While all eyes (and bombs) are focused on Libya, a quite real tragedy of unbelievable horror is unfolding in the Ivory Coast. The city of Abidjan is being fought over by two groups, the pro Ouattara army and forces loyal to the 'president' Laurent Gbagbo.
The BBC carried a great article about the innocent civilians living in the frontline. According to those interviewed, there were child soldiers carrying machine guns and almost total anarchy in the capital. The full article can be accessed on the link below.
According to Doctors without borders, medical teams in the western town of Duekoue had to deal with 240 wounded since March 29th. There have been scatered reports of a Catholic charity Caritas having found 1000 bodies in the same town although verification is needed and nothing more has been heard of since. The article that carried the report was the Telegraph UK
.
Of course, while this brutal conflict rages on, America and the rest of NATO are bombing Libya, more concerned with securing oil supplies rather than actually spreading democracy and protecting human rights.
President Obama had this to say about America's involvement in Libya. "To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader and — more profoundly — our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are. Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as President, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action."
Well, a blind eye is being turned on the conflict in the Ivory Coast. Is this because the country has no strategic interest for the West. Where are all those UN resolutions which should, i repeat, SHOULD, be passed swiftly to at least attempt to forestall what could end up being a major tragedy. The world should not forget what happened the last time everyone turned a blind eye to this corner of the world; it led to the deaths of 700,000 Rwandan civilians.
Yes, the Libyan people stood up to Gaddafi after thirty years of totalitarian darkness. But what the world forgets is that both the Libyan and Ivory coast people want is peace and stability, something that has been lacking in African nations for a very long time. The UN, being a world organisation, should act less like America's stooge and more like a global body, sending help to every corner of the world where it is needed. That is what the peacekeeping mission is for. Bombs don't solve problems, they exacerbate them. Libya seems to be descending into an all out civil war, and the Americans are mulling an arming of the rebel forces [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/29/arms-libya-rebels].
The question to carry away is; what about the Ivory Coast? Is there progress made in 'spreading democracy' to Libya, or is this all going to end/escalate into a civil war, and ruin any chances for peace and stability for the people of Libya?
No comments:
Post a Comment