Bullshit Score: Obama's message to Africa.

[butchersapron]

I know, that's what i've just pointed out to you in my last post.

 

[butchersapron]

And when should they start taking responsibility for themselves?

I missed the part where he said he was cutting them off, best I can find is



ok - so maybe some countries may find it difficult to get more funding, but I would prefer that my money wasn't going to the "kleptomaniacs and autocrats".

Cutting them off? Do you really think the whole of the African continent is funded by the generosity of the US state? Loon.

The question is when is global cpaital going to stop living of profits pumped out of thirld world countries and stealing their resources for their own gain. As usual you have things utterly back to front.

 

[spring-peeper]

I find the premis offensive, he implies that Africa hasn't been 'taking responsability for itself' when in fact anyone with half the information knows damn well that African attempts to seize control of their sovereignty get slapped down with US backed invasions and IMF/World Bank structural adjustments and the like. They used to justify it as "protecting our interests" or "fighting communism", now they call it "fighting terrorism" or "protecting the free market". Sometimes it's even called "aid", for a laff like.

I look forward to you giving me some examples of that.

I copied this from Obama's speech

"Yes, a colonial map that made little sense bred conflict, and the West has often approached Africa as a patron, rather than a partner," he told the Ghanaian parliament.

"But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants."

I know that you will disagree, but why?

 

[spring-peeper]

Cutting them off? Do you really think the whole of the African continent is funded by the generosity of the US state? Loon.

erm, no I don't.

The question is when is global capital going to stop living of profits pumped out of thirld world countries and stealing their resources for their own gain. As usual you have things utterly back to front.

I have no idea. I would say that it is totally up to the citizens of the area to put their foot down and say "enough is enough".

 

[DotCommunist]

Black hawk down territory.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

 

[FreddyB]

I have no idea. I would say that it is totally up to the citizens of the area to put their foot down and say "enough is enough".

Ordinary people asserting themselves. That always works out well for them, wherever they do it.

 

[isitme]

i dunno, we give loads of african nations independence in the 50s and 60s, then a few years later we get a phonecall.....

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

When did China get mixed in with this? I could have sworn it was about Africa!!!

Most of the world's oil, in NA, the Middle East, is spoken for, locked up, but there's a small but still significant percentage located in sub saharan africa. China is trying to get a lock on that oil, and they don't much care what means they use to do it.

That's how china figures into this.

 

[spring-peeper]

Most of the world's oil, in NA, the Middle East, is spoken for, locked up, but there's a small but still significant percentage located in sub saharan africa. China is trying to get a lock on that oil, and they don't much care what means they use to do it.

That's how china figures into this.

Ah - thanks. It would be nice if the area(s) in question can come together and stop the exploitation, but I doubt it.

I still don't see what this has to do with the president of the United States and his speech in Ghana, though.

 

[Random]

I still don't see what this has to do with the president of the United States and his speech in Ghana, though.

Because there's a very real bottom line to US Africa policy - a hunt and struggle for the continent's resources. So whatever Obama says about not dealing with corrupt retimes is really just window dressing and probably only relates to a fraction of US aid, if even that.

 

[butchersapron]

Great response from Black Agenda Report: Obama Lies on Two Continents

We understand that Obama tells huge lies in order to advance U.S. policy goals, foreign and domestic. But his lies to Africans and African Americans are purposely cruel, designed to rub sensitive areas of Black self-esteem. When Obama says there is “no reason why African nations could not do the same” as his false version of Korea, he is arguing that Africans are suffering from some collective character flaw.

In the same way, Obama’s constant refrains about “good governance” are reminders of colonial-era white claims that Africans were incapable of governing themselves. They still sting. But, as Toronto-based activist/author Gerald Caplan wrote in the July 13 issue of The Nation, there is no factual basis for Obama’s assertion that "you're not going to get investment without good governance":

“That's just wrong. For decades most foreign investment in Africa has gone to South Africa first, even under apartheid, and then to such oil-rich nations as Angola and Nigeria. First and foremost, western companies, backed energetically by their embassies, are after Africa's resources--oil, gas and to a lesser extent minerals. These are the very sectors where we find vast corruption, environmental degradation, the vicious exploitation of African labor, and, often enough, Africa's wars. In no case does good governance play a role in investment decisions. Often enough venal leaders are precisely what investors look for.”

 

[camouflage]

thanks for the link.

Not sure what the NAACP article's on about, but the Africa/Korea stuff I agree with.

 

[tbaldwin]

Great thread....
Perhaps obama should have asked all you clever people what to say first? And perhaps he should never have stood for president without getting the OK from butchers etc.....Then he could have had as much impact as erm er erm er you lot.

 

[Idris2002]

Great thread....
Perhaps obama should have asked all you clever people what to say first? And perhaps he should never have stood for president without getting the OK from butchers etc.....Then he could have had as much impact as erm er erm er you lot.

Even by your standards that's bloody weak.

 

[FreddyB]

I dunno, I'm convinced.

anyone want to help me draught an email?