An article on Dec. 10 about genocide in Africa really upset me. What upset me more was that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright blamed the United States for atrocities in the former country of Zaire.

Quite frankly, I am sick and tired of the United States blaming itself for events that go on around the world. It’s making me sick. I don’t care what happened in Zaire — if they want to kill themselves, by all means allow them to. Why is it that when something goes wrong anywhere, it is the responsibility of the United States to remedy the matter and find a solution to everything?

The sad part is that when we do find a solution, it is often deemed too harsh for the country involved. That’s a bunch of B.S. I don’t want to hear that! If a country has the gall to tear itself apart, it should have that same intensity in rebuilding it. The U.S. government is not a babysitter. We shouldn’t have to take care of everybody else’s problems. Let them fix it themselves.

Furthermore, Albright states that the United States should, “ensure that humanitarian aid is not used to sustain armed camps or to support genocidal killers, to find more effective ways of preventing conflict and reconciling former adversaries, to achieve justice and accountability in the aftermath of large-scale human rights violations and to resist the emergence of new tyrannies.”

Now, how does she suppose that we handle all this? Let me tell you, we are going to have to send more U.S. troops to Africa to enforce all these regulations, and this is going to lead to another Somalia. That’s right folks, you remember Somalia. That’s when we went through the streets and were spit upon by every damn person standing nearby.

I, for one, say who cares? If they want our help, let them ask for it. But if they do want our help it should be under our conditions only! I’m all for helping fellow nations reform into democratic societies, but at what cost is it too much? I’m not sure about you, but I sicken when I see the bodies of countless Americans being brought home for burial — and all for nothing.

If President Kabila wants U.S. help, let him prove it by taking the first step in blaming his leaders. Sure, the former president was corrupt, that’s why everything went haywire. But in order for the United States to lend a hand, he must work within his own countries limits and establish some form of rule that send a message to the Western world that he is truly ready for democratization.

Andy Gonzales

Sophomore

Political science