There are things
so inhuman that one cannot but page the United States to help stop the inhumanity. Take Africa, for instance. The continent has been ravaged by war, famine and AIDS. The world�s worst humanitarian
crisis is unfolding in Sudan. Almost one and a half million people were made homeless mostly ethnic African Sudanese while the
army and their Arab militia allies �drained the sea that the African rebels swim in�. In the eyes and minds of
America military policy makers, Africa
is an afterthought. What with the present dispensation of things in the continent.
Members of African
union (AU) are paying little or no attention
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to the litany of conflicts in Africa.
It�s a given that some African countries existed in name and on maps only and more than half of her populations
are living in a cell of bondage, abject poverty, tribal clashes and mismanagement of abundant human and natural
resources.
The continent
of Africa
has been rehearsing a reality play entitled: Rehearsal for Starvation. The genocide in Rwanda was an eye opener to man�s inhumanity to
man and, that the world needs the United States to police the continent. It is a sad commentary on the United States� human rights record to look the other way while Africa burns with reckless abandon. �The U.S. is increasingly reliant on Africa for its oil needs, and terrorism needs
to be tackled before it can take hold in the continents failed and failing states�, said a Senior U.S. general,
Gen Gration at the Africa clearing House conference in Stuttgart
The UN estimates
that 1.2 million Darfurians
have been maimed and internally displaced by the violence. Outgoing Secretary of state Colin Powell say that genocide
is taking place in Sudan. The U.S. ambassador to the UN John Danforth
said recently that all parties in the Sudanese conflict shared responsibility for the wave of violence in the Western
region of Sudan. About 70,000 Black Sudanese are estimated to have been killed in the never ending conflict.
Somalia is a lawless fiefdom replete with violence
and anarchy while in Ivory Coast law and order are thrown to the dogs. The situations in Liberia are better imagined than described and,
the unresolved Biafran question in Nigeria is a time bomb about to explode. The rule
of Law has been replaced by the rule of gun in Sierra Leone.
The fate of women
and children in war torn Congo are left to the whims and caprices of trigger happy and gun trotting warlords. Some 15,000 people
in the small town of Kanyabayonga in eastern DR Congo have fled fierce fighting between rival forces of the Congolese Army. The Lord�s
Resistance Army of Uganda is notorious for abducting children and women to become sex slaves and fighters. What
a continent!
Being the only
super power next to God, the United States of America should play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Biafra
thank you very much. Without any doubt the U.S. economy is the engine of the world yet
the nations providing the oil
that lubricates the engine remained largely underdeveloped and, are not even allow to eat the crumbs that falls from the masters table. A case in point: Nigeria is one of the largest exporters
of fuel to the United States but
Nigerians lives in abject poverty , fuel scarcity and miraculously survives with
less than $1 a day.( Note: President Obasanjo
of Nigeria makes $250,000.00 a month from his �chicken farm�!)
Members of African
Union must make a stronger case for the United States involvement in African internal affairs and, lobby for the creation of a single centralized U.S military chief akin to the one granted
other continents. Having an African Nation as a permanent member of the UN Security Council is another option to
end the continent wide crises. Unrestricted admission of more African Nations into the WTO will create free market enterprise, interest free loan for agro-based industries and open a window
of opportunities for Local and foreign investors. United States is the only country with the clout to solve Africa�s myriad of Problems.
The stakes are
high in Africa
today.
This is why the United States is needed to have a military general in Africa. U.S. and African Union should co-operate more on military assistance for Africa.
The United States should police the continent
pursuing those who threaten the existence of peace, justice and freedom both within and without. If true democracy
must take root in the continent, justice should be blind and must be seen to be blind. Terrorism stops where democracy
reigned. And democracy is a government of the people by the people and for the people. In his book, Africa: A continent self-destructs, Peter Schwab
puts it succinctly, �marginalization of Africa
while much of the rest of the world has been incorporated into the global economy, raises profound question. Given
the unchallenged wealth and power of the united states, what role should it have in twenty first century Africa�?
Future peacekeeping
effort in Africa
demand American involvement militarily and financially. It is in the national interest of the United States to have a cabinet style military chief for Africa. This is why I am paging the United States of America to take the mantle of leadership in Africa. If you know the telephone # to the statue of Liberty please tell her that the �tired, poor and
huddled� Africans are in dire need of Liberty, happiness , freedom and a
free market economy.