I think Western governments should fund a mercenary brigade under JMA to sort out this latest fouled-up situation in Africa. Just imagine, a unit with guys from SAS, Parachute Regiment, the Selous Scouts, and the Waffen SS! Were JMA to be able to pull this one off and emerge victorious he'd become utterly insufferable on the forum, it would be a case of "I told you so" every time you turned around!
Nice one Pete.Originally Posted by Pete
No brigade needed... just three cruise missiles like I said.
...PS: its not that I'm so clever... its that some others are so stupid
Ivory Coast
It is interesting that you mention Cruise missiles. After the attack on Pademba Prison in Freetown a number of Sierra Leone worthies were evacuated to a US vessel standing offshore. One of the Sierra Leoneans turned to the US Marine General and suggested that he send a Cruise missile towards Freetown to frighten the rebels. The general made a classic reply "If I send a Cruise missile towards Freetown, it would have to fly as far as Dubai before it could ht anything worth more than the missile".
Intervention: a few points
A long commentary by Knox Chiteyo, from the RUSI, on the BBC News:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11952773
The French presence:Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12096437.. France...has 900 highly trained soldiers based near Abidjan airport. The official role of these troops is to be the Rapid Reaction Force of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast.
However, if soldiers from the former colonial power France joined forces with anyone to take Ivory Coast by force it would be political dynamite.
davidbfpo
French Masons and the Ivory Coast
I thought this might be of interest.
http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish...t-Gbagbo.shtml
Gbagbo Agrees to Talks
Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo has agreed to negotiate a "peaceful end" to his country's crisis without preconditions, regional leaders say.
The chairman of the Ecowas regional group said Mr Gbagbo had also agreed to immediately lift the blockade around the temporary headquarters of his presidential rival Alassane Ouattara.
Stan, of course you are correct in that even after a few years in Nigeria as ambassador he remains a long way from being an Africa expert. I wish there was something like the "congressional voting record" one could apply to the analyst/chattering class. Very soon we would see who knew what he was talking about.Originally Posted by Stan
Hey JMA,
Agreed, and I did provide some weak links to support my theories regarding our Administrations' amateur Africanists
However, a tour or two and later a self-proclaimed expert on the region worries me; be it military and/or civilian. They are flattering themselves at best and simultaneously showing our inept ability to comprehend African politics.
Lets just look at what he said again:
That would seem obvious to me but believe it or not there are a lot of self proclaimed smart guys at State who think differently or see not problem/pattern taking shape across Africa.Because what power sharing does is that it enables a big man who has lost an election to remain in power, and from that perspective this is a particularly sensitive time in Africa.
The spread of power sharing may well tempt those who lose those elections to try to either somehow hang onto power or gain power or (even) some options of power.
Power sharing is undemocratic,’’
In the classic tradition of Africa they take one step forward (holding elections where none were held before) then one step back by refusing to accept the outcome and trying to negotiate personal terms over the wishes of the people under the threat of mass bloodshed). And the smart guys at State are saying... "but at least they are holding elections."
Well one learns from Africa that "when the elephants fight it is the grass that gets trampled" - (Kikuyu proverb).Too many from my days and second guessing your African political opponents with ca 1970s studies can only lead us to an ineffective policy for engagements in the most important Francophone country in the region.
So why it is not obvious to State if you want to avoid the "grass getting trampled" (and end up paying billions in humanitarian aid, reconstruction projects etc etc) you take the bad elephants out before they cause damage? Quick and clean.
Then another obvious Africa proverb "If you want to kill a snake hit it on the head."
Maybe we should run a seminar for the clowns at State called "The Art of the Obvious"
Regards, StanThe US might have had the last word with Charles Taylor, but we don't have a hope or prayer here. IMO the current administration still doesn't get the internal dynamics of the Ivory Coast and West Africa.
Good heavens Stan, you mean beyond fun on the cocktail party circuit the US State department has little to show for the last fifty years (or so) of engagement with Africa?
Last edited by SWCAdmin; 01-10-2011 at 02:07 AM. Reason: restored post from e-hiccup; post timestamp is approx
OK, I'll bite !
Wish the link text was a little larger - hard to read.
Are the African Leaders and other powerful Africans really, truly, members of the French Masons ? Or, similar to what I witnessed and was later told, these memberships are but token gestures to keep the peace if you will ?
The Rotary Club and Lions Club among others were constantly complaining to the Ambassadors and American Chamber of Commerce over providing symbolic and free of charge memberships to African leaders and other powerful interest group leaders.
This seems more of a right of passage than true participating membership. Although, and in keeping with the typical African business savy, they still manage to squander funds that purportedly end up supporting some political office. While that may certainly be true of real Masons around the world, they have yet to come face-to-face with Africa and her leaders.
I personally wouldn't believe anything an African banker told me... Especially not over cocktails and dinner with US diplomats
If you want to blend in, take the bus
I have a secret...
Ok, i did try and I don't bite it! Could not even go to the end of the text.
Yes ENA (Ecole Nationale d'Administration) and Polytechnique are among the 5 most prestigious private schools in France but it just does not work as they describe it.
By the way the aim of ENA is to educate and train high level civil servants! most of the politicians and diplomats... in France went there. No secret neither conspiracy.
Polytechnique was created to train officers... We also have Ecole des Mines
which was made to train high level civil servants by Louis 13... And Central with many nobel prices... By the way, if you graduate those schools, until recently, you were automatically an officer for the reserve. That was a post WW1 law! But shhhhhhh
Most of the African families in Francophone Africa send their children to be educated in France. Yes, so what? They all end up in a secret society?
I have a secret, some African president did serve in the French Army and the French Army is training, in secret, their "special forces"...
But if we want to talk about the Mason role in this part of Africa, let's talk about Liberia! That's more interresting, historically documented and actually true.
Coming back to Ivory Coast, it seems that US tried to give Bagbo an opportunity to get asylum in Atlanta.
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