With Niger and the people of Niger it’s a matter of “I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours.” (Bob Dylan
Cornelius Hamelberg
The way things are going with the new wind of change blowing over Africa the most recent milestone was passed on that first day of rage when Mali abolished French as the official language. Make no mistake about it, we are rapidly approaching the great day, we are getting closer and closer to The Qiyamah…
Begging the question ( “to keep out nigeria and senegal, ecowas” etc)
“ If this is the people’s coup, do they need wagner to keep out nigeria and senegal, ecowas? Is wagner the voice of anything, but russian predators?”
That was our US-American Don Harrow, not enquiring about the predatory Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Sleepy Joe Biden and Don Corleone, as Chomsky makes clear on page one of this book, Uncle Sam looting and plundering everywhere he can, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, looting and plundering all over the planet and on the high seas, no, Don Harrow is only wondering about Don Prigozhin and the Wagner Group’s benevolent, anti-imperialist intentions in Niger, which is a part of Mother Africa.
As my radical Pan-African Bro from Ghana would remonstrate with Don Harrow,
“Stop being so paternalistic! Do you want to decide for them? Do you want to decide over them? What business is it of yours? Is it your business who the Nigeriens choose to play ball with? As free human beings, are they not free to partner with Russia and China, as they deem fit? ”
In my own humble opinion, the Niger Military and the people of Niger are free to make a pact with whomsoever they deem fit, be it the Wagner Group, the Kremlin, or even The Great Satan.
As Imam Khomeini put it, and in his own mind he was not exaggerating when he said, back then,
“ America is worse than Britain, Britain is worse than America and the Soviet Union is worse than both of them. Each one is worse than the other, each one is more abominable than the other. But today we are concerned with this malicious entity which is America. Let the American President know that in the eyes of the Iranian nation, he is the most repulsive member of the human race today because of the injustice he has imposed on our Muslim nation. Today, the Qur'an has become his enemy, the Iranian nation has become his enemy. Let the American government know that its name has been ruined and disgraced in Iran.”
Today, Sabella has more or less said it all.
Perchance, is there anything that His Excellency Professeur Kenneth Harrow, Ambassadeur Linguistique et Culturel Extraordinaire et Plénipotentiaire, Cher Meilleur Ami de la France, la France’s Honorary Chargé d'Affaires and Chief Postcolonial Advocate here would like to add, or forever hold his peace?
The good news of the moment: Sweden to the quarter-finals ( beat USA in the penalties shootout @ women’s world cup football - tomorrow the battle is between the Lionesses (England) and the Super Falcons (Nigeria), a real pöst-colonial showdown…
In the meantime, Glory be to Nigeria’s Senate :
The Nigerian Senate rejects the idea of military involvement in the neighbouring Republic of Niger
Perhaps, it should also be glory be to Nigeria’s democratically elected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who following democratic due process, probably forwarded the idea of Nigerian troop deployment to the Senate for approval, knowing full well that it would be rejected.
Re - Some of what else has been said here :
“ But can the French be removed without the use of force? “ ( That was Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju asking an innocent question.
The answer to that one is the same answer that Palestinians have to reflect on, UN Resolution 242 notwithstanding, that when all diplomacy fails, territory conquered by force is usually not easily relinquished and can mostly only be regained by overwhelming force.
Meanwhile, as the expiry of the ECOWAS deadline of midnight, Sunday, 6th of August ( Hiroshima Day and my 54th wedding anniversary) there are these unhelpful signals coming out of La France :
France ready to help ECOWAS dislodge the coupists in Niger
If that goes ahead ( without Nigerian involvement) it's going to be a toxic mixture indeed (to Biden & Macron doing their aggressive best for the West, add Islamic State, Daesh, al-Qaeda and fearful Jihadists from all over, there to show their mettle.
Working towards a more peaceful outcome, within the next few hours, at an emergency meeting of Niger’s Sovereign Military Council with ECOWAS, African Union and United Nations representatives, they should release a joint communique to Macron, reminding him of what, once upon a time Robert Mugabe said toTony B-liar :” Blair you keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe”, telling him in no uncertain terms that Niger is not a part of France or Sovereign French territory, and that France is not a part of Niger or Nigeria ( or any of the neighbouring nations in Africa for that matter ) and requesting that in the name of Liberté, égalité, fraternité he Monsieur Macron dismantles his military base and moves all the French soldiers, ammunition depots, drones and other equipment stationed in Sovereign Niger territory, peacefully….or else: chaos and on top of that both Sleepy Joe Biden and he are going to lose the next presidential election….
Harrow, Kenneth
Sent: Sunday, August 6, 2023 1:55:48 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - With Niger and the people of Niger it’s a matter of “I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours.” (Bob Dylan
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAFYPD-SVv1ONLibTjgNjjzh1smxOs4nwPigi7wiJ8fbcBgDnAQ%40mail.gmail.com.
Cornelius Hamelberg
Dear Ken,
Yes indeed, like Einstein, we are all world citizens and ought to be brothers’ keepers. The Kenneth Harrow that you have just described is essentially the one that we all know here and elsewhere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heads_of_state_of_Niger
I’m all for peace and against any military intervention, and even more so after reading this five-star essay …
Niger’s military should be taking orders from France and Uncle Sam? And, who are France and Sam taking orders from? The Almighty?
An important factor that should not be overlooked is that the whole Sahel region that’s in focus is Muslim - so is the perception ( Muslim) of non-Muslim US-American soldiers - and Frenchies being flown in to decimate Muslims in the so-called war on terror. Some foolhardy perceptions seated in Paris and Washington DC and of course, not Nigeria’s ’dear Mr.President, but maybe in some Christian enclaves down south in Nigeria, some Pentecostals feel it’s kosher/ Hallelujah OK to send some Hausa Battalions in the Nigerian Army to go and kill fellow Hausa Muslim brothers of Niger? Well, perhaps, as Peter Obi is reported to have made his solidarity request for support to his “ Daddy” Bishop Ayedepo, “It’s a religious war”, so, instead of Nigeria sending in Muslim soldiers to fight Muslims in Niger, I suppose that the battle hymn of the canon fodder could well be, “Onward Christian Soldiers” - as they march on to their perdition.
“He who sows injustice will reap violence, and the rod of his wrath will fail.” ( https://www.google.com/search?q=Mishlei+22%3A+8)
What I’d like to know is how you justify your position about the fire and brimstone that ECOWAS (a non Military pact) is threatening to rain on Niger’s Military if they don't comply with France and Uncle Sam’s demand that they reinstall their brother Mohamed Bazoum immédiatement.
As an Amnesty International consultant, could you care to explain France and the USA and indeed some of the African heads of state who - understandably - are uneasy, since at any time any of them could be next in line for a coup - and total dispossession, but what about the principle of equality of treatment - why these exceedingly hard demands on Niger in particular and not the same kinds of demands and hellfire threats to those who have carried out the other recent coups in Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Guinea?
The assumption at this point is that Mohamed Bazoum is still alive, and has not been transubstantiated in a hail of crossfire/machine gunfire. If the latter were to prove to be the case in the near, unforeseeable future, what happens then? They should install Bazoum’s deputy?
About the Wagner Group, are you suggesting that the Brethren in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are unaware that these Wagnerians are Russian? Just now, there’s such tremendous African support for Russia, add to this the other reality, that the anti-LGBTQ African sees moral leadership and a natural ally in Putin who is also anti-LGBTQ and not in what they regard as the decadent West ( as I gathered from yesterday's DN editorial which I’ll post separately) )
So, we could examine this saying a little further: “My enemy’s enemy is my friend!” as a motif in current international relations, Africa -Russia and Africa - China relations.
For the Phds in Mathematics, 1+1+1= 3 = Monotheism?
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/IA1PR12MB8287C7007A10328336A13DBBDA0CA%40IA1PR12MB8287.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.
Cornelius Hamelberg
“To err is human, to forgive is divine”
Dear Octogenarian, belated Mazel Tov on your 80th!
It must be good to know that Moshe Rabbeinu was only 80 years old when he led the children of Israel out of captivity in Egypt!
Corrections :
Relatively speaking, indeed, we are all world citizens, like EINSTEIN
I am all for tranquillity and against military intervention, and I hope that you are too…
The Republic of Niger: Latest News
Pharaoh Sanders & Leon Thomas: Prince of Peace
Harrow, Kenneth
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - With Niger and the people of Niger it’s a matter of “I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours.” (Bob Dylan
Dr. Oohay
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/IA1PR12MB8287BE16504C4C62FDFF5CFCDA0DA%40IA1PR12MB8287.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.