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Originally Posted by Cynosure
Um, where is it, in what you said, where we broke it? I'll agree that it's a crime to stand by and watch something fall into dire straights, especially when you can (relatively) easily intervene and help. But it's the abject poverty and the backward culture and the brutal hostility in Africa, that broke Africa.
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Well, there is the whole issue of colonialism. Of course, that was Europe, so if you are looking for the US part in all of this:
- The US is the world's biggest market for blood diamonds
- The CIA backed coups and assassinations of African leaders, including Patrice Lumumba, funding for FNLA and UNITA in Angola, the backing of murderous tyrants like Mobutu in exchange for favorable deals for American businesses...
---------- Post added at 09:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:03 AM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by MSD
Except your wallet when the MPAA sues the fuck out of you. Public torrent trackers aren't safe.
Africa is full of failed states still suffering from the setbacks caused by European colonialism. We did our stupid shit there, but to say that it's the US' fault is going too far. I only studied Africa for a few semesters, but I can't see stabilizing countries as a cheap or quick task. We're talking about modernization processes that took more developed parts of the world hundreds of years to achieve. Lastly, if we leave Afghanistan now, it's going to go back to tribal warlord rule, and that's no good for regional or global stability.
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See above. In fact, it is impossible to understand the bloodiest conflicts in African history without talking about US involvement.
You can't understand the first and second Congo wars, and the Rwandan genocide, without understanding the role of the CIA in propping up Mobutu as the leader of the Congo, the backing of UNITA, the Angolan rebels who controlled the northern railroads crucial to transporting minerals from the Congo to the coast, and later the support for Rwandan leaders like Kagame, who was actually trained in Fort Leavenworth.