Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Reagan's African Legacy QUOTE OF THE DAY "How good and how pleasant it would be, before God and man, to see the unification of all Africans. As it's been said already, let it be done. We are the children of the Rastaman. And we are the children of the higher man. So Africa unite for the benefit of your people. Unite for it's later than you think. Unite for the benefit of your children. Africa awaits its creator." - - Robert Nesta Marley KNOW YOUR HISTORY - JULY 1923 -- "No more war" demonstrations held in 23 countries. 1951 -- South Africa: Conference of Africans, Indians & Coloreds agrees on mass campaign to end oppressive new "apartheid" laws. 1968 -- American Indian Movement (AIM) founded in Minneapolis. 1970 -- After a 5 year strike, United Farm Workers (UFW) sign contract with grape growers, California. 1972 -- US Supreme Court declares death penalty unconstitutional. 1974 -- 2nd article of impeachment, abuse of power, voted 28-10 against Nixon by House Judiciary Committee. RHINO HERE: Today I offer 3 pieces to help understand the war in Liberia. The 1st is a press release describing the situation in Liberia for UN workers. The post is from The Human Rights Headlines mailing list which provides press releases issued by non-governmental organizations. Archives of "hr-headlines", & instructions on how to (un)subscribe, can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-headlines/markup/maillist.php The 2nd is a Press Release from UNICEF concerning the re-integration into civilian life of former child soldiers in Sierra Leone and the predicament of child soldiers in Liberia. And today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is an important historical perspective on the events in Liberia by investigative journalist, Greg Palast, author of the New York Times bestseller, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy". You can view his investigative reports for BBC Television's Newsnight, at http://www.GregPalast.com Liberia: Gunfire hits UNHCR compound in Monrovia From: owner-hr-headlines@hrea.org Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 08:49:29 +0200 MONROVIA, Liberia, July 25 (UNHCR) - Tensions have hit a new high in and around the UN refugee agency compound in Monrovia, where shelling today killed several people nearby and barely missed hundreds of others encamped in the UNHCR office, including two women in labour. On Friday morning, UNHCR staff in Monrovia reported that more than 10 people had been killed by a fresh barrage of mortar fire in the Mamba Point area of Monrovia, which houses diplomatic missions and other international organizations. Encouraged by a lull in fighting on most of Thursday, the victims had ventured out for food and water supplies and were killed at a water-point in a public school close to the UNHCR compound. At the UNHCR compound itself, stray gunfire shattered the windows of an office that was being used as a maternity room after a Sierra Leonean woman went into labour at the first sounds of shelling in the morning... ...The mood at the UNHCR compound - which currently houses more than 800 Sierra Leonean refugees, displaced Liberians and other West African nationals - has become very tense. But despite the dire security situation, people are still venturing out of the compound to search for food and water. "Life has to continue," said a UNHCR staff member. "You have to brave the storm and take a risk as soon as the shelling dies down. Otherwise you will die of hunger." PRESS RELEASE POSTED AT: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-headlines/markup/msg01159.html Subject: Peace process falters for child soldiers UNICEF Press release FREETOWN/GENEVA/NEW YORK, 22 July 2003 - UNICEF says that the re-integration into civilian life of former child soldiers in Sierra Leone is under threat by flagging support from international donors. The future of more than 7,000 children who once fought one of the world's most vicious civil wars has been thrown into doubt by a shortfall in funding. The UNICEF Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, says that the breakdown of the re-integration programme is "the breaking of the promise of peace for these children, and a dangerous development for peace in West Africa as a whole." "Many of the children who fight in these armies join because their parents have been killed, and they have no alternative survival structure," she said. "An education offers that structure." The warning comes at a time when a spate of fresh attacks in recent months using child soldiers has emerged in sub-Saharan Africa.... ...Neighbouring Liberia, under the tutelage of President Charles Taylor, has consistently used child soldiers since the early 1990's, and many of the most experienced men serving in his forces began as child soldiers. Child soldiers are being widely used in the current fighting to topple Taylor. The phenomenon of child soldiers is common throughout the world. At any time some 300,000 children are involved as soldiers, guerrilla fighters, porters, spies, and sex in conflicts in 30 countries around the world... PRESS RELEASE POSTED AT: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-headlines/markup/msg01156.html 7:33:36 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Liberia: Corpses At Our Doorstep LIBERIA: CORPSES AT OUR DOORSTEP By Greg Palast, Baltimore Sun, July 25, 2003 "THE PHOTOS of corpses in the streets of Liberia's capital and news reports with those words so familiar in the New World Order - 'warlord,' 'civil war,' 'warring tribes' - prompt a gut response in both the U.S. public and U.S. government, 'Let's get in the helicopters and just get the heck out.' The easiest, obvious policy is to let Liberia die." Those words, which I wrote to the U.S. State Department eight years ago, could have been written today. All that's changed since then is the name of the president and the names of the dead. In 1995, at the request of prominent Liberians, I took an unofficial delegation to convey that nation's plea to provide material and U.S. Marines to support a peacekeeping force from other West African states. Then, as now, visions of another Somalia, of another Black Hawk Down, led to our government's deadly hesitation. This week, as mortar shells burst inside refugee centers, Liberians dropped the bodies of their parents, friends and one headless child at the doorstep of the American Embassy - a ghoulish but apt protest. They are the grim reminders of our culpability in the killings, which goes much deeper than the Clinton and Bush administrations' policy of benign neglect. Reporters never fail to mention that former American slaves founded Liberia, yet have passed over more recent history: The administration of Ronald Reagan armed the first berserker to seize power in Liberia, setting in motion the current civil war.... READ IT ALL AT: Corpses At Our Doorstep "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. 6:31:34 AM    comment

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