Won't be fooled again! Band aid did not help Ethiopia.

[HUNTERWORLDNATION]

I had no idea as well Tam. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

[TamHickey67]

Dispiriting to say the least, isn't it Hunter?

[HUNTERWORLDNATION]

Yes it is Tam... truly a travesty. However I do have a small positive spin. It does not take away from the fact that people all over the world, came together, to do something selfless...This new information does not sully the intent of the people who were fooled...Nor does it remove the inspiration it fostered. Many people were inspired to help others as a result of that video and song... even to this day.

[TamHickey67]

Hunter, I believe your ideas are almost central to the ideals of all of us at the time. We did work together for the common good, but alas, we were told the wrong things. I only wish we were told the truth from the start.

[HUNTERWORLDNATION]

Hey Tam, I spent today trying to think of a positive outcome, to cheer you up and I came up with one :) That song inspired and spurred on the Americans to produce their own version, which was called "We are the world". Had the Brits not first done "Do they Know" there would not have been a "We are" Now here is the kicker, Michael Jacksons We Are",raised over 63 million dollars, MJ singed away all rights, saying that all royalties from the song would be donated for famine relief in Africa.

[ellesse808]

I do really believe that it is worldwide epidemic.... Sad, sad, world... mad, mad world... Much Love, Aki.

[TamHickey67]

It is incredibly sad Aki. All we can do is try to learn from things like this.

[QuasiMolko]

Happens all over the place, newly installed water purifiers are dismantled, regimes get first dibs on aid be it food or money.

Bobby Gandalf just wants your "FOOKIN MUNNY". Tug a few heart strings and Peaches gets a new diamond necklace which also funds dictatorships (read up on diamond mining).

People like to help but often don't realise WHO they're helping.

[TamHickey67]

You're right. Perhaps we merely help to exacerbate the situation by the granting of aid.

[andymooseman]

I doubt that this is the only time that this has happened.

I certainly don't blame Bob Geldof etc, who just did what they thought was right at the time. As we all did.

I can see a parallel argument here, about the UK & US governments spending billions of $ & £ meddling in the affairs of places like Iraq & Afghanistan & pleading poverty at home :)

[TamHickey67]

Absolutely, Andy. Band Aid was carried out with the best of intentions by all concerned.

You make a good point regarding the parallel argument of our being up to our neck in debt whilst somehow spending billions to install puppet regimes in faraway lands.

[PappyStu]

This is the trouble with most so called aid movements... I worked for green peace hosting concerts in HI in the 70s and watched the folks pocket most of the money... They offered to buy me off as well... I told them to go "F" themselves and quit...

[TamHickey67]

Good for you Stu! Sad to see organisations that you admire becoming corrupt though.

[Kachavite]

MARCH 30, 1998 TIME MAGAZINE

"By logic, the Nation of Eritrea (pop. 3 million) should not exist. The secessionist province's independence fighters ought never to have defeated Ethiopia in their 30-year-long struggle. They were outmanned, outgunned, abandoned or betrayed by every ally; their cause was hopeless. They won by force of character, a unity and determination so steely not all the modern armaments, super power support or economic superiority of Ethiopia could withstand it."

[Kachavite]

Most governments in the West were well aware the money raised by Band Aid would be used by the Ethiopian regime to purchase military hardware to squash the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), but since they, too, didn't want to see an independent nation of Eritrea in the strategic important region, they chose to remain silent. Evidence to that is, in 1998 they helped fund the current regime in Ethiopia to invade Eritrea in a futile attempt to "reverse" the hard won Eritrean independence.

[Kachavite]

I'm an Eritrean, and I was on the receiving end of fascist Menghistu's brutality. We Eritreans knew the BandAid funded the Ethiopian military and helped it become the largest army in Africa. During the 80's most of the famine was in the northern part of Ethiopia, mainly the province of Tigray, where the minority apartheid regime currently ruling Ethiopia hailed from. Sadly, the former victims of famine have now deliberately created a man-made famine in Ethiopia to fund their military. Pity!

[TamHickey67]

It is very sad. I just wish I had been better informed at the time. Thank you for such clarification.

[robertpina99]

Our hearts where in the right place. Our brains? Not so much.

[TamHickey67]

I agree. It just seems rather sad that such a massive amount of very real "giving" by people around the globe was diverted in the way that it was.

[livelifealwaystoo]

Don't get fooled again- in America we get fooled every 4 years at least.

[TamHickey67]

All of us voters get fooled wherever we are lol.

[QuasiMolko]

Hi livelife!

[JRHulbret]

I think this happens in other countries as well. Other countries snd food but it goes to the armies keeping them in supression.

[TamHickey67]

Agreed JR, but how come the media didn't report this at the time? We were led to believe this was a natural disaster.

[JRHulbret]

Good question. Untold money was sent into the red cross during 9/11, but only a portion went to the actual cause.