RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - A Report From Abidjan

"... i am asking for an anti-fascist front to recognize positions that we won't rationalize, or
intellectually tolerate, and to stand against them."

Well said Kenneth Harrow! Thank you for the courage.
 
What is equally perplexing is that most scholars used to think twice before they quote a published piece or source but the same level of discernment does not seem to apply to internet sources anymore. Your reference to the 1930s and 40s is also apt with the current spread of dangerous blogs and pamphlets taking advantage of self-publishing platforms. The fear of people from up 'North' or 'Muslims' is not new in Cote d'Ivoire though, and is not restricted to Cote d'ivoire, even if we pick West Africa alone. These sources also feed on this element to thrive as well.
 
Sulaiman Adebowale BP 5637 Dakar-Fann, Dakar, Senegal


 
> Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 21:56:01 -0400
> From: harrow@msu.edu
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - A Report From Abidjan
>
> dear cornelius
> what happened in douekue is really horrible, and those responsible for
> it ought to be punished. it was a crime against humanity in the course
> of a burgeoning civil war.
> when the fdr came down from the north in rwanda, there were also
> killings in the villages, which were reported, and some relatively weak
> efforts to assign responsibility and punish those responsible. on the
> other hand, the fdr's mission, aside from their original goal of
> overthrowing the government, became one of stopping a crime of genocide
> which was considerably worse.
> perhaps one day, when the facts have been established, responsibility
> can be assigned and punishment meted out for douekue, though oh how rare
> it is for that to come from the victors. does anyone remember lieutenant
> calley, and the joke of the punishment he received for a similar,
> perhaps worse crime against humanity, which he committed in vietnam?
>
> but i am writing not because of this killing, whose facts have yet to be
> established, but the fascist blog which posted its opinion about it, and
> especially which feeds an islamophobia that is breathtakingly open about
> its hatred of muslims.
> we live in a bad political moment, one in which the fascisms of the
> 1930s and 1940s, once thought impossibly discredited, have made their
> return, at the very heart of midlothian. they are more than pernicious;
> they are extremely dangerous, and the crimes they are ready to excuse
> could cost millions of people their lives--as has already happened, in
> fact, in iraq and afghanistan.
> we need to stand, somehow, collectively in condemnation of politics that
> permit and encourage the demonization of others, which is the prelude to
> eradication of people under the guise of the eradication of evil.
> i am not asking for balance here, as if that could mean anything under
> these conditions of uneven distribution of power. i am asking for an
> anti-fascist front to recognize positions that we won't rationalize, or
> intellectually tolerate, and to stand against them.
> ken
>
> On 4/4/11 8:05 PM, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:
> > There are all kinds of reports coming out of Abidjan
> >
> > http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/04/muslims-slaughter-over-1000-on-ivory-coast-massacre.html
> >
> > And after the massacres somebody is going to reign as president over
> > the defeated?
> >
> > On Apr 4, 9:12 pm, "Anunoby, Ogugua"<Anuno...@lincolnu.edu> wrote:
> >> Gbagbo more than anyone else must be blamed for what has become of the Ivory Coast since last November's presidential elections. The U. N. midwifed the elections and has acknowledged and recognized Quattara, as the duly elected president. The international community (whatever that means)generally agrees with the U.N. The threat of military action by West African countries has hung over Gbagbo for months now. It is inevitable that this threat at some point will materialize if Gbagbo hangs on to power that many within and outside the Ivory coast believe that he has lost. Peace in the Ivory Coast may be worth dying for. Is Gbagbo worth dying for? The answer has to be a sure "no" especially because he (Gbogbo) does not seem to care about the cost to his country (life, limb, and treasure) of his hanging on to power.
> >>
> >> oa
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kenneth harrow
> >> Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2011 8:35 AM
> >> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> >> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - A Report From Abidjan
> >>
> >> how can we accept this without some clear indication of where all this
> >> comes from? without such we are simply reading someone's propaganda. who
> >> reported this? what is the reliability of those persons?
> >> ken harrow
> >>
> >> On 4/3/11 7:25 AM, Yona Maro wrote:
> >>> By Dr. Gary L. Busch 2/4/11
> >>> Apr 3, 2011 - 10:59:25 AM
> >>> Much of the news reports represent a wilful misrepresentation of the
> >>> facts. The United Nations Mil-24 helicopters overflew Gbagbo-army
> >>> positions in the West of the Ivory Coast and bombed and strafed a
> >>> corridor into the cities for the rebel army. The point troops of this
> >>> 'rebel army' were not Ivorians of the Force Nouvelles but Nigerian
> >>> troops (mainly from the Mobile Police - the "Kill and Go") and
> >>> Burkinabe Special Forces lent by President Campaore for the attack.
> >>> These UN helicopters and a strong force of mercenaries entered cities
> >>> like Daloa and Bondou and began killing large numbers of civilians as
> >>> the pro-Gbagbo forces withdrew. Later, bands of Liberian adventurers
> >>> (fighting for neither Ouattara nor Gbagbo) entered the cities to loot
> >>> and plunder.
> >>> Hundreds were killedat Daloa and Bondou by the invading forces. There
> >>> were more than 800 civilians killed in Duekoue the next day by
> >>> Ouattara's soldiers, even though there were over a thousand UN
> >>> peacekeepers looking on.
> >>> This was repeated in the drive for Abidjan where the UN has continued
> >>> to use its helicopters with deadly effect and the UN Representative,
> >>> Choi, has given the UN forces the right to 'shoot at will'. Seven
> >>> pro-Gbagbo forces have been killed by the UN (mainly by Pakistani and
> >>> Senegalese troops in the UNOCI) and scores of others have been shot at
> >>> but no one yet knows the total. The French have moved out of their
> >>> base in Port Bouet and are patrolling Abidjan streets, blocking off
> >>> main roads and shooting at military and civilian targets. They say
> >>> they are protecting foreigners who might be targets but it appears
> >>> they are protecting them before they were endangered.
> >>> The reason for this military initiative was twofold. April 1 is the
> >>> day that the cocoa buyers (Noble and others) promised to pay Gbagbo
> >>> for their cocoa stocks which were locked up in the Ivory Coast. They
> >>> said they didn't care who was President, they wanted their cocoa. That
> >>> made it imperative for Ouattara and the rebels to take the Port of San
> >>> Pedro which is an important cocoa export port. The second reason is
> >>> that April 1 was the day on which the Ivory Coast would have passed
> >>> the deadline for paying its regular interest payment on its
> >>> international debt which had been delayed by Gbagbo since his funds
> >>> were cut off. To succeed in this the French and the UN decided on a
> >>> covert (barely concealed) attack on the government of the Ivory Coast.
> >>> Many of the soldiers loyal to Gbagbo were overwhelmed by the force and
> >>> mechanisation of the attack and surrendered or took off their uniforms
> >>> and fled. The battle now rages in Abidjan where the UN and the French
> >>> continue their assault. However, the civilian population is
> >>> reorganising itself and taking up arms. It remains to be seen if this
> >>> UN and French attack will succeed in the face of a large and aroused
> >>> population. The fat lady has not sung her final aria. Expect many
> >>> civilian deaths. That is the UN way.
> >>> Source:Ocnus.net 2011
> >>> --
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> >> --
> >> kenneth w. harrow
> >> distinguished professor of english
> >> michigan state university
> >> department of english
> >> east lansing, mi 48824-1036
> >> ph. 517 803 8839
> >> har...@msu.edu
> >>
> >> --
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>
> --
> kenneth w. harrow
> distinguished professor of english
> michigan state university
> department of english
> east lansing, mi 48824-1036
> ph. 517 803 8839
> harrow@msu.edu
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
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