Ethan Zuckerman has the story of a 24-year-old American from New Jersey being detained in Ethiopia. Our State Department is not demanding Amir Mohamed Meshal’s release from a prison system known for its brutality, even though our own investigation cleared him of any connection to Al Qaeda. In explaining the situation, Ethan provides the context regarding our involvement in Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia; no one explains this stuff better than Ethan.

Meshal could easily disappear into Ethiopia’s prison system. His government — our government — should not be letting that happen.

Ethan also links to a great story in the Christian Science Monitor by Stephanie Hanes about a radio show in the Congo that lets the Congolese ask questions — via phone and SMS — about the 1998-2003 war in which 4 million people died. The participants are kept anonymous because it’s still too dangerous to talk openly about it. [Tags: ethiopia kenya somalia amir_mohamed_meshal ethan_zuckerman congo ]

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