It is not the Chinese government that has trained the armies of Rwanda or Uganda. It is not the Chinese government that has trained the militias that have caused the massive destruction and millions of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These are U.S. allies
[Global: Africa]
KPFA Evening News, 08.04.2012
Milton Allimadi told KPFA that there is no such thing as the hunt for Joseph Kony. Nii Akuetteh said that Hillary’s remarks in Africa would be hilarious if the situation weren’t so serious. Transcript:
KPFA Weekend News Anchor Cameron Jones: Cynical eyebrows rose on the African continent, and around the world, at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s admonitions to African nations south of the Sahara during her tour of that part of the continent this week. KPFA’s Ann Garrison spoke to Ugandan American newspaper editor Milton Allimadi and Ghanaian American scholar and activist Nii Akuetteh.
KPFA/Ann Garrison: For the past 12 years, expert UN investigators have reported that the armies of U.S. backed Ugandan General Yoweri Museveni and Rwandan General Paul Kagame have invaded the Democratic Republic of the Congo, overthrown two successive Congolese presidents, committed mass atrocities, and been the principle aggressors in a conflict that has caused the death of over 6 million Congolese people and Rwandan refugees, many of whom have died of starvation, disease, or other hardship in Congo’s internally displaced persons, or IDP camps, or, in refugee camps across its borders.
The latest UN report included 48 pages of photographic and other documentary evidence that General Kagame’s army is behind the M23 militia which in April, began the war in eastern Congo again, and has thus far caused nearly half a million more Congolese people to flee their homes. Nevertheless, Secretary Clinton warned Africans to beware nations that support dictatorial African regimes and simply wanted to exploit African resources, by which she obviously meant China.
And, met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni about “stepping up the hunt for minor East African warlord Joseph Kony.”
This was Ugandan American Black Star News Editor Milton Allimadi’s response:
Milton Allimadi: There’s no such thing as a search for Joseph Kony. We all know that. If the United States, which was able to use its assets to eventually get Osama bin Laden, was serious about getting Joseph Kony, Joseph Kony would have been eliminated a long time ago.
If Yoweri Museveni had been serious about getting Joseph Kony, he would have eliminated Joseph Kony a long time ago. Joseph Kony was the reason for him to be able to get military resources from the West, to use him as this bogeyman. And now the United States is repeating the same Ugandan trick, of invoking Joseph Kony’s name to move military resources and assets to regions of massive resource discovery, including oil, simply to secure it against Chinese penetration.
But there’s a level of hypocrisy in what Secretary Clinton says. It is not the Chinese government that has trained the armies of Rwanda or Uganda. It is not the Chinese government that has trained the militias that have caused the massive destruction and millions of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These are U.S. allies, trained by the United States, supplied, equipped, and sustained by the United States of America.
KPFA: Ghanaian American scholar and advocate Nii Akuettah, of the Trans Africa Forum and the African Great Lakes Advocates Coailition said that Secretary Clinton’s remarks would be hilarious if the situation were not so serious.
Nii Akuetteh: I thought if the issue wasn’t so serious, it would actually be hilarious. Because, I mean she was in Senegal and she talked about how Africans should embrace democracy. She didn’t mention China by name, but everybody was clear that she had China in mind, and then she flies to meet with Yoweri Museveni.
KPFA: That was Milton Allimadi and Nii Akuettah on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Africa. For Pacifica, KPFA, and AfrobeatRadio, I’m Ann Garrison.
“Speaking Truth To Empower.”
