Libya Before The War
America does not need, nor can it afford to be involved in another war. Libyan's should solve Libya's problems without outside intervention. America and NATO out of Libya NOW!!!
So I signed a petition to The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate and President Barack Obama, which says:
"Having to raise the debt ceiling indicates that America is broke. The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the stimulus package to Wall Street bankers contributed greatly to this debt. America cannot afford nor needs to be involved in another war. Sign the petion to get America out of Libya NOW!!"
Will you sign this petition? Click here:
http://signon.org/sign/stop-nato-bombing-of?source=s.em.mt&r_by=329602
Thanks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H1k8uht1XuM (Gadaffi is a hero South Africa Demonstration)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpqCZXlH-HM&feature=related (Gadaffie is a hero Russia demonstration)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6I6H1SDO_I&feature=related (Gadaffi is a hero Serbia demonstration)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jKXuOGqEQU&feature=related (Gadaffi is a hero London demonstration)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjYMNejr9O8&feature=related (Gadaffi is a hero San Francisco demonstration)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x0iGRuFXOs&feature=related (Gadaffi is a hero Demonstration at the White House)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvZ6p5qLHzQ&feature=related (Gadaffi is a hero demonstration in Mali)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro5S2deaqkM&feature=related (Gadaffi is a hero demonstration in Libya)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U009jUWuwZM&feature=related (Cynthia McKinney speaks about her fact finding mission in Libya)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsaNnIpYFeM&NR=1 (Black Panthers Malik Shabazz, Minster Farrakhan, Cynthia McKinney, Akbar Muhammad)
Libya Before the War: Global Economic Power House, and Builder of Africa -- a detailed look at the economic roots of the NATO aggression
One of the motives for the war against Libya is to stop the development of the black continent, to enable the setting up of an AfriCom military base in Cyrenaica and to begin the colonial exploitation of Africa for the benefit of the United States.
By Thierry Meyssan
In order to understand this hidden agenda, Voltaire Network interviewed Mohamed Siala, Co-operation Minister and Manager of Libya’s sovereign wealth fund.
MATHABA NOTE: This interview of Mohamed Siala, Co-operation Minister and Manager of Libya’s sovereign wealth fund, includes details of the breadth and depth of many of the massive economic development projects, sponsored by the Libyan Jamahiriya, that were being conducted before NATO began its war of aggression and genocide on Libya. If, up to now, you have been puzzled as to why the European countries, Australia, Canda, the U.S., etc., are attacking Libya so viciously, this article will reveal, with total clarity, precisely why they are attacking Libya.
It also reveals precisely why the number one man on earth that they fear is Brother Leader Colonel Muammar Omo Ju Omo Lo Gaddafi. You will see, when reading the article, that this is no mere hyperbole; no exaggeration: Libya is a powerhouse that, through hard work -- not empty ideological propaganda--and serious on-the-ground, strategic economic development throughout Africa, was moving fast to create the continent of Africa, in time, as the most powerful continent on earth--a prospect that, for Euro-Western minds, is nothing less than their worse nightmare. This is a long-time fear that goes back to their intellectual mentor and "prophet," Harvard-based Dr. Lothrop Stoddard, who wrote the book, The Rising Tide of Color against White World Supremacy in 1920, warning the "white" world of the coming powerful development of the non-"white" world, and of the "white" world's coming loss of power, if the "white" world did not act to thwart the rise of the non-"white" world. Stoddard warned:
"The emancipation of brown, Islamic North Africa would inevitably send a sympathetic thrill through every portion of the Dark Continent and would stir both Mohammedan and pagan negroes against white rule." (You can read The Rising Tide of Color against White World Supremacy for free.)
The "white" neo-colonialists and imperialists of today have not forgotten the warning of their intellectual mentor, Dr. Lothrop Stoddard. And the "sympathic thrill" that Stoddard warned/predicted has already been sent out to every portion of Africa, just as Dr. Stoddard had predicted and feared. And the source of that sympathic thrill, coming out of North Africa, is none other than Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, known and loved all throughout Africa as Omo Ju Omo Lo, "the best of the children of Mother Africa."
When reading the article, it also becomes crystal clear that Libya, under Colonel Gaddafi, was fast becoming a global economic power house, outside of the economic control of the Euro-Western countries. The Euro-Western nations saw the handwriting on the wall, and decided that it was time to attempt to thwart the progress of the Libyan giant. Mr. Siala, states that, "The Westerners want to maintain Africa in a situation where it will only export raw products and commodities," rather than develop those raw products for use in Africa and for final export as final goods. Mr. Siala goes on to say,
"For example, when the coffee grown in Uganda is exported to Germany where it is marketed, the surplus remains in Germany. [But] we have funded installations for coffee roasting, grinding and packaging [inside Uganda]. The remuneration for Ugandans went up from 20% to 80%. Needless to say, our policy is conflicting with that of the Europeans. That is an understatement." Mr. Siala says that Libya also funds rice fields in Uganda, "up to 32 million dollars per project, creating each time 100,000 jobs."
One project he didn't mention is the satellite project which freed Africa from a yearly bill of $500,000,000 to Europe, a project intiated by Colonel Gaddafi, and one that infuriated Europe, because Gaddafi had deprived Europe of half-a-billion dollars a year of African money. These are the reasons why, in the Western "news" media, Gaddafi has been consistently described, throughout the years, as "a major thorn in the side of the West."
Power, greed, racism are all a few of the reasons that NATO is trying to destroy Libya. But their biggest fear--their very biggest fear--is a united Africa--the traditional fear of the "white" nations, as outlined by their intellectual guide, Dr. Lothrop Stoddard. And Colonel Gaddafi is the only African leader today that is calling for a United States of Africa.
War against Libya: An economic catastrophe for Africa and Europe
One of the motives for the war against Libya is to stop the development of the black continent, to enable the setting up of an AfriCom military base in Cyrenaica and to begin the colonial exploitation of Africa for the benefit of the United States. In order to understand this hidden agenda, Voltaire Network interviewed Mohamed Siala, Co-operation Minister and Manager of Libya’s sovereign wealth fund.
******************************
Voltaire Network: Your country is gas and oil rich. The Libyan Investment Authority manages an accumulated capital estimated at 70 billion dollars. What use are you making of this bonanza?
Mohamed Siala: We possess a significant amount of resources, but they are non renewable. We have therefore set up the Libyan Investment Authority to protect the wealth of future generations, following Norway’s example. A portion of these funds are dedicated to the development of Africa. This means that 6 billion dollars have been invested in African development shares, i.e. agriculture, tourism, commerce, mines, etc…
The remaining funds have been invested in various sectors, countries, currencies all over the world, including the USA and Germany. This, unfortunately, is what enabled them to freeze our assets.
Voltaire Network: Technically, how was the freeze carried out?
Mohamed Siala: The assets freeze is governed by the banking regulations of the country where they are invested. The rule is that they block our bank accounts, but we sometimes can get them unblocked if we take the litigation to the UN Claims Committee and provided we can prove they were destined for specific uses. For example, I have just pleaded for the unfreezing of funds earmarked to pay scholarships to 1200 students that we sent to Malysia. We are trying to do the same for everything that relates to social allowances or the hospitalization expenses of our citizens abroad.
We are sometimes allowed to use funds to buy food or medicine. This is, in principle, our right but many are refusing to unfreeze the necessary funds or are dragging their feet. For example, the Italian State rejects any use of our assets. In Germany, while the State authorizes their use for humanitarian purposes, it is sometimes the banks that refuse to unfreeze the necessary funds. The interpretations of the resolution are entirely different depending on each State. What we demand is a clear rule: what is permitted is authorised and what is not is forbidden. Right now, the interpretation is political and might prevails over right.
Voltaire Network : Is this the only problem your are facing in terms of supplies?
Mohamed Siala : We also have to face the maritime blockade put in place by NATO with no legal basis. Supplies are forbidden or delayed, that includes foodstuff. They are particularly intent on preventing our oil deliveries even if this is not envisaged by the relevant UN resolutions. We’ve had an oil tank stuck in Malta waiting for one month. For each ship, the double use of its cargo is questioned. Oil is destined for civilian vehicles, but NATO objects that it can also be used for army vehicles. We argue that they cannot prohibit its use for ambulances, etc. Anyhow, since the beginning of the conflict, they have prevented all oil deliveries. Now, we depend on foreign refineries for about one third of our supplies. Hence, our present shortage. Theoretically, they are only allowed to inspect the ships to make sure they do not transport arms. In reality, what NATO is enacting is an illegal maritime blockade.
Mohamed Siala receiving the Voltaire Network team of investigators.© Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya / Réseau Voltaire
Russian and Chinese ships have been ordered to make a U turn. Their respective States must file a claim before the UN Sanctions Committee to discuss the interpretation of the resolutions. It is an endless and dissuasive procedure. No legal basis allows NATO to behave like this. It abuses its authority, confident that it will go unpunished.
We, however, manage to supply ourselves by land, but this is laughable. It takes one month to truck what can be unloaded in our harbours in one day.
Voltaire Network: Your country has been heavily engaged in infrastructure building, namely the colossal Man-Made River irrigation and water works. Which projects do you currently have in the pipeline?
Mohammad Siala: There is a railway running across the whole of North Africa with the exception of Libya. We would like to complete it so as to achieve a greater integration in the regional economy and energise it. The Chinese are building the Tunisia-Syrte section. The Russians are in charge of the Syrte-Benghazi stretch. Negotiations with Italy were underway for the Benghazi-Egypt connection as well as for the locomotives. Also, we are constructing a North-South transcontinental railroad, starting with the Libya-Chad (N’Djamena) line. These are major investments with an international scope. We thought the G8 would help. It had promised to do so, but nothing came.
We are fierce when it comes to business, and we have used the bidding process to oblige providers to bring down their prices. When Putin came here, he agreed to align the rates of Russian enterprises on those of their Chinese competitors, thus enabling us to diversify the our choice of partners.
Voltaire Network: Now that the country is at war, what is going to happen to these projects ?
All these projects have been interrupted with the freezing of our assets. However, we are continuing with the bidding procedures for the construction of railway lines as we are confident the war is temporary and that works will start again. We are getting ready to proceed with the contracts temporarily interrupted for reasons of "force majeure."
The war has brought desperation to our partners. The Chinese had signed up for 20 billion worth of contracts here, the Turks 12 billion. Then, come the Italians, the Russians and the French. It was not in their interest to let this aggression take place, and even less to be part of it. Most likely, some of them must have been bribed in compensation, but we don’t know much about it. Some hope to make better profits by conquering our country and helping themselves to reconstruction contracts.
Voltaire Network: What are the consequences of your assets freeze for Africa?
Mohammad Siala: By freezing our assets, NATO also halted our development activities in Africa. The continent can only export raw products. We are investing in Africa so that these products can be processed in Africa and commercialized by Africans. We want to create jobs and keep the surplus in Africa. On one hand, Europeans applaud us as this policy dries out migration fluxes. On the other hand, they are against it since it means having to give up colonial exploitation.
The Westerners want to maintain Africa in a situation where it will only export raw products and commodities.
For example, when the coffee grown in Uganda is exported to Germany where it is marketed, the surplus remains in Germany. We have funded installations for coffee roasting, grinding and packaging. The remuneration for Ugandans went up from 20% to 80%. Needless to say, our policy is conflicting with that of the Europeans. That is an understatement.
We are funding rice fields in Mozambique and Liberia, up to 32 million dollars per project, creating each time 100,000 jobs. We focus on food self-sufficiency for each African state first and on exportation markets second. There is no doubt we are entering into conflict with those who produce and export rice, especially if speculation is at stake.
We are also building roads, for example from Libya across Niger. We have already linked Sudan to Eritrea thus changing drastically the regional economy and opening new development opportunities. It is now possible to ensure the transportation of goods by road and by sea.
Voltaire Network: Can we say that Libya is short on diplomatic alliances but that you have elaborated economic alliances that are protecting you? Can we talk of investment diplomacy?
Mohammad Siala: Yes.
For example, we are funding the construction by the Chinese companies of a 50 million-dollar, 32 Km, canal in Mali for the irrigation of agricultural areas. The freeze of our assets halts important agricultural projects in this country. If this goes on, a food problem will arise quickly and the populations will revert to and speed up migration towards Europe. Finally, Europeans cannot afford to stop our development efforts on the continent. There is no alternative to our policy.
Voltaire Network: Are you using a mechanism enabling you to pay for your orders on the international market in spite of the freeze of your assets?Your country is attacked; I am of course thinking of the purchase of arms and munitions.
Mohammad Siala: We have been resisting for four and a half months. We drew the lessons from the embargo and were ready right from the first day. A lot of States are observing us and are taking similar measures to also protect themselves against imperialism.
Thierry Meyssan
Translated from French by Danielle Guillermard
Rev. Ajabu
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Reader Comments (15)
I feel that we must be more concerned on d ongoing wars in Somalia and in d Congo where Afrikan pple like us are being killed in large numbers on a daily basis than d NATO and Arab war in Libya. If we go thru history, we would then discover... that Libya is our Afrikan land stolen from us with brute force for over a thousand years ago by d Arab invader from mainland Asia. Usually, we Afrikans are not concerned at all about our own world plights, but spend much time shedding tears for others and for those who have Afrikan blood in their hands and bad history with Afrikans!!!
Respect the sovereignty of Libya to settle their internal affairs. Hands Off Libya and All of Africa! NOW!
Bola, you have a point. However Quadaffi has admitted that Arabs were instrumental in the slave trade. He apologized and denounced this heritage and asked to be made an honorary African!! He is the one that to a large degree financed the st...ruggle of the ANC in South Africa. He trained the brothers, provided arms, and money to Nelson Mandela and the boys. Quadaffi also was the financial backing that caused the Organization of African Unity to come into existence that has now morphed into the African Union. He is the catalyst behind now the AU morphing into the United States of Africa with a continent wide military existing under a central command.. He was organizing, before the bombing, of pushing for a continent wide currency that would be based on the gold standard. And imposing the sell of all commodities to the world market having to be bought with this African Dinar. Yes my brother, to a large extent you are right and I am in agreement. However, I don't think in this particular situation that it is an either or. We can champion the situation in Somalia and the Congo and acknowlege the part that Arabs have negatively played in our history without throwing Col. Quadaffi under the bus for all the value deeds he has done for our people. We should gladly help one who has done so much to help us. Surely you would agree. Talk to me.
I like what Rev. Ajabu has said
I couldn't care less what Kadafi has done in Afrika. As far as i know it, Kadafi and his fellow Arabs are invader of our land of Libya. When Nato and Arabs finish their war we will take all our stolen lands back from all d inv...aders of Afrika. Kadafi made all these finances possible from d riches coming from d soil of Afrika so, it is not a big deal to me. Kadafi's record in Afrika needs to be checked properly, he is a snake, some time ago he illegally invaded Chad and Niger and also illegally occupied these Afrikan countries for some years. There are other wicked and bad things he has done in Afrika, and also said about Afrikans to d Italians when he went to Italy. Finally, we don't want benefactors and invaders who'd profit from d riches from d soil of Afrika, we just want all our stolen lands back cos lands are very essential for their owners, not for d invaders!! We must now start asking for all our stolen lands back from all d invaders of Afrika who have been occupying them for over a thousand years now!!!
Bola we will have to agree to disagree. However, with your stated position then I would surmise that you are not opposed to signing a petition for Obama to remove the sanctions against Zimbabwe. Petitions have never affected the government ...leadership. The same is true for Zimbabwe. Innocent men, women and especially children are undernourished some to the point of starvation because of American sanctions. Sign this petition and give life to starving babies. It is what God would have us to do.
So I created a petition to The United States House of Representatives and President Barack Obama, which says:
"President Barack Obama stopped the starvation of innocent Zimbabwean babies. Remove the economic sanctions against Zimbabwe now!!"
Will you sign this petition? Click here:
http://signon.org/sign/remove-zimbabwe-sanctions?source=c.fwd.in&r_by=329602
I have signed d petition. Those who have been robbing and committing genocide on d largest scale on other peoples around d world and have nothing in Europe where they came from originally are d ones imposing economic sanctions... on d supposedly richest people in d world - d Afrikan people. This world has been turned upside down, especially for d past 500+ years now. Afrika, u must rise up now to take d full control and d rule of d world, your time has now arrived!!!!
Reverend
It was a pleasure talking with you and our friend Grady. You are to be commended for your tireless fight to inform citizens of this country and around the world of the truth about how the United States behaves. Please be encouraged to keep up the fight and I will remain in touch.
john
John,
You just made my day!! Great to have you back. We will have much to say as time progresses. I will be in touch. God bless.
NATO targeted the pipe factory of the Great Man Made River in the city of Brega, where pipes are manufactured to compensate for damaged pipes of the river, THE ONLY SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER and irrigation for the 4.5 MILLION people of Libya. THIS IS AN IMMINENT HUMANITARIAN DISASTER!
The Man made River Project
These are some Facts and Figures about GMRA :
-Approximately 500,000 pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes have been manufactured to date.
- Approximately 500,000 pipes transported to date. Pipe transportation is continuous process and the work goes on day and night, distance traveled by the transporters is equivalent to the sun and back.
- Over 3,700 km of haul roads was constructed alongside the pipe line trench to enable the heavy truck -- trailers to deliver pipe to the installation site.
Phase I: Total Length 1,600 Km.
Phase II: Total Length 2,155 Km.
- Volume of Trench Excavation 250 Million Cubic Meter.
- The amount of aggregate used in the project : 30,000,000 Ton.
Enough to Build 20 pyramids the size of the great pyramid of Khoufu.
- Total Weight of Cement used 7.0 Million Tones.
- Total Length of Pre-Stressing Wire 6.0 Million Kilometers
This would circle the Earth 280 times. Gaddafi-Central Bank used $33 billion, without interest rates, to build the Great Man-Made River of 3,750 kilometers with three parallel pipelines running oil, gas and water supplying 70% of the people (4.5 of its 6 million) with clean drinking and irrigation water.
This provides adequate crops for the people and would be a competitive exporter of vegetables with ISRAEL and Egypt.
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http://www.mathaba.net/news/libya
kool and we are down with Min.Akbar and Cynthia McKinney and the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition Rashieda
It is good that you have a petition but i have thrown my support with A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition after attending a meeting Akbar and Ms. Cynthia McKenny conducted sponsored by the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition. But you know it is not really about Pres. Obama being an African man as much as it is what is RIGHT. The United States is interested in regime change in Libya and going about it the WRONG way. This war in Libya is very close to being a war on all Africa. So if the President were not of African descent it is still WRONG. Democracy is real and the African leaders are trying to advance democracy in earnest. The current U.S. policy does not recognize this fact and therefore the poor people the everyday people with families and such are just at a loss. United States does not have to bomb Libya to achieve a regime change and in fact this country under President Reagan used diplomacy to achieve regime change in South Africa. Even President Carter's young daughter as a college student participated in anti apartheid demonstrations while a student. The rebels in Libya are few in number and they want regime change for THEIR country. This is a civil matter not an international emergency requiring all out war. Now if Libya under the leadership of President Quaddaffi had invaded an ally of Europe and the U.S. like Jordan or Israel, if his government interrupted trade and commerce in the region like the so-called pirates in Somalia; then military invasion and occupation by the U.S. and N.A.T.O. is at least JUSTIFIABLE. But in the absence of such actions directed from the Libyan government there is NO warrant. Since I am an African, I do advocate for democracy in Africa. I want the leaders that I vote for to TRY the diplomatic solutions in Africa and work with the African leaders help them not overwhelm African leadership with bombs. Because Africa has so many very capable men and women and they have institutions that are committed to the advance of democracy. So yes it is a shame that the first President in the United States of African descent would take such a strong and violent means as a statement for democracy. We as Africans in the United States have more to credit his leadership with than this terrible situation. Obama has made a serious attempt at getting medical care for ALL AMERICANS no matter the immigrant ancestry. This is GOOD and his leadership will be remembered for this because it goes beyond his ancestry while simultaneously attending to those African Americans who elected him and who need this legislation. The African American community suffers w/out proper medical facilities. We have one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates of all other minorities. We have more emergency room births, higher mal-nutrition and low birth weight babies. As the first African American President he has done a lot that is good and this war is wrong NOT because he is an African but because the leader of the FREE world needs to be working with AFRICAN leaders who are also FREE. If Ronald Reagan could do this and he DID. Then Obama can too. His favorite president he once said was Abraham Lincoln. It was Abraham Lincoln who once said this: "You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." I voted for Obama but I am not a fool and I know he can do better than this and I am not the only one who voted for him who refuses to be fooled. We wanted his administration to cut back on the wars. The Iraq war and the Afghanistan war are still siphoning millions of dollars to maintain and when the troops do come back what in the world do they have for EMPLOYMENT? No Obama will do Better and I am one who has decided to vote for him again; partly because he is the first African man to lead the U.S. and when I voted for him I knew it would be hard I just had no idea how hard it would turn out to be.
We live in a country of mostly immigrants. A representative democracy resulting from two forms of immigrant labor one was voluntary immigrant paid labor and the other was involuntary immigrant forced unpaid labor. The paid labor and the unpaid labor racially exclusive, making private ownership too almost racially exclusive.But the democracy here is a synthesis of this reality, so the outlaw of unpaid labor in this country was actually achieved through a coalition of forces in the citizenry. The abolitionist movement is really this country's first solidarity movement; as it was free Africans and free Europeans made citizens that ended unpaid labor of any kind including RACE. If we can stick together and not be fooled work for the things that really will advance democracy here and abroad this President will remembered forever as a GOOD president. War in Libya is war on Africa, war in Libya undermines the truest goals of the African American citizens, war in Libya is inconsistent with the American values which are humanist, egalitarian and democratic. Do not let RACE fool you. Rashieda
Rashieda,
We are not in disagreement. However I split from your one point which is the race implications. I will use the following anology to make my point. If we find a family dead the death of the family is tragic. If it is discovered that the father is the killer then it is more tragic. For the father of the family to kill the family is more tragic than if someone outside the family did the killing. This is the point with Obama. If a person that is not of African descent does something to harm our people it is still a tragedy. If a person of African descent does something to harm us it is more tragic because now it becomes a display of self hate. For Obama to bomb the continent of his father's birth is a display of self hate. Some would even go as far as to call the bombing of Libya by Obama as being a traitor to the race. Even with this strong position I can still support Obama for president. However, the contradiction of his policies toward Africa, to include Libya, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe, just to name three is not something I support and will not support. Obama must be held accountable. And if he keeps killing our people then I will re-evaluate my support for him. It's just that simple. Signing and distributing the petition has nothing to do with your other efforts. I hold both Cynthia and Akbar in high regard. However I am not going to support the unnecessary killing that is taking place from the bombings of NATO nor the starvation of innocent Zimbabweans because of America's sanctions policy. I personally do not support regime change in Libya. However, if Libyans feel it necessary then they need to make it happen without outside support. These policies are tragic and detrimental to the well being of our African brothers and sisters. It is even more tragic that President Barack obama is implementing the policy because of him being a person of African descent. Don't let race fool you. If you don't understand the race implications then you are confused by everything else.
Unbought, unbossed & unafraid. Tune in every Monday @ 11AM to http://www.thewarhorn.com to hear AjabuUnleashed. This is must listen to radio!!
Are you aware of the International African Economic Summit? Go to http://www.ajabuspeaks.squarespace.com to learn more.
I support President Obama. I don't support most of his policies toward Africa. No black man should authorize the bombing of his homeland. Michele is a good woman. She needs to show his butt the way home. Bombing African is like him going home and bombing her and their two children. In both instances he would be harming, even killing his own people. I say this out of love. Just like the youngster need to quit killing each other in the community Barack needs to quit killing us on the African continent. In both instances black people are needlesly dying at the hands of black people. Think about it!! I just told the truth. Unbought, unbossed & unafraid. Tune in every Monday. You don't want to miss what is being said. Your life will not be the same!! Really.
this is a question of class. His job is the highest federal job in the country. This is a question of his responsibility to the class he is in. This job was once exclusively elite, white, and male from the first president Washington and he was an aristocratic Virginian. Obama has broken through the class and race barriers of federal employment. But he still has to represent the rich people and most them are still white men. So it seems that he is somebody's turncoat, but it is not that simple. I am not confused I just need to be separated from the rhetoric. White man this and white man that, identifying everything with race which is why I am not circulating your petition. The Zimbabwe question is even confused here in the states and so is the Cuba question all over race. Because the white farmer is seen as getting a bad break in Zimbabwe people say that President Mugabe is a dictator. Because the white elite of Cuba was seen losing property then Castro is a dictator. Those who understand that the masses of the people can and do change their societies for their betterment as they desire know that Castro is not a dictator and neither is Mugabe. We here in the states ARE African no DOUBT even those who identify as "of color" have began to move beyond race to assert our POWER in this democracy. Obama is being true to his job description the same way the first black soldier to defend the United States at Pearl Harbor Hawaii in WWII did. This is a class issue not a race issue. Let him go ahead and lead the country stop comparing him to Nat Turner. When we in the African American community make up our minds about Zimbabwe the sanctions will be lifted. I am not confused when Zimbabwe reclaimed the land and resources it effected economy in England and the U.S. The Cuban revolution effects U.S. economy. One leader is a black man and one leader is a white man and so many of us have simplified both as racial contradictions when neither one is. In fact the people in both countries have decided the political course democratically. The African American conscious to racism must also be extended to class differences right here because class difference is the cause of the brother in the hood who kills his own just like class is the reason the UNITED STATES keeps making WAR. Libya is the last of 3 ongoing military aggressions and in each case OIL and natural resources are involved (like poppies) in Afghanistan. Now we have increased heroine addictions. You have identified this as a RACE problem and I disagree so I am not circulating your petition but I have signed on with another anti war effort and your effort is still necessary and GOOD. I just do not want to have my efforts coordinated by African leaders who call me confused because I have made a clear analysis different from the one they made. My analysis is CORRECT and your analysis is essentially INCORRECT. Stop being so condescending if I was a brother you would not be going back and forth with this discussion. YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS CONFUSED on Zimbabwe, Cuba and Libya you never consider the class issues for us here in the U.S. or in the Caribbean or in Africa. The only reason you are seen as an important leader is because you are a MAN and you have a professional degree. That is not enough of a qualification for me to circulate a petition you have crafted. Your analysis is void of historical content in your analysis we have no culture at all, as if we brought nothing to the west when our sweat and blood built the WESTERN HEMISPHERE. You have us as a people left off somewhere in Pharonic Egypt. The bombing of Libya by N.A.T.O. and the U.S. under the administration of Barack Obama is not a situation of racial discrimination. Your analysis is over simplified. Rashieda
Rasheda,
Your writings above prove you are confused. I am telling you if you don't understand race then everything else you understand will confuse you. You are entitiled to decide for yourself. However, for those of us that understand race in America we can see your obvious confusion. This is not a gendar issue, educational issue, nor class issue. It is a twinge of all those based on race. I pray for your understanding.