Is Corruption In African Military Spending Causing The Rise Of Terror Attacks?

Aryn Baker, Time: Corruption in Military Defense Spending Could Be Behind Rise in Africa Terror Attacks

A series of recent terror attacks across Africa have raised fears of a new wave of extremist violence

From Somalia in the east to the Western Sahel, Africa’s hotspots started getting hotter over the past week with a series of terror attacks that have raised fears of a new wave of extremist violence. Terrorism analysts have posited that al-Qaeda is vying for attention and territory with upstart ISIS in a region rife with instability. But as much as terrorist groups thrive on government weakness, military corruption also plays an important role, according to a new report on corruption in military defense spending in Africa.

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WNU Editor: Africa .... like most places in the world .... has a culture of corruption. But this is a sobering post on how Western military aid coupled with military spending in many of these countries may end up contributing to the rise in error attacks that it was originally designed to stop..

South Sudan's Corruption Costs Rises Into The Billions

South Sudan President Seeks Return Of $4 Billion He Says Was Spirited Away -- CNN

Juba, South Sudan (CNN) -- South Sudan's president has written to more than 75 government officials and eight foreign governments in an attempt to recover $4 billion lost to corruption.

"If funds are returned, the government of the Republic of South Sudan will grant amnesty and keep your name confidential," President Salva Kiir said in the letter, which was dated May 3 and sent to former and current "senior" officials.

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More News On Corruption And Fraud In South Sudan

Corrupt South Sudan officials have stolen $4 billion: Kiir -- AFP
South Sudan officials have stolen $4 billion: president -- Reuters
South Sudan asks ex-ministers for $4bn to be returned -- Scotsman
South Sudan asks officials to return $4 bln in stolen money -- Daily Star
Betrayal of Nation’s Expectatio​n: Why South Sudan is Screwed Up -- Borglobe.com

My Comment: That money is never going to be returned.

Sierra Leone's Crises Have Global Reach

From the L.A. Times:

The public health system in the West African nation is a shambles and the government teeters on the edge. Some fear it could become another Somalia.

First Of Two Parts - When the power went out that night, Dr. Ibrahim Thorlie was operating on his fifth patient of the day in a maternity hospital with a shortage of antibiotics and running water. His colleague was doing an emergency caesarean in the next room. In the corridor, a bucket on the floor held a stillborn baby.

Thorlie turned wordlessly in the darkened room and lifted his gloved hands. Sweat beaded up on his forehead like dewdrops. A nurse reached into the surgeon's pocket and pulled out his penlight, a pas de deux they had clearly performed many times before.

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My Comment: The key paragraph in this story is the following ....

More than $1 trillion in foreign aid -- a major chunk of it from the United States -- has been pumped into Africa over the last half-century. Yet, on most of the continent, people are poorer and less healthy than before.

$1 trillion dollars .... and there is nothing to show for it.

If there was ever a poster child of how liberal government run programs can bring devastation and corruption on an unimaginable scale to a society .... Sierra Leone is it.

Even with some of the richest diamond mines in the world, no one wants to invest money into a region that is dominated by corruption and crime. I know that I would not.

So the same old African story continues. Limited (if any) free markets, government intervention everywhere, a collapsing social system, crime and violence everywhere, no viable legal institutions, non-existent infrastructure, and the prospect of war and violence on the horizon.

And the West's answer to all of this is .... how much more money should we send.

If You Believe Poverty Causes Wars And Conflicts -- This Will Explain Why Africa Is In Such A Mess

Bugatti Veyron

From The Telegraph:

Private jets, Bugatti cars, a shark-filled aquarium and enough bank accounts to paper the new luxury yacht - the extraordinary capacity of some African leaders and their families for apparent self-enrichment has been laid bare in a French lawsuit over allegedly stolen state money.

Following an inquiry last year by the French fraud body OCRGDF, an anti-corruption campaign group has accused a string of African politicians of plundering vast sums from the often struggling economies of their countries.

Inhabitants of Gabon or the Republic of Congo who have ever wondered what happens to their precious oil and mining revenues don't need to look any further than Paris and the French Riviera.

The richest parts of France are teeming with homes, cars, boats and other expensive baubles belonging - in practice, at least - to tropical Africa's political elite.

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My Comment: Western aid at work. Africa has been the recipient of hundreds of billions of dollars in aid. But as long as the culture of corruption exists in Africa .... Africa will not .... and cannot overcome its problems.

If Robert Mugabe and his wife see this post .... I can sense the jealousy.