July 13, 2008
FROM MY BOOKSHELF: Insights Into the Middle East
By LeRoy Lawson In 2007 I made my first journey to post-monarchy, post-Russian occupation, post-mujahadeen civil war, post-Taliban atrocities, post-American-occupied Afghanistan. I haven”t fully recovered yet. It reminded me of an earlier visit to civil-war-torn Eastern Congo. My traveling group was told then that seven identifiable groups in Congo were shooting at each other. Whether they were hitting their ostensible targets was questionable; what was beyond question was their devastating success in wiping out any effective government, any viable economy, any visible hope for the people. I usually return from a developing country discouraged; from Congo I came away angry.
