Africa

Co-authored by Linda Milazzo and Georgianne Nienaber

To: The Honorable Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, Washington, DC 20520
To: The Honorable Susan Rice, US Ambassador to the United Nations, United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017

Dear Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice,

The humanitarian situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is disintegrating and it is time for the United States to intervene publicly and forcefully. According to report after report from human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), the violence is escalating, and the United Nations does not have enough peacekeeping troops to contain the violence. Already more innocents have died than in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The world cannot say again that it had no idea of the scope of this disaster. Rwanda can no longer be given a free pass because of its suffering during the genocide, and Rwandan President Paul Kagame must be held accountable for the alliance he has formed with Congolese President Joseph Kabila who is turning a blind eye to the crimes committed against innocent Hutu civilians in eastern Congo.

In an urgent communiqué to independent media, the Congolese National Congress for the Defense of the People (French acronym, CNDP), is asking to meet with you precipitously regarding the Rwandan government’s unwarranted detention of CNDP leader, General Laurent Nkunda, and the corresponding increase in massacres of Congolese civilians since his January 22nd arrest. As documented by Human Rights Watch on February 13, 2009:

by Linda Milazzo

I don't believe in god. I never have. I don't believe in religions. I study them, but I don't practice them. I try to understand them to be sensitive to the beliefs and traditions of others, and to attempt to appreciate the motivations behind religious thought and deed. But they are irrelevant to living my life.

Long ago as a freshman at CUNY's Queens College I was introduced to Taoism. Taoism began in ancient China as a religion, then morphed into a dogma free/deity free philosophy. Since my late teens I've tried hard to apply MY understanding of my Tao to my life. I have the freedom to choose my own path and not judge the paths of others. But since I have freedom of opinion, I fall prey to judge. I try not to. But I do.

Through the Tao, I'm both a peacemaker and a warrior since Taoism couples with the art of self-defense. I understand my right to protect myself when needed, and to protect the defenseless when they need me. Since I'm by nature protective, it suits my sensibilities to aid the weak, where I fancy myself absurdly as inordinately strong.

ITALIA-USA: FRATTINI SU AFRICOM, A NAPOLI E VICENZA NO
TRUPPE PERMANENTI
Bruxelles, 2 dic. - (Adnkronos/Aki) - "Ci sono quattro componenti di Africom, di cui due saranno ospitate in Italia, una a Vicenza e l'altra a Napoli". Lo ha detto il ministro degli Esteri Franco Frattini, in una conferenza stampa a Bruxelles, confermando quanto scritto dall'ADNKRONOS e precisando che "non ci sono truppe americane assegnate su base permanente a queste componenti". "Si tratta di strutture di comando che operano nel quadro della Nato", ha aggiunto il titolare della Farnesina, sottolineando come "evidentemente questo sia stato fatto dopo aver informato anche i paesi africani che hanno espresso grande supporto a questa decisione". "Domani - ha concluso Frattini - daremo qualche dettaglio in piu' in una conferenza stampa con l'ambasciatore americano a Roma Ronald Spogli, che e' stato delegato dal segretario di Stato Condoleezza Rice ad occuparsi di questa cosa".

Note that the Italian people were already a bit less than thrilled with the idea of a massive new base in Vicenza.