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Tag(s): Explotation Of Human Rights; Foreign Policy Failure Africas; Human Rights; Media; Media Distortion; Media Fake News; Media Foreign; Media Hypocrisy; Media International; Media Shills; (more...) Mercenaries; Social Justice (less...)
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June 3, 2007 at 07:34:07

Gorillas and the Myths

by Georgianne Nienaber Page 1 of 3 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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Endangered Species?

In January of 2007, OpEdNews was the only place in the world that printed rebel leader Laurent Nkunda’s denial of involvement in the slaughter of gorillas in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. Conservation organizations were falling all over themselves, pointing a collective finger at Nkunda, and we were criticized for allowing him to speak.

Several weeks later in Goma, DRC, we sat at a table with Robert Muir of the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) and Robert Poppe, our logistics contact, as they clearly discussed that they “had Nkunda where they wanted him.” And where was that, exactly? What in the world are British “conservationists” doing meddling in regional politics?

Now, it is the local Mai Mai who are in the cross-hairs of conservation organizations’ press releases. Consider recent mis-information that is being propagated by the mainstream press with absolutely no vetting whatsoever. The following “facts” were gleaned from press releases supplied by WildLifeDirect, the Gorilla Organization (Formerly DFGF-E) and interviews with press offers from Conservation Groups.

From Reuters to the BBC to the Voice of America to obscure gorilla discussion forums, the lead paragraph from the latest gorilla story, datelined Kinshasa, May 21, 2007, read EXACTLY the same in every venue: “Congolese militia are threatening to slaughter rare mountain gorillas in Congo’s Virunga National Park after they raided the eastern reserve at the weekend, killing a wildlife officer, officials said.”

“The attackers have threatened to kill the gorillas if the rangers retaliate and once again this gorilla population’s future is threatened,” reads the report from the Gorilla Organization.”

The mis-information gets worse.

“About 200 of the Mayi-Mayi fighters who remain active after Congo's ruinous 1998-2002 civil war attacked three posts Sunday in Virunga National Park, Wildlife Direct said in a statement. One ranger died and three were injured in the attack, said the group, which is active in the area,” writes a stringer from Nigeria, whose story was picked up by the AP.

The truth is buried on an obscure blog supported by WildLifeDirect. It is purportedly written by a ranger from the Advance Ranger Force (a conservation militia funded by WildLifeDirect), but we were told while in DRC that these blogs are not written by the rangers at all, but by a press officer. If the press officers for these organizations know the truth of the matter, where are the corrections?

REPORT ON THE ACT OF SABOTAGE TO THE MOUNT TSHIABIRIMU SUB-STATION, SUNDAY 20 MAY 2007 FROM 6AM TILL 2:40PM.

Was it the “savage” Mai Mai? Hardly.

“According to them, they are not part of the Mai-Mai group but revolutionists reclaiming the rights of the population. Upon entry of the Sub-Station, they were dressed in civilian clothes and armed. The group consisted of mostly youths between 14 and 22 years of age, as well as 2 adults aged between 30 and 40,” reads the official report from the Advance Ranger Force.

It is certainly true that conservation organizations are trying mightily to depopulate Virunga Park. Meanwhile, 1200 innocent Congolese men, women and children are dying every day in this region.

“Savages” with cell phones?

“The two adults were highly intelligent, with knowledge of many areas of life. They spoke Kinande, Swahili, Lingala, French and English.

“Eight of the group made an incursion into the park, while those remaining around the base, following the progress of the operation. They were in constant telephone communication from the start till the very end of the operation. They even asked their colleagues to top-up the credit on their phones,” the report continues.

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Georgianne Nienaber is a writer, author, and investigative journalist. She lives in the world. Her articles have appeared in The Huffington Post, SCOOP New Zealand, Glide Magazine, Rwanda's New Times, India's TerraGreen, COA News, ZNET, OpEdNews, The Journal of the International Primate Protection League, Friends of the Congo, Africa Front, The United Nations Publication, A Civil Society Observer, and Zimbabwe's The Daily Mirror. Her fiction exposé of insurance fraud in the horse industry, Horse Sense, was re-released in early 2006. Gorilla Dreams: The Legacy of Dian Fossey was also released in 2006. Nienaber spent much of 2007 doing research in South Africa, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was in DRC as a MONUC-accredited journalist, and recently spent six weeks in Southern Louisiana investigating hurricane reconstruction. She is currently developing a documentary on the Gulf of Mexico DEAD ZONE.

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4 comments

I'm a painter, potter, mask-maker, illustrator; love Music (World, Classical Eastern/Western, Bluegrass, Big-Band, Space); History (pre-history, Civil War, Japanese); Archaeology; Animals and animal rights; the sanctity of the Environment; am a GreenWitch Pagan; and a bit of an uppity woman Liberal. I hold Bush and all Bushites in the Highest Contempt possible and write scathing letters regarding various of their appalling machinations. Hmmm -- anything else? Can't think of more.
JamiI'm a painter, potter, mask-maker, illustrator; love Music (World, Classical Eastern/Western, Bluegrass, Big-Band, Space); History (pre-history, Civil War, Japanese); Archaeology; Animals and animal rights; the sanctity of the Environment; am a GreenWitch Pagan; and a bit of an uppity woman Liberal. I hold Bush and all Bushites in the Highest Contempt possible and write scathing letters regarding various of their appalling machinations. Hmmm -- anything else? Can't think of more.

"But kill a gorilla..."

So.....are the Gorillas being killed? Are there groups who are in fact trying to "weaken" the borders of the Park? Is there in actuality (objective reality) some faction threatening to massacre the Gorillas?

Lost in the irate froth of "Gorillas and the Myths" are the cool and levelheaded answers to the above questions. And hark! There is another question arising in this reader's enquiring mind:

Is there a solution to this problem that can be found in compromise: to wit -- by finding a way to feed the village population without their encroaching on preserved territory, and (at least equally importantly to me) teaching all involved that use of lethal force against both primate species (human and pongid) is unacceptable?

It is my understanding that ecotourism and the generation of local pride-in-place and in fellow-species have successfully solved other such genuinely tragic situations. Nu?

Additionally -- shove off, fund-restricting American religious right and the Bush regime -- can someone please get Planned Parenthood involved here?

by Jami (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments) on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at 9:14:48 AM

Georgianne Nienaber is a writer, author, and investigative journalist. She lives in the world. Her articles have appeared in The Huffington Post, SCOOP New Zealand, Glide Magazine, Rwanda's New Times, India's TerraGreen, COA News, ZNET, OpEdNews, The Journal of the International Primate Protection League, Friends of the Congo, Africa Front, The United Nations Publication, A Civil Society Observer, and Zimbabwe's The Daily Mirror. Her fiction exposé of insurance fraud in the horse industry, Horse...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Georgianne NienaberGeorgianne Nienaber is a writer, author, and investigative journalist. She lives in the world. Her articles have appeared in The Huffington Post, SCOOP New Zealand, Glide Magazine, Rwanda's New Times, India's TerraGreen, COA News, ZNET, OpEdNews, The Journal of the International Primate Protection League, Friends of the Congo, Africa Front, The United Nations Publication, A Civil Society Observer, and Zimbabwe's The Daily Mirror. Her fiction exposé of insurance fraud in the horse industry, Horse...

to see more of bio, click on member name

AHHHHH.... FROTH

To answer your questions:

NO gorillas killed since January, 2007.

1200 PEOPLE a day die in Kivu.

Many villagers “were there first.” The rest were intentionally displaced in volatile border regions in Great Lakes Area.

Read my article again and you will glean my pacifist nature.

Concerning local “pride-in-place initiatives, go to KONG at www.allthingspass.com, or read my piece on OpEdNews: Miserable Eyes in the DRC to learn how conservation organizations have ripped off native populations for their land.

Or, read Greenpeace reports on how villagers have been duped into trading their forests for bags of salt.

As for Planned Parenthood, The Jane Goodall Foundation and USAID funded ENGENDER HEALTH have already pushed sterilization on poor, illiterate Congolese women.

Is genocide good enough for you?

by Georgianne Nienaber (145 articles, 46 quicklinks, 13 diaries, 337 comments) on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at 9:38:13 AM

??Jane Goebels and the Final Solution??

Stop and think calmly --

Would these "poor, illiterate women" be better nourished, and have improved chances of becoming literate, were they able to avoid pregnancy after pregnancy? Should we allow them to suffer thus? Must they watch child after child die because of infantile compromised immune systems, resulting in part from severe maternal malnourishment? A state that contributes to the babies' succeptibility to common, curable disease and or parasitic infestation? Or are they to perpetually agonize as their children die of simple starvation, because they -- their mothers, traditional sources of nuturance -- cannot provide enough to feed them all? This is what you want for them?

Uh -- did you see any advocacy of DEATH TO THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE in my recent comment? I emphatically deny that either Planned Parenthood or the Jane Goodall Foundation advocates genocide. You will obviously be surprised to learn that this gentle writer does not, as well.

I further do not envision the Jane Goodall Foundation having a special SS unit that lures "poor illiterate Congolese women" into a "de-lousing chamber" in the bush, where these women are pounced upon and sterilized despite their weak, heartrending protests that they want more babies. Come on. I believe you border upon racism. These women are not stupid.

Wipe that defensive spittle off your face and consider --

In many, many impoverished areas of the world, women are suffering terribly because of the combined unbearable (pun intended) burdens of almost constant pregnancy, pervasive malnutrition and disease, inability to feed their babies, and ignorance. By "ignorance" I do not mean "stupidity". I do not mean "obstinance". I mean -- as you have labeled them -- they are illiterate. They lack the knowledge -- the information -- necessary to for implementing change in their lives.

When offered the counseling that Planned Parenthood provides, these women are quick to understand the ramifications of planning for a certain number of precious, living, children. For a family of an affordable, comfortable, size.

Mothers then can provide their fortunate children with adequate nutrition, can send them to school; can learn to read and write themselves, and can (and do, in myriad cases) establish cottage industries that bring brighter futures for these children, the women, the entire community, the larger region....

The above seems to me to be a no-brainer to anyone who is not a rigid right-to-lifer-in-all-circumstances, like our very own benighted Bush ideologues who deny funding to family planning organizations.

Now, as far as the Gorillas are concerned, as Rodney King whiningly implored, "Can't we all just get along?" Why do the poor impoverished women and available Planned Parenthood-type counseling and the poor diminishing Gorilla populations have to be at odds?

Reread my recent comment above and you'll get a picture with broader possibilites. I think.

by Jami (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments) on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at 11:21:03 AM

A thinking activist pre-boomer.
zephyrA thinking activist pre-boomer.

Homo Sapiens and Gorilla

Both in the same subfamily and Kingdom of Animalia. Gorillas and people.

You two people seem to almost agree on the falsification of environmental issues. I really want to know about the fake environmental groups that get kindergartners to raise money for them. How can you expose them, Ms. Nienaber? I belong to GreenPeace, Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and others which I have researched and support. But, who knows, there is so much fakery of issues.

Also, as to Planned Parenthood, ask your Senators and Representative if they have fought the administration on denying birth control, pregnancy counseling and health services for pregnant women in poor countries. Get involved with establishing a discourse with them. Email and telephoning are good because they don't have to go thru the white powder (anthrax) search like letters do. The bush Administration has methodically eliminated support to undeveloped countries, i.e., African countries, the money for health and birth control. Good articles, Ms. Nienaber.

by zephyr (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 65 comments) on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at 12:00:44 PM