in immediate need for water and food where 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died from starvation, 10’s of thousands of adults have died, and where 800,000 more children may die within months.

What type of 'effective' distribution process would be needed to get food and water, not to mention basic emergency medical care to these millions of people within a few months time?

Now imagine that a quasi-military regime controlled by al-Qaida-linked militants, Al-Shabab, has denied that a famine is taking place, and won't give access to the hardest hit areas of Los Angeles County?

Again, what type of 'effective' distribution process would be needed to get food and water, not to mention basic emergency medical care to these people within a few months time?

.

davidk14: .

Gunfire Said to Kill 7 as Aid is Looted in Somalia
Published August 05, 2011
Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Somali refugees at the largest refugee camp in Mogadishu say seven people were shot dead when government soldiers opened fire after a looting rampage broke out during a food distribution.

One refugee, Muse Sheik Ali, said government soldiers tried to steal food at a World Food Program feeding site Friday, and then refugees began to loot the aid. Ali said soldiers then opened fire, killing seven people.

Another refugee, Abdi Awale Nor, also said seven people died. He called the scene "carnage" and said soldiers "ruthlessly shot everyone."

Tens of thousands of Somalis fleeing famine have crowded into refugee camps in Mogadishu. But delivering food aid in the near lawless environment is proving to be a major challenge.

(see my last post)

.

davidk14: .

Hundreds of thousands face starvation
Published August 10, 2011
Associated Press


UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations warned Wednesday that the famine in East Africa hasn't peaked and hundreds of thousands of people face imminent starvation and death without a massive global response.

3.7 million Somalis "are in crisis," 2.8 million of them in south central Somalia, and 3.2 million need "immediate, lifesaving assistance" including 1.25 million children.

U.N. deputy emergency relief coordinator Catherine Bragg appealed to the international community for $1.3 billion needed urgently to save lives.

"Every day counts," she told the U.N. Security Council. "We believe that tens of thousands have already died. Hundreds of thousands face imminent starvation and death. We can act to prevent further loss of life and ensure the survival of those who are on the brink of death."

Bragg's office, which coordinates U.N. humanitarian efforts, said the famine is expected to spread to all regions of south Somalia in the next four to six weeks unless further aid can be delivered. The global body says it has received $1.1 billion, just 46 percent of the $2.4 billion requested from donor countries.

Bragg's appeal came as a U.N. food agency official warned that the number of people fleeing famine-hit areas of Somalia is likely to rise dramatically and could overwhelm international aid efforts in the Horn of Africa.

Luca Alinovi, the Food and Agriculture Organization's representative in Kenya, warned that the situation could become "simply unbearable" in the coming weeks if Somalis continue to abandon their homes in southern and central parts of the country — which are mainly under control of al-Shabab Islamist extremists — in search of food.

The United Nations estimates over 11 million people across East Africa need food aid because of a long-running drought exacerbated by al-Shabab's refusal to allow many humanitarian organizations to deliver aid in areas it controls, including the U.N. World Food Program, the world's major aid provider.


According to the U.N.'s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit, Bragg said, "the current situation represents the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world today and Africa's worst food security crisis since Somalia's 1991-92 famine."

"We have not yet seen the peak of the crisis," she warned, citing high levels of severe malnutrition and deaths of children under age 5, combined with increasing cereal prices and a dry harvest season.

The Food and Agriculture Organization reported Wednesday that cereal prices in East Africa reached new peaks in several countries last month, worsening the already dramatic situation for millions of hungry people. The FAO said prices of milk also were at record or very high levels in most of the region.

.

davidk14: .


Food prices have been driven higher by drought-plagued harvests and sharp increases in fuel and transport costs, according to the Rome-based agency.

In the past two months some 220,000 people have fled toward the Somali capital of Mogadishu and across the borders to Kenya and Ethiopia, where refugee camps are straining under the pressure of new arrivals. Almost 1 million people are displaced elsewhere in Somalia, the U.N. estimates.

"The possibility is basically having everybody who lives in that (famine) area moving out, which would be a disaster," FAO's Alinovi said, adding that transportation costs have doubled in recent months — evidence that there is growing pressure to leave.

Alinovi said FAO was working to prevent Somalis from abandoning their drought-stricken farms by paying them cash for small jobs, thus allowing people to remain. Once people leave their farms, they become dependent on aid for a very long time, he said.

Cash payments have been controversial in Somalia, because of the possibility that money might end up in the hands of militant groups like al-Shabab, who are fighting the weak central government in Mogadishu.

"It is a risk that can be handled," Alinovi said of the cash payments, warning that the alternative could be a sharp rise in the number fleeing. "If this becomes a massive number, like hundreds of thousands of people moving out, then this simple problem will be very difficult to bear."

Bragg told the Security Council that in areas under control of al-Shabab, the U.N. and its partners continue to negotiate for access.

In recent weeks, she said, some progress was made to scale up emergency operations by the International Committee of the Red Cross in central and southern Somalia. It is the only organization allowed to conduct food distribution in al-Shabab areas.

The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, is also boosting its supplies for feeding centers, she said.

Since July, Bragg said, food is also being delivered to two newly accessible areas in the Gedo region.

But she said 3.7 million Somalis "are in crisis," 2.8 million of them in south central Somalia, and 3.2 million need "immediate, lifesaving assistance" including 1.25 million children.

.

kritz0: "A powerful Muslim extremist group in Somalia banned samosas in the country because their three sides may remind people of the Christian Holy Trinity."

They banned....a type of food during a famine?
Just because it *might* invoke thoughts of the Christian Holy Trinity???!?!!! Seriously, oh my goodness.





Anyway, I do understand you saying the military could be a solution, but...
What will stop the military already present in that area, loyal to that government, from just turning around and killing the ones suffering?
What will stop them to prioritize certain people over others if aid does get through?

Who will be blamed by the rest of the world if that is the outcome? No one will see the good that was to be had. Everyone will look passed that to the negativity it caused.


Yes, we here, sitting on our comfy chairs or laying in bed on a computer, using high speed internet, have some false sense of entitlement to all we have.
We all even feel the need to complain about such petty things as the internet connections lagging or cramps in our wrists from typing a lot.
HAH.


Our homeless are kings to these people who are suffering, but on the other hand...
For every step we could take to help what is going on, there will be three steps taken back into the negativity.
If the reactions/going ons that have happened so far is any indication of what is to come, well, IMO the aid should end.

As heartless as it may sound.

davidk14: .

Krutzo said: As heartless as it may sound.

David responds: What about the 1.2 million children? Withhold food and water?

To your point, It would take a military force of 10’s of thousands, perhaps 100’s of thousands of foreign, well fed, highly trained, heavily supplied troops to even make a dent on what needs to be done to save those millions of souls. I think a good effort should be made no matter the cost to provide humanitarian aid to these people. Unfortunately, time has run out in providing aid and the logistical and boots on the ground needed to make a reasonably successful effort. When the US aided in the effort for the Haitian humanitarian operation, it took weeks and months to get the aid there and Haiti is in our own ‘back yard’….not to mention having to deal with al quida in Somalia.

.