While driving home from the hospital tonight I heard that Charles Taylor has escaped his posh seaside villa in the vacation wonderland of Nigeria. I remembered back to my wonderful but naive days at UCLA where I had a great Professor - Richard Sklar, whom I admired very much and was a good influence on me (teaching me to see past the surface to what leaders do and not what they are saying). I had high hopes for Nigeria at some point. Now it seems that the whole country is a magnet for corruption of the highest order - government ministers stealing millions with no worry at all of being caught. I know the local people are suffering tremendously while most of the leaders at the state and National level are criminals, liars, thieves and braggards.
Yes, I know I am not from Nigeria but so what? I am from the United States where we simply hide and institutionalize our own corruption on a massive scale. I am not saying we are better than Nigeria.
What set my diatribe off is the sheer brazen audacity of Nigeria colluding with Charles Taylor and he escapes so easily. The man is a butchering pig who is guilty of warcrimes. He must be stopped and brought to justice by his own people. The trouble is that most of Nigeria is so corrupt there will be nothing done by them.
The definition of corruption? It is an action taken with the full knowledge that it is wrong and should not be done. But money talks and BS walks as we so eloquently state in America and that is what happened in Nigeria.
A good thing about Nigeria? Sure, the New York Times had a great article on the Guinea worm in Africa. Nigeria is a leader in this respect and is making great strides against this age-old pest. So of course the Nigerian people are not all guilty or bad. The corruption is so entrenched that nothing will get done at any level of the goverment without bribes and gifts to lubricate the way.
I have no constructive idea to offer, only criticism. I will propose this - that the United States stay the hell out of other countries except in instances like this. We should bring the entire intelligence agency (NSA, CIA, NRO, you name your favorite) apparatus to bear on war criminals like Mr. Taylor and that scum - Radovan Karajic (another pig). We should send in Delta, Rangers, whatever task force de jour of the day is and take them and thier lieutenants before the Hague to be tried for war crimes. Sure ain't legal people but I am angry enought to propose this right now. Guilty of cultural imperialism? Damn Straight - at least this time.
Thanks for reading and I hope those idiots in Serbia and Nigeria read this. They way they operate though - I could be a dead man, but I flatter myself methinks.
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