Abuja — Africa was in a celebratory mood after Barack Hussein Obama became America's first black President. The continent, like most of the world, had invested a lot of hope in the Obama presidency.
But after more than seven months in office, Obama is yet to distance himself from most of the key foreign policy objectives of the discredited George W. Bush administration.
As far as Africa is concerned, one of the most controversial steps taken by the previous U.S. administration was the setting up of the U.S. Africa Command (Africom) in 2007. Bush, in a major policy speech in 2003, had said that 25 per cent of the oil that the U.S. imported should be sourced from the African continent.
The White House, in a statement, spelt out the reasons for setting up Africom: "[It] will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and set up new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa." Another stated goal was to strengthen "democracy" on the continent. The most important reasons, to control the rich resources of the continent and to set up military bases there, were not mentioned.
The Obama administration, like the previous one, views Africom as an important tool in the "global war on terror". The "war on terror" is being used by Washington to strengthen its military presence on the continent. The U.S. military presence in the Horn of Africa has seriously destabilised the region. The bloodletting in Somalia is threatening to spread into neighbouring Ethiopia, Kenya and Eritrea. With U.S. backing, Ethiopia has emerged as the regional policeman.
The African Union (A.U.) and other regional groupings such as the Southern African Development Council (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have rejected the very rationale behind the creation of Africom. The fact that no African country has offered basing facilities for Africom despite the best efforts of the Bush administration illustrates the deep suspicion that the continent has towards Africom.
Most African leaders see Africom as an effort at military intrusion into the continent and a crude attempt to counter Chinese influence. China has funnelled massive development aid into the continent and is the biggest market for the continent's bountiful mineral riches.
It is no surprise that Obama has taken on the Africom agenda from his predecessor, albeit without much fanfare. While candidate Obama was critical of many aspects of the Bush administration's foreign policy, he was supportive of Africom. Obama had said: "There will be situations that require the U.S. to work with its partners in Africa to fight terrorism with lethal force. Having a unified command fighting in Africa will facilitate this action."
Africom is a unified command that brings all U.S. Defence Department programmes in Africa under one umbrella. Missions range from anti-terrorism programmes to maritime security initiatives and military-to-military training exercises with many countries.
Throughout the Cold War and more than a decade after that, the U.S. did not have a military command for Africa. U.S. military activity in Africa was conducted by three military commands: the Central Command, which was responsible for Egypt and the Horn of Africa along with West and Central Asia; the Pacific Command, which had strong links with Madagascar and other small islands in the Indian Ocean; and the European Command, which was responsible for most of the continent.
Obama, during his recent visit to Ghana, his first official tour of an African country, did not mention Africom. The Obama administration prefers to pursue its military and strategic objectives in the continent in a low-profile manner - it has doubled Africom's budget and increased funding for counter-terrorism projects in the continent.
This includes funding for weapons and military training at a time when American military aid to other parts of the world is drying up. Most of the funding is going to pro-American authoritarian regimes such as the ones in Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and Chad. Impoverished Equatorial Guinea and Chad are big oil producers. Ethiopia has been used by the U.S. to prop up the tottering Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. The Obama administration is paying special attention to the Counter-terrorism Engagement Programme, the official goal of which is to "build political will at senior levels in partner nations for shared counterterrorism challenges".
The 2010 U.S. Federal Budget includes $42 million for the Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP) and the East African Strategic Initiative. The TSCTP links the U.S. with Mali, Chad, Niger, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. The Eritrean government, which once was the favoured recipient of U.S. largesse on the continent, stated that "the misguided acts of intervention and supply of weapons by the U.S. have not advanced the cause of stability in Somalia".
Much of the U.S. military activity in the Horn is conducted from the Camp Lemonier Base in Djibouti. Observers say that the fact that Obama chose Ghana as his first port of call is indicative of the American agenda. The West African state has started producing oil in commercial quantities and is soon going to be an oil exporter. Other West African states are already big oil exporters. Oil and gas deposits are being discovered in the Gulf of Guinea.
Islamist insurgents patrol a street in Mogadishu, Somalia, on July 13. "Intervention and supply of weapons by the U.S. have not advanced the cause of stability in Somalia," states the Eritrean government. Washington has been trying to convince key West African states to host Africom. Liberia at one time was said to be predisposed to hosting Africom.
The Bush administration tried to convince Nigeria to engage with Africom. Obama's charm offensive in Ghana, African commentators feel, could be a bid to convince the new government there to be more accommodative towards Africom. Ghana, like Nigeria, is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which remains steadfastly opposed to militarisation.
The stated purpose of Obama's visit was "to strengthen the U.S' relationship with one of our most trusted partners in sub-Saharan Africa, and to highlight the goal sound governance and civil society plays in promoting lasting development". But many Ghanaians are wary of the hidden agenda. Ghana is ideally located to serve as Africom's base as it straddles the vast oil reserves in the Gulf of Guinea.
Ghana already has a base access agreement with the U.S., signed during the Bush presidency. Under this, the U.S. has access to local military bases for combat, surveillance and other military activity. Legally, the bases belong to Ghana, but for all practical purposes the U.S. has a free run.
Similar agreements have been signed between the U.S. and the governments of Gabon, Botswana, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. Algeria has allowed the U.S. to fly P-3 "Orion" aerial surveillance aircraft from the Tamanrasset airfield in the south of the country.
This is incontrovertible evidence that though almost all the governments in Africa are ostensibly against Africom, many of them are not averse to lending a helping hand to the U.S. in less visible ways. The West has a long history of intervening in the region.
The proceedings against Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia in the War Crimes Tribunal, have revealed that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) played a role in his ascent to power. According to Taylor, he was allowed to "escape" from a high-security American prison.
Taylor was serving a prison sentence in the U.S. in the late 1980s. Khwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana and a pan-African visionary, was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup in 1966.
France, a former colonial power, has 10,000 troops stationed on the African continent. Between 1997 and 2002, France intervened militarily 34 times in the continent. France has drawn up secret defence agreements with many of its former colonies and these give it access on a priority basis to natural resources such as oil, gas and uranium.
During a speech to the Ghanaian parliament, Obama spelt out the American policy for the region: "We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly in the region and to isolate those who don't, and that is exactly what America will do." The Obama administration has not relaxed the draconian sanctions against Zimbabwe despite a unity government being in place there. Ordinary Zimbabweans are in desperate need of essentials such as food and medicine, but the U.S. administration's priority continues to be to isolate the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe.
Washington has been piling pressure on Sudan by raising the bogey of humanitarian intervention. Among the stated goals of the Obama administration is "ending autocracy in Zimbabwe and human devastation in Darfur".
Obama, during one of the debates in the run-up to the presidential election, said that it was in America's "national interests" to intervene in places where ethnic cleansing and humanitarian disasters took place.
He mentioned Darfur as a region where the U.S. could provide logistical support. It is, therefore, not surprising that Africans in general view Africom as a distinct threat to sovereignty and associate it with neocolonialism.
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COMPREHENSIVE REPARATIONS - White Europeans need spiritual reparations
- Black Africans need spiritual & financial reparations
A. Appendix of Uncle Tom's Cabin Lists Companies who engaged in slavery
B. NAACP & Black African Newspapers - records & details of lynchings
1. Post Emancipation Slavery Cases (Convict Labor System Continues) via Modern Slavery Owners
2. Prison Stock Wall Street
3. No Statute of Limitations on Murder ;[ LYNCHINGS ]
1) Check Out :
1) [ JohnAlanMartinsonJr.com] 2) His You Tube Video : URL = [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuzhnKy63io ]
Who Brought The Slaves To America ? [http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=911]
BOOKNOTES FROM THE BOOK (and other sources) 100 YEARS OF LYNCHING BY RALPH GINZBURG
[A H victims ] - THEIR LOCATIONS & DATES
* Henry Askew Mississippi City, MS June 10, 1900
* Walter Allen Rome, GA Apr 1, 1902
* Herman Arthur (1892) Hodges Farm - Paris, TX July 6, 1920
* Irving Arthur (1901) Hodges Farm - Paris, TX July 6, 1920
* Charles Atkins (1907) Davisboro , GA May 18, 1922
* Henry Argo (1911) Chickasha , OK May 31, 1930
* George Armwood (1909) Princess Anne, MD Oct 18, 1933
* Will Burks (1881) Greenwood,SC Feb 18, 1900
* James Bailey Lake Cormorant, TX July 15, 1914
* Jeff Brown Cedar Bluff, MS Apr 1, 1916
* Cleveland Butler Dublin, GA July 2, 1919
* Will Brown Omaha, NE Oct, 1919
* William Bowles Eagle Lake, FL ????????
* Jake Brooks Oklahoma City, OK Jan 17, 1922
* Parks Banks Yazoo City, MS Aug 22, 1922
* Albert Blades Osceola, AR June 2, 1926
* Willie Bryan (1906) Darien, GA Sept 10, 1930
* Norris Bendy Clinton, SC July 5, 1933
* Richard Coleman (1879) Maysville, KY Dec 6, 1899
* Elijah Clark (1880) Huntsville, AL June 23, 1900
* Ballie Crutchfield Nashville, TN March 16, 1901
* Dusty Crutchfield - Hamilton, GA Jan 23, 1912
* Eugene Carter Pierce City, MO Aug 10, 1901
* Tom Clark Corinth,MS Sept 28, 1904
* Luther Colbert & His Wife Eastland Plantation - Doddsville, MS July 7, 1914
* William Carr Planquemines, LA March 17, 1906
* James Comeaux Jennings, LA Aug 28, 1913
* Henry Crosby Parkinsville, KY Sept 21, 1913
* Mary Conley Arlington, GA Oct 4, 1916
* Lloyd Clay (1895) Jackson, MS June 4, 1919
* Eli Cooper Eastman, GA - Burned Lodges & Churches too Aug 29, 1919
* Dallas Cooksey Johnson City, TN Oct 28, 1920
* Shap Curry (1896) King Ranch - Kirvin, TX May 6, 1922
* John Cornish (1903) King Ranch - Kirvin, TX May 6, 1922
* Samuel Carter (1877) Bronson, FL - This actual lynching was depicted In the movie Rosewood Jan 4, 1923
* Lindsay Coleman Nicholas Plantation - Clarksdale, MS Dec 19, 1928
* Henry Choate (1909) Columbia, TN Nov 12, 1927
* Cord Cheeck (1913) Columbia, TN Dec 15, 1933
* John Criggs (ca. 1904) Newton, TX - Worked At Box Factory June 21, 1934
* Richard Dickerson Springfield, OH Feb 7, 1904 ?
* Jim Durfee Angleton , TX Oct 14, 1914
* Frank Dodd DeWitt, AR Oct 9, 1914
* George Dorsey (1919) & Wife - Monroe, GA July 27, 1946
* Charles Evan Norway, SC July 2, 1903
* Ruben Elrod Piedmont, SC July 2, 1903
* Warren Eton Monroe, LA Oct 22, 1913
* Charles Fisher Marshall, TX April 29, 1914
* John Foreman + 1 / - Nowata, OK Sept 30, 1916
* Jim Fox Louisville, MS June 13, 1927
* Mark Fox Louisville , MS June 13, 1927
* Gulley (whole name unkown) Pierce City, MO Aug 10, 1901
* Richard Galloway + 1 / Beaumont, TX June 6, 1913
* Wilson Gardner Birmingham, AL Aug 25, 1913
* Willie Green Cowards, SC Dec 6, 1914
* Ernest Glenwood ? Americus, GA Oct 3, 1919
* Philip Gathans ? Rincon, GA June 21, 1920
* George Gay (1897) Fairfield, TX Dec 14, 1922
* George Grant Darien, GA Sept 10, 1930
* David Gregory Beaumont, TX Dec 8, 1933
* Sam Holt Newman, GA Apr 23, 1899
* Belle Hathaway Hamilton, GA Jan 23, 1912
* Eugene Hamming Hamilton, GA Jan 23, 1912
* Hammet, Jess ? Vivian, LA Aug 26, 1916
* George Holden Monroe, LA May 1, 1919
* Robert Hicks (1896) Lake Village, AR Nov 29, 1921
* Len Hart (1889) Jacksonville, FL Aug 25, 1913
* George Hughes (1889) Sherman, TX May 10, 1930
* Ellwood Higginbotham Oxford, MS Sept 18, 1935
[I Q victims ] - THEIR LOCATIONS & DATES
* Ron Jacobs Tylertown, Mississippi - Nov 10, 1920
* Henry Jacobs Tylertown, Mississippi - Nov 23, 1920
* Richard James Versailles, KY Mar 13, 1921
* Moses Jones King Ranch, Kirvin, TX May 6, 1922
* Joe Love Clarksdale, MS June 9, 1934
* Wesley Johnson Montgomery, AL June 4, 1937
* Ray Newsome H.A. Woods FarmPinetta, FL Oct 1, 1921
* Nash Nelson (1909) Ringgold, LA Feb 20, 1933
* Andrew McCloud (1908) Bastrop, LA July 9, 1934
* Claude Neal (1911) Marianna, FL Oct 27, 1934
* Bootjack McDaniels Duck Hill, MS Apr 14, 1937
* Wilder McGowan (1914) Wiggins, MS Nov 22, 1938
* Roger Malcolm (1919) & His Wife Monroe, GA July 27, 1916
Warren ? (1906) New Dacus, TX June 24, 1922
An African American - Pilot Point, TX Dec 29, 1922
Clarence ? Aiken, SC Oct 8, 1926
Bertha ? Aiken, SC Oct 8, 1926
Demon ? Aiken, SC Oct 8, 1926
Willie Kirkland Magnolia Gardens, GA Sept 25, 1936 ?
??? - Ninety-Six, SC Oct 9, 1933
Wylie McNeely (1902) Leesburg, TX Oct 11, 1921
John Peterson Demark, SC ca. 1899
F.D. McLand - Shreveport, LA June 19, 1901
John Pennington Enterprise, AL August 7, 1901
Pierce City African Americans Pierce City, MO August 20,1901
Dudley Morgan Lansing, TX May 22, 1902
Ed Johnson Knoxville, TN March 19, 1906
Judge James Pine Bluff, AR March 26, 1910
1520 Negroes Slocum-Denisons Springs-Palestine,TX7/31/1910
Honea Path Augusta, GA November 13, 1916 ?
John Moore Hamilton, GA January 23, 1912
Tom Miles Shreveport, LA April 9, 1912
A/A Man Jackson, GA May 4, 1912
Willis Perkins Sheffield, AL Sept, 1912
Walter Johnston Princeton, WVA September 7, 1912
???? Perrys Marshall, TX February 27, 1913
Joe & John Perry Henderson, NC March 12, 1913
Richard Puckett Laurens, SC August 12, 1913
Lige Lane Clinton County, GA 1913
Charley Jones Groveton, GA May 8, 1914
Watson Lewis Sylvester, GA? December 13, 1914
Felix Lake Sylvester, GA - January 22, 1916
Frank Lake Sylvester, GA - January 22, 1916
Dewer Lake Sylvester, GA - January 22, 1916
Major Lake Sylvester, GA - January 22, 1916
Oscar Martin Idabel, OK April 4, 1916
Two A/As Paducah, KY October 16, 1916
Will Powell Montgomery, AL July 25, 1917
Jesse Powell Montgomery, AL July 25, 1917
Ell Persons Memphis, TN May 18, 1917
Jim McIlherron Estill Springs, TN February 13, 1918
William Little Blakely, GA April 4, 1919
[R Z (victims ] - THEIR LOCATIONS & DATES
Wells, George Weir City, KS October 30, 1899
Rice, Louis Ripley, TN March 24, 1900
Russ, Ed Mississippi City, MS June 10, 110
Sanders, John + (1?) Sneads, FL June, 1900
Reid, George Rome, GA January 4, 1900
Ward, George Terre Haute, IN February 27, 1900
Smith, Frank Prophet- Shreveport, LA June 19, 1901
Wyatt, David S, - Belleville, IL June 8, 1900
White, George F. Wilmington, DE June 20, 1903
Steers, Jennie Beard Plantation/Shreveport, LA- July 27, 1903
A/A Residents Whitesboro , TX August 12, 1904
Winters, John Eastland Plantation/Doddsville, MS Feb 7, 1904
A/A Residents Springfield, OH February 9, 1904
Nine (9) A/As St. Charles , AR March 25, 1904
Richardson, Grant Braehead, AL October 13, 1910
Verge , Sam Demopolis, AL August 4, 1911
Qualken, Zachariah Coatesville, PA August 14, 1911
Rufficant , ? Wetumpka, AL November 11, 1912
Ricker, David (1883) Houston, TX February 8, 1913
Williams, Andrew Houston, TX February, 1913
Tyson, Charles (secret lynching) Shreveport, LA 2/16/1913
Redding , William (4 wounded) Americus, GA June 21, 1913
Swanson, Virgil Greenville , GA August 27, 1913
Scott, Marie Muskogee, OK March 13, 1914
Sullivan, Fred & Wife Byhalia, MS November 25, 1914
Reed, Young Cedar Keys, FL February 26, 1915
Sheffield , Caesar Lake Park, GA April 17, 1915
Wilton, Mallie? Dresden, TN September 8, 1915
Stevenson, Cordelia Columbus, MS December 18, 1915
Wasshington, Jesse Waco, TX - May 15, 1916
Smith, Bert Goose Creek, TX - October 12, 1917
Washington, Berry Eastman, GA May, 1919
Scott, Henry Atlantic Coastline R/R , FL May 8, 1920
Roach, Edward (1896) Durham, NC July 8, 1920
Roland, Jim Camillia, GA February 13, 1921
Slater, Phil (1871) Monticelle, AR March 17, 1921
Smith, Leroy (1907) McGhee, AR May 27, 1921
Williams, John Henry Moultrie, GA June 20, 1921
Winn, Alexander Coolidge, TX August 16, 1921
Wothfield, Jerome Winstron, NC August 18, 1921
Turner, Will Helena, AR November 19, 1921
Rouse, Fred Armour Packing Ft. Worth, TX Dec 12, 1921
Thomas , Jesse + 1 - Waco, TX May 27, 1922
West, John Hope, AR July 28, 1922
Wright, Charles Perry, FL September 14, 1922
Young, Albert Perry, FL September 14, 1922
Scott, James T. Columbia, MO April 29, 1923
Warner, Lloyd St. Joseph, MO November 29, 1933
Thomas, Isaac Clarksdale, MS June 9, 1934
Sanders, James (1909) Bolton, MS July 16, 1934
Young, Ab Slayden, MS March 12, 1935
Tyrone, R.J. Hattiesburg, MS April 24, 1935
Shaw, Lint (1891) Colbert, GA April 28, 1934
Townes, Roosevelt Duck Hill, MS October 14, 1934
Williams, A.C. Quincy, FL 1934?
VICTIMS , THEIR LOCATIONS & DATES
* UNKNOWN AFRICAN AMERICANS LYNCHED *
- 1 Person - Eastman, GA Sept 11, 1903
- 3 Persons Doddsville, MS Feb 7, 1904
- 4 Persons Dady, FL (Also many A/As left town) Aug 4, 1910
- 2 Persons Hartwell, GA (1 beaten) Jan 3, 1916
- 6 Persons - Blakely, GA (Also Lodge & Church Burned) Jan 3, 1916
* An African-American R/R Porter Atlantic Coastline R/R (FL) May 8, 1920
[As pay got better for R/R workers, many A/As Were terrorized or killed Hence we now have mostly White Railroad Workers]
* Joe Pop Omaha, NE Oct 10, 1891
* Ed _____ - Black River Section Of Williamsburg County Jan 13, 1927
* [Unknown] Columbus, MS July 22, 1933
* [Unknown] Franklinton, LA Jan 11, 1933
* [Unknown ] Savannah, GA March 30, 1902
Unknown Wetumpka, AL November 11, 1912
A/A Woman Wagner, OK April, 1914
Sea????, ____- Sylvester, GA January 22, 1916
One(1) A/A - Stuttgart, AR Late August , 1916
A/A Brakeman Yazoo & MS Valley R/R - March 17, 1921
_____, Albert - Perry, FL September 14, 1922
Unknown Streetman, TX December 11, 1922 Swa???, Henry Palm Beach , FL Circa 1923
MOBS OUT OF CONTROL
Places ,Dates & Estimates of the total crowd(s)
STATE CITY/COUNTY DATE CROWD
ALABAMA Huntsville 7/23/1900 1,500 Montgomery 5/22/? 1,500
ARKANSAS Nodema 1/27/1921 500 Texarkana 7/28/1922 100
DELEWARE Wilmington 6/22/1903 2,000
FLORIDA Marianna 10/27/1934 7,000
GEORGIA Newman 4/23/1899 2,000 Rome 1/3/1901 150 Rome 4/1/1902 4,000 Hamilton 1/23/1912 100 Eastman 7/14/1901 50 Americus 6/21/1913 500 Rincon 6/21/1920 5,000 Davisboro 5/18/1922 200 Royston 4/28/1936 100
KENTUCKY Maysville 12/7/1899 2,000 Versailles 3/13/1921 50
LOUISIANA Shreveport 6/19/1901 200 Shreveport 8/26/1916 1,000 Sylvester 12/12/1914 200 Bastrop 7/9/1934 3,000 Ringgold 3/1/1933 1,500
MARYLAND Princess Anne 10/18/1933 3,000 Salisbury 11/28/1933 500
MOBS OUT OF CONTROL
Places ,Dates & Estimates of the total crowd(s) STATE CITY/COUNTY DATE CROWD
MISSISSIPPI Biloxi 6/10/1900 100 Clarksdale 6/9/1934 150 Doddsville 2/7/1904 1,000 Vicksburg 5/15/1919 1,000 Winon 4/13/1937 100
MISSOURI Columbia 4/29/1923 500 Maryville 1/31/1931 3,000 St. Joseph 11/29/1933 10,000
NEBRASKA Omaha 10/10/1891 10,000
NORTH CAROLINA Roxboro 7/8/1920 200 Winston 8/18/1921 2,000
OHIO Lima 8/31/1916 3,000
OKLAHOMA Chickasha 5/31/1930 1,000
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia 2/18/1900 250
TENNESSEE Estill Springs 2/12/1918 2,000
TEXAS Corsicana 3/13/1901 5,000 El Campo ??? 300 Ft. Worth (Armour Packing) 12/17/1921 30 Goose Creek 10/12/1917 800 Houston 2/8/1913 1,000 Houston 6/24/1922 300 Kirvin 5/6/1922 500 Lansing 5/22/1902 4,000 Newton 6/21/1934 200 Palestine 7/31/1910 300 Paris 1/6/1920 3,000 Streetman 12/14/1922 1,500 Waco 5/15/1916 15,000
MISCELLANEOUS
1 Mass Exodus Of African Americans resulting in major losses of properties. a) Yazoo City, MS August 10, 1923
2) African Americans Homes and/or Churches Burned a) Sherman , TX May 10, 1930 b) Winnsboro, SC June 14, 1932
HEROES , THEIR LOCATIONS & DATES
NAME (S) LOCATION DATE
Sheriff Ely Lima, OH 8/31/1916
14 Year Old Sheriffs Daughter Columbia,SC Jan, 1917
Grover C. Fain (Police Captain) Atlanta,GA 9/10/1930
Sheriff Hood & 6 Deputies Winnsboro,SC ??
Police Whitesboro,TX 8/13/1903
Dr. James W. Reid Lowell, NC 3/26/1933
Mayor Edward P. Smith Omaha,NE 9/29/1919
Governor Stanley Murray, KY Jan, 1917
Sheriff R.J. White Spartanburg,SC 8/18/1913
Who Brought The Slaves To America ? [http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=911]
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