Come on, America! You’re not all dimwits! Obama’s announced policy against ISIS is comparable to what he did in Somali, and it worked. And it was wrong. We’ve apparently been successful knocking down a bunch of dominoes around the world. I guess Obama thinks it’s time to pull a few of them back up for…Continue reading
America has likely killed Ahmed Godane. Do you care? Ahmed Godane, if dead, was the leader of al-Shabaab for four years. Al-Shabaab is al-Qaeda of sorts in Somalia, although like so many terrorist groups the affiliation is tentative at best. But al-Shabaab is among the larger and more successful terrorist groups in the world, because…Continue reading
Rachel Maddow’s misleading account of East Africa’s recent terrorist attacks contributes to America’s rearming against the War on Terror, despite her better intentions. On her show Tuesday night, Rachel sort of concluded as I hope many others do that we should not overreact to the recent beheadings of two American journalists. Her analysis that terror…Continue reading
It is dangerous, now, to visit Uganda. Dangerous for the tourist, and dangerous for those Ugandans who would have to serve the tourist. A groundswell of travel professionals, media publications and not-for-profits is moving in the direction of an all-out boycott of Uganda tourism. It’s happening so fast that even nimble dictator Yoweri Museveni has…Continue reading
Anti-gay and women-suppression is sweeping through much of the non-Muslim world of Africa with a poignant argument against America. Today Uganda’s dictator signed a long anticipated anti-gay law in an unusual public ceremony with much fanfare. Immediately after signing he delivered a very provocative speech saying his actions were a response to “western arrogance” and…Continue reading
Bill Gates is a very nice man captured in the last century, and his remarkable generosity grossly misses the mark. The Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation just released Bill Gates’ “annual letter.” The Foundation continues to seek solutions to two of Africa’s crises, malaria and poverty. The two, of course, are interconnected. Throughout the world…Continue reading
The Wolf of Wall Street has been banned by Kenya and Uganda, along with much of the rest of the world, and as a result will probably be the most watched movie this year in Africa. Free speech isn’t relative, it’s immutable in Africa’s young societies. In contrast for example with China where government institutions…Continue reading
As much of the rest of Africa cuddles with a troubled peace, Uganda’s potential for violence increased substantially yesterday. Whether the iron-fisted ruler Museveni can bash it out before it flames is the question. As I’ve written before, fights for political reform are ending throughout the continent: Africans are war weary, and in some cases…Continue reading
This past weekend’s Navy Seal operations in Libya and Somalia mark a turning point in the Obama Administration’s successes against terrorism in the U.S: the Somali raid in particular has made America more vulnerable now to terrorism. I’ve not been a particular fan of the five years of growing American military involvement in Africa, but…Continue reading
Risking at least irony four male university students in Kampala just won the inaugural Women’s Empowerment Award in St. Petersburg for an innovative device to easily and rapidly detect malaria. Any notion that’s it more than ironic is lost immediately when you realize that pregnant mothers in Africa harbor a greater fear of having malaria…Continue reading
2012 goes down in history as the first time a modern African military defeated then occupied a terrorist state. Somalia fell to Kenyan soldiers. Except that there’s a lot more to it than that. My #1 top story for 2012 in Africa is the “pacification” of Somalia by the Kenyan armed forces, and #2 is…Continue reading
Starve Rwandan and Ugandan dictators of any aid, significantly beef up the UN peace-keepers in Goma, allow the “Arab Spring” to develop and let the chips fall where they may. That’s my solution for the Goma catastrophe. It surprised me that Goma has stayed in the news. I’m not sure why, as the current crisis…Continue reading
The second greatest conservation success story in my lifetime may be out of control. Mountain gorilla populations may be prospering because so are bribes and corruption. The first mountain gorilla trek I brokered was in June, 1979. At the time Dian Fossey reigned on Karisoke volcano with no aplomb and great madness. But science had…Continue reading
Twelve months ago Kenya invaded Somalia with the expressed goal of taking the city of Kismayu. This past weekend Kismayu fell but there are no celebrations, no parades. The fall of Kismayu will go down in history as the defeat of al-Qaeda’s first organized state. Until al-Shabaab took Kismayu after the failed Ethiopian invasion of…Continue reading
John Gilman wrote: My daughter has an opportunity to travel to Uganda with a group called Sozo Children. Are you familiar with the group? Is Uganda a safe country to visit? Thank you. Dear John, I am not familiar with the group. As my blogs in the last several months have pointed out, I am…Continue reading