Nigeria and the White Man's Burden

I support the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. It is an indigenous campaign created by Ibrahim M Abdullahi, a Nigerian attorney. I hope that each girl is safety returned to their families. Clearly,  the Nigerian government has a moral and legal duty to rescue and protect those precious girls. The world community must continue to pressure the Nigerian government to take immediate, decisive and effective action against Boko Haram. Moreover, the world community should aid the Nigerians by providing training, equipment and intelligence assistance.

However, I strongly oppose U.S. military intervention in Nigeria. Ultimately, Nigeria and the African Union must be the ones to fight those despicable terrorists. U.S. military action will endanger American and Nigerian lives. It will only fuel Nigeria's civil war.

Who knows how long the U.S. would remain in Nigeria? After all of these years, American troops remain in Afghanistan. The military action may begin with the narrow mission of rescuing the girls and then morph into the much broader mission of nation building.

We cannot allow the West to exploit this crisis and come into Nigerian like a Trojan horse under the guise of generosity. Like a thief in the night, they may utilize this tragic and sad situation to further plunder Nigeria's oil and other natural resources. Nigeria's sovereignty should not be trampled upon in order to fulfill the white man's so-called burden. Africa does not need Western paternalism and militarism. We do not need another Somalia or Libya.

Why Didn't Obama Stand By Susan Rice?

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As the Washington Post reported,

U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice withdrew her name Thursday as President Obama’s leading candidate for secretary of state, saying the administration could not afford a “lengthy, disruptive and costly” confirmation fight over statements she made about the extremist attack in Libya that killed four Americans.   

Rice called Obama on Thursday morning, before sending him a letter officially withdrawing from consideration. Rice said in an interview that she had concluded early this week that what she and Obama considered “unfair and misleading” charges against her over the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, would impede the president’s second-term agenda.   

“This was my decision,” Rice said. When asked if Obama had tried to dissuade her, she said that he “understood that this was the right decision, and that I made it for the right reasons.”    

Rice’s withdrawal was a retreat by Obama, who had repeatedly voiced support for her. In a statement issued by the White House, Obama described her as “an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant.”    

But her removal from the scene is unlikely to quell the controversy that led to it: the extremist attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

I blame the Republican political machine for extinguishing the hopes and aspirations of another prominent African American. I am not surprised by the Republicans. The Republican Party has become the modern day White Citizens Council. They are in the business of trampling over African Americans, Hispanics and women. Frankly, as a Party, they are our political enemy. Nothing they do surprises me.

However, the President's actions surprised me. Originally, President Obama stood up for Ambassador Susan Rice. He boldly told Senator McCain and Senator Graham that "if they want to go after somebody, they should go after me." When he said those words, I was proud of the President. At that moment, I was delighted to see Obama stand up to the Republicans.

However, today, I am deeply disappointed. Unfortunately, the President's actions speak much louder than his eloquent words. The Republicans flexed and the President flinched. Regardless of the opposition, President should have nominated Susan Rice for Secretary of State.

As NBC news analyst Andrea Mitchell said on NBC's Hardball, "she (Susan Rice) did not have all of the armor of a nominee.." If Ambassador Rice was nominated, White House Counsel would have insulated her from the Republicans' unwarranted attacks. Instead, in the face of the Republican onslaught, she was left open and defenseless. Like sharks in the ocean, the GOP saw blood and they moved in for the kill. Ultimately, like former environment advisor Van Jones, Susan Rice was forced to lay on her sword in order to protect the White House. With all due respect, that was not "the right decision." It is a sign of the White House's vulnerability.  

Loyalty is priceless. It should not be sold for the sake of political expediency. One should never sacrifice one's friends and allies to appease bloodthirsty adversaries. African Americans are the President's most loyal supporters. No other group has provided such universal support for Barack Obama. In exchange for our support, we must demand that the President nominate more African Americans for key Cabinet positions. We must demand that the President defend his appointees against baseless allegations.

   

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This article is cross-posted on Jack and Jill Politics.

Mr. President...Don't Listen to the War Mongers!

Shout out to all my Facebook friends for your thought provoking discussions on this issue.

I support the legitimate aspirations of all people for freedom and democracy. I was outraged when I heard reports of Gaddafi forces attacking and killing nonviolent demonstrators. See my articles Defending the Indefensible and Muammar Gaddafi: "People who don't love me don't deserve to live. If the allegations are true, I support U.N. sanctions and I.C.C. action. However, I do not support calls to impose a no fly zone in Libya. 

President Obama is under intense pressure from Republicans and fellow Democrats to wage war against Libya.  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made it clear that the enforcing a no fly zone in Libya will be an obvious act of war.  As reported in The Hill,

"Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday said the U.S. military could establish a no-fly zone over Libya, but he cautioned that doing so would first require widespread air strikes across that nation.

“If it’s ordered, we can do it,” Gates told the House Appropriations's Defense subcommittee.

But establishing control of Libyan air space would “start with attacks to destroy” Libyan air defense systems. That kind of assault would require more U.S. military aircraft than “you would find on a single aircraft carrier.”

Listen to former President Bill Clinton, Senator John Kerry and Senator John McCain beat the drums of war.







I urge President Obama to ignore this call for war. First of all, U.S. national security is not jeopardized by the civil war in Libya. In fact, U.S. military intervention will pose a threat to our national security. It will help promote the false narrative that America is at war with Islam. Remember the establishment of a no fly zone in Iraq paved the way for the 911 terror attacks. To maintain the no fly zone, the U.S. had to keep troops in Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda's primary grievance against the U.S. was the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, this proposed war is not about human rights or preserving human life. There are numerous armed conflicts around the world. I don't see the U.S. resorting to military intervention in those countries. In fact, when Clinton was in office, he did absolutely nothing to prevent to the genocide in Rwanda. Now, he has the audacity to call for U.S. military intervention in Libya.

Human rights are being violated in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen. For example, as reported in the Washington Post,

"Witnesses in Bahrain said that more than 100 people were injured after police fired tear gas at protesters and attacked them with batons...

In Yemen, police on rooftops fired live bullets and tear gas at protesters, also injuring more than 100 people, a day after security forces killed seven demonstrators in protests around the country."

Since Yemen and Bahrain are U.S. allies, no one is talking about imposing no fly zones in those other countries.

Oil is the real reason why the U.S. is considering waging war in Libya. Corporate interests are probably driving this rush to war. Currently, Libya's oil industry is nationalized. Apparently, U.S. and other Western countries want to seize Libya's oil. No Arab League resolution will change that fact.

How any of our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters must be sacrificed to satisfy the insatiable greed of the oil industry?

America is already squandering tremendous financial and human resources in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, politicians are urging the President to waste more lives and money in Libya.  Frankly, it is fascinating how those deficit hawks have no problem slashing valuable social programs. Yet, they always find enough money to wage war.

Moreover, the U.S. government probably knows virtually nothing about those Libyan insurgents. In addition to imposing no fly zones, some prominent politicians and pundits assert that the U.S. should provide military assistance to Gaddafi's opposition. For all we know, such actions may aid the Libyan version of the Taliban. In 1980s, the U.S. supported the Afghan groups opposing the Soviets. Some of those groups included the Taliban and Al Qaeda. We do not need to repeat that colossal mistake.

Many of us voted for Obama because of his opposition to the Iraq war. We viewed Obama as the candidate of peace, hope and change. We did not vote for war and political calculation. I urge the President to put the interests of the American people over the interests of the oil companies. During his inauguration and Cairo speeches, Obama discussed extending a hand to the Arab world. Bombing Libya will undermine that hopeful message. Mr. President, please don't listen to the war mongers.