Funny they don't say anything about the warlords and tyrants that rule most of Africa.  I wonder if they would feal better if it were spears and machettes that they were using instead of guns.  Notice how they blame "greedy corporations"
www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/02/02/africa.guns.reut/index.html
U.N. adviser: West killing Africa with gun sales

Thursday, February 2, 2006; Posted: 12:50 p.m. EST (17:50 GMT)



GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- A senior United Nations aid official called on Thursday for a halt to arms sales to Africa, saying it would be more effective in addressing the continent's poverty than charity rock concerts or debt relief.

Dennis McNamara, special U.N. adviser on internal displacement, slammed world powers for neglecting some 12.5 million Africans uprooted within their countries, who form half of the world's internally displaced persons (IDPs).

He accused the West of supplying the weapons fuelling African conflicts which leave civilians homeless -- and prey to war crimes, hunger, disease and rape -- while greedy companies exploit the oil and mineral wealth.

"Guns are at the heart of the problem ... There is one slogan I would like to suggest for 2006: No Arms Sales to Africa. Zero. Not an embargo, not a sanction, a voluntary cessation of all arms sales to Africa," McNamara told a news briefing.

"The kids on the streets of Nairobi, Khartoum, Abidjan and Monrovia have guns in their pockets or up their sleeves ... We provided the arms. We the West, we the G8," he added, referring to the Group of Eight industrialized nations.

McNamara dismissed large rock concerts -- such as the Live 8 series held worldwide last July under the slogan "Make Poverty History" to pressure the G8 -- as focusing short-lived attention on starving babies while distorting deeper problems.

"The pop concerts save the kids for a short period of time. They do nothing about the underlying problems," McNamara said.

"Twenty years after Live Aid, the farms of the Ogaden of Ethiopia are as impoverished and likely to have famine as 20 years ago. Nothing has changed on the ground, in fact it has gotten worse," he added.

He said debt relief was a good idea but only one part of a much bigger issue.

"The rape victims of eastern Congo don't give a damn about debt relief. They want to know who is raping them, who has provided the guns and can they get HIV tests," he added.

Yet refugees or ex-combatants returning to post-war areas ranging from Angola, southern Sudan to former Zaire find that basic services such as water, health and education are lacking amid massive unemployment, he said.

"It is all very well to have these important slogans, but it is not enough. The food aid and humanitarian aid is often a substitute for real political, economic and security action.

"This is the danger of humanitarian aid. It is a palliative, a necessary palliative, but we should stop kidding ourselves that it is a solution ... In fact, it detracts from solutions."

If they don't have any guns what will they use to shoot each other?

Is Africa getting all those AK's from western countries?

I find it ironic that he preaches this from Switzerland, a first world nation with clean water, stable gov't, low crime, top notch health-care and PEACEFUL WELL ARMED CITIZENS!

Quoted: Is Africa getting all those AK's from western countries?

I'll tell you what, if it will make everybody happy, I will "buy back" every working AK and FAL "Africa" has for $50 each! I just need ATFE to OK the import and re-open the NFA Registry.

Quoted: Funny they don't say anything about the warlords and tyrants that rule most of Africa.  I wonder if they would feal better if it were spears and machettes that they were using instead of guns.  Notice how they blame "greedy corporations" www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/02/02/africa.guns.reut/index.html U.N. adviser: West killing Africa with gun sales Thursday, February 2, 2006; Posted: 12:50 p.m. EST (17:50 GMT) GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- A senior United Nations aid official called on Thursday for a halt to arms sales to Africa, saying it would be more effective in addressing the continent's poverty than charity rock concerts or debt relief. Dennis McNamara, special U.N. adviser on internal displacement, slammed world powers for neglecting some 12.5 million Africans uprooted within their countries, who form half of the world's internally displaced persons (IDPs). He accused the West of supplying the weapons fuelling African conflicts which leave civilians homeless -- and prey to war crimes, hunger, disease and rape -- while greedy companies exploit the oil and mineral wealth. "Guns are at the heart of the problem ... There is one slogan I would like to suggest for 2006: No Arms Sales to Africa. Zero. Not an embargo, not a sanction, a voluntary cessation of all arms sales to Africa," McNamara told a news briefing. "The kids on the streets of Nairobi, Khartoum, Abidjan and Monrovia have guns in their pockets or up their sleeves ... We provided the arms. We the West, we the G8," he added, referring to the Group of Eight industrialized nations. McNamara dismissed large rock concerts -- such as the Live 8 series held worldwide last July under the slogan "Make Poverty History" to pressure the G8 -- as focusing short-lived attention on starving babies while distorting deeper problems. "The pop concerts save the kids for a short period of time. They do nothing about the underlying problems," McNamara said. "Twenty years after Live Aid, the farms of the Ogaden of Ethiopia are as impoverished and likely to have famine as 20 years ago. Nothing has changed on the ground, in fact it has gotten worse," he added. He said debt relief was a good idea but only one part of a much bigger issue. "The rape victims of eastern Congo don't give a damn about debt relief. They want to know who is raping them, who has provided the guns and can they get HIV tests," he added. Yet refugees or ex-combatants returning to post-war areas ranging from Angola, southern Sudan to former Zaire find that basic services such as water, health and education are lacking amid massive unemployment, he said. "It is all very well to have these important slogans, but it is not enough. The food aid and humanitarian aid is often a substitute for real political, economic and security action. "This is the danger of humanitarian aid. It is a palliative, a necessary palliative, but we should stop kidding ourselves that it is a solution ... In fact, it detracts from solutions."

]

who CARES? its africa! my ancestors fled that hell hole 305 years ago. it was all fucked up then. it will be all fucked up in another 305 years. those people will NEVER stop killing each other. anyone watch Liberia: an uncivil war? those people were cutting the hearts out of enemy soilders and eating them! we ought to be selling them what ever they want so they can whipe themselves out.

Fuck em, they're savages over there.  Guns are only one means they utilize to rape, pilage and murder.  I believe one of their favorite weapons is the machete.  Ban machetes!

man, most of them seem to be packing ak's not m-16's or g36 rifles...

Anyone remember the Rawanda-Burundi massacres about 15 years ago?  Hardly made the papers.  Tribal warfare, they killed 50,000 people with machetes, and drove 100,000 across the border into UGANDA.  Imagine things being so bad, you had to escape to Idi Amin's country for safety.

These people will kill each other with sticks and stone if nothing else is available.  They've been doing it for centuries.  

How low and stupid can the UN get, and we give them 25% of all funding for this BS

Most of the weapons in use by insurgent groups over there are older than I am.

I feel that it is our duty, as Americans, to see what this man preaches happens.
As such, we should all write our senators and congressmen and ask them to lift the gun bans. That way, we can buy all the guns that were intended for shipment to Africa.

Do it for the African children.

Fuck the UN!

I guess we in Amerikka need to stop importing all those AKs over there.
Oh, wait.

""Guns are at the heart of the problem ... There is one slogan I would like to suggest for 2006: No Arms Sales to Africa. Zero. Not an embargo, not a sanction, a voluntary cessation of all arms sales to Africa," McNamara told a news briefing."

Guns are the problem in Africa?


Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.



On one note, banning guns would make it easier for the genocidists to exterminate the unarmed people of the week they detest.

The only western nation I can name who has sold any significant amount of weapons and munitions to third-world countries lately is France. But somehow I don't think anybody has them in mind when they villainize firearms (instead of the assholes going around killing people) and blame "the west" (i.e., America).

"The pop concerts arms sale ban save the kids for a short period of time. They do nothing about the underlying problems," McNamara said.

Why don't they address the underlying problem-the warlords killing or ordering the killing of people. Does the UN really think that banning gun imports is really gonna stop anything? Like the middle east these savages have been doing this for hundreds of years, with or without guns. How about stopping the importation &/or fabrication of machetes in these countries.

West killing Africa with gun sales

Good.

We need to send more guns.

Quoted: Quoted: Is Africa getting all those AK's from western countries? I'll tell you what, if it will make everybody happy, I will "buy back" every working AK and FAL "Africa" has for $50 each! I just need ATFE to OK the import and re-open the NFA Registry.

+1

Quoted: Funny they don't say anything about the warlords and tyrants that rule most of Africa.  I wonder if they would feal better if it were spears and machettes that they were using instead of guns.  Notice how they blame "greedy corporations"

They want the Western world to stop shipping guns to Africa because we're better at making weaponry. Backwards Turd World nations can make machetes and spears. So the U.N. prefers that the Africans buy those instead of those new-fangled bullet hoses.

I support the rest of the world refusing to sell guns into africa. It would just allow american companies to charge inflated prices as they would be the ONLY delears in arms...

Time to increase production to keep up with demand!

Let them deal with their own problems themselves, if they wish to aqquire guns, I see no harm in providing them with what they want.