Important articles on the horrors of childbirth in Sierra Leone.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/11/AR2008101102165.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/12/AR2008101201886.html

Arm the Opposition!!???

Are you kidding me? This commentator at the Wall Street Journal thinks the best way to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis is to arm the opposition. He writes,

Perhaps the Zimbabwean people would be ready and less afraid if they actually had guns to blaze. They do not lack a passion for freedom; it is the necessary tools to wrest themselves from the yoke of tyranny that they need.

Great; another civil war is exactly what we need right? I wonder if he'd be suggesting that if his family would be caught in the crossfire. I think its very callous to promote further violence as a solution to a political crisis. Look how much democracy that's provided in Iraq.

Crisis in Darfur Continues

The UN is warning that Darfur is getting worse. It's time to for the international community, US included, to move from words to actions. I believe, as Wole Soyinka has suggested, that the Arab countries need to get involved in pressuring Sudan. If Saudi Arabia would put some of the funds and effort that it puts into spreading Wahabism to stopping this outrageous genocide, progress will be made.

Preventing the Killing of Innocents

There is some hope that violence against Zimbabweans who don't support the 84 year old despot might yet be prevented. Associated press has a report here about the prevention of Chinese Arms from reaching Zimbabwe by southern African countries. The African Union really needs to start holding China to account. They lack of conscience they've displayed in Darfur has already shown that theirs is a foreign policy without ethical obligation.

"There is No Crisis in Zimbabwe"

So says the leader of South Africa while holding hands with Mr. Mugabe. If that's the case then why are Zimbabweans fleeing to South Africa and why are his more sensible countrymen refusing to offload Chinese arms destined for Zimbabwe? Mbeki's "see no evil, hear no evil" attitude is nothing short of immoral. He claims that if Zimbabwe ordered the arms from China and they're passing through SA ports, it has nothing to do with SA. Really? Will he make the same claim of clean hands if they are used in violence against Zimbabweans who don't support Mugabe?

Egpytian Police Kill Two Africans. What are they?

Check out this story in Isreali Daily Haaretz. Egyptian police have been killing citizens of sub-Saharan countries trying to cross into Israel in search of employment opportunities. Why in the world are they shooting these migrants! Are they similarly killing Arabs, Egyptians, or Palestinians in the same position? Furthermore, for anyone who doesn't think race is an issue here, why are the Egyptians describing the migrants as "Africans," as though they themselves are not? Substitute "Africans" with "blacks."