jlf1961
Posts: 14840
Joined: 6/10/2008 From: Somewhere Texas Status: offline
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If I may be so blunt. Many of the countries in Africa have a wealth of natural resources, ranging from oil to diamonds, as well as other precious gems and rare minerals. It is also an unfortunate fact that in many of these mineral rich countries, those in power keep the wealth to themselves and the citizens spend their time fighting among themselves and their governments. How about a dose of reality here, they are shit hole countries due to ethnic and religious civil wars, government corruption, and without outside interference, they will continue to follow the same path. Humanitarian organizations who try to help have even learned that to go in many of those countries without a private army to protect their aid workers borders on suicide missions. Having worked for an international security firm that had a contract to provide security for World Health Organization warehouses and clinics, I can attest that I have seen less armed combat troops than what we normally packed on a shift. Kids as young as 12 toting AK47's does not promote a sense of security and well being for people who are trying to treat every disease from malaria to HIV to hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola, and this was in countries where private gun ownership was an automatic death sentence. While the natural beauty may be beyond imagination, the social and civil climates in those countries leave a lot to be desired. And to be quite honest, the only time many of those countries had any sense of stability was during the European colonial era, which even with the racist laws in effect at least the natives weren't trying to kill each other. While the term 'shit hole countries' might have been a bit crude, and there are probably a few politically correct terms that could have been used, over all, the term is applicable. It has been used by US military personnel assigned to UN Peace Keeping efforts in those very countries. In a very real sense, with the mineral wealth those countries have available, the people could be living like kings compared to the US IF they would simply stop trying to kill each other or their leaders would stop trying to grind the populations into hamburger with oppressive regimes. It has nothing to do with race, but a hell of a lot to do with the simple fact that the population is still stuck in age old feuds and refuse to give up the idea that things would be better if the people in the next village were no longer among the living.
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Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't you think? You cannot control who comes into your life, but you can control which airlock you throw them out of. Paranoid Paramilitary Gun Loving Conspiracy Theorist AND EQUAL OPPORTUNI
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