If only they still had those civilised times before they were colonised,
centuries of peaceful co-existence epitomised by the use of spears, maces and bows and arrows. Hang on...
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Tue 6 Mar 2012, 15:26, 1 reply)

small tribal skirmishes
are not the same as the scale we have today after centuries of western exploitation so the OP has a point. On the surface it's easy to see things like Rwanda and say it has nothing to do with the west but if you look past the surface you see a different story. For example in Kenya when the railway was put in it created disproportionate prosperity favouring the tribes on land the rail brough wealth to, creating tensions and inequality so you evntually get the sort of tribal violence seen in the recent elections between Luo and Kikuyu. Also look at the Congo with the rebel controlled Coltan mines the west needs for mobile phone manufacture, the huge proping up of unstable dictatorships because they favour western interests . you know the rest
( Clay hopes this bit is long enough to promote my websi, Tue 6 Mar 2012, 20:02, closed)

Scale and aggravating factors are
,in terms of the OP, irrelevant. The suggestion was that war did not/would not exist without the first world. This is clearly a false statement. Clearly the modern commercialisation of arms and proliferation of so called 'foreign interests' has made war not only easier to facilitate but virtually desirable for some to do just that. I do not dispute this. My assertion was towards the myth of the 'lost innocence of the poor savages' .
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Tue 6 Mar 2012, 20:40, closed)