Congo: The Beat Goes On

For as long as I taught Conflicts, there was war in Congo, especially eastern Congo. The Rwandan genocide ended and that conflict overflowed and continued in Congo. Mobutu was overthrown, and the war continued. Laurent Kabila was killed, and the war continued. Mutanga was convicted of crimes against humanity, and the war goes on. Each year in Conflicts, there was a different aspect to look at: rape as a weapon, the use of child soldiers, cult leaders, the role of diamonds and other minerals, and so on and so on. Finally, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton bravely visited eastern Congo, and the war goes on. The deaths from this war are now estimated to be over six million. It has been called Africa’s first world war. I just call it horrific. I did not think it could get worse, but it has. Now a new tactic has become known to the world: re-rape. Girls and women who were repaired and healed - at least physically - are returning to clinics after being raped again - and again. I thought that I had heard the worst until reading about a new tactic: autocannibalism. Militia soldiers cut flesh from living victims and force them to eat it.

How can the world allow this to continue in 2010? Not only the scope of the war, but also its brutality? Is it because it is taking place in Africa away from the attention of the world’s media? When will the world care about Africa?

Conference for Students On Haiti

I am passing this on from Audrey Huntington. Thanks, Audrey. It really sounds good. And, as Audrey points out, "...we all love Paul Farmer." Hope to hear your reactions.

CALLING ALL STUDENTS:

Dear students across the nation,

Dr. Jim Yong Kim will be leading an online discussion on *Tuesday,
January 26 at 5:30pm EST* on the national student response to the
recent earthquake in Haiti.

To access the online discussion at 5:30pm EST, visit:
http://act.pih.org/jyk-students

As President of Dartmouth College and a co-founder of Partners In
Health, Dr. Kim will speak about the earthquake, PIH's response, why
national student solidarity is critical to the response, and how
students from across the country can help.

The call is open to all students (graduate, undergraduate, high
school, middle school, etc) who are interested in learning more about
the situation and how to mobilize their school communities to respond
to the earthquake in Haiti.

Dr. Kim will be speaking via an online video stream and taking live
questions through the video player's chat feature. We will also be
accepting questions by email up until the talk begins. To send your
question in early, email sdhr@dartmouth.edu with the subject line "JYK
TALK: Your name, your school"

For Jim Yong Kim's bio: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~president/bio/

Lack of women in China

A number of Conflicts classes talked about the one child policy in China either as a class topic or as an individual project. Remember "The Dying Rooms", the video about abandoned baby girls basically left to die? Well, the policy's long term effects are really beginning to effect China with millions of men not being able to find wives and all the consequences of this. Check it out on this link:

http://www.sphere.com/world/article/shortage-of-women-in-china-poses-marriage-challenge/19311767?icid=main|main|dl1|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sphere.com%2Fworld%2Farticle%2Fshortage-of-women-in-china-poses-marriage-challenge%2F19311767

Happy New Year

Think how many times you've said or heard the phrase, "Happy New Year" in the last few weeks. But, what does it mean? Leave it to Nick Kristof to take on the issue of happiness on an international level.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/opinion/07kristof.html

What do you think makes a nation and its people happy? After all, Thomas Jefferson thought it was important enough to put in the Declaration of Independence. "... that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." (We'll have the inalienable v unalienable argument another time.)

Just War

I thought President Obama's speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony was powerful and eloquent. There are many points which I thought were effective and made clear that the world in 2009 is very different from the world of the Cold War, World War II or even pre-9/11. But, I thought his most courageous topic was his discussion of just war and his defense of the U.S. conflict in Afghanistan as fitting the criteria. Philosophers from Cicero to Thomas Aquinas on to thinkers of the 21st century have struggled with the issue of just war. It is usually described as being a conflict which meets the following principles:

1. It must be used only as a last resort after all non-violent options have failed.
2. It can only be fought to redress an injury, usually as a means of self-defense.
3. There must be a reasonable chance of success. Deaths in a hopeless cause are
not morally justifiable.
4. The violence used must be proportional to the injury suffered.
5. The ultimate goal must be a peace not possible without the war.
6. Civilians are never a justifiable target of war.

Using these principles, Obama courageously declared that "no holy war can ever be a just war."

What do you think?

1. Is any war a "just war"?

2. Is Obama correct? Is Afghanistan a "just war"?

Afghanistan

Finally, President Barack Obama has announced his policy on Afghanistan. What Dick Cheney called "dithering", Obama called "deliberating." In brief, Obama calls for an escalation of troops to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan, the establishment of a stable and non-corrupt government and the development of home grown security forces. All this will be done by 2011 and then American troops will begin to be withdrawn.

It is difficult for me to approve of the increase of "boots on the ground", but in this case, I don't see how this could be avoided. If we just leave Afghanistan with its borders touching Iran, Pakistan and Russia, I believe the nation will implode and the Taliban will be back in power quickly, threatening Pakistan (and its nukes) with the support of Iran. So, I think our presence is a necessary evil because the alternative is simply unacceptable. One part of the plan which I find very hopeful is the increase in development workers, not must military personnel. In the long run, I think schools like the ones built by Greg Mortenson or the scarves and gloves given out to children are more likely to deter future potential terrorists than all the bullets in the world. So, I guess I am cautiously supportive of what seems like the best of the bad options Obama had.

What do you think of the Obama plan for Afghanistan?

Jacob Zuma and AIDS

Yesterday, on World AIDS Day, Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa, announced a surprising plan for fighting HIV/AIDS in his country which is the nation with the largest number of HIV positive people in the world. The new policy calls for earlier treatment for pregnant women who are HIV positive and medical treatment for ALL babies born HIV positive. Finally there is hope for these youngest victims of a disease which infects one in ten South Africans. This is an amazing and welcome change in a nation where the health minister once argued that AIDS could be cured by garlic and beet root. And Zuma is the most unlikely of heroes in this battle against the disease. When he was tried for the rape of an HIV positive woman in 2006, he testified that he had prevented himself from getting the disease by taking a shower after having sex. I criticized and mocked Zuma's ignorant attitude on many occasions. Today, I am pleased to say such positive things about him. I will be very happy if it turns out that I was wrong about him.