U.S. Prepares 'Big-Time' Response To Famine - Impact of African crisis could be felt at White House

USA Today | May 1, 2002 | Bill Nichols

[Wild Irish Rogue]

Mark my words-this may be the media's next attempt to damage Bush. I firmly believe that Carville and Shrum were pushing the media to focus on the ME, after Enron fizzled. Expect to see the locusts in the media descend on the starving babies in Africa and blame Bush for their plight. I have no problem with my tax dollars feeding starving people, but I bet Bush will enlist humanitarian agencies world wide to be in the vanguard.And I have no doubt that Bush will not continue the folly of funneling tax dollars to the corrupt dictators in the sub continent.

[WhiteGuy]

Hey, sorry for snapping at you, I'm on your side.

This crap just makes my head explode.

[Dakmar]

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Kill every man who knows how to fish and you're SOL.

[Billy_bob_bob]

LOL! I hereby nominate that posting for Quote of the day!

[WhiteGuy]

Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day....

Teach a man to fish, and he'll spend all day at the lake drinking beer....

[texlok]

Call me an isolationist, but I'd rather see my money go towards a homeless guy in my city, rather than to some country thousands of miles away that will end up hating us at some point.

[CJ Wolf]

I 2nd that nomination

[linn37]

I have no problem with giving food,the money is another thing.I won't support giving money to any of the African countrys that are running off the whites,screw em.

[blackdog]

We only have rights and enjoy concepts of ownership of real property in this country because we as a people are productive and therefore an asset. The day that the majority of a nation's population becomes an expense is the day the pruning knife comes out.

I watched a pig farmer down the road from me for a few years. When pigs make him money he treats them like gold. Best feed, best conditions, lots of investment in facility improvement, etc... When the input exceeded output(such as the past few years), he had his son shoot the sick ones because a vet visit was an economic drain. Instead of balanced feeds, rotten moldy feeds which were free for the hauling became the daily ration. USDA agents(an aide agency) came around gladly offering loan programs, grants, funding sources etc... Now the farmer has become aide dependant. The pigs live in the horrible conditions because they are still an expense. The farmer lives in great conditions because the bullet is still cheaper than the doctor, rotted feed is all that the pigs get, and filthy diseased conditions are what the pigs are quatered in.

I bet pig farming in Africa transcends species.

[Dakmar]

The problem with giving food is that it never gets to the people. The leaders sell some of, hoarde some, and pass out the rest among their loyal followers, and all that happens is the dictatorship lives on to cause more misery for the majority.

[gilor]

These so called 'Aid Agencies' have nothing to benifit by people having enough food to eat. They DO have alot to gain by famine. I wonder if they had anything to do with those white farms being seized?

[Billy_bob_bob]

You know what will happen to the food that is sent, don't you? It will be taken by the resident thugs, and used to control the resident population. By freeing these thugs from having to do something useful (like securing the peace, providing for rule of law and property rights, providing and maintaining basic infrastructure, you know, all of those things the natives have proven themselves incapable of doing time and time again) you allow these despots to do what they do best; act like swaggering brutal thugs who live off of the fat of the land while everyone around them starves.

No, sending them food would be a major error. We have to allow them to suffer for their mistakes. Stupidity should be painful, that is how you learn. After about a hundred million Africans starve to death or get eaten by their neighbors perhaps then they will be ready to consider the idea that rule of law and property rights are important.

If one does not behave in a way that allows for the protection and creation of wealth, one loses the right to cry because one lacks the benefits of wealth.

[Destructor]

"just to satisfy the "humanitarian" lust of the bleeding heart Liberals."

"you'd be talking about your president......"

As opposed to your would-be president Mr. Gore?

[Miss Marple]

Well, I see that many of those on this thread are living up to the left's characterization of conservatives. Good job, guys! Your comments are on display for those who would use them for examples of mean-spirited conservatives.

I guess a lot of people forget that we want Africa to be on OUR side, instead of that of China or the terrrorists. Letting mass starvation occur will not help the USA, that's for sure. Plus, if we have the resources to help, it would be very wrong to let millions of innocent people suffer because of their corrupt and evil leaders.

I imagine you are correct, and we will see aid done in a far different manner than before. I guess a few people forgot about the Millenium Fund, and how the money does NOT go to governments which oppress their people, at President Bush's insistence. We will probably give aid in food and technical assistance (like well-drilling).

[WhiteGuy]

As opposed to your would-be president Mr. Gore?

Nice try, no chance...

You couldn't pay me to vote for bush or gore

[Billy_bob_bob]

Oh yes, it's mean spirited to not give free food and money to those who murder, pillage and rape. It's not mean spirited to murder farmers who are feeding the nation. No, nothing the Marxists ever do is mean spirited.

Again, if we send ONE PENNY of aid over there then we are saying that murdering farmers is just fine, stealing farms is dandy, mob rule is OK by us. Sorry, not going for it. If the pansy fairy left wingers wanna get upset with me, they can just have their little hissy fit and then go back to their kneepad duties. What are they going to do, cut my hair badly? Misarrange my furniture? Suggest a really bad wine with my dinner?

[Dakmar]

Any aid we send to Zimbabwe will be stolen by Mugabes thugs, IMO. Anything he recieves from the outside world will only increase his power and longevity. And in case you haven't noticed, he is already one of the worst terrorist thugs on the planet, so I for one would rather not have him as an allie.

[End Times Sentinel]

…all that happens is the dictatorship lives on to cause more misery for the majority. .

Exactly. It’s easy to get carried away and go down the “F’em , they caused this, let ‘em suffer” road, but in fact, the majority of people who are suffering in all these countries have little if any culpability in the situation.

Take Rhodesia for example, it’s completely obvious to anyone who followed the March election that the vast majority of Rhodesians support the MDC rather than the ruling ZANU PF. However, there really isn’t much they can do about it with Mad Bob aligned with the others in the African Dictators Union. They have no realistic chance of overthrowing their dictator.

As you said though, giving aid will only prop up the dictatorship and prolong the suffering. It’s a horrible situation and no rational person can be comfortable standing by idly while millions die an agonizing death, however, there simply isn’t anything that can be done to help them.

This blood is all on Mad Bob’s hands.

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[Tijeras_Slim]

I'm furious.