Thursday, April 28, 2011

Truth and Reconciliation, Part 1

First, a vid entitled ENLIGHTENING: Prof. Molefi Asante Talks on Côte d'Ivoire, Libya and Africa's Future found at The Frontier Telegraph (Cameroon) (see also Prof. Molefi Asante on Libya & Cote D'Ivoire). I don't agree with everything the professor says, but his explanation of the dynamics involved in Côte d'Ivoire is quite interesting, and that is why I posted this vid here.


The same kind of dynamic that he describes in Côte d'Ivoire is how we got the Obamanistas running the US.

(This dynamic is at work in the Balkans, as well.)

Now, another vid from the same place, entitled Gambian Government Statement on Ivoirian Tragedy:


For those who think Côte d'Ivoire is a Muslim/Christian thing, notice that the above vid is produced by a country, 90% of whose inhabitants are Muslim, and it opposes the installation of Ouattara in place of incumbent Gbagbo, who actually won the election according to Ivoirian law.

The comment at that link is also interesting (I did a little work on the formatting):

Kwame Piankhi Says:

April 23rd, 2011 at 12:23 pm

I believe we Afrikans (Diasporan and Continental) should boycott French products and services including the area of governmental contracts. This is not only based on France's sordid history on the Continent, but also the on current economic arrangement with the "Francophone" African countries called the CFA (Communuate Financiere de l’Afrique). This agreement forces France's former colonies to deposit 80% of their foreign reserves in the French Treasury. Furthermore, France has priority in acquisition of raw materials deemed "strategic" and has first right of refusal for all government contracts in these countries. Finally, the CFA allows France to have permanent military bases in its ex-colonies and they have the "legal" right to intervene in these countries.

According to New African Magazine: "If you think it is bad enough that the majority of the former French colonies in Africa fall in the 'Bottom 50' of the least developed countries in the world, spare a thought for this fact: Poor as they are, they have, for over six decades, been depositing 65% of their foreign reserves in the French Treasury in Paris – thanks to an archaic colonial arrangement linking their local currency, the CFA franc , to the French franc and now the euro." Later on, it is learned that "another 20% of reserves [go] to cover financial liabilities."
See:
"The Economic and Political Effects of the CFA Zone" http://saoti.over-blog.com/article-17347736.html
"SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME: CFA franc" http://www.thefrontiertelegraph.com/content/012908/slavery.html
"CFA The grip France won't let go" http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5391/is_200801/ai_n21301345/
And the article "The Colonial Pact" page 4 of the attached file "Cote D’Ivoire: The Story Behind the Story"

Another reason for a boycott is France's interference in the internal affairs of Cote D'Ivoire and Libya. France has allowed the Ivorian Presidential candidate, Outtara, to usurp the Constitutional process for resolving disputed election results (see attachments "Decision of Constitutional Council" http://www.ivorycoastpresident.com/documents/DECISION-OF-CONSTITUTIONAL-COUNCIL-bahy.pdf and the "Letter from Sen. James Inhofe to Sec of State Hillary Clinton" http://inhofe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=eb6a8527-b1be-4bf9-beee-97a97ff3eaaf). As to Libya, France has disregarded AU initiatives to resolve the evolving civil war peaceably.

Lastly, France has refused repay to Haiti $40 billion that it took as "reparations" for property losses during the Haitian Revolution. See:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17077
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/france-will-not-repay-haiti-reparations/

A boycott should remain in place until the following occur:

1. The CFA arrangement must be cancelled and the former "Francophone" African countries must be allowed to keep their foreign reserves.
2. All African foreign reserves must be returned to the rightful countries subject to an independent accounting verification.
3. France must remove all military bases (permanent and otherwise) from African countries. Furthermore, any intervention by France, overt or otherwise, into the "CFA zone" should be considered a violation of international law.
4. Allasane Outtara must be forced to step down as President of Cote D'Ivoire and new elections should be called in accordance to the Ivorian Constitution. France cannot be allowed to be an observer in any election activities as it is not an objective observer.
5. France must repay to Haiti, $40 billion that it took as "reparations" through coercive means.
The following companies should be boycotted: Total Elf Fina, Accor Novotel, Societe Generale, all Danone products including Dannon Yogurt and Evian Water, Compagnie Fruitière (which sells fruit under the SCB and Bouba labels), Michelin (which also owns Uniroyal and Goodrich tires), Nissan/Renault, Perrier, Nestle, Bic Products, L'Oreal and Lancome.

We consider an excerpt from A Necessary Friendship by Amit Singh, dated April 27, 2011 (I did not reproduce links found in the article):


Innocent?

Ouattara has been depicted as innocent in the Ivory Coast crisis, in stark contrast to Gbagbo, a man portrayed as a despot or 'strongman' unwilling to relinquish power despite the weight of a democratic process finding against him. This is somewhere near the truth: Gbagbo has relentlessly tried to cling on to power and his shelling of the country's capital in March was described by the UN as a 'possible crime against humanity.'

However, Soro and Ouattara are no angels. In the worst reported incident so far, hundreds of ethnic Guéré civilians who were supposedly pro-Gbagbo were massacred in the western town of Duékoué by forces loyal to Ouattara. Some witnesses claimed to have seen pro-Ouattara forces executing civilians who were not militia. Witnesses claim that the pro-Outarra forces were targeting them as a collective punishment against the Guéré. According to a 39-year-old women who lost her husband in the attack, the soldiers shouted "we're here to kill Gbabgo, but since you the Guéré voted for Gbagbo, we'll kill you, we'll kill you until the last Guéré".

Human Rights Watch has called for an investigation into alleged crimes committed by forces under Ouattara and Soro's control. Any investigation that could follow Ouattara's ascension to the presidency would be problematic for his legitimacy. Would Ouattara punish those who supported him in removing Gbagbo? If he was to, it could be a grossly unpopular move at a time when Ivory Coast is still in a state of unrest. Surely those loyal to him will expect some sort of reward, perhaps even immunity against punishment.

However, the Western powers which publically supported Ouattara will surely demand that he investigates his supporters. If he does not he may lose his international legitimacy before he has even started. Ouattara's spokeswoman and election campaign manager Anne Desiree Ouloto refuted any allegations that pro-Ouattara forces were responsible for what had happened in Duékoué, claiming that no pro-Ouattara fighters had perpetrated any violations.

Those who control Ouattara also control the media. That is how they painted Gbagbo as a "strongman" and Ouattara as a democratically-elected leader.

The same way, they can just whitewash Ouattara's forces, playing down the atrocities, absolving Ouattara's rebel forces of the worst of the crimes, and generally muddying up the waters.

The Western powers will demand no real investigations; only a charade to pacify the Western sheeple.

This begins another series on events in Africa...

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