RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SIERRA LEONE - EBOLA & THE RUF WAR

I do not believe there is anything like justice. The closest you may get is fairness, because even the scale of liberal justice can tilt in favour to the powerful or preferred. William Shakespeare said it in Macbeth: '... fair is foul and foul is fair...' That is the way of the world, even in the 16th century.

Ofure O. M. Aito (PhD) (University of Lagos)
Department of English and Communications
College of Humanities
Redeemer's University, Mowe
Ogun State, Nigeria

On Nov 3, 2014 3:35 AM, "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:

It is common knowledge that Taylor  got a  kind of get- out- of- jail  pass while he was in a Boston prison,
and then  went to Liberia.

But Kzs, you have to realize that the International Court is there to mete out justice to a
small segment of violators.  If you are from Africa you will face the music.  Hurrah to that. I am glad that Gbagbo
is in the Hague. I have to study the Kenyatta case before I pass a verdict.

 If you are from Asia, maybe the ICC will get you. If  you are an ally,  though,  forget it. You are free to commit more atrocities. If you are a Bush or
perpetuating the Bush model, no one will touch you.

 Allies  can commit atrocities with uranium enhanced weapons, drones,  biological weapons or whatever lethal device the planet has to
offer,   no one will bat an eyelid.  In  fact the lawyers would simply rewrite the law to suit the occasion and the  legal  'yes men'  will endorse it.
That guy who murdered thousands of Darfurians is yet to get to the ICC.
I guess  that  all he has to do   is pull out a bottle of coca cola. But that is another story.

 Is that true justice? What am I missing? Correct me if I am wrong.





Professor Gloria Emeagwali
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora

________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John Mbaku [jmbaku@weber.edu]
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2014 6:51 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SIERRA LEONE - EBOLA & THE RUF WAR

Dear kzs:

As I said earlier, many governments were involved in getting Taylor out Liberia in order to end the violence. That was the reason given by Nigeria for granting Taylor residence in Calabar.

On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 2:15 PM, kwame zulu shabazz <kwameshabazz@gmail.com<mailto:kwameshabazz@gmail.com>> wrote:
Thanks, Brother Mbaku. I have read your second piece and it only amplifies my point. You cannot properly analyze the ICC's handling of Taylor without accounting for the fact that Taylor escaped a US prison and made it back to West Africa undetected--an impossible feat without the aid of US federal agents. You say the US needs to be "brought on board," when, in fact US (and UK/France) should be "brought to book" by ICC for directly contributing to limiting the capacity of African nations to enforce the so-called "rule of law" judiciously.

kzs

On Sunday, November 2, 2014 2:14:51 PM UTC-6, John Mbaku wrote:
Dear kzs:

Sorry, but I am not familiar with Taylor's alleged links to the CIA or the U.S. government. Many governments, including members of ECOWAS, were instrumental in getting Taylor out of Liberia, in an effort to stop the carnage.

Regarding the ICC, please read my piece on the ICC and Africa: http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/africa-in-focus/posts/2014/03/13-international-criminal-court-mbaku


On Sat, Nov 1, 2014 at 6:16 PM, kwame zulu shabazz <kwames...@gmail.com> wrote:
Brother John Mbaku, you said:

Second, Taylor's conviction reinforces the fact that no one, even those elites who serve in the government, including the executive and members of the judiciary and legislature, is above the law – the law is supreme.

Yes, the law should be supreme and, yes, it is good that Taylor was punished for his atrocities. But if the law was truly supreme, then why do you make no mention of the fact that Taylor was a CIA agent and that agents of the US govt facilitated Taylor's escape from prison and ultimate reappearance in West Africa? If the ICC was really about justice, then why haven't they taken up the very serious issue of the fundamental role that the US government played in creating the conditions for the conflict?

kzs


On Friday, October 31, 2014 8:19:23 AM UTC-5, John Mbaku wrote:
Dear Professor Ofure Aito:

Perhaps you should read my co-authored piece in the Guardian (London) on the trial of Charles Taylor. <http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/apr/26/africa-charles-taylor-guilty-liberia>


On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 7:55 PM, ofure aito <ofur...@gmail.com> wrote:
I tend to agree with Professor Emeagwali on this strand of dialogue. War is the result of conflict that is initiated by disagreements between one or more groups or individuals. First, it is the result of one group's desire to control, dominate, oppress, manipulate another for economic, social, religious or cultural benefits or reasons. Second, it is an individual's ideological motive to impose his own perspective on another and which may extend to a group. The notion of the individual is elastically stretched to include communities, race, ethnic groups or even a country. It is not passive but produces responses that may be violent, either verbal or physical, and sometimes effects positive dimensions to societal development.  Indeed and oftentimes, the reaction to conflict leaves a chain of responses that become unmanageable or uncontrollable. It starts as a “sharp disagreement” to an oppressive motive and ends up in a violent struggle or a fight if not immediately managed or resolved. Either way, war/conflict has both external and internal consequences and physical and spiritual; private and public impact as well as takes physical, verbal and violent forms. So in conflict or war anything can happen and take place. Our concern should be on conflict management and resolution. Importantly, interest should be on management in other to avoid the details of what Prof. Mbaku has presented to us.
The term “conflict management” in this sense implies that oppression/opposition, dissent/struggle is a reality, which man must strive to identify, manage and contain. It is in some ways a move towards conflict resolution. At this juncture,I wish to ask why must war/conflict management or resolution in Africa come from the west? When are we going to start dealing with our situations and mopping up or managing to contain our own mess without making the innocent pay or suffer?
Ofure

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