Peace in Africa
How many deaths will it take till we know that too many men have died? Or child soldiers……. the answer is blowing in the wind. What do I know about Africa and the pressures internal and external each country has to withstand? You could argue that I come from a rich ex colonial power (Britain) we used to say Great Britain but now we are not so great and now many of us feel that what we did in Africa was not so great either. We of course were not alone in the rape of Africa we were ably assisted by our European neighbours who in time split so far apart in the early 20th century that it took two world wars and a cold war of another forty years after they were done slaughtering each other

When the war in Korea ended without resolve did the West learn a lesson? ...you know the kind of lesson we try to tell to Africans. We are only bombing Afghanistan and Iraq for their own good and of course to achieve peace

It was certainly confirmed that we had learn't very little when the West went to war in Vietnam but something happened at that time. The Americans did not come out because they lost or won or even for the fact that they could not win without dropping nuclear bombs no the USA made a tactical withdrawal because of a fantastic ground swell of public opinion which originated in the young people of America and to a lesser but nonetheless committed European youth.

I was part of that peace movement and we were inspired by our heroes ,Bob Dylan, John Lennon who told us in song about the “Masters of War” and to give “Peace a Chance” a lot of this coincided with the struggle of black Americans for civil rights led by Martin Luther King his speech on having a vision from the mountain top was unforgettable and when Dylan told the U.S. politicians to get out the way for the “Times Were a Changing” they knew that this young peoples movement wasn’t something which would go away.

I am just as concerned today as I was 45 years ago in the sixties because I know that these wars are borne out of the desire of a capitalist system for power and money and “this is where you come in” RAW MATERIAL……. your African raw material is what they are after now 25% of the US oil usage now comes from Africa and they now know that the Chinese also have designs on that too.

Gold, Oil, Diamonds and now mountains of Uranium await the super power that can persuade African governments that theirs is the best offer and of course they will sugar it with writing off African debt and a few projects from the World Bank.

While world opinion says that it may be good for Africans to help them build up infrastructures sustainable enterprises I shall translate for you
“ If you toe the line and embrace the West’s ideology of democracy and civil rights your country will rise out of poverty “ This is what Bush and Blair called winning the hearts and minds of African the truth is that it is much cheaper to bribe the country than declare war on it and invade

Ask any Indian or Pakistan( Muslim/Hindu) what impact the imperialists policy of “divide and rule” had on their communities thousands died as they fought one another same thing happened here in Ireland “Protestant /Catholic” now these examples consisted primarily of merely two factions

What awaits Africans then? when tribal communities co-existing in perfect peace can be reduced to butchery by the result of a flawed election, Africa I am afraid is a powder keg waiting for the fuse to be lit My fear is that it will be lit by external forces such as the Chinese and ourselves in the West as we strive to in the name of progress rape Africa all over again

The people of Africa must unite against this and the poor who are so easily exploited must share in any wealth which is created ,right now the gap between the rich and the poor is still widening despite all the billions poured in the ordinary villager never sees anything in real terms from the infrastructure builders or from tourism the people in power, Politicians, South African/ European/ Arab businessmen have all of Africa tied up while internally manipulated tribal wars have raged in Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia Nigeria/ Biafra Darfur/Sudan Uganda, Rwanda, Eritrea/Ethiopia and now Kenya.

Young people you and you alone are the only human hope I hear you say what can I do I thought like that when I was young but after many years of campaigning and speaking out against the bigots we prevailed and the greatest world power had to bow the knee to us and get out of Vietnam

Get educated get others educated and without discarding traditions tribal or otherwise place your goal march united to your government palaces and demand that wealth coming in from the super powers be distributed all over Africa!!!! to relieve poverty, wipe out Aids, Malaria T.B. and the rest. But do not stop just in the countries which have the raw materials (many border skirmishes and wars are a result of Western powers drawing up borders) cross the borders and take it to your neighbour

If people are hungry and poor it is not surprising that they will fight to keep what little they have and that is what is exploited by the political powers but if people are filled with food and hope they cannot be frightened into fighting one another they will stand together.

Naydians I trust the peace and hope of all Africa to you. Jim Rae