Should we send Troops to Niger

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Richardols:
BTW, we should send our own donations to help Niger, and can do so through Africare or Catholic Relief Services, among others.
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That idea I agree with 100%.
 
space ghost:
Question: Thousands if not more are starving daily in Niger. Much more then those supposedly exterminated by the powers in Iraq. Should we not send troops to stop the extermination of a race from hunger, or should we just send $$$ or food without the supervision to make sure who gets the food and weather or not they have to pay some warlord for the gift of food?

I can’t help but wonder about our level of concern for our brother when there is no oil well to protect.

Thoughts?
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Troops from the United States? NO, the UN needs to be more involved in the countries that do need world aid for hunger. Perhaps you could explain to us why they don’t do something at the UN to help the suffering in the world. Perhaps they are too busy in the scandals they are involved in. There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but there are not enough interested governments to help their people. Did the Hollywood and RockBand crowd collect any money for the poor? No, they just gave a free concert to dicuss the need. Did anyone from the UN listen or respond?

We should all be supporting faith based initiatives and missions that help the needy. Government aid usually fails the people, whereas missionaries usually can get help to people. Prayer should be our number one help.
 
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Fitz:
…the UN needs to be more involved in the countries that do need world aid for hunger. Perhaps you could explain to us why they don’t do something at the UN to help the suffering in the world.
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You answered your own question:
There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but there are not enough interested governments to help their people.
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A lot of people have a misperception of the UN. It is not a world government. It is an organization which brings together other governments, and is only as strong (or as weak) as its member states.

If you want the UN to do more, you need to apply pressure on its member states to lean upon the UN to do more. Many on these forums are in a position to do more, as the U.S. is one of the UN’s more powerful member states, and so carries a lot of influence. In other words, if the US were serious about getting the UN involved in Darfur or Niger, the UN *would *be involved in Darfur or Niger.
 
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Richardols:
BTW, we should send our own donations to help Niger, and can do so through Africare or Catholic Relief Services, among others.
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Catholic Relief Services is the only charity I trust in this situation. The UN spends and “uses” much more of the money then is necessary for things other then food.
Richardols said:

Sending troops to feed the hungry? Find one member of your beloved Administration who would go along with that. I would hope that we would not send troops to “feed” the hungry. What a waste of money that could and should be used for purchasing food for those people.

No, the Administration in Washington that you rightists never criticize. LOL I write more letters letting the Administration know what I don’t like that I think they have form letters just in my name. From the border situation, medical care, FDA issues and more.
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Richardols:
BTW, we should send our own donations to help Niger, and can do so through Africare or Catholic Relief Services, among others.
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I agree – there is no need for troops, only for security guards to keep aid convoys safe.
 
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Richardols:
No, the Administration in Washington that you rightists never criticize.
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Rich you again are lumping conservatives into one large pile. I think you would find that many of us have lots of problems with the Administration in Washington. As I pointed out to you in another thread a lot of us would like to see better border control, many of us are not sure about John Rodgers and government waste is a big problem. We do feel that going into Iraq was the right thing to do and we stand up for what we think is right. Did you always agree with Bill Clinton? Do you always agree with Hillary? We can support a politician as long as we think they are the best person for the job but we can also disagree with them on some things. Please don’t lump us into one pile unless you are sure we all belong in that pile.
 
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Lance:
Rich you again are lumping conservatives into one large pile. I think you would find that many of us have lots of problems with the Administration in Washington. As I pointed out to you in another thread a lot of us would like to see better border control, many of us are not sure about John Rodgers and government waste is a big problem. We do feel that going into Iraq was the right thing to do and we stand up for what we think is right. Did you always agree with Bill Clinton? Do you always agree with Hillary? We can support a politician as long as we think they are the best person for the job but we can also disagree with them on some things. Please don’t lump us into one pile unless you are sure we all belong in that pile.
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You’re right, Lance. I shouldn’t lump of all you together, and I’ll try not to. But, I’m so used to seeing the word “liberal” used by many conservatives on this Forum to lump all of us to the left of center, from moderate liberals to marching-in-the-street Socialists and Troskyites, that it’s easy to fall into the same error.
 
The situation in Niger has me puzzled.

The vast majority of the people of Niger live along the Niger River. Has the river totally dried up? Are the people next door in Nigeria, Burkina Fasso, Mali, Benin, Chad, and the other countries similarly starving? When irrigation from the river has been used in the past, they got pretty good crops. Did they have locusts? Rats? An epidemic of malaria? What happened?

Has someone interfered with the market economy which is run by women who operate “mom and pop” enterprises and trade for all the necessities of life. ?

Niger is one of the few countries in the world that is landlocked; has something been done to seal the border to prevent normal commerce?

What is the status of SONARA (or its current manifestation), the groundnut co-op? Did someone walk off with the treasury??? (It’s happened before. He knows who he is.)

How much water is stored in the Kainji Dam in Nigeria? Compared to previous years. Did anyone build any river water storage / fish ponds in Niger (to be filled during the rainy season)?

I had heard from a traveller that the largest user of energy in the country is the airconditioner for the hangar for the president’s plane. Is that true, now or ever?

There was an anomaly in a satellite photo some years ago. It showed a green triangle in what was obviously desert. Clearly something wrong with the satellite. Someone drove out to check it out and found a lush field of grass with cattle grazing.

The country sells uranium which should fetch a good price.

What does a graphical plot of rainfall versus time show in terms of the drought (if there is one) and previous droughts versus the solar cycle(s) [see www.sidc.oma.be click on archives and the on graphics. ]

We are not getting the whole story.

Once upon a time, some famous person made an award-winning film about hunger in Niger. Turned out the players in the film were mostly charlatans, soldiers of fortune

So, what’s the story this time.

[Someone said my major fault is that I am blunt. On the other hand, I’m not mentioning any names. Someone else said I am not afraid to die.] [A female relative of a prominent international public official mysteriously fell down an elevator shaft before she could be interviewed.] [Just recently.] [Hmmmm.] [So, Karl, if I suddenly disappear… then you know what happened.]
 
space ghost:
Question: Thousands if not more are starving daily in Niger. Much more then those supposedly exterminated by the powers in Iraq. Should we not send troops to stop the extermination of a race from hunger, or should we just send $$$ or food without the supervision to make sure who gets the food and weather or not they have to pay some warlord for the gift of food?

I can’t help but wonder about our level of concern for our brother when there is no oil well to protect.

Thoughts?
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Is the UN ever going to to ANYTHING useful? The need is certainly there.
 
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Ignatius:
Is the UN ever going to to ANYTHING useful? The need is certainly there.
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Not striclty relevant to the question of Niger, but in response to the suggestion that the UN is completely useless, it’s worth pointing out that the UN actually has one of the best track records for nation-building. According to a recent study by the RAND Corporation,
“assuming adequate consensus among Security Council members on the purpose for any intervention, the United Nations provides the most suitable institutional framework for most nation-building missions, one with a comparatively low cost structure, a comparatively high success rate, and the greatest degree of international legitimacy.”

Full details at rand.org/publications/MG/MG304/. Thanks to the June issue of The Atlantic for drawing attention to this study. The Atlantic does add a caveat, however – the UN does best in places with a limited mission and no forced entry – ie. not Iraq.
 
Philip P:
**Ignatius:
Is the UN ever going to to ANYTHING useful? The need is certainly there.
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Not striclty relevant to the question of Niger, but in response to the suggestion that the UN is completely useless, it’s worth pointing out . . . . .

So, when is the UN going to do ANYTHING useful for Niger?
 
space ghost:
Question: Thousands if not more are starving daily in Niger. Much more then those supposedly exterminated by the powers in Iraq. Should we not send troops to stop the extermination of a race from hunger, or should we just send $$$ or food without the supervision to make sure who gets the food and weather or not they have to pay some warlord for the gift of food?

I can’t help but wonder about our level of concern for our brother when there is no oil well to protect.

Thoughts?
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Has Niger monetarily supported a terrorist attack on United States soil just like Iraq did?

Please read:
freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1165515/posts

-and- 😃

weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/152lndzv.asp?pg=2
 
vern humphrey:
I think you should leave for Niger immediately. The rest of us will come along when we finish with Iraq.
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That’s a good plan.
 
I did some on-line research on Niger and the current problem with food shortages.

What I learned leaves me even more confused than before. Statistically, the country has crops. There was a problem with locusts. But the country allegedly abandoned the practice of stockpiling grain… or maybe not… a conflict in reports. The country has a vital and thriving practice of responsive free-market supply and demand of food stuffs… or maybe not. The country “deregulated” water supply… whatever that means.

There are anecdotes, but no indication of how reliable those stories really are. No actual reliable information. Food prices have increased due to the drought, but food supplies are entering the country.

No indication that the problem is impacting neighboring countries.

Really not very reliable information.
 
Does Niger have any weapons of mass destruction? That might help get them invaded. And they don’t have to be real WMDs - just a rumor would be good enough.
 
Al Masetti:
I did some on-line research on Niger and the current problem with food shortages.

What I learned leaves me even more confused than before. Statistically, the country has crops. There was a problem with locusts. But the country allegedly abandoned the practice of stockpiling grain… or maybe not… a conflict in reports. The country has a vital and thriving practice of responsive free-market supply and demand of food stuffs… or maybe not. The country “deregulated” water supply… whatever that means.

There are anecdotes, but no indication of how reliable those stories really are. No actual reliable information. Food prices have increased due to the drought, but food supplies are entering the country.

No indication that the problem is impacting neighboring countries.

Really not very reliable information.
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oxfam.org/eng/programs_emer_wafrica.htm

cafod.org.uk/news_and_events/news/west_africa_crisis_20050725_/break_the_cycle

These last two reports I agree can leave you a bit :confused:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4133374.stm

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1054396.stm

But on the whole and from the pictures I have seen in the news I would probably agree with the aid agencies.
 
Did some more research.

There’s a guy named Noel Vietmeyer who was very active in devising food supplies that could be indigenous to third world countries. Anyway, I did a search on his name and found something very interesting. He found a food supplement based on tiny amounts of malted barley that dramatically increases the nutritional value of locally grown starchy crops.

Fascinating.

Check out the “Power Flour Action Network”.

There are all sorts of inexpensive approaches to the food supply issue.
 
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