July 25, 2003
From the desk of Jane Galt:Meanwhile
Bush has ordered US troops to a station off the coast of Liberia to assist peacekeeping forces. I don't know what I think of this expansion into quasi-colonial peacekeeping, but we do seem to be doing a better job of it than the Europeans did, at least. Or, for that matter, than our own history of sucking up to foul dictators as long as they promised not to put the hammer and sickle on their flag.
Posted by Jane Galt at July 25, 2003 11:48 AM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound linksI disagree. I have no idea how we are doing and I think that it's really too soon to tell. While I am glad we are no longer cozying up to evil dictators...as much as we used to (Saudi Arabia comes to mind), I don't know how you can determine whether our attempts at nation-building will have had positive effects long term since we've only been doing it for the short term.
I'm not arguing that this is necessarily a positive good. Doing better than the Belgians, or our own sorry history in Africa, isn't a very high bar.
It is scandalous that the Liberal Black establishment is not encouraging President Bush to further involve America in the Liberian disaster. When push comes to shove, these Leftist extremists only care about enhancing their own power and privileges. The possibility that Bush might become a hero to mainstream Afro-Americans is enough for them to remain mostly silent.
What is this talk about the Belgians and the rest of the Old Europeans? These losers are useless and cowardly. There is no such thing as an effective United Nations. We are essentially alone. Even the British may go wobbly on us the next time around. The United States literally stands between the world and Armageddon.
Do you read the news, David?
"U.S. troops should be sent to Liberia as part of a multinational peacekeeping force to help restore order to the war-torn west African nation, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Thursday."
"On Thursday, NAACP delegates approved an emergency resolution urging the United States to provide humanitarian and military assistance to Liberia."
“Do you read the news, David?”
Yup, and I still sense a reluctance of these leftist leaders to provide President Bush an opportunity to improve his standing with the Afro-American community. I expect their voices to be a lot louder.
Do you think I'm wrong? In that case, perhaps you can point out to us the instances when the Liberal black establishment has given a fat damn about Africa! How often have they taken to task the gangsters and socialist monsters of this region? Are you aware of Jesse Jackson’s (and Pat Robertson’s) troubling relationship with Charles Taylor?
It's a bit of a smear to assert that "black leaders are letting Liberia twist in the wind because they don't want Bush to have a political victory", when you have absolutely no evidence of this.
I'm curious:
How many folks calling for US intervention in Liberia, black or white, ALSO enunciated the belief that any military action in Iraq would spread us too thin in the War on Terror, especially w/ work in Afghanistan still incomplete?
"Afro-American?" Welcome to the 1970s.
Since I'm sure Mr. Thomson would dismiss "African-American" as errant PC nonsense, might I ask why he feels it necessary to use an anachronism like "Afro-American" instead of merely using "black?"
“Since I'm sure Mr. Thomson would dismiss "African-American" as errant PC nonsense, might I ask why he feels it necessary to use an anachronism like "Afro-American" instead of merely using "black?”
You’re half right. I do indeed cringe anytime I feel it’s required to refer to someone as an Irish-American, German-American or Afro-American. Alas, sometimes one must clearly distinguish between blacks in general and Afro-Americans in particular. I only use the term when it’s virtually unavoidable.
David, what is the difference to your mind between African-American (or African American, I never know which spelling is PC) and Afro-American? Since the former is the term that community currently prefers, why use the latter?
In general, I deplore the lack of a specific term for those Americans who are descended from African slaves and have lived here ever since then. It seems like my black coworker born in Maryland and my coworker from Senegal should have two different adjectives. (Yes, yes, ideally we would all be one happy un-PC family and not notice where anyone's from, yada yada.)
I echo Dean's question, and add one of my own: People who believe the US is spread too thin in the war on terror mostly also believe that part of the reason for this is that Bush alienated our allied and made them unwilling to send peacekeepers to Iraq. It would seem to follow that there are a lot of unemployed French, German, Russian, etc. peacekeepers out there. Why not send them to Liberia?
"Since the former is the term that community currently prefers, why use the latter?"
What is this "community?" Are their leaders elected through the democratic process? These terms constantly change and it's almost impossible to keep up. I also recently worked with a "real" African and referred to him as an Afro-African."
My rule of thumb is this: do your best not to hurt anyone's feelings. I'm trapped in a Catch 22 situation and am forced to do the best that I can.
Besides, "african-american" just has too many damn syllables...
I believe that these days, Afro-Americans refers to Americans with Afros, not only those Americans and African descent.
And then there's the rather large population of African-Americans that aren't - you know - American.
And then there's much smaller population of African-Americans who aren't even black.
Yeah, I once had an roommate from Algeria. As "African-American" as you can get, but he'd never be credited for it.
I don't know what I think of this expansion into quasi-colonial peacekeeping, but we do seem to be doing a better job of it than the Europeans did
It's not quite clear what Jane was referring to here. I've read that both the British and the French have intervened rather successfully in Sierre Leone and Ivory Coast and restored stability. They've been begging the US to intervene in Liberia, because Liberian instability has continued to threaten SL and IC.
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