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"A BLIND E A BLIND EYE FOR AFRIKA'S TSUNAMI VICTIMS" By Queen Nzinga Guest Writer In our hearts, we mourn the deaths of the 140 000+ people reported to have lost their lives to the so-called "Indian Ocean" tsunami - which devastated large areas in South East Asia and Afrika. These victims are but "collateral damage" - another consequence of the global warming caused by irresponsible exploitation and devastation of Mother Earth's natural resources. The victims are also "collateral damage" of the political "Monopoly" game played by leaders of so-called "developed" nations (including the USA and Canada), who are using this disaster as an opportunity to ascertain power in Muslim South East Asia. Most of this "damage" consisted of the deaths of many women and children (critical demographic components); so we should expect serious developmental problems in the affected areas, in years to come. All the more reason for political wolves to play “Good Samaritan” for longer periods of time, thereby ensuring control of a fraction of the Muslim world; we need only to look at their past m.o., in order to forecast the future. In Thailand, surviving children are being kidnapped and forced to work in whorehouses. In Indonesia, entire villages were wiped, leaving no trace of existence. And, when the death toll reached 80 000, officials stopped counting to move into disease prevention. The Sri Lankan, Sinhalese majority government is continuing their ethnic cleansing of the Tamil minority, by not diverting any aid to Tamil regions. This, in turn has caused Tamil Tigers to highjack UN convoys and steal aid, in order to feed the Tamil people. We also hear about how "humanitarian and kind" developed countries have truly turned out to be, after all. They are marketing their aid to tsunami victims, but they don’t mention that this aid is only being delivered to Muslim South East Asia! I wonder why we don’t hear the specifics about how aid is being distributed, or that the U.S. Military is (reportedly) making the distribution decisions (with everybody else just following their lead)! Why don't we hear about the extent of the disaster in Afrikan countries - namely Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Somalia - a nation still struggling to assess the damage! As of January 5th, the BBC reported 300 deaths in the Somalian region of Puntland, alone. There is no information on the mainstream media about the rest of the country. Somali presidential spokesman, Yusuf Mohamed Ismail, stated that 24 countries - including the U.S., Italy, Germany and Saudi Arabia - pledged to send relief to Somalia...but, a week after the tragedy, nothing had been sent. "We are very happy that relief supplies have arrived in Asia, which was hit the hardest by the tragedy, but Somalia -- which has been ravaged by a 13-year civil war, drought and political neglect -- also needs emergency help to deal with the latest calamity, at least 200 people were killed and many others remain missing." According to Mr. Yusuf and U.N. officials, some tsunami victims are receiving food aid from U.N. agencies, which diverted relief intended for Somalis suffering from a four-year drought. In my country we would call this a case of "desvestir a un santo para vestir a otro" (undress one saint to dress another). News on the web reported that most East Afrikan countries issued population warnings - even though they didn't have early tsunami warning systems - which kept casualties to a minimum. But tens of thousands have been left homeless and threatened with disease, with no humanitarian aid in sight. Moreover, the amount of human casualties caused by this tsunami could have been greatly reduced, if somebody was doing their jobs correctly.
The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed that the earthquake (which triggered the tidal wave measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, and was the 4th-largest since 1900. In such cases, one would expect evidence of abnormal seismic activity before the actual occurrence of a major earthquake. According to geo-science experts, making predictions and acting on them are not simple. "It's an inexact science now, " said Dr. Laura S. L. Kong - a Commerce Department seismologist and director of Hawaii's International Tsunami Information Center (run under the auspices of the U.N.). According to a NASA website dedicated to tsunamis, 3 of 4 tsunami warnings issued since 1948 have been false, and the cost of the false alarms can be high. But tsunamis, which are common in the Pacific Ocean, are rare in the Indian Ocean...and the earthquake that set giant waves into motion on December 26 was uncommonly powerful. But, my guess is that it was, indeed, predicted. Scientists from Geoscience Australia (the nation's agency for earth science research) issued a paper last fall, describing the tsunami generated by sea-floor disturbances after the 1883 eruption of Mt. Krakatoa's volcano. These charts showed an uncanny resemblance to the wave of destruction that accompanied last December's disaster. It seems to me that somebody knew what was going to happen, yet decided to let 140 000 + people die. I say, follow the money; whoever profits from this disaster is the one to be made accountable. We need to question the distribution of our donations - which only target specific countries of economic interest, and are not being used in a compassionate manner. Why are there no thoughtful media-reports about what's happening in Afrika? And, why hasn’t Somalia received the aid promised? Someone tell me - where has all that “humanity” been for Rwanda’s 500 000 Tutsis? The U.N. was warned of the Hutu's plans for genocide - which they dismissed as rumours. And, later, the entire world turned a blind eye to the murder of thousands of Rwandans. Where has all that “humanity” been for Sudan, where 70 000 Afrikans have been killed and 1.5 million displaced, in the past year? The gutless media is failing to report that the Janjaweed Militia is funded by foreign investors, interested in the discrediting of yet another Afrikan Nation (remember Haiti?). Saying that the Sudanese government is turning a blind eye is a simple lie designed for the gullible ear. If developed nations are so humanitarian, then where is all the foreign aid to assist in the elimination of the foreign-funded warlords with their foreign guns and foreign attitudes? Where has all that “humanity” been for the 5 000+ Liberian deaths, in the past year? And, where has all that “humanity” been for the 2.5 million + Afrikans whose lives have been claimed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic - or the 26 million + men women and children who are now dying from the disease? Afrika has been constantly ravaged by "foreign-aid/interest", from 1441 to this day. Today, in Afrika, millions of people die every year from preventable diseases, AIDS/HIV, armed conflict and hunger - while “developed" nations profit. The events unfolding, post December 26, leave us with the assurance that, when it comes to Afrika, everyone just prefers to turn a blind eye! Queen Nzinga Queen Nzinga is a writer, singer, visual artist, poet, spoken-word artist and community activist. She can be contacted at warrior_queen_nzinga@yahoo.ca. |