April 2001
SO MUCH FOR DEMOCRACY!
Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2001 by sjk
By Chido Onumah
“While much is made of American egalitarianism, the record of this country’s democracy is a spotty one…getting those who revel in the successes of this nation to acknowledge these and other serious shortcomings is no easy task”.- DeWayne Wickham.
Imagine what would have happened if the Mickey-Mouse election that took place November 7 in the United States had taken place in Eastern Europe, Russian or even Africa. Difficult to imagine? Well, I can tell you what would have happened. The US would have rolled out its sanctimonious propaganda machine and condemned the evil dictator in place for obstructing democracy, that is, if it doesn’t threaten to launch its war machines to defend democracy and protect the right of the people. The US media, governmental and non-governmental organisations, election monitors and observers of every stripe would have swarmed the country in question to give unsolicited advice and pass hasty and often misguided judgement.
But in the last two weeks, the world has been treated to a daily dose of comedy as it waits for his ‘fraudulency’, the next president of the United States of America. What haven’t we heard since November 7:
‘butterfly ballot’, ‘hanging chads’, ‘dimpled chads’, ‘swinging door chads’, ‘pregnant chads’. One voter in Florida described the ballot he was given as a crossword puzzle. Imagine having to play a crossword puzzle to elect your president!
Thousands of votes have been thrown out because voters voted for more than one presidential candidate or no candidate at all. Some voters even claim they wanted to vote Al Gore, but because they were so confused they ended up voting for Pat Buchanan, the rabid right-wing conservative. Some overseas military ballots have been rejected because of irregularities. Here is a country with the latest technology, a country that, supposedly, has 200 years of electoral experience. If this is happening now, you can imagine what took place forty or even a hundred years ago.
There has always been talk of electoral irregularities in the USA, but because the system is presumed to be the best, nobody dared take up the matter. Now the chicks have come home to roost. Writing in the ‘Washington Post’ a week before the election, Martin Kettle in his ‘Washington Diary’ remarked that if the 2000 election is even half as dirty as its predecessor, then it will be one of the most corrupt of the modern era”. Events have proved how prescient these words were.
Both the Democratic and Republican Parties have conspired to foist themselves on Americans. Even the chance to participate in presidential debates to afford Americans an alternative view is denied. Accusations of malpractice and plans to steal the election have been bandied around in Florida. Senator-elect, Corzine, spends 65 million dollars for a senatorial seat in New Jersey. There are hundreds of thousands of ex-convicts, mostly blacks, in Florida who can’t vote because Florida laws do not recognise their right to vote. I hear in New Mexico you can play one hand of poker to break an electoral tie. Are we outraged? Of course not. We are only witnessing another phase of the fraud that has gone on for 200 years under the guise of freedom and democracy.
Part of the reason for the so-called butterfly ballot in Florida, we are told, is lack of fund. Yet America wastes billions of dollars maintaining forces around the world. It spends billions of dollars fighting senseless wars around the world in the name of democracy. Indeed, people in Cuba, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Grenada and other places around the world where the US has had to intervene to enthrone democracy should demand reparations.
My American friends are stunned that the world is taking undue interest in what is happening in their country. All you hear is that our democracy is resilient; there is no crisis; our democracy will emerge stronger. It is interesting that Americans don’t want interference in their internal affairs. Americans like to humour themselves about their country being the greatest thing to happen to humankind since creation. So when things go wrong in other parts of the world there is a crisis and it warrants American intervention, but if it happens in the US, it is part of the learning process. If after 200 years of experimenting with their brand of democracy, Americans are still talking about learning, then there is something inherently wrong with the system.
Nobody knows when or how the electoral charade in Florida will end, whether it will be decided by the Florida Supreme Court, the US Supreme Court or Catherine the Great, Florida Secretary of State, election arbiter and co-chair of Bush’s campaign in Florida. I am still not sure what role she was expected to play: as co-chair of Bush’s campaign in Florida, help him win the state or as Secretary of State, ensure that the election in Florida was conducted in a free and fair atmosphere?
The US is quick to make judgements and award marks on elections. Well, it has scored zero here. And whoever emerges as president, whether it is bumbling George or sleazy Al, the world should collectively condemn the sham that took place on November 7. And considering the fact the US is one country that has the potential of threatening world peace, the world should be concerned about how the Florida fiasco is resolved.
Laurent Kabila Assassinated
Posted Tuesday, April 24, 2001 by sjk
By Chido Onumah
We may not have heard the last word on the circumstances surrounding the
assassination of President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of
Congo, but one thing is certain: the crisis in Congo deepens. Kabila's
death further compounds the uncertainty that has been the hallmark of
Congo since independence.
Very often, the history of the chaos in Congo is abridged, that is, if
it is not completely distorted. The impression created is that the
crisis started a few years ago. These examples from two of Canada's
national dailies illustrate the argument. In its editorial of Saturday,
January 20, 2001, the National Post wrote of the situation in Congo:
"The late Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana is the Archduke Franz
Ferdinand of sub-Saharan Africa. His assassination on April 6, 1994, set
off a marathon of violence that continues to this day. Laurent Kabila,
the late president of Congo, is just the latest of its victims".
Commenting in the Globe and Mail, Thursday January 18, 2001, Ian Stewart
wrote: "Tragically, much of today's mess in Central Africa is a direct
legacy of Mr. Kabila's short tenure in power".
Kabila may have been the latest victim of the Congo crisis, but the
crisis has a longer history. The crisis in Congo is not simply about the
dictatorial inclinations of the late Kabila. It is not even about the
differences among the country's diverse groups. It is, therefore,
imperative that we constantly remind ourselves of that part of Congolese
history the international community would like to blot out of its
memory.
If there is one country the intrigue and conspiracy of the West helped
to wreck, it is Congo. Kabila inherited a tattered country, if Congo
could be called one in May 1997. Over three decades of misrule by Mobutu
with active support from France, Belgium and the United States had left
Congo in total disarray. But the crisis didn't even start with Mobutu.
At independence in 1960, Congolese needed a leader who could rally the
country together. They found that in Patrice Lumumba who was elected
prime minister. Lumumba was a leader who rose above the ethnic and
structural difficulties imposed by Belgian colonialism. Not
surprisingly, the Belgians who saw Congo as an extension of their
kingdom could not tolerate him.
Barely a week after independence, the Congolese army, under the command
of the Belgian General Jansens, mutinied. A few days later on July 11,
1960, Moise Tshombe, leader of Confederation des Association du Katanga
(CONAKAT), declared independence for the mineral-rich province in the
south of Congo. In proclaiming the independence of Katanga, Tshombe
called on Belgium to "re-establish public order and security and
contribute its technical, financial and military aid"-another way of
calling for the re-colonisation of Congo.
Of course, Belgium did not need the prompting of Tshombe to reclaim
Congo. But considering the tenor of the international order then, it
needed a reason to take back her prize possession. The rest, as they
say, is history. Lumumba was assassinated, the country thrown into chaos
and it has not known peace since then.
There are many sad and bizarre angles to this crisis which also claimed
the life of former UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjold. Fresh
evidence has emerged that then US president, Dwight Eisenhower, ordered
the "elimination" of the "troublesome" Lumumba. There have been reports
of attempts by the CIA under Allen Dulles to poison him. The UN that
came to Congo to maintain peace and, supposedly, give support to the
legitimate government of Lumumba, watched throughout the period of his
humiliating arrest, torture, detention and execution.
On January 17, 1961, Belgian soldiers executed Lumumba, Maurice Mpolo, a
minister in his government and Joseph Okito, vice-president of the
Congolese Senate. According to one account, "their bodies were hacked
into pieces and dissolved in acid. And when the executioners ran out of
acid, they burnt the remains".
Thanks to America, Belgium and their allies, the first and only elected
government in Congo was short-lived. To understand the current crisis in
Congo, therefore, it is to these shameful episodes of betrayal that we
must return. Regrettably, nothing has changed. Congo, today, remains a
playing-field for all kinds of political and economic interests;
interests that can only survive and flourish if the country is in
crisis.
Congo can still be redeemed. But all the predatory forces in the country
must take their bloody fangs away so that it can begin the process of
reconstruction after 40 years of pillage and ruin.
Onumah writes from Ontario, Canada.
Hundreds flee Sierra Leone
Posted Monday, April 23, 2001 by sjk
BBC Reports
The Kamajor militia group are allegedly involved
Government militiamen in Sierra Leone have clashed with rebels in what is being described as the most serious breach of last November's ceasefire.
Military officials say it is unclear who started the fighting, but the rebels have accused government forces of attacking their positions. The fighting threatens to disrupt the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers as part of efforts to end the 10-year civil war.
A senior UN official confirmed that serious fighting had been going on since Thursday evening, near the eastern diamond mining area of Tongo Fields. Hundreds of civilians have fled the area. It is not known whether the clashes are continuing.
Reinforcements
The fighting has involved rebels of the Revolutionary United Front and a pro-government militia known as the Kamajors. Correspondents say the clashes come when the outlook for Sierra Leone seemed more positive - the ceasefire had been holding, and UN peacekeepers had been advancing into some rebel-held areas.
The fighting is a major setback to the UN, which on Wednesday announced the deployment of another 5,000 peacekeeping troops to Sierra Leone.
The move would see Sierra Leone's peacekeeping force swell to 15,000, making it the largest UN deployment in the world