World View: Renewed Violence in Central African Republic Despite Peacekeepers

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• The daily needs of a single Ebola patient
• U.N. envoy makes highly emotional appeal to Turkey to save Kobani
• Renewed violence in Central African Republic despite peacekeepers

The daily needs of a single Ebola patient

Health care workers in Liberia carry the body of an Ebola victim (EPA)

According to a televised report appearing on al-Jazeera, caring for anEbola patient uses up the following resources every day:

• 52.8 gallons of water
• 20 gallons of bleach
• 8 pairs of gloves
• 3 body suits

That doesn’t include any medications.

It’s estimated that there are currently at least 8,000 people sickwith Ebola in West Africa. That number is expected to be well intothe tens of thousands by the end of the year, and then to double everythree weeks after that. Washington Post

U.N. envoy makes highly emotional appeal to Turkey to save Kobani

Steffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy to Syria, made a highlyemotional appeal to Turkey on Friday to aid the Kurds in the Syrianborder city of Kobani, under attack by the Islamic State of Iraq andSyria (IS or ISIS or ISIL). Turkey is demanding that the U.S. changeits strategy in Syria to attack the Bashar al-Assad regime, as well asISIS fighters. ( “10-Oct-14 World View — Turkey and America play a game of ‘chicken’ over ISIS and Kobani”)

De Mistura invoked the memory of the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica,which is the subject of trials in the Hague to convict Serb leaders ofwar crimes. According to de Mistura:

You remember Srebrenica? We do. We never forgot. Andprobably we never forgave ourselves for that.

If Kobani falls, there will be close to 400 kilometers of theTurkish border basically under control of ISIL out of 900. Andwhat would be next? Other villages? Even Aleppo?

There are the images that we don’t want to see, we cannot see andI hope you will not be seeing of people beheaded, of the defendersand civilians.

De Mistura did not ask Turkey to send its own troops to defend Kobani.Instead, de Mistura asked Turkey to permit Kurdish fighters in Turkeyto cross the border into Syria so that they can join the fight againstISIS. However, Turkey has previously indicated that no such requestwill be granted, because Turkey’s Kurdish fighters would be members ofthe separatist terror group Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), with whomTurkey fought a decades long civil war. McClatchy

Renewed violence in Central African Republic despite peacekeepers

The United Nations Security Council is threatening the government ofCentral African Republic (CAR) with sanctions after a Pakistanipeacekeeper was killed on Thursday after an attack by “unknownperpetrators” in Bangui, CAR’s capital city. According to a statementby U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, “The secretary-general condemnsin the strongest possible terms the killing and wounding of UNpeacekeepers. Such acts against those who are working towards peaceand security in the Central African Republic are entirelyunacceptable. The perpetrators of the violence, which has alsoresulted in a number of civilians killed since the clashes in thecapital began on 7 October, must also be brought to justice.”

Several hours after Ban’s denunciation on Friday, an armed group firedon U.N. peacekeepers, wounding six.

These attacks come amid a sudden increase in mob violence in Bangui,breaking a July 23 ceasefire agreement. The ceasefire was partiallyobserved in Bangui, but CAR is a country the size of France, andfighting has continued in villages to the north and west.

This week, Bangui has seen its most significant violence in months,resulting in “many casualties.” A Muslim man was lynched, decapitated, and his body torched by anti-Balaka Christian fighters on Tuesday, anda Muslim Seleka fighters killed a taxi driver in revenge, sparking thelatest violence. Gunfire and explosions rang out in Bangui onThursday. In all, 25 people, excluding peacekeepers, have beenwounded since the new round of fighting began.

CAR is in a generational crisis war, which will not end until it runsits course and reaches a climax.

CAR’s last generational crisis war was the 1928-1931 Kongo-WaraRebellion (“War of the Hoe Handle”), which was a very long time ago,putting CAR today deep into a generational Crisis era. The earlystages of the new generational crisis war began last year when MuslimSeleka militias began committing atrocities. French Foreign Legiontroops arrived to disarm the Seleka militias, but then the Christiananti-balaka militias “rushed into the vacuum,” and began committingatrocities this year, for revenge.

Recent reports indicate that both sides are regrouping for newfighting. The U.N. peacekeepers may be able to partially delay someof the fighting, but there won’t be peace in CAR until the war has runits course. Daily Times (Pakistan) and Al Jazeera and AP

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Ebola, Liberia,Steffan de Mistura, United Nations, Turkey, Syria, Kobani,Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK,Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL,Central African Republic, Ban Ki-moon, Seleka, anti-Balaka,Kongo-Wara Rebellion, War of the Hoe Handle
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