Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Meanwhile, in Uganda...

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (01/01/06 through 01/22/2007) Donate to DU
 
cigsandcoffee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-29-06 11:05 AM
Original message
Meanwhile, in Uganda...
Edited on Thu Jun-29-06 11:08 AM by cigsandcoffee

Exempting the good work and charitable donations flowing there by many people of world faiths, religion is not being kind to Africa...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5129350.stm

LRA victim: 'I cannot forget and forgive'

Following recent comments from Lord's Resistance Army rebel leader Joseph Kony in which he denied committing atrocities, Ugandan Ochola John, 25, responds by telling his story. He was abducted by rebels from his village, Namkora in northern Uganda, which was attacked in February 2002. During the attack 50 people were axed to death and he was one of 35 abductees.

I wish I could be born again. It hurts me to see my reflection because of the way I now look. The memories of it all are so painful. It was in the night when I saw a number of torches flash at me. I was commanded to lie down facing the ground. As I did so, the rebels began raiding other houses around me. They arrested many - tying, and lying the victims on the ground in three lines. People were screaming from all corners of our village.

Two men were tied and forced onto the ground where their heads were joined together. The rebels tried to force me to pick up a log and hit their heads but I refused so one came for me with a knife and cut off my left ear. He accused me of being a government soldier and said that I would be finished off if I failed to smash their heads.

But then, they started smashing the people's heads themselves. I was put in the middle as they smashed the people's heads.


More horror at link...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
rockymountaindem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-29-06 11:08 AM
Response to Original message
1. Shit...
All the people responsible for that should be shot.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cigsandcoffee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-29-06 11:10 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. I couldn't even begin at guessing how to solve this.
I fear that strife in these places will be neverending, and forgotten about by much of the rest of the world.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-29-06 11:13 AM
Response to Original message
3. Uganda, Zimbabwe, Congo, etc. Africa is the unknown world.
Thanks to our media which has it's focus on celebrities and their antics or our upstanding politicians saving us from flagburners, immigrants, and gays.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cigsandcoffee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-29-06 12:52 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. Well, even here, it seems there just isn't much interest.
America is so divided over internal political wars that the larger world gets lost in the shuffle.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Yollam Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-29-06 12:54 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. It is sad.
If Clinton was in office, all our troops would not be stuck in the Iraq quagmire, and some serious peacekeeping could be done.

:(
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cigsandcoffee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-29-06 03:23 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. I really don't know if sending troops in to that mess...
...would do any good at all. The area is so enormous and chaotic that it would be difficult to organize and maintain acceptable security.

I think the answer might have more to do with heavy pressure on leaders and governments, but can't say that this is at all an educated opinion.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-29-06 02:53 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. "Frontline" did a segment last nite about Zimbabwe.
Virtually a hopeless situation. 1000% inflation. Opposition splintered. "Illegal" immigrants by the thousands fleeing to South Africa and being forcibly returned. Etc, etc, tragically, etc.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
TornadoTN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-29-06 03:16 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. I hate to admit it, but I overlooked Africa before
I overlooked Africa a lot before I actually travelled there and was able to speak to some of the people that are affected by the circumstances that plague the continent. I went to Johannesburg and all around South Africa on business, but took an offer of one of our partner companies to travel the continent as part of our business process. Seeing Africa up close and personal is something that will stay with me forever, yet, through all the beauty of the place and the people, there is a certain sadness that permeates the people that I met. It is almost as if they realize they have been forgotten by the rest of the world, left to fend for themselves the best way they know how.

When I hear my Neocon business associates and others that seem to dismiss Africa as primitive or somehow second-rate, it truly hurts and outrages me at the same time. These people have so much to give the world - lessons that many of us could learn from today - yet they try to get by in a world that turns a blind eye to them and merely gives their plight empty lip service. The human condition across the continent seems to be turning towards the worse while the world turns their back. How long are we going to let these people, our human race, go unnoticed and tear each other apart in blind power grabs?

How about actually doing something right in the world and stopping the senseless violence in Uganda? How about promoting business, self-sufficiency and prosperity throughout these countries, rather than taking what we merely want and leaving the people that provide it left in the cold?

Sometimes I really wonder if man is still evolving, or have we stopped the process with ignorance and selfishness and actually started devolving.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Thu Oct 31st 2024, 05:48 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (01/01/06 through 01/22/2007) Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC