Horn of Africa a test of conscience

In a meeting on the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa (HOA) held at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, participants got so angry that they did not even feel the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck part of the East Coast.

They were enraged at the world community, which has not done nearly enough to prevent the deaths and the worsening famines in the East African peninsula. They were furious at the lack of attention in the news media for the 12.4 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti who need immediate food assistance.

After rebels captured most of Tripoli, the big US cable networks concentrated almost 24/7 on the hunt for Muammar Gaddafi. In subsequent days, the networks switched to the earthquake that was not felt by the experts, then Hurricane Irene, and then the incessant argument about whether New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had overreacted to and over-prepared for the storm.