SavageDem

"I don't belong to an organized political party – I'm a Democrat." – Will Rogers

Rape and Slaughter in the Congo

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SavageDem

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This is the kind of thing that just makes me despair for humanity. What kind of people can systematically rape and kill children? How can anyone justify anything like this as a political tool? I’ve read many times how soldiers lose their perspective, and stop seeing people as human beings, but it’s just impossible to understand.

I once had an intimate experience with this mentality. I was in an so-called “honors” history class in high school, and one of our assignments was to interview a WWII veteran. I talked with a member of our church that served in the South Pacific theatre. He still held a huge grudge against the Japanese, and told me quite dispassionately about burning the “Japs” out of their tunnels using a flamethrower. He really didn’t view them as quite human.

Estimates are that 1000 people a day are dying in East Congo from war, famine, and disease – over four million in the last 10 years! Now, if I were President, this would be the sort of thing that would be of importance to me. My goal as a world citizen would be to make this tiny sphere a more prosperous and livable place for all, not just for a select few.

Is that too Miss Universe/SaveTheWhales/Whirled-Peas sounding? Call me a romantic, a dreamer, a rebel, Dottie…a loner. But this just happens to be a bit more important to me than cheap oil, missile defense systems, and lowering my taxes.

Some additional info about how UN peacekeeping forces are contributing to this horror.

Comments

3 responses to “Rape and Slaughter in the Congo”

  1. Rick Bridgeman Avatar
    Rick Bridgeman

    I also have spoken with WWII vetrans (US and British) who hated the Japanese as cordially fifty years after the war as they did during the conflict. This was not a result of racism – as your post implies – but the result of massive murder, rape, and brutality of the part of the enemy.
    If you went a little further than your high school honors class, and studied events in Nanking, Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila and other places under Japanese domination you might more closely understand the veterans feelings.

  2. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    I believe that I do understand the veterans’ feelings. And I don’t attribute it (completely) to racism (and didn’t think my post implied that). Perhaps if you re-read my post, you’ll see that I brought this up as an example of how warfare can cause people to lose all “moral restraint” (for lack of a better term).

    What the Japanese military did up to and throughout WWII is inexcusable – but so is continued hatred of a race or nation because of the actions of its forbears.

    Barbarism is not confined to any particular race or nation. We can look at any number of sickening examples around the world and throughout history, including right here in the U.S. Try reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee sometime and find out how our good ol’ “Christian” boys here in the U.S. raped, slaughtered, and brutalized American Indians in a campaign of systematic extermination.

  3. Rick Bridgeman Avatar
    Rick Bridgeman

    Please excuse the typo in my original post.
    What I was attempting to convey, while it is magnanimous to forgive-and-forget, it is difficult for someone like the veteran, who has experienced traumatic events to divorce one’s self from one’s experiences.
    There is something in the Bible (and I don’t usually go around citing the Bible) about the sins of the fathers being visited on the sons. This is not a judgment call, it is simply a fact of human nature.
    Thank You.

    Rick Bridgeman
    LTC, USAR, Retired
    1st Bde (Abn), 1st Cav Div, RVN, 1965-6
    HQ, XVIII Airborne Corps, Gulf, 1990-91

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