Democracy... Crazy Demo... Crazy Demonstration

In this Guardian (UK) article, Robert Mugabe makes the case for why we need a "supranational" system of law and order. A system that will not be subject to any nation but will have the power and authority to protect the citizen individual nations from their own political leaders.

The world is full of dictators and tyrants from Burma to North Korea. Usually, while they remain inside the territory that they control they can easily to manipulate the governance and legislative structure in order to place themselves and their associates and cronies out of reach of the law. They might try to gain some credibility and respectability around the world by creating the semblance of due process, holding dummy elections for example. In Mugabe's case, this backfired despite the brutal use of state apparatus, a majority of Zimbabweans voted against his party, Zanu-PF in elections in March 2008. For a brief moment, the world held its' collective breath and imagined that this old school tyrant was about to accept his loss and bow out gracefully. There was even talk of negotiations for immunity from prosecution or being allowed to go into exile with his looted fortunes in return for handing over power. How naive we all were!

After a ridiculous delay in releasing the results of the March election, the regime declared that there was no outright winner of the presidential poll and has set about "campaigning" for the June 27th run off election. Despite their howls of protest that they had won the presidency fair and square, the world powers very quickly made it clear that if the opposition MDC party did not contest the run off they would, in effect be handing Mugabe the presidency. How can this be fair? By contesting the election, the opposition is condemning its supporters to become targets of the Mugabe intimidation machine. Many opposition activists have already been killed. Even diplomats from the US and UK were briefly detained and had their vehicles tyres slashed while trying to find out for themselves what life was like for ordinary Zimbabweans. Still we all do nothing.

Pontificating about how horrible it must be in Zimbabwe does nothing to change the status quo. As an African, I am disappointed in but not surprised by the silence and inaction of other African leaders, in particular Thabo Mbeki. Many African leaders themselves have dubious and tenuous claims to power and cannot (or more likely, will not) therefore criticise Mugabe. Mbeki however is the leader of what is purported to be Africa's premier democracy and a neighbor of Zimbabwe. His country has had to deal with a steady stream of Zimbabwean immigrants fleeing the repression and poverty. His lack of action on this issue is shameful! It took a strike of dock workers refusing to unload cargo to highlight that South Africa had been allowing shipments of weapons from China to pass through its' territory bound for land locked Zimbabwe. Stopping this shipment would have been a concrete statement to Mugabe's regime that their actions were beyond the pail. The problem here is that Mbeki, just like Mugabe, has has his world view indelibly marked by the colonial and racial history and politics in southern Africa in particular and Africa as a whole.

Mugabe has been expert at invoking the memories of white minority rule in what was then Rhodesia and by implication South Africa. He points out that the rich countries only showed interest in Zimbabwean politics when well off white farmers began to be evicted. On this narrow issue, he actually has a point. There was no outrage about the massacre in Matabeleland in the early 1980s. Other injustices in Africa have gone unnoticed. There are still many Africans resentful of the history of European intervention in Africa that see Mugabe as a symbol of freedom from that era of subjugation. In reality, Mugabe has proved that his regime can be just as repressive and oppressive as any of the previous white minority governments. Mugabe's political opponents are treated no better (and maybe even worse) than black South Africans were under Apartheid. Mugabe has always been a blood-thirsty tyrant but his loosening grip on power has led him to "release the beast within".

It is with a deep sadness and a heavy heart that I predict that on the 27th of June, Mugabe will make sure he rigs the election correctly this time. The Zimbabwean people will still be living in an essentially collapsed economy and the rest of the world will do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

"Mash it up in-a Zimbabwe"

Robert Mugabe has proved himself so incompetent that he hasn't even been able to rig an election properly.

Last time these was an election in Zimbabwe, the results were released in under 24 hours. Of course Mugabe had “won” that election which by all account was hardly free and fair. This time around with all the dice loaded favour of Zanu-PF, Mugabe's party, it would appear that they have not been able to pull off a repeat of the fraud.

It has been confirmed that the opposition have won the parliamentary polls despite the ruling party attempting to “recount”... Hmmm! Anyway we are left with the absurd spectacle of the ruling party in Zimbabwe agreeing to a run-off presidential election before any results have been released in the presidential election.

After presiding over a disastrous land "redistribution" policy and taking a country once known as Africa's bread basket and turning it into an almost unimaginable 100,000% inflation economy it would appear that Mugabe's desire to have the semblance of a democratic mandate has been his undoing. We are at a crossroads now. Fear of prosecution will prevent a smooth transition but it will be nigh on impossible to explain away hanging on to power after losing in a process that he had sought to give him legitimacy. It will essentially be a "constitutional coup d'etat" (a term coined by the opposition in Zimbabwe) if Mugabe stays in power. We wait to see what the outcome is but the whole episode is a further proof that democratic processes can bring about just outcomes even in the most inhospitable and unexpected places.

One final word of warning: As an African I have seen and even participated in celebrations after the removal or death of a dictator only to see the new regime take up the baton of tyranny and often commit worse crimes and hold on to power tighter than the previous regimes. We all hope the Zimbabwean opposition bucks this trend but on this note also, we will wait to see what happens.

Mission Accomplished??

Just a quick one today.

It's 5 years almost to the day when US forces and thier allies invaded Iraq. We now have more than 4000 dead American soldiers as a result of the conflict.

But what percentage of them died after George W. declared "Major combat operations" to have ended on the 1st of May 2003 under the now infamous "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" banner?
97 percent...

Go figure.

Shalom, Salaam... No Justice, No Peace

It is my opinion that history will judge the treatment of the Palestinian people at least as harshly as the treatment of black South Africans during the Aparthied era.

This is not to say that the two situations are identical as they most definitely are not. There are however some striking similarities. From infrastructure built for use by Jews only to the townships/refugee camps the subjugated population are crammed into with only basic ameneties available... Even the fact that the "oppressors" are mostly decendants of Europeans. The main differences are the degree to which religion is a factor on both sides.

After the treatment meted out to Jews in much of the first half of the 20th century it is easy to understand where the determination to defend thier kith and kin comes from. It is unfortunate that in thier zeal to protect thier young homeland, many of the actions they have chosen to take have proven to be profoundly counterproductive. The nation of Israel has a habit of shooting itself in the foot while trying to defend herself.

The current situation in Gaza is a case in point. In response to militants (I deliberately did not use terrorist in this instance) firing makeshift rockets at thier towns, the actions taken by Israeli Defence Forces have taken can only be described as collective punishment. Infact some Israeli government officials admitted that the Palestinians had brought the wrath of Israel on themselves by electing Hamas.

Palestinians will point out that they are having had thier country stolen from under thier feet. Many areas are being concreted over and settlements are being built on land the Palestinans claim is thiers. Aside from the land captured after the 1967 war between the Arabs and Israel, Israel has encroached steadily on the land left over for the Palestinians.

Over the 5 decades since the birth of Israel the Palestinians, and other Arab Nations have consistently underestimated, to their cost, the resolve of the Jewish people to defend themselves and their young state. This resolve however has made the Israelis look cruel and frankly racist despite them taking actions that can be argued are legitimate.

Reactivation... Reactivation

After a few months on hiatus, I am breathing life back into this blog.

With all the goings on in Israel/Palestine, political violence in Pakistan, the ongoing wars is Iraq and Afghanistan not to mention the upcoming US elections there is much history making politics to express opinion on.

So let the political blogging recommence.

The Attempted London Car Bombing: "Yuppie Terrorists" with a Mercedes [VIDEO]

Click here to watch video....

More War, More Terror

Somalia has recently been through the worst period of violence in 2 decades. Gaza is currently in a period of murderous chaos. What do these have in common? Short sighted American involvement.

As I'd said in an earlier post, the United States had intervened in the situation in Somalia under the guise of the so called "War on Terror".

It gives me no pleasure to say that my prediction that it would not go well has come to fruition. After the US backed Ethiopian forces cleared out the Union of Islamic Courts Movement, street fighting promptly returned to the streets of Mogadishu - some of the worst violence that this war ravaged country has seen for two decades no less! The pirates (yes PIRATES) operating in the waters of the horn of Africa, having been routed by the Courts Union are now well and truly back in business. The hard won relative stability the Courts Union had achieved after driving out the murderous clan militias has been pissed into the wind. For what? To kill and capture a few radicals and terrorists? Is US foreign policy being managed by some angry teenager? Does anyone in Dubya's government know what they're doing. For balance I should really mention that Bill Clinton wasn't any better at handling the Somalia question and his decision to pull out and leave them to their fate probably led us to where we are today.

In Gaza the situation is even more serious and the potential fallout is much more far reaching. Whatever one's view on Hamas is the truth is that they hold a legitimately and democratically elected parliamentary majority in the Palestinian territories. It is the right of any country to refuse to deal with any foreign government it chooses not to regardless of legitimacy. Acting within one's rights does not however mean that one is doing the right thing.

Hamas have been portrayed in the media as dangerous loose cannons who decided off their own back to take up arms and fight the armed wing of Fatah, Yasser Arafat’s former party. The British Foreign Secretary called it a “coup d’etat”. I have experienced a couple of coups first hand but never heard of an elected government having to take power in a coup!! The truth is that Fatah had never come to terms with Hamas’ election victory. Yasser Arafat had the leadership of the Palestinian people completely locked down. His Fatah party and all the associated hangers on thought they would also be in power indefinitely. They have refused to relinquish power after losing an election. I have heard it likened to the conservatives winning the general election but Labour insisting that they retain control of the police and MI5. The Fatah party members and associated gunmen bear primary responsibility for the bloodshed and chaos in the Gaza strip.

It is true that Fatah acted with the backing of Israel and the US who egged them on believing that they could defeat Hamas militarily. This strategy has backfired spectacularly and now Hamas are more popular than they ever were! Fatah on the other hand need to tread carefully. They had already been routed electorally because Palestinians had rightly tagged them as fiscally and morally corrupt. They may be providing another nail for their own coffin by associating with Israel and the US. It is a naked ploy for self preservation rather than a move to further the cause of the Palestinian people. They have long since fulfilled the conditions being demanded of Hamas, namely that they renounce violence and recognise Israel. What do they have to show for it?

The current situation in Gaza proves to anyone who may still doubt that policy making based on ideology and dogma alone will almost always produce bad policy. While religion and faith can provide moral grounding pragmatism and practicality must be the governing tenets be policy making.

Azzam the American

English speaking al-Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn AKA Azzam al-Amriki (Azzam the American) mentions my home country, Nigeria as a front in their war on the Western Powers.

For anyone who has never seen one of these propaganda videos or does not speak or understand Arabic and not been able to get a full unedited version, this is a riveting video to watch!! Well worth it!!

Click here to view...

Boldface LIES!!

It said that to be a good politician you have to be able to tell a lie with a straight face. It is different though arguing about education of taxes but when the lies lead to thousands and thousands of deaths, a civil war and a world in turmoil... well judge for yourself!!

Who said multi-culturalism is dead??

Inconvenient History

Justice is Served!

Saddam Hussein is executed! Not a tear shall be shed. The Butcher of Baghdad has been hanged in his own gallows.

I hope all the world's tyrants, dictators and kleptocrats are turning a few times in their sleep.

IBRAHIM BABANGIDA, TAKE NOTE!!

The War on Terror continues...

The US strategy in Somalia is both painfully obvious and completely baffling. It would seem to be based on thinking still stuck in the cold war era.

The Islamic courts which brought some semblance of order and stability to many parts of Somalia have been forced into a tactical retreat much like the Taliban in 2001 by US backed Ethiopian forces.

The idea that the American "War on Terrorism" is against a monolithic global network of jihadists is pervasive in Washington. This is not dissimilar to the idea that communists had a network of allies over whom they had absolute ideological control. The American view appears to be that if our enemies have certain factors in common, they are essentially the same enemy. No exceptions permitted or nuance considered. My enemy's friend is my enemy.

Before the Islamic courts took control of most Somalia the country was literally in complete chaos. For decades several warlords had carved the territory into fiefdoms and regularly duelled for territory, resources and pride. The fate of ordinary people was not largely catered for and no effective system of justice was in place and murder, robbery, rape and intimidation were rife as well as an burgeoning industry for assassins carrying reprisal beatings and killings.

The courts brought a system for the people not only to deal with criminality but a system to begin to organise a united country. The main port in Mogadishu had been used as a base for pirates who had frequently attacked international shipping off the horn of Africa. The Islamic Courts made it one of their military objectives to put a stop to this. They essentially provided relative sense of order for the first time since in more than 20 years.

The US has decided to disregard all of this as a matter of policy and back forces opposing this movement based on the premise that some elements of the Islamic Courts appear to share the ideology of al-Qaeda. There are elements of the Islamic Courts movement whose rhetoric causes concern but in my observation they seem to be well reigned in and under control. At first the US attempted to back the warlords responsible for most of the chaos with money and equipment but the disparate warring clans could not unite to present a unitary defence against the Courts movement who were able to overcome them all militarily with increased public support largely due to the American intervention.

The choice of Ethiopia, a long standing enemy of Somalia, a country with whom they have fought a war to proxy for the US in battling the Courts movement and propping up the weak Somali government is equally baffling. This is a government so weak that up till very recently it had to sit in Kenya, a foreign country. For this government to be propped up using foreign troops, particularly Ethiopian will in the very least inflame many Somalis and I cannot see how this government can gain any legitimacy as long as Ethiopian troops are present. The problem is that there is no chance this government can survive 10 minutes in Mogadishu without Ethiopia's backing. I continue to watch with interest.

An attack on British troops in Iraq - Nov 2006

Just before the attack, one of the lead vehicles correctly identifies a threat and warns of "Kamikaze" probably saving lives by giving any exposed rooftop gunners a chance to duck into the vehicle.

The genius of Steven Colbert...

"To Leave Iraq, take the next exit ramp..."

The Iraq war is lost. In my view it was lost the day those scandalous pictures from the Abu Ghraib prison were published.

The window of opportunity for a face saving exit is shutting fast! Since the Congressional elections in America, the political debate in America seems to be shifting from whether or not to "stay the course" or "cut and run" as it were. Now the debate is shifting to when and how to withdraw and disengage. Donald Rumsfeld had been fired. Dick Cheney is largely marginalised. The Neo Con cheerleader troupe has made an about face and is now claiming that the war was a good idea but was just managed badly... TYPICAL BUREAUCRATIC HOGWASH!!

Those of us who opposed this illegal invasion before the fact said that it would lead to chaos and civil war. I remember members of the British government crowing about the success of their venture in 2004. Now thier only recourse in a debate is "...so would you prefer it if Saddam Hussein was still in power?" Having lived under the dark clouds of dictatorship of Sani Abacha's Nigeria in the late 1990s i can say with some authority, YES!! Under Saddam, Iraqis may not have been free but the lines they were not to cross were clearly defined. Now, no one knows if he will be the victim of a suicide bomber in a market place.. or if he will be kidnapped by sectarian militia rife in the police force.. or maybe even just caught in the crossfire between skirmishing neighbourhoods. Life was much more certain and stable under the dictator which is saying something! Bush and Blair have taken a bad situation and turned it into a disaster. Tony Blair is latched on so tight that he may just follow the Bush administration as they "stay the course" right off the edge of the cliff...

THE ONLY LEGACY BUSH AND BLAIR WILL HAVE IS IRAQ. AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT 100 TIMES WORSE THAN SUEZ!

IDF Response to peaceful protest

Quite frankly, I see Israel's attitude towards the Palestinians to be completely shameful and completely counter productive! There are MANY Israelis who will feel the same. This is not how to make peace! How many of the children hit with stun grenades or rubber bullets will go on to be taken advantage of by those who send suicide bombers?

TAKE AWAY A PEOPLE'S HOPE AND ONLY CHAOS WILL FOLLOW!!

Kramer's a RACIST!!

This is not particularly political but must be a total disappointment for fans for "Seinfeld"...

One reason why I believe I understand why the Israelis react like they do when they are attacked is because they like blacks know what it feels like to be persecuted.

This is like saying to a Jewish person "50 years ago you would have been marching towards the gas chambers!!"

Hateful and oh so disappointing.

This is what torture looks like.

The background to this is that a student at UCLA is approached randomly and asked for ID and he doesn't or can't produce any. For what ever reason, campus police were called. He is asked to leave and agrees to do so after apparently initially refusing. He objects very loudly to the officers grabbing his arm and for some unbeknownst reason he is tazer'd. More than once! About 3 minutes into the video, he is completely limp while the officers repeatedly ask him to stand up. Tazers can do that to you and it is possible to be completely incapacitated for us to 15 minutes after a shock. He cannot or does not comply with the officers and is tazer'd AGAIN sending his legs flying through the air apparently in spasm and he can be heard screaming in pain!!

The students name is Mustapha which may or may not be relevant. I'll leave you to judge.

Purity of Arms

Here is an excerpt from the Israeli Defence Forces Website (www.idf.il). It is one of their values.

The IDF servicemen and women will use their weapons and force only for the purpose of their mission, only to the necessary extent and will maintain their humanity even during combat. IDF soldiers will not use their weapons and force to harm human beings who are not combatants or prisoners of war, and will do all in their power to avoid causing harm to their lives, bodies, dignity and property.

I have to say I find it difficult to see how they can argue that this has been adhered to in their recent operations in the Gaza Strip.