After the turmoil be over and the dust settled, the world will be a different and difficult place for bad leaders and their cohorts. Not that all the problems highlighted will or can be solved, but many issues will be resolved - some by just the overthrow of dictators, others by the overhaul of the systems post-despotism. And the casualties will span the globe!
We speak of the revolution going on in the Middle East and North Africa .Call it The Arab Spring or The Arab Awakening or The MENA Movements or The MENA Massacre, something monumental is afoot! Its public face is its private pain, and its political projectiles will pierce many closets and countries in months and years. Oh, there will be socioeconomic conflagrations of varying dimensions, of shapes and colours. The grounds are already shifting!
Will the bloodshed save the adamant leaders from the more adamant masses? Never! Let the blood-bath stop. Where are world leaders?
Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Monday, May 16, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Is Cote d'Ivoire Now FREE?
Hardly. But the prospects are good. And we wish the people all the best in the difficult task of rebuilding, reconciliation and rebirth - true renaissance.
President Alassane Ouattara has his job cut out for him, and his team. He is a well-equipped man. Let him do the job as a professional, not a typical African politician. He has so much goodwill, empathy and sympathy going for him and the beleaguered country. Squander them not, sir!
Let's plead with Ivoriens: give your nation a chance to heal, and to bond. You have no other land.
Goodluck brethren!
President Alassane Ouattara has his job cut out for him, and his team. He is a well-equipped man. Let him do the job as a professional, not a typical African politician. He has so much goodwill, empathy and sympathy going for him and the beleaguered country. Squander them not, sir!
Let's plead with Ivoriens: give your nation a chance to heal, and to bond. You have no other land.
Goodluck brethren!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
This AFRICA!
Can you be perplexed by your beloved continent? Absolutely. Can you give up on your Mother-CONTINENT? Hell, no!
What to do, then? The struggle continues!
And that is what is going on right now in most of North Africa and the Arab World. It has only begun - more will follow.
That “more” will depend on two factors: the resolve and resilience of The People and the obstinacy and occult of The Potentates. The tie-breaker is The Global Village fronted by World Leaders. In other words, the UN has our standing mandate - abounding duty - to stand up for The People by standing up to The Potentates! Period.
The UN Security Council has finally corrected the “double standards” it was accused of vis-à-vis Libya and Cote d’Ivoire. We hear Nigeria and France tabled the resolution. Left to the AU, we would still be dancing in the dark, stumbling in broad daylight! Even as people are dying, and millions are fleeing! Okay, blaming the AU right now will be a little harsh. This AU, as is, is an AU of Heads of State & Governments FOR Heads of State & Governments!! There is little a brilliant bureaucrat or patriotic technocrat can do about it. For a kettle to call a pot “black”, it must be squeaky clean, right? And since they love working by consensus, if not unanimity, na serious dilemma, fa!
Do not despair, be not depressed: The Peoples’ AU is on its way - give or take 3-5 years, on the outside. Sad? Yes. Slow? Yes. But surely? No question.
The struggle continues!
What to do, then? The struggle continues!
And that is what is going on right now in most of North Africa and the Arab World. It has only begun - more will follow.
That “more” will depend on two factors: the resolve and resilience of The People and the obstinacy and occult of The Potentates. The tie-breaker is The Global Village fronted by World Leaders. In other words, the UN has our standing mandate - abounding duty - to stand up for The People by standing up to The Potentates! Period.
The UN Security Council has finally corrected the “double standards” it was accused of vis-à-vis Libya and Cote d’Ivoire. We hear Nigeria and France tabled the resolution. Left to the AU, we would still be dancing in the dark, stumbling in broad daylight! Even as people are dying, and millions are fleeing! Okay, blaming the AU right now will be a little harsh. This AU, as is, is an AU of Heads of State & Governments FOR Heads of State & Governments!! There is little a brilliant bureaucrat or patriotic technocrat can do about it. For a kettle to call a pot “black”, it must be squeaky clean, right? And since they love working by consensus, if not unanimity, na serious dilemma, fa!
Do not despair, be not depressed: The Peoples’ AU is on its way - give or take 3-5 years, on the outside. Sad? Yes. Slow? Yes. But surely? No question.
The struggle continues!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Cote d'Ivoire, why this?
Over the years, I have been a fan of Ivory Coast (as it used to be called) for a variety of factors. The West African country had been quite stable and dependable in the past. Yes, it had a dictator in Houphet Boigney and poverty was palpable everywhere, the place was nothing near the utter chaos and brink-hugging catastrophe we now endure.
One of my most intriguing memories was the refusal of Pope John Paul II to go dedicate a huge Basilica built by the late dictator in Yamoussoukro. It mocks Christianity!, the pontiff declared. How could a nation sprawling with poverty in the midst of plenty live with such monstrous hypocrisy, demanded John Paul. It was a lesson African leaders - with the generous help of the Western (especially European) handlers/backers - have never really learnt. If anything, they are now carting the people’s patrimony to the East!
The political crises in Cote d’Ivoire are elite-generated, driven and sating. All sides have their faults. But democracy, built on a UN Peace Deal, supported by ECOWAS, AU and the international community, has spoken the people’s voice. It must be heard and obeyed.
President Laurent Gbagbo must hand over to President -elect Alassane Ouattara or be made to do so. The world and the long-suffering people of Cote d’Ivoire deserve to savour this victory! Let’s have a full UN-organized Presidential Inauguration, with the loser embracing the winner in true African brotherhood and the spirit and letter of the peace accord!
Long live Cote d’Ivoire! Thank you, the United Nations - well done!
One of my most intriguing memories was the refusal of Pope John Paul II to go dedicate a huge Basilica built by the late dictator in Yamoussoukro. It mocks Christianity!, the pontiff declared. How could a nation sprawling with poverty in the midst of plenty live with such monstrous hypocrisy, demanded John Paul. It was a lesson African leaders - with the generous help of the Western (especially European) handlers/backers - have never really learnt. If anything, they are now carting the people’s patrimony to the East!
The political crises in Cote d’Ivoire are elite-generated, driven and sating. All sides have their faults. But democracy, built on a UN Peace Deal, supported by ECOWAS, AU and the international community, has spoken the people’s voice. It must be heard and obeyed.
President Laurent Gbagbo must hand over to President -elect Alassane Ouattara or be made to do so. The world and the long-suffering people of Cote d’Ivoire deserve to savour this victory! Let’s have a full UN-organized Presidential Inauguration, with the loser embracing the winner in true African brotherhood and the spirit and letter of the peace accord!
Long live Cote d’Ivoire! Thank you, the United Nations - well done!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
US vs Iran
We've been here before! Obstinacy. Isolationism. Superpower arrogance. Failed intelligence. Etc. The six party talks over North Korean nuclear impasse is ongoing and cautiously promising. The sticking point is about US-DPRK relations. The North Koreans don't want to be dictated to by America. The South Koreans do not agree with America's threat and bully diplomacy of the last six years. China and Russia are balancing things, while Japan is in muted and aware alliance with the US.
Despite all the past bad blood, the US and North Korea are now talking. What a relief! Keep it up, guys, it's the right steps to peace. With Ban Ki-Moon on board, the prospects are good.
Now we hear a lot of buzz around the world of some possible American military attack on Iran. Though this is furiously denied and serially refuted by both the Pentagon and the White House, no one seems to believe them, any where. Why? Credibility problem. And that is a pity for the world's superpower - leader of the free world! Sad.
The greatest pity however will be for President Bush and his neocons to, against all opposition, even in the US, attack Iran - under any pretext whatsoever. The Europeans have warned him, Tony Blair has demurred, and both Russia and China do not support this misguided project. His blaming Iran for the mess in Iraq is simply buck-passing and scape-goating.
As the Syrian President told Dianne Sawyer of ABC News, has America, with all its resources, been able to secure its borders? Why blame Iraq's neighbours for illegal entry of insurgents or jihadists in Baghdad? Surely, regional cooperation on this matter is better than regional conflagration!
Disbanding the Iraqi military and unleashing billions of dollars on the flux populace without any records or programmes - perhaps to buy "hearts and minds"! - was a sure fire guarantee of the sustainable resistance the coalition forces now confront. The recent US National Intelligence Estimate was quite instructive, and is corroborated and heightened by the latest Inspector General's Report, which indicted the Policy Unit in the Pentagon on the manipulation (or was it doctoring?) of pre-war intelligence. There are too many flaws in George Bushes war in Iraq! It is now time for humble pie and soul-searching. The American voters get it. Will their president?
If the US wants to succeed in Iraq, the White House better revisit the Baker-Hamilton report without dilly-dallying. America must talk with Syria and Iraq. Period.
Congress need to hold this White House to full accountability and multilateralism. The Middle East should not be the cradle of the Third World War, or unceasing fountain of blood! No more.
Despite all the past bad blood, the US and North Korea are now talking. What a relief! Keep it up, guys, it's the right steps to peace. With Ban Ki-Moon on board, the prospects are good.
Now we hear a lot of buzz around the world of some possible American military attack on Iran. Though this is furiously denied and serially refuted by both the Pentagon and the White House, no one seems to believe them, any where. Why? Credibility problem. And that is a pity for the world's superpower - leader of the free world! Sad.
The greatest pity however will be for President Bush and his neocons to, against all opposition, even in the US, attack Iran - under any pretext whatsoever. The Europeans have warned him, Tony Blair has demurred, and both Russia and China do not support this misguided project. His blaming Iran for the mess in Iraq is simply buck-passing and scape-goating.
As the Syrian President told Dianne Sawyer of ABC News, has America, with all its resources, been able to secure its borders? Why blame Iraq's neighbours for illegal entry of insurgents or jihadists in Baghdad? Surely, regional cooperation on this matter is better than regional conflagration!
Disbanding the Iraqi military and unleashing billions of dollars on the flux populace without any records or programmes - perhaps to buy "hearts and minds"! - was a sure fire guarantee of the sustainable resistance the coalition forces now confront. The recent US National Intelligence Estimate was quite instructive, and is corroborated and heightened by the latest Inspector General's Report, which indicted the Policy Unit in the Pentagon on the manipulation (or was it doctoring?) of pre-war intelligence. There are too many flaws in George Bushes war in Iraq! It is now time for humble pie and soul-searching. The American voters get it. Will their president?
If the US wants to succeed in Iraq, the White House better revisit the Baker-Hamilton report without dilly-dallying. America must talk with Syria and Iraq. Period.
Congress need to hold this White House to full accountability and multilateralism. The Middle East should not be the cradle of the Third World War, or unceasing fountain of blood! No more.
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