Saturday, April 02, 2011

Why Aren't We in Côte d'Ivoire?

If we are in the massacre-prevention business, shouldn't we be there, too?

5 comments:

Bruce Webb said...

No.

One we don't have any legal support from the UN Security Councill.

Two. We don't have support from the African Union.

Three. We have no forces that can effectively intervene in the kind of house to house urban street fighting. You can't target people with machetes from 30,000 feet.

There are other practical objections having to do with the lack of basing and logistical support, but really we need to get out of the mindset that every problem can be solved using the same means. The U.S. has the capability and as importantly the capacity to mount an air campaign based from the Med. We just don't have that same sort of capability in sub-Saharan Africa. Period.

People are drawing a blinkered false equivalence here, oddly enough America doesn't have an Exceptional American Magic Wand.

We all make these choices in our daily lives, very few of us live up to the Gandhi, Mother Theresa, St Francis model and give up everything to help the poor, instead we do what we can where we can as our consciences motivate us. I live in a wealthy liberal city in a wealthy mostly liberal state and we haven't even been able to fix poverty here. Or violence for that matter. To the question 'why are we not in Cote d'Ivoire' we could equally ask why we aren't fighting for economic and social justice in the Central District, or the Mississippi Delta.

I think this was summed up with 'Mote' 'Beam' 'Eye' a couple thousand years ago.

MD said...

I got your point Res, I/we/us made the same point in '03. We are still correct but it will still be ... just business. How many political contributors have ties to the Ivory Coast ? Thought so... Like I said I got your point.

res ipsa loquitur said...

MD,

I'm glad someone did. :-)

pansypoo said...

their leader isn't crazy enough.

Anonymous said...

it's the oil, stupids
vox