Conflicts in Africa

Terrell Campbell

English 103
Professor Duguay
March 31, 2015
Despising the decades of conflict, death and tragedy, coverage of issues in Africa has often been ignored, overgeneralized, or unreasonably focused on limited aspects. There is a deeper analysis, background and context that has often been lacking, so regardless of what seems like constant images of starving children in scarcities, news of billions in aid to Africa from generous donor countries, the background context and analysis is often missing. Whether aid makes the situation worse, or why there is scarcity and hunger in Africa when African nations are exporting crops to other parts of the world are rarely asked by the mainstream. Why is Africa so violent?
There is a reason why some of Africa’s bloodiest, and brutal wars never seem to end is because they’re not really wars. Not in the traditional sense, at least. The soldiers don’t have much of an ideology, not much of a clear goal. They couldn’t care less about taking over capitals or major cities — in fact, they prefer the deep bush, where it is far easier to commit crimes. Today’s rebels seem especially uninterested in winning converts, content instead to steal other people’s children, stick axes in their hands, and make them do the killing. Most of today’s African fighters are not rebels with a cause, but predators. That’s why there are stunning slaughters like eastern Congo’s rape epidemic, where armed groups in recent years have sexually assaulted hundreds of thousands of women, often so cruelly that the victims are left incontinent for life. What is the purpose of these conflicts?
The soldiers don’t want ministries or tracts of land to govern. Their armies are often traumatized children, with experience and skills that are totally unsuited for civilian life and it is often sometimes too late to go