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One more government made, man-made famine. Most of the severe
famines throughout history have been largely government and man made.
"If I could create a series of policies to make a famine, they'd be the
ones that Mugabe has made," Mr. Natsios said. "He is making his own
famine."
Finally a real person has what it takes to speak up and tell the truth
about the present government made/man-made famines in Africa.
Corrupt governments with bad policies create famines. This is a breath
of fresh air. Telling it like it really is. Three cheers for Andrew
Natsios!
The United States government unfortunately did not do this when
Stalin starved seven to nine million people in Ukraine and southern Russia
to death in 1932-1933.
"GREENS ACCUSED OF HELPING AFRICANS STARVE"
By Paul Martin and Nicole Itano
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Washington, D.C.
August 30, 2002
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020830-2441442.htm
JOHANNESBURG - U.S. AID Administrator Andrew Natsios
accused environmental groups yesterday of endangering the lives of
millions of famine-threatened Africans by encouraging their governments
to reject genetically modified U.S. food aid.
"They can play these games with Europeans, who have full stomachs,
but it is revolting and despicable to see them do so when the lives of
Africans are at stake," Mr. Natsios said in an interview.
Mr. Natsios did not name specific groups, but other officials indicated
he was infuriated by the activities in Zambia - a country he had just
visited - of groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.
"They are using big-time, very well-organized propaganda the likes
of which I have never seen before" in 12 years of American-led famine-
relief efforts, said Mr. Natsios, who could not persuade the Zambians
to accept U.S. food aid.
"The Bush administration is not going to sit there and let these groups
kill millions of poor people in southern Africa through their ideological
campaign," Mr. Natsios said on the sidelines of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development.
The American aid chief, touring two of the seven southern African
countries hit by severe food shortages, had just arrived from Lusaka,
Zambia, where he failed to persuade President Levy Mwanawasa to
accept American corn.
About 17,000 tons of American corn, about 30 percent of which
was grown from genetically modified corn seeds, is sitting in storage in
Zambia.
Officials said Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, other pressure
groups and a Jesuit priest have been intensively lobbying Zambia and
other regional states not to take the corn. According to Agence France
-Presse, Mozambique also has reservations about accepting genetically
modified corn from the United States.
The United States insists the corn is safe, but the environmental
groups say it could cause dangerous mutations if it grows alongside the
local varieties. They have also told Zambian and other African leaders
that it could endanger the health of those who eat it.
Zimbabwe recently refused modified U.S. corn on the grounds that
farmers might plant some of the seeds, which would in time cross-fertilize
with the country's native corn. That, in turn, would jeopardize the
country's future food exports to Europe, which only allows a handful of
genetically modified crops.
A deal was struck under which the U.S. corn was given to the
government to be milled - ensuring that it could not be planted - while an
equal amount of native corn was given from government storehouses to
private relief agencies for distribution.
Zambia, meanwhile, faces the risk of famine affecting 2.3 million of
its citizens as a result of a regional drought and reduced imports from
Zimbabwe, where the drought problem has been compounded by the
seizure of white-owned farms.
An estimated 13 million people face famine in southern Africa, and
300,000 people could die of starvation in the next six months, according
to World Health Organization statistics. Earlier this year, the World
Food Program appealed for $507 million to feed more than 12 million
people in the region.
Mr. Natsios said he told the Zambian leader yesterday that he would
phone him every time a shipment of corn arrives at an east African port
to see whether he has changed his mind about taking the corn. He also
said he has offered to send U.S. scientists to Zambia to teach them about
biotechnology.
Clearly angry, the USAID administrator said he would "go on the
offensive" to discredit the international advocacy groups who, he said,
were endangering millions for ideological purposes.
U.N. officials have also pleaded with the Zambian government to
reconsider its position. The World Health Organization said there is no
evidence that such food is dangerous, while the WFP's director, James
Morris, said there is no way his organization can feed Zambia's hungry
without genetically modified food.
At a separate news conference, Mr. Natsios blamed Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe for the deteriorating situation in that country
and said large numbers of people were likely to starve there without a
change in the government's policy.
Mr. Mugabe has ordered or permitted the seizure, sometimes
viol ently, of white-owned farms across the country by poor blacks as
well as by many of his relatives and associates. This has led to a sharp
drop in food production not only at home but for export to neighboring
countries.
"We are very, very alarmed about what is happening in Zimbabwe.
The wrong policies are in place, and things are sliding fast," Mr. Natsios
said.
Zimbabwe was not on Mr. Natsios' tour, although more people are
at risk there than in all the other affected countries combined. He said his
harsh criticism of the country and its government has made him unwelcome
there.
Mr. Natsios in the past has blamed Mr. Mugabe for causing the famine.
"If I could create a series of policies to make a famine, they'd be the
ones that Mugabe has made," Mr. Natsios said. "He is making his own
famine."
The Washington Times
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020830-2441442.htm
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