Meanwhile, 800 dead, and not a peep.

[Safetykitten]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42388912/ns/world_news-africa

But...we can't....not in this....Clinton and her boss are thinking about it....

And nary a word here on sending in the guys.

[Hannah Bell]

1. oh the humanity. i'm sure our humanitarians will be there momentarily.

as soon as they fix afghanistan, iraq, libya, syria, iran, yemen & north korea.

"it's hard work!"

[meow mix]

22. you dont want to help them, so why the pretending?

just curious what all the act is about, pretty sick considering the circumstance.

[LARED]

2. intercommunal violence

"We have information that at least 800 persons were killed on March 29 (Tuesday) in Duekoue in intercommunal violence," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas told Reuters.

Fierce fighting spread across Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan Friday as troops loyal to Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo fended off attacks by forces supporting Alassane Ouattara's rival claim to the presidency.

Sounds like a brand new word for civil war to me.

[Exilednight]

3. And nearly 1 million displaced and seeking refugre. But we find it more

important to go somewhere where something might happen, instead of someplace where it is happening.

[Buzz Clik]

28. It was happening in Libya. Do you support the use of deadly force by the US in the Ivory Coast?

Is that your point?

[Exilednight]

37. Are you saying that there were a million people displaced before we attacked Libya? If so, then

please provide link.

[dipsydoodle]

4. They're brown people

and brown people don't get a "peep". :sarcasm:

The issue is positively disgusting.

[aquart]

11. I thought Africa was pretty sick of being invaded by white boys?

But, hey! Let's restart that trend. It won't look the least bit racist. We have black soldiers.

[inna]

5. try Congo or Darfur (MILLIONS dead), and... hardly a peep

[Obamanaut]

6. It is not the mission of the US to 'send in the guys' into ANY of these

places the 'guys' have been sent into. The US is not the world's police force, or should not be.

[glowing]

7. No, we only go when there is oil or other valuable resources below their feet.

[aquart]

10. I love a really self-righteous, overly-simplistic answer.

So. You want Americans to die because people in another country are killing each other...and absolutely no good can come of it for Americans? Except you'll feel so much better about yourself knowing that we're killing the people who were killing people they really don't like but we're doing it for purely noble reasons?

I could not be more impressed.

[meow mix]

18. +rec

[MicaelS]

31. Bingo!!!

Amazing how quickly those "oppose" US actions, quickly change their mind when their political ox is being gored.

Then, the US really does become the "World's Policeman", but of course, only for the "Noblest of Reasons." :sarcasm:

[joshcryer]

34. One thing you're neglecting to realize, they don't actually want to help the people in Ivory Coast.

They're using that conflict as a subject to foster derision, it has nothing to do with fucking helping people.

I've been supporting the Ouattara freedom fighters for awhile now, if Gbagbo didn't threaten to charge journalists with "terrorism" for actually reporting the news I think there would be a lot more news about those fighters. As it stands now the news is murky and slow flowing at best. But they'll oust Gbagbo soon! I have faith in justice.

[glowing]

35. And honestly, how hard would it be for the people to uprise against the

govt if the govt had not taken all the oil money and purchased weapons and soldiers to keep the citizens at bay? Who buys the oil? Who props up these dictators?

A better question may be, when its our turn to throw the bums out, how do we fight against the greatest military strength the world knows?

If we weren't such great arms dealers, war makers, oil needing, oiligarich society.. and we actually did show democracy and equality world-wide... we wouldn't have all the wars, banana republic south american shit, jobs shipped overseas to exploit cheap workers... We've installed most of the lunatics that 30yrs later need disposing of. AND by we, I mean the govt in The People's name without their real consent or knowledge most of the time due to "state's secrets".

[Obamanaut]

14. I think that people who use 'we' when speaking of sending military

members into areas where bullets are flying or likely to fly should a) scurry right down to a recruiter and volunteer or b) if not eligible themselves to join due to age or disability deliver one of their relatives to that recruiter.

Those people that 'we' send are our children, parents, siblings, cousins - and they are being blown to bits in areas 'we' should not be in at all. They should be brought home, the various wars should be stopped, the hundreds of US military sites in dozens of countries should be closed.

There is enough stuff broken in the US that the money being spent elsewhere could be well spent fixing - jobless, homeless, bridges/roads in disrepair, people with illness who cannot afford medication.

[barbtries]

8. yep.

massacres go on, we can't be the world's police...
not advocating more WAR, just noting the fucking hypocrisy.

[aquart]

9. Funny how you couldn't bring yourself to mention where it was.

We can't intervene. Sucks, doesn't it? Africa has no plans to go in, does it? How about you and your friends? You'll go in, show them the right way to behave and......leave? How?

BTW, when did they ask for our help?

[wavesofeuphoria]

12. I have a friend in Abidjan ...

as of Thursday ... she said that the US Embassy won't evacuate. She was sent an email Wednesday night (11PM) as a final warning and precautionary measures, but no evacuation. She said it is too unsafe to move anywhere now anyway. There is shell bombing right outside her home.

[JustAnotherGen]

13. Intercommunal

Is the new word for 'tribal' so it's to be ignored. :-( Truly - a problem from hell.

[originalpckelly]

15. That is precisely what should happen.

But you know it's about oil in Libya. That's why.

[joshcryer]

16. I support intervention here and I think the international community is failing hard.

They're black Africans, and we know where the international community (particularly the rest) places them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKjprq67kYI

[Hugabear]

17. Have they asked for help? Has the Arab League asked for us to intervene?

Are they dropping bombs on their own people? Is there oil there? Do they have an easily identifiable boogeyman?

If the answer to any of those questions is no, then sorry, they're on their own. If the people being killed can't be bothered to officially petition the UN for help, then obviously they don't need our help.

:sarcasm:

[joshcryer]

19. France has been consistent, asking the UN to intervene. The African Union however has not asked...

...for help yet. They were going to but apparently that never happened.

Some the West African states have asked for help: http://www.salon.com/wires/allwires/2011/03/24/D9M5OANO0_af_ivory_coast/index.html

[meow mix]

21. if they did, our isolationists would then change thier mind to " sorry suckers, we dont help"

they are completly lost in thier self interest.

[joshcryer]

24. The only good thing is that about 50k of Gbagbo's men reportedly defected. This *will* be over soon.

The bloodshed will be enormous however, as the 5k loyalists will probably take out another 5-10k with them. The UN needs to fucking intervene! But nope, the "non-interventionists" can hide behind the fact that they don't really care (if they did they'd do daily posts about Ivory Coast without cheeky derision about intervention).

[meow mix]

20. and really they dont want to help anyone. quite the opposite

its pure isolationism...and they cry about not invading every african nation. lol
how can you even talk to these people that make no sense?

[NuclearDem]

23. Ivory Coast isn't an Arab country; Arab League has no authority there

And Western intervention in a country whose problems were caused by Western intervention isn't the way to go.

It's an African problem and should be resolved by Africans, the same way Libya is an African and Arab problem and should be solved by Africa and Arabs.

[meow mix]

25. the arab leauge is solving the problem.

and they asked for our fucking help, get over it.

[NuclearDem]

33. They asked for a NFZ to stop the attacks on civilians by the government

We can only do so much. We can't rebuild Libya, and we can't assure a diplomatic end to the war. That falls to the Arab League.

[Hugabear]

27. Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

We can't be everywhere and help everyone. By playing "favorites" and only helping certain countries, it only helps create animosity towards us. By getting involved in Libya, we've really stepped into a quagmire. If we don't get rid of Gadhaffi, then we'll have let down the rebels, many of whom could blame us for their failure, and we'll also have given Gadhaffi all the reason he needs to resort back to his old ways. Getting rid of Gadhaffi, however, would require a lot more intervention, perhaps even ground forces.

[joshcryer]

29. African Union will not do shit. And UN is powerless in "peacekeeping" missions (this incident...

...happened with a base of UN "peacekeepers" were). All they can do is stand around watching people get slaughtered. Possibly the worst job on the planet.

[NuclearDem]

30. I don't disagree, and I know how much it sucks

[joshcryer]

32. If it doesn't end soon like it is looking to be doing, then I support W. Africa's calls for UN...

...intervention and I will denounce any states that argue against it.

[Buzz Clik]

26. Our involvement in Libya started exactly in the same way:

1. A local flare up invoked a government reaction and cost some lives.
2. US citizens started complaining, "If Afghanistan, why not Libya."
3. NATO responded.

Do you support the concept of NATO becoming involved in this? Should the US become involved in every police action that arises, including the use of deadly force? Do you support the use of deadly force by US in the Ivory Coast?

[Cherchez la Femme]

36. Three reasons:

1) ***********Most importantly they don't have Oil!**************

Those human beings are far from "American Interests", and why should they be? Do they enrich our more equal than other 1% fellow-citizens or those "people", the Corporations?
Of course they don't, don't be silly -- bottom line it makes the top 1% no profit.



2) They're an African country. Remember what happened the last time the U.S. went into an African country for 'humanitarian purposes'?
That's right, in Somalia our soldiers were murdered and their bodies abused, mutilated and dragged through the streets; broadcast again & again for everybody to see.
That is why, IMO, Clinton & Co. dithered about those Rwandan "acts of genocide" -- what kind of flak would they take if they were to send in our soldiers and again that happened? They'd catch holy hell even before anything happened, before any grunts were even shipped out! So that administration took all the time in the world because they just had to paint their new bloody vehicles before they could ship them over there with the result that these weren't ready until after over 800,000 Tutsi were slaughtered,

and by then the very worst was over.
How convenient.


3) They're black. Black Africans, for a double whammy. Hell no the man doesn't care about black people (maybe a tad more for U.S. citizens who are black ...but not much).
The wealthy, patriarchal, privileged white politicians don't care about them near as much as our lily-white citizens -- and they don't care much for them, so that's saying something. They certainly like less foreign black people! Hell, in this country blacks are disproportionately incarcerated, are targeted for random police stops (don't care if the cops say they don't do it, you know they do).
When black children are snatched, kidnapped, murdered, or just plain disappeared,
along with black women
most nobody cares. But let one (preferably) blond girl like Natalie Holloway disappear & it's non-stop coverage! Sometimes the victims who disappeared weren't even reported, or the cops do anything about, until weeks or months after the fact, not from families but from Social Workers, etc.. One of our most notorious serial killer/cannibals was A. Fish said back when he was finally caught that he tried to prey on black children as much as possible because the law enforcement would never do anything about it.
And it's marginally better today.
Black people in the U. S. can't obtain, on average, as well-paid jobs as 'whites';
busing nevertheless, they are given a lower standard of education,
their housing is below median, they are constantly slandered (an oldie but a goodie, er, baddie: "Welfare Queens")
etc. etc. etc.


That's enough of this rant, and the longer I write & the more angry I get
the worse my grammar becomes, so I'll leave this mini-tome.

But it's impossible to belabor this point enough.