Today I found a report about the recent attack and murder of two Ugandan Aid workers in Northern Uganda. You can read the whole thing yourself at
Uganda: Two aid workers killed in the north by suspected LRA rebels
The trouble with nearly every place that needs emergency aid is the security. I realized this truth to it full extent when we watched this year's hurricane destroy so much. In every case there was looting and violence. After Katrina the violence was bad enough to hinder the relief efforts.
What is it about these situations that spawns this kind of behavior. I don't believe that each person participating in the lawlessness was truely "needing" to do what they did for survival. So this idea that it can be ignored because it is survival, is flawed. Is it selfishness? How about greed?
The LRA's attach on aid workers only serves to destabilize and impoverish the region further. The LRA thrives where they can take advantage of defensless people. Those that are starving and impoverished make good targets.
Could this be motivating so many others? Could it be that the criminal element, even in the good old US of A is so similar to the criminal element in Uganda (the LRA). I think they are the same. I believe that the violence following each disaster was really just the criminals in the community (every community has some) trying to take advantage of people who were without defense. In the case of Katrina victims the longer this disaster could be perpetuated the more the criminals could profit from it.
We have to remember, when we read media reports, like those above, that we are not so different. We can not simply be upset by what we saw in New Orleans after Katrina, and ignore what happens in Uganda.
No comments:
Post a Comment