Here's an interesting development that I recently read about. Looking for comments and thoughts. It is loosly related to self defense.
In the second largest rainforest in the world, the Congo, there has been poaching on national park land that has decimated endangered and general wildlife though out the park. The poachers come in from neiboring contries across ungarded borders and raid the park. They even go as far as to attack native villages in the park, looting, killing and raping. The natives are not civilized enough to defend against poachers with AKs.
Recently, a few privatly acting Americans have put money forward to arm and train the locals to repel the poachers, with the Congolese government's approval. Is this a good idea?
Expansion:
Not that they ever would (not enough money in it) but what if the US gov. asked for volunteer troops to send over there for jungle patrol duty protecting the park and the people inside. There are quite a few soldiers in the US that would love the opportunity to crawl around in the jungle for a fairly noble cause and get the combat time in. We used to spend large sums to send troops to a Central/South American camp for jungle training (Panama?). This could be just as good.
PS on the environmental side, the logging in Africa by European corporations have turned whole forests into wasteland. In the northern Congo alone there has been loss of forests about the size of New York state in less than 10 years.
I'm not much of a tree hugger and I don't think my views are generally very liberal, but this seems rediculous.
In the second largest rainforest in the world, the Congo, there has been poaching on national park land that has decimated endangered and general wildlife though out the park. The poachers come in from neiboring contries across ungarded borders and raid the park. They even go as far as to attack native villages in the park, looting, killing and raping. The natives are not civilized enough to defend against poachers with AKs.
Recently, a few privatly acting Americans have put money forward to arm and train the locals to repel the poachers, with the Congolese government's approval. Is this a good idea?
Expansion:
Not that they ever would (not enough money in it) but what if the US gov. asked for volunteer troops to send over there for jungle patrol duty protecting the park and the people inside. There are quite a few soldiers in the US that would love the opportunity to crawl around in the jungle for a fairly noble cause and get the combat time in. We used to spend large sums to send troops to a Central/South American camp for jungle training (Panama?). This could be just as good.
PS on the environmental side, the logging in Africa by European corporations have turned whole forests into wasteland. In the northern Congo alone there has been loss of forests about the size of New York state in less than 10 years.
I'm not much of a tree hugger and I don't think my views are generally very liberal, but this seems rediculous.
