The story we are told does not make sense, and since it's not a defensive war, in fact it can only create more danger for the US, it does not follow Just War theory.
We are told that terrorism by Muslim fundamentalists is the number 1 threat, yet here we are arming foreign "rebel" fundamentalists to destroy a secular government that protects Christians, based on the claim the government used chemical weapons, the evidence for which the American people are not allowed to be shown.
Is this a repeat of the destructive Iraq invasion over non-existent WMDs?
Technically...
From a long-term perspective, it seems to be a big battle of misdirection - and setting things up for grander scale developments (no different than what occurred in Star Wars with the Emperor playing both sides of the field - Seperatists and the Republic - for the sake of building other things up in the future that'd engulf them both....and having battle fronts seen as the main area which distracted from other developments going on).
To be more specific, while everybody seems all worried about Syria (as we should be) - as well as what may eventually go down with Iran (which would be the immediate people that are gone after if Syria is taken out), there are others with a view toward the future who've noted what much of the media doesn't seem to be reporting on....and that's the fact of the significant build-up of US military facilities and activity in Africa - with many countries we've already messed up (Egypt, Libya, etc.) and commonly associated with the "Middle East" being signs of where things are going.
If interested, here's an in-depth article on the issue that did an interesting job indicating how it might be the case that the US is trying to get ahead of the curve as Islamic extremist groups have made inroads on the continent for a long time - and despite where Africa has experienced much economic growth/development, colonialism on the rise has come back.
Many are shocked at the U.S military presence in Africa ...and yet it was already the case that we were willing to use force to maintain involvement in African soil for the sake of the oil.
The reason the US is gaining such military interest in central Africa is because US oil companies have recently gained contracts in central Africa...alas, still with Muslim countries that strenuously oppress Christians.
And this goes beyond the threat of Muslims extremists potentially gaining footholds in African territory...
In example, ChevronTexaco brought the Niger River Delta to near-destruction through similar oil spills and toxic fallout from their refineries. As it turns out, when local women there could no longer make a living fishing (as they had for generations) because of the pollution, they protested and asked Chevron to clean up the devestation they created. In response, Chevron hired local mercenaries to deal with the protest who ended up killing some of the women and burning their boats. Sadly, the courts later decided that Chevron was not responsible for the actions of the mercenaries they hired
And this is something the U.S has often done REPEATEDLY in Africa when it comes to working with terrorists and supplying them militarily....
As someone else said best, Imagine BPs Deep water Horizon Gulf oil disaster happening every single year, with little or no public outcry, no media coverage, and all but silence from government and the companies involved. Welcome to Nigeria.
For more info on the subject, one can go online and look up the following under their respective titles:
As one native said on the issue, as it relates to why the United States should care, and the moral implications of the ongoing tragedy:
With 606 oilfields, the Niger delta supplies 40% of all the crude the United States imports and is the world capital of oil pollution. Life expectancy in its rural communities, half of which have no access to clean water, has fallen to little more than 40 years over the past two generations. Locals blame the oil that pollutes their land and can scarcely believe the contrast with the steps taken by BP and the US government to try to stop the Gulf oil leak and to protect the Louisiana shoreline from pollution.
Ben Ikari, a member of the Ogoni people, put it simply. If this Gulf accident had happened in Nigeria, neither the government nor the company would have paid much attention, Ikari said. This kind of spill happens all the time in the delta. The oil companies just ignore it. The lawmakers do not care and people must live with pollution daily. The situation is now worse than it was 30 years ago. Nothing is changing. When I see the efforts that are being made in the U.S. I feel a great sense of sadness at the double standards.
Seeing how the problems escalating in the Middle-East have gotten all alarmed, it's not a surprise to see military build-up in the African world ....but I think it'd be wisdom for others to note that some of that build up was to protect the pre-existing MILITARY presence we were allowing via capitalist endeavors in Africa (through corrupt corporations that provide resources people in the U.S crave when it comes to oil) - and that so happened to agree with the potential reality of power shifting if new oil contracts were granted.
And that, sad to say, is but one aspect of the ways the U.S has been seeking to gain a foothold on the continent LONG before the entire Middle East Crisis arose. In example, remember the KONY 2012 and KONY 2013 where Joseph Kony of the LRA in Uganda (and his use of child soldiers/murdering them as well as abusing them and killing many) was a focus - with others asking the president to send military aid to intervene. The entire KONY 2012 dynamic was highly intriguing to witness.
I remember when those videos like KONY 2012 came out - and I was glad President decided to take action on the issue by supply U.S troops to go there/address the issue. Been following the work of Invisible Children for years....and the work they've been seeking to do in bringing awareness on the subject is truly a blessing..and I'm thankful for the ways they have sought to bring the matter to the service. Although others have noted where the organization of Invisible Children have done some things which others feel are a bit out of order, the goal of bringing awareness to issues is needed...and
I'm glad to be apart of that as are others.
And yet, as another noted, "A well crafted video doesn't equal the full truth." On Joseph Kony and the evil the man has done, as
said there (for a brief excerpt):
"During the past decade, U.S.-based activists concerned about the LRA have successfully, if quietly, pressured the George W. Bush and Obama administrations to take a side in the fight between the LRA and the Ugandan government. ... In their campaigns, such organizations have manipulated facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA's use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony -- a brutal man, to be sure -- as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil. They rarely refer to the Ugandan atrocities or those of Sudan's People's Liberation Army, such as attacks against civilians or looting of civilian homes and businesses, or the complicated regional politics fueling the conflict."
And as much as others were asking the president to give military aid for the Ugandan issue of terrorism, it's ironic that we now are involved significantly in African culture with the military - and the people may regret we got involved to begin with.
It was already amazing to consider the many ways that the U.S had already been doing what Kony did when it came to the military training CHILD Soldiers to be used in battle. Condeming all forms of child soldiers is hypocritical AS it concerns how the U.S got involved with ending the child soldier issue in Uganda when the nation was already noted for supporting child soldiers in other countries near it...Somalia being one of them. The context of support was that those child soldiers were fighting against terrorists, but many have noted getting the U.S involved would require addressing a myriad of other problems as well. For reference:
Odd people may treat the U.S as a savior for getting involved against an evil even when the U.S may support the same evil in certain settings
And as it concerns build-up in Africa, I do wonder if we'll end up creating the same kind of mess that led to things like al-Queda being developed to combat an evil we said we were against...and then later having to turn against it as if it developed on it's own when it turns out to become a problem.
