[Homestead] Africa

EarthNSky erthnsky at bellsouth.net
Wed Oct 8 01:15:44 EDT 2008




       From: Akka Homestead <akkabhomestead at yahoo.com
       Subject: Africa
       To: "Homestead List" <homestead at lists.ibiblio.org
       Date: Thursday, October 2, 2008, 3:35 PM

       Of course, we all took geography at some point in our lives, and 
we all
       learned the African countries, but if you are as old as me or better,
       you probably learned the colonial names.  Since those days, when 
Europe
       pulled out and left a power vacuum, Africa, for the most part, 
has been
       in turmoil.  Arab influence in Africa predates European interests
       there.  We all know this.
          Africa knew Islam hundreds of years before Columbus ever said Bon
       voyage.  In today's world, fundamentalism is sweeping African 
countries
       just as it is sweeping SE Asia.  While the civilized West looks the
       other way, fundamentalist Islam is growing, and in it's wake there is
       violence and civil unrest.  Political instability abounds.



       The following is a list of major countries in Africa.  I omitted 
small
       island countries like the Seychelles, but I wanted to see how
       receptive African countries might be to Americans, whether or not I
       would be safe if I visited, or what kind of danger I would face.
       Would it be rape, murder, kidnapping, terrorism, civil
       disobedience...what would it be like?

       Those with 3 stars have travel warnings due to the fact that 
travel to
       that country would be dangerous to Americans(lack of embassy, 
etc.)One
       star in front indicates Muslim country, either by decree or by 
majority
       population.  The source is 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_by_country
       Wiki, so take it for what it is worth.

       *Algeria***, warning due to terrorism potential;
       Angola,the civil war is apparently over,  but there is unrest.
       *Benin, crime
       Botswana, ok
       *Burkina Faso, crime
       Burundi***, civil war over, but instability remains
       *Cameroon, refugees from neighboring countries' wars, but ok
       Central African Rep.***, politically unstable
       *Chad***, politically unstable
       Congo (Brazzaville), danger due to war in neighboring countries.
       Congo (DRC, Zaire)***, politically unstable, UN peacekeeping force
       Cote d'Ivoire***, political unstable-civil war
       *Djibouti, politically stable, ok
       *Egypt, terrorism potential, but ok
       Equatorial Guinea, ok
       Eritrea***, politically unstable
       Ethiopia, generally stable, but border problems near Somalia and 
Eritrea
       Gabon, terrorism potential, but generally ok
       *Gambia, ok
       Ghana, crime
       *Guinea, some civil unrest but ok
       *Guinea-Bissau, civil war, but presently stable
       Kenya***, very high terrorism potential
       Lesotho, some instability, but ok
       Liberia, civil war over, but instability remains
       *Libya, high terrorism potential but ok
       Malawi, generally ok
       *Mali, terrorists in Northern Mali, but ok otherwise
       *Mauritania, high terrorism potential
       *Morocco, high terrorism potential
       *Mozambique, generally ok
       Namibia, crime, but ok
       *Niger, isolated unrest, but ok
       *Nigeria***, political instability, high crime
       Rwanda, stabilizing government, generally ok
       *Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic/Western Sahara, politically 
unstable,
       but stabilizing
       *Senegal, some unrest, but ok
       *Sierra Leone, stabilizing after civil war
       *Somalia***widespread war
       South Africa, generally ok
       *Sudan***, civil war in Darfur region
       Swaziland, generally ok
       Tanzania, terrorism potential
       Togo, some political unrest and crime
       *Tunisia, generally ok, but has open border with Algeria
       *Uganda, unstable as it borders warring countries
       Zambia, unrest in northern areas near DRC
       Zimbabwe, politically unstable


       Much of north Africa is Muslim.  Islam is growing in Africa, and as
       Islam spreads, so does Fundamentalism. Already, the fundamentalist
       regimes are undermining stability in East Africa in countries like
       Somalia and Sudan.  Al Qaida is active and becomes stronger
       everyday.  If we are to survive another 100 years, we have to stop
       the spread of fundamentalist Islam.  They don't negotiate.  They
       won't talk to infidels.  They are right and there is no discussion.
       In some African countries, you can be imprisoned or possibly killed
       for proselytizing or trying to convert Muslims to another faith.


        From Ontheissues, here is a partial list of Obama's points under
       Foreign
       relations:
       (http://www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm)

           * Moral obligation to intervene in Darfur  (7/2008)
           * China is a competitor but not an enemy. (Dec 2007)
           * Wrote 2006 law stabilizing Congo with $52M. (Oct 2007)
           * $50B annually to strengthen states at risk of collapse. 
(8/2007)
           * At college, protested for divestment from South Africa. 
(Aug 2007)
           * Increased aid to Republic of Congo. (Aug 2007)
           * Visited largest slum in Africa, to publicize its plight. 
(8/2007)
           * No-fly zone in Darfur; but pay attention more in Africa. 
(6/2007)
           * U.S. funds for humanitarian aid to Darfur. (Mar 2007)
           * Focus on corruption to improve African development. (10/2006)
           * Visited Africa in 2006; encouraged HIV testing. (10/2006)
           * Sponsored aid bill to avert crisis in Congo. (12/2005)
           * Sanction Mugabe until Zimbabwe transitions to democracy. 
(4/2008)


       There are quite a lot of ambitions there, and much of it involves
       sending more money to Africa.  Why should we do that in light of 
recent
       bailouts and economic woes?  Simple. This would be diplomacy in the
       modern world.  Diplomacy equates to money.  For Africa, talk is
       cheap. They have so many problems there that they need more than
       talk.  President Obama WILL get us more involved in African issues.
       If our goodwill to various African countries and causes helps us
       fight fundamental Islam, then so be it.  It will be money well
       spent, at least as effective as the billions we are spending
       'fighting terror' in Asia.  Perhaps it is not too late for us to win
       'hearts and minds' in Africa.

       Have y'all given any thought to any of this?  How do you feel about
       the billions more we will spend in Africa?  Better get used to 
hearing
       that word.

       Bev, who just today 9/7, saw an article about how things are 
improving in Africa.


-- 
"What Luck for Rulers that Men do not Think"             Adolf Hitler
erthnsky at bellsouth.net



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