Very interesting read about Dictatorships in Africa and their relationship to the United States!

Wednesday, 09 July 2008
African Dictatorships and Double-Standards
Stephen Zunes

This article originally appeared in Foreign Policy In Focus

“U.S. credibility as a defender of human rights and free elections is seriously compromised.”

The Bush administration has justifiably criticized the Zimbabwean regime of liberator-turned-dictator Robert Mugabe. It has joined a unanimous UN Security Council resolution condemning the campaign of violence unleashed upon pro-democracy activists and calling for increased diplomatic sanctions in the face of yet another sham election. In addition, both the House and the Senate have passed strongly worded resolutions of solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe in support of their struggle for freedom and democracy.

However, neither the Republican administration nor the Democratic-controlled Congress is sincerely concerned about human rights and democratic elections as a matter of principle. Rather, they are more likely acting out of political expediency. Despite claims of support for the advancement of democracy, the United States continues to support other African dictatorships that are as bad as or even worse than that of Zimbabwe.

Indeed, the United States currently provides economic aid and security assistance to such repressive African regimes as Swaziland, Congo, Cameroun, Togo, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Gabon, Egypt, and Tunisia. None of these countries holds free elections, and all have severely suppressed their political opposition.

The Worst Abuser

Among the worst of these African tyrannies has been the regime of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. Obiang has been in power even longer than the 28-year reign of Mugabe and, according to a recent article in the British newspaper The Independent, makes the Zimbabwean dictator “seem stable and benign” by comparison. Obiang originally seized power in a 1979 coup by murdering his uncle, who had ruled the country since its independence from Spain in 1968. Under his rule, Equatorial Guinea nominally allowed the existence of opposition parties as a condition of receiving foreign aid in the early 1990s. But the four leading candidates withdrew from the last presidential election in December 2002 in protest of irregularities in the voting process and violence against their supporters. In that election, Obiang officially received more than 97% of the vote (down from 99.5% in the previous election.)

Though the U.S. State Department acknowledged that the election was “marred by extensive fraud and intimidation,” the Congress and the administration devoted none of the vehement condemnation that was so evident after the recent, similarly marred election process in Zimbabwe.

One major reason for the difference in response is oil. The development of vast oil reserves over the past decade has made Equatorial Guinea one of the wealthiest countries in Africa in terms of per capita gross domestic product. Virtually all of the oil revenues, however, goes to Obiang and his cronies. The dictator himself is worth an estimated $1 billion, making him the wealthiest leader in Africa; his real estate holdings include two mansions in Maryland just outside of Washington, DC. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the country’s population lives on only a few dollars a day, and nearly half of all children under five are malnourished. The country’s major towns and cities lack basic sanitation and potable water while conditions in the countryside are even worse.

“The development of vast oil reserves over the past decade has made Equatorial Guinea one of the wealthiest countries in Africa in terms of per capita gross domestic product.”

During his most recent visit to Washington in 2006, Obiang was warmly received by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who praised the dictator as “a good friend” of the United States. Not once during their joint appearance did she mention the words “human rights” or “democracy.” At the same press conference, Obiang praised his regime’s “extremely good relations with the United States” and his expectation that “this relationship will continue to grow in friendship and cooperation.” None of the assembled reporters raised any questions about the regime’s notorious human rights record or its lack of democracy, instead using the opportunity to ask Secretary Rice questions about the alleged threat from Iran.

In 2002, the dictator met with President George W. Bush in New York to discuss military and energy security issues. He followed up in 2004 with meetings with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham.

Cozy Relations

Equatorial Guinea receives U.S. government funding and training through the International Military Education and Training Program (IMET). In addition, the private U.S. firm Military Professional Resources Incorporated - founded by former senior Pentagon officials who cite the regime’s friendliness to U.S. strategic and economic interests - plays a key role in the country’s internal security apparatus. Furthermore, as a result of Obiang’s understandable lack of trust in his own people, soldiers from Morocco - one of America’s closest African allies - have served for decades in a number of important security functions, including the role of presidential guards.

Maintaining close ties with such a notorious ruler has led even conservative Republicans like Frank Ruddy, who served as President Ronald Reagan’s ambassador to Equatorial Guinea in the mid-1980s, to denounce the Bush administration for being “big cheerleaders for the government - and it’s an awful government.”

“U.S. oil companies paid hundreds of millions of dollars destined to state treasuries directly into the dictator’s private bank accounts.”

Though the Chinese have also recently begun investing in the country’s oil sector, U.S. companies ExxonMobil, Amerada Hess, Chevron/Texaco, and Marathon Oil have played the most significant role. A report by the International Monetary Fund notes that U.S. oil companies receive “by far the most generous tax and profit-sharing provisions in the region.” Congressional hearings recently revealed how U.S. oil companies paid hundreds of millions of dollars destined to state treasuries directly into the dictator’s private bank accounts. A Senate report faulted U.S. oil companies for making “substantial payments to, or entering into business ventures with,” government officials and their family members.

The irony of the relative silence of Congress and the Bush administration regarding the human rights abuses and the undemocratic nature of Obiang’s regime is that, due to the critical role of U.S. economic investment and security assistance, the United States has far more leverage on the government of Equatorial Guinea than it does on the government of Zimbabwe. As a result, Americans can feel self-righteous in their condemnation of a regime in Zimbabwe with which the United States has little leverage while continuing to support an even more repressive regime over which the United States could successfully exert pressure if it chose to do so.

This does not mean the United States should have waited until it first ends its support of Obiang and other African dictatorships before joining the rest of the international community in condemning the repression in Zimbabwe. However, as long as the United States maintains such blatant double-standards, U.S. credibility as a defender of human rights and free elections is seriously compromised and thereby plays right into the hands of autocrats and demagogues like Robert Mugabe.

Stephen Zunes is a senior analyst for Foreign Policy In Focus and a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco.

So the Supreme Court, the Court of all Courts, the Law of the Land has ruled that the death penalty is not permissable in a child rape case.

Well Why Not Your Honor? Do you only think it is necessary and proper for someone to be killed by our JUSTICE System when they too have murdered someone. How do we tell people not to murder by murdering them. Is that a misunderstanding because I don’t understand it.

A child who is raped is murdered in different ways. Their spirit is murdered in many instances, their bodies and mind never forget the horrific pain of being forced to have sex and brutally raped by adults. Often their belief systems are killed because they ask themselves what kind of God would allow such a heinous crime?

So if your reasoning is based on an eye for an eye, well that system is long gone. In fact the reasoning behind why we keep the Death Penalty in this country is flawed. Gregg v. Georgia outlines it, if I am correct. Here are the following reasons why the United States feels it is legally just to kill people to show them that they should not kill people!

In reaching this conclusion, the Court emphasized three factors: (i) that the “imposition of the death penalty for the crime of murder has a long history of acceptance both in the United States AND England”; (ii) that it was “now evident that a large proportion of American society continues to regard it as an appropriate and necessary criminal sanction”; and (iii) that the death penalty serves “two principal social purposes: retribution and deterrence of capital crimes by prospective offenders.”

So let me understand this:

because the death penalty has long been accepted in both the United States and England it is alright to kill people. Couldn’t the same have been said to uphold slavery and other inhumane acts. It is reasonings like this, that seem logical to a selected few that killed off millions of Jewish people in the Holocaust.

2. Americans regard it as an appropriate and necessary criminal sanction. Hmm 100 years ago many Americans believed it was ok to lynch negroes for looking at white women. This was no small group of individuals, this was common practice here in America. Does that make it right? Many blue eyed, blond haired Germans felt it was an appropriate sanction to exterminate Jewish people, does that make it right, and or just. A young Indian girl was almost killed a few months ago because she is from a lower caste system. A young man in his twenties threw her onto a burning fire, does that make it right. His peers and old traditions in his country thought these types of actions were ok, does that make it right and legally sound?

3. The death penalty serves as retribution and deterrence. Well the easier one is deterence. It must not serve such a great job when people in this country are being killed every day. How are we deterring them, they are not deterred, they are not phased. In fact you encourage them to kill by being a leading example that says it is ok to kill someone.

Retribution, do we really want to go back to the old theory an eye for an eye. In that case we will all be blind which is what this system offers. Blind Justice, 10% or more of the people on Death Row currently are innocent yet they have been found guilty. Will we continue to kill innocent people in the name of our Constitution?

America, Land of the free, home of the brave do you really have the authority to play God. Are we that holy as a country that we dare look down upon others and “attempt” to bring democracy to them when are lacking fundamental freedoms at home. When you challenge America you are quickly reminded that you could live somewhere else where things are worst off. When did we begin comparing ourselves to countries and situations that are less favorable than our own. How does that allow us to prosper and grow when we make backwards comparisons rather than marching forward as I would believe the Forefathers of this country wanted us to.

The Supreme Court Says No to the Death Penalty for child rapists, I pray I see the day when WHEN WE SAY NO TO THE DEATH PENALTY COMPLETELY. Otherwise we are just as barbaric as the countries we claim to civilize!

here is the link to the story that prompted this discussion.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/25/scotus.child.rape/index.html

Tonight was a must win situation, no team has ever come back from 0-3 in the finals. While watching the 4th quarter it was clear to see the Celtics weren’t read to close up shop. 4 Minutes passed by and barely 2 points between both teams was scored. We’ll keep watching to see who comes out on top. Kobe better step it up if he wants these Michael Jordan comparisons to keep up because we all know Jordan led his team to the CHIP and won!

HMMM I can’t say that I would have called this one! I was expecting Kobe to put the Celtics away, they got close in the end but the Celtics prevailed. What will happen next, if Boston wins this is going to be a huge upset for the Lakers. Kobe is trying to seal the deal, the championship will be a happy ending to an excellent season, his MVP, and all this Jordan comparison talk! Let’s watch and see how this unfolds.

Yves St. Laurent died Sunday night at his home in Paris due to a long time illness. The man will be remembered for his revolutionary contributions to the fashion game. He along with Christain Dior and Chanel made sure that Paris would forever be known as the fashion capital of the world.

Gotta pay hommage where hommage is due! My man kept the threads look real fly, I’ll have to add a pair of glasses into the summer wardrobe in his honor. Here are a few shots of the flavor Yves brought to the game, R.I.P.!

I have been following this story on the blogs and I just finished reading an article on CNN about it. The gentleman Joshua Packwood had this to say about some of his peers “They approached me and said, ‘Yeah, I have a problem with you being valedictorian. I know you’ve earned it and even though I know you on a personal level - I like you a lot - but it disturbs me that out of roughly 3,000 black men - there’s not one that’s done as well as or better than you academically,’ ” says Packwood.

I think that’s the wrong way to look at this situation. The young man comes from an impoverished family and if there is one thing I know America hates just as much as Black people, it’s poor whites. I remember being a kid and watching Roots, there’s a scene in there, it escapes me now. But it alluded to poor whites and black folks banding together in the south.

I’m indifferent about this gentleman, I think his success is something to be marveled at no matter what his race is. Typically when there is a comparison about black and white children and their academic success we look to the failed school systems in urban areas that produce young black children and the well equipped schools of the suburbs that produce young white children. There is a learning gap, not because black children are not smarter but because there is a lack of quality teachers and access to resources in said public schools.

Packwood’s story is interesting though because he grew up poor, lacking privilege and it was actually a black middle class family who helped him get to where he is today. I don’t like the idea of brothers diminishing their own efforts because a white man is the valedictorian of their school. As someone else said later on in the article, the gentleman of Morehouse need to work harder. Not because white boys are taking their spots but because the work ethic that they create for themselves makes them want to work harder! Congratulations to Joshua Packwood on his accomplishment.

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

Time waits for no man or woman. Sometimes I feel suspended in time. I learned sometime in this past year that when you are happy, like really bask in your happiness. Smile, be joyful, jump up and down on your bed even. Because unfortunately when you are sad, when its raining outside, it really pours. When that rain comes into your life you have to think about this scripture and think what time is it right now in my life. How did you enjoy the good times you had. Did you really relish in the good times, or did you find yourself making comparisons to how they could have been better times. I get so much out of this scripture that I can’t write it all down today so be sure that I will bring this one back out. I’m looking above at all of the different times in life that we experience and trying to understand how they all merge. After I read one line, I always go back to the top; there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.

Who controls the amount of time that we may be building, the amount of time it takes us to heal. Truth is we definitely have no control over these different time periods and I am learning to grow and appreciate each time period that I may be in. Several of them could be going on at one time and we just have to be patient and understand when God feels we have learned that lesson than he will pass us on into the next time phase he has for us. Faith is real wild because you don’t see God, like you cant reach out and physically see yourself shaking his hand. But you trust in him, it’s wild because that is a beautiful trust. We have people in our lives who we can see, and we put trust in them and they destroy it, so this dichotomy makes some people just believe that only they can control. They can’t fully trust in God because they cant see him, they know that some people are untrustworthy so they just look to themselves. We must try not to fall into this trap; for starters God is within us so he is tangible. I just look to the above passage and I think wow there really is a time for everything, I’m looking forward to the beautiful times he has for me. When you get them and if you have them right now please honor and love those times because those memories push us through hard times. Peace and Grace be unto you.

(sings) Gotta find me an angel - Aretha Franklin