USA Africa Dialogue Series - from le monde

in its current reporting libya, this paragraph was included in LE MONDE today:

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>> Lire : Obama dénonce un bain de sang "scandaleux"

Face à la répression sanglante orchestrée par le régime, l'Union européenne examine la possibilité d'une intervention militaire à but humanitaire en Libye, essentiellement pour aller chercher les ressortissants étrangers encore coincés dans le pays – ils seraient de 5 000 à 6 000.

for those with any memory of the rwandan genocide, the evacuation of foreigners was the beginning of the west's scandalous abandonment of its responsibilities to human rights, that is, to human beings who happened to be african. the dogs were evacuated, but the tutsis working for the whites were not.

here we have an exact equivalent statement. i will translate: "facing the bloody repression organized by the regime, the European Union is examining the possibility of a military intervention with a humanitarian purpose in libya: essentially, to go and look for foreign workers still stuck in the country. there are about 5-6000 of them.

!!

outside of this kind humanitarianism, the west's response has been. . . to wring its hands  (and how many commentators and announcers are now evoking how high the price of gas will rise to)

ken

--  kenneth w. harrow distinguished professor of english michigan state university department of english east lansing, mi 48824-1036 ph. 517 803 8839 harrow@msu.edu