Debbie wrote:

> You know.. it is time for everyone to stop yapping about what they do. They
> thing is that everyone needs to help.. and to keep helping and not get
> discouraged. By not helping we are letting millions of people die...
> allowing countries to be in such unrest that they become fertile ground for
> terrorist camps etc. We can sit back and do nothing (or nothing more as the
> case may be) and then perhaps in a few years complain about these countries
> as being the place that the terrorists are coming from. OR, we can
> encourage our governments to step in and help these countries change. It is
> truly sad seeing children die by the hundreds. This is my last word on the
> subject.. wrong newsgroup for this discussion and not interested in watching
> it deteriorate into flames. These are my opinions only.. yours may be
> different.

You are welcome to your opinion. I am stuck between not giving a damn and
insisting on aid with a lot of strings attached. The African countries with the
best conditions now are those that have lots of oil and those which were well
established and heavily settled British colonies. Perhaps they need outside
guidance to led into economic viability. Maybe the western countries should over
various countries colonial or protectorate status, move in some well trained
people to administer their African holdings and become responsible for the
administration of any aid offered. Let's face the fact that the money we have
been sending for years has been squandered by the leaders. Rather than fight
colonial wars to protect them, bail out at the first sign of trouble and leave
the people to make it on their own.