Friday, February 16, 2007

where to go part 4

I don’t know what to say. Things have gotten worse in Guinea. Conté has declared the country to be in a state of siege, and is entirely ignoring the fact that it is his appalling leadership, self-absorption, and reliance on sycophants that have provoked the violent unrest. Martial law has been in effect since Monday. The International Crisis Group has issued a strongly-worded assessment of the situation and list of recommendations for all parties involved, including ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States), the African Union, and the international community (the U.S. and France in particular). Anything more I could say would just be repeating the Friends of Guinea reporting, so I recommend you look there for a summary of news reports.

I never imagined this happening. But I guess the potential has always been there. Where do we go from here? What possible recourse do we have other than to pray the demonstrators, the looters, the government, and the military will shore up what’s left of decency and find a better solution than ceaseless turmoil?

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