Tuesday, February 5, 2008

something to keep an eye on

Iraq gettin to be old news? Afghanistan and Pakistan are played out? Iran's repetitive? North Korea not all that interesting? Want to branch out from the only African country you care about, Sudan? How about Chad as your next Big Cause?


Set yer eyes on this article: France in warning to Chad rebels.


If that was interesting, Reuters has a more in-depth article: France backs Chad's Deby, ready to intervene.


We could go into Chad's colonial history but we're students of the hear-and-now. France is militarily backing a government in a foreign country against local armed rebels. Idriss Deby received military training in France. He came to power by coup.


So Chad's being torn up in violence between locals and Europeans/European-backed locals. Why would a bunch of rich white guys care so much about some random African country named after a guy I went to school with?

Chad is rich in gold and uranium and stands to benefit from its recently-acquired status as an oil-exporting state. [...]


Who stands to benefit? That's the question.

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