The United States' Strongmen in Africa - Part I

African leaders in the service of imperialist power. The U.S. government employs barbaric tactics to destabilize Africa for economic and political gains.

Things to remember if you are a strongman:

Be aware that when you serve as a U.S. supported dictator there are strings attached. Don't reject the program your backers have planned. The threats may at first be couched in the language of human rights. The massacres you committed while in the employ of your backers and fighting against forces with an agenda other than those of your neocolonial masters are suddenly a problem. You may even be accused of being mentally unstable, or of committing crimes and atrocities you had no involvement in. Human rights observers (or those not so observant of human rights -- a more sinister breed known as "Jackals") may be dispatched to investigate the many animal pelts, tusks and assorted other skeletons in your closet. The massacres of hundreds of thousands, that never made the news, suddenly become newsworthy, and the word genocide is floated.

"In the end however, all the killing was blamed on the ADFL [Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire] — dismissing the roles of Rwanda, Uganda, and the US and Israeli military officials advising them and Pentagon agencies providing logistics."

Source: 1- Congo’s President Joseph Kabila: Dynasty Or Travesty?

2- Howard French, Africa: A Continent for the Taking, 2001.

In October last year, the U.S. announced that it was deploying 100 troops to Uganda on a "humanitarian mission" to stop those who employ child soldiers. No permission was sought from the American Congress, as the U.S. military would only be acting as "advisors." No such altruism was on display when the U.S. backed African strongmen Yoweri Museveni, Paul Kagame, and Laurent Kabila, all were guilty of enlisting children as combatants. What other motives drove the U.S. to send troops to Uganda?

It is well documented that Western powers forced most African countries during the 1990s into structural adjustment programs that have ensnared the continent in a cycle of debt and dependency. In recent years, the economic noose around Africa's neck may be seen as loosening by the West, primarily because China is gaining increasing economic influence, posing what is seen as a threat. The U.S. has decided on a military and covert response. The U.S. is escalating it's use of proxy wars. The U.S. oil wars in Africa are well underway. "West Africa alone sits atop 15% of the world's oil, and by 2015 is projected to supply up to a quarter of US domestic consumption," wrote Bruce Dixon of Black Agenda Report in 2007.

The irony is the sheer hypocrisy of conservative American think tanks and right-wing politicians who pontificate about the virtues of free-market Capitalism, but rather than compete in a so-called fictional "free-market economy," their government's best move is to employ their military and propaganda machine to destroy people's lives. The real story is that there is no such thing as free-market Capitalism. The driving force behind the global economy is "crony Capitalism" or as often reiterated during the Romney campaign - "vulture Capitalism."

The neocolonial rape of Africa also illustrates that American strong-arm tactics and war machinery are reflexive instruments which have almost complete bi-partisan political support.

The only way America has chosen to conduct itself in the world is via old-timey "gun-boat diplomacy." An American Navy aircraft carrier is widely known as, "100,000 tons of American diplomacy" because it carries American aggression to the oceans.

The United States Rewards and Supports the "Strong Governance" of these African Leaders:

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Yoweri Museveni | Uganda

A U.S. State Department cable reveals Museveni's government has signed an agreement that specifically states "that Ugandan forces may not utilize U.S. intelligence to engage enemies without first consulting U.S. officials."
Source: 1- Cable shows U.S. permission required for key Ugandan combat ops

2- Cable Reference ID #09KAMPALA1397 | Uganda: Intelligence Sharing Agreement | Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:42

The buildup of the Ugandan external debt under President Musaveni [sic] coincided chronologically with the Rwandan and Congolese civil wars. With the accession of Musaveni to the presidency in 1986, the Ugandan external debt stood at 1.3 billion dollars. With the gush of fresh money, the external debt spiraled overnight, increasing almost threefold to 3.7 billion by 1997. In fact, Uganda had no outstanding debt to the World Bank at the outset of its "economic recovery program". By 1997, it owed almost 2 billion dollars solely to the World Bank.

Source: 1- The US was behind the Rwandan Genocide: Installing a US Protectorate in Central Africa
2- Jim Mugunga, Uganda foreign debt hits Shs 4 trillion, The Monitor, Kampala, 19 Feb 1997.

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Paul Kagame | Rwanda

In 1991, the U.S. backed and trained the Ugandan invasion of Rwanda, which put Paul Kagame into power in Kigali in 1994. "The civil war in Rwanda was a brutal struggle for political power between the Hutu-led Habyarimana government supported by France and the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) backed financially and militarily by Washington. Ethnic rivalries were used deliberately in the pursuit of geopolitical objectives. Both the CIA and French intelligence were involved."

Source: The US was behind the Rwandan Genocide: Installing a US Protectorate in Central Africa
Amply documented, US special operations troops -- mainly Green Berets from the 3rd Special Forces Group based at Fort Bragg, N.C.-- had been actively training the RPA. This program was a continuation of the covert support and military aid provided to the RPA prior to 1994. In turn, the tragic outcome of the Rwandan civil war including the refugee crisis had set the stage for the participation of Ugandan and Rwandan RPA in the civil war in the Congo.
Source: 1- The US was behind the Rwandan Genocide: Installing a US Protectorate in Central Africa
2- Lynne Duke Africans Use US Military Training in Unexpected Ways, Washington Post. July 14, 1998; p.A01.
Critics such as Wayne Madsen, author of Genocide and Covert Operations in Africa 1993-1999, assert that Kagame and the RPA orchestrated the April 6, 1994 assassination of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi-shooting down their plane on its approach to Kigali airport with SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles taken from Iraq by France in 1991, then delivered by the U.S. military to Uganda, the base for RPA guerrilla operations against Rwanda prior to 1994.

Evidence was provided at a special hearing held by then Congressperson Cynthia McKinney at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on April 6, 2001, the seventh anniversary of the assassinations.
Source: Rwanda's Secret War: U. S. -backed destabilization of Central Africa

Paul Kagame's son Ivan Cyomoro is a cadet at the United States Military Academy of West Point. Ivan is a member of the West Point Class of 2013.
Source: Rwanda President Kagame Visits His Son At The US Military Academy

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Alassane Ouattara | Côte d'Ivoire

Alassane Ouattara was a Deputy Director General at the IMF in Washington, DC: "Ouattara, an economist and former senior official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been handpicked by [former Ivory Coast president] Houphouet-Boigny to implement unpopular economic reforms during his latter years in power."

Source: COTE D'IVOIRE: Former political foes strike pact to oust Gbagbo

Two prominent French business figures with interests in Africa – Martin Bouygues, head of the Bouygues industrial group, and Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, son of former French president François Mitterrand – were present as friends of Ouattara [at Ouatarra's wedding to a French woman of Algerian descent].

Source: Dominique Folloroux-Ouattara

Ouattara is a close personal friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy: "We speak to each other on my visits to France. Nicolas Sarkozy is a friend," confided Ouattara, at the very beginning of his presidential campaign.
Source: La revanche des Ouattara

Laurent Gbagbo, the former Ivorian president was arrested by French special forces and given over to the soldiers of Alassane Ouattara. Gbagbo was arrested after tank assault led by the French army. "These leaders of the rebellion have been conveyed there by the French forces who entered the residence with tanks", he added. "The president was in his office" The information was confirmed by the ambassador of France in Ivory Coast.

Source: Laurent Gbagbo aurait été arrêté par les forces Françaises

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In recent years, billions of barrels of crude oil were discovered along Uganda’s border with the Congo. The oil discovery is said to rival Saudi Arabia's oil reserves. In April last year, Tullow, one of four oil prospectors on the ground in Uganda, embarked on a major drilling campaign in the Butiaba area around Lake Albert targeting an overall reserve potential in excess of a billion barrels. On October 14, 2011, ABC News reported that Obama was sending troops to Uganda on a humanitarian mission -- to help combat the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The only problem with that: The LRA are no longer in Uganda -- had not been there since 2006. On March 5, 2012, the video Kony 2012, produced by the admitted U.S. intelligence asset, Invisible Children is so hyped by the U.S. media that it goes viral. Coincidentally, the video demands U.S. intervention in Africa to capture LRA leader Joseph Kony.

A group of Ugandans were in Washington recently. The group was comprised of Ministry of Energy officials, a member of Parliament, members of civil society and one journalist. Sally Kornfeld, a senior analyst in the office of fossil energy at the US Department of Energy said the following about Uganda’s oil reservoirs:

"You are blessed with amazing reservoirs. Your reservoirs are incredible. I am amazed by what I have seen, you might rival Saudi Arabia,”

"As Kornfeld marveled at Uganda’s oil finds, she was quick to add that for the country to benefit from the oil and gas resources but also avoid the pitfalls of oil producing countries like Nigeria, it is extremely important to set up strong governance structures."

Source: Uganda’s oil reserves rival Saudi Arabia’s, says US expert

Read more: I was a child soldier for Uganda’s President

U.S. Foreign Policy Is Not Evolving - Alienates. No Hope. No Change.

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"I want to change the mindset that got us into Iraq."

"Africa doesn't need strong men, it needs strong institutions. As for america and the west, our commitment must be measured in the dollars we spend. I pledge substantial increases in our foreign assistance, which is in Africa's interests and America's interests. But the true sign of interest is not whether a source of perpetual aid that helps people scrape by, it's whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change."

-- Barack Obama - 2008 presidential campaign

Bill Clinton with the U.S.' kind of guy, Rwandan strong man Paul Kagame.

"Traditionally, the way the United States has engaged in Africa has perpetuated tyranny and dependency."

The leadership of Africa is shameful (not unrelated to U.S. interventions to install these despots), but what about U.S. foreign policy in Africa? They support and nurture the corruption! Why is it that the U.S. government supports strong men in Africa, instead of supporting the people? We hear a lot of rhetoric about supporting democracies from the United States, but in reality the U.S. does not support "one man, one vote." The U.S. establishment is loath to see the "unwashed masses" of "underdeveloped" countries have real democratic rights -- that's mob rule! It would mean having to deal with sovereign countries that prioritized protecting their national interests, rather than being beholden to unaccountable foreign institutions and multinational corporations bent on plundering their resources.

In twenty years, will the legacy of recent American presidents like Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama be deemed worth the so-called "blow-back" or negative repercussions engendered by their "Economic Hitman" foreign policy? The policy of plundering "developing" countries. The policy of Disaster Capitalism. All of this is continuing under the Obama administration. The bombings and drone strikes, particularly in Libya and the Ivory Coast were all aimed at influencing and controlling the sovereign affairs of those countries and to benefit U.S. corporatocracy. And despite claims of UN sanctioned "humanitarian" bombings -- these sieges illegal as hell. So is the illegal and unjustified occupation of Haiti under Chapter VII, which continues under Obama, by the way. There is no hope, no change. In fact, U.S. foreign policy is much worst than status quo under Obama:

"The UN Charter does not permit the use of military force for humanitarian interventions. The military invasions of Libya and Ivory Coast have been justified by reference to the Responsibility to Protect doctrine.

The Responsibility to Protect is contained in the General Assembly's Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit. It is not enshrined in an international treaty nor has it ripened into a norm of customary international law. Paragraph 138 of that document says each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. Paragraph 139 adds that the international community, through the United Nations, also has "the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter, to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity."

When is the U.S. going to change course and practice a just foreign policy? It's been a dismal diplomatic and humanitarian failure. You have to wonder at the inhumanity that allows it to continue. It's incredible that the U.S. continues its inhumane, neoliberal, disaster capitalism, preemptive war doctrine when such policies are alienating the rest of the world.

The United States' success in Africa against the "China threat" is being based on the successful installation of a U.S. military presence -- the United States African Command (AFRICOM). The name alone hints at what this military presence is about. African countries have thus far rejected the installation of U.S. military bases on their soil. However, it's clear that AFRICOM is entering African countries through its backdoor access to "strong men," like Yoweri Museven of Uganda, who answers to American interests, rather than the Ugandan people.

The need to install a U.S. "Command" presence in Africa explains the push by agents (more about that below) of the U.S. government to have the U.S. military intervene in the sovereign affairs of countries like Uganda. Wikileaks revealed the "murky relationship" the U.S. has with the Ugandan government. A U.S. State Department cable reveals they've signed an agreement that specifically states "that Ugandan forces may not utilize U.S. intelligence to engage enemies without first consulting U.S. officials."

Besides their connection to "strong men," other successful measures employed by the U.S.to further its "interests" are close ties with NGOs (often through USAID), which ultimately compromise the ability of a country's government to control their own economies, leading to political instability.

It's well documented that NGOs like the Peace Corps are sometimes recruited by U.S. Embassies and intelligence agencies to spy on behalf of American interests. So some question the phenomenal success of the Joseph Kony "promotional" video produced by Invisible Children (IC). Is it just coincidental that the KONY2012 campaign promotes U.S. military involvement in Uganda? The Wikileaks cable mentioned above applies to U.S. State Department "intelligence asset" -- Invisible Children. IC has confirmed that they acted as "spies" for the Ugandan government.

Bruce A. Dixon of Black Agenda Report writes that IC is funded by right-wing donors, "including The Discovery Institute, which Bruce Wilson fingered in a March 11 Talk 2 Action piece as the leading funder of efforts to promote the replacement of biological sciences in schools with “intelligent design,”along with the Caster Foundation and the National Christian Foundation, all prominent backers of anti-gay referenda, politicians and initiatives in the United States and around the world." Dixon continues: "Credible African journalists like Keith Harmon Snow have also alleged that Invisible Children’s white and male leaders have direct personal connections to US intelligence agencies."

IC's campaign to increase the involvement of the U.S. military in Uganda has been exposed, revealing its phony "charitable" and "humanitarian" front. Between the plethora of Ugandans and Africans voicing their negative opinions about the KONY2012 campaign for its; paternalistic white savior mentality; the less than generous contributions on the ground (just 30%) and the emotional instability displayed by the group's co-founder, it's hard to believe that "intelligence" was involved in the IC debacle.

Why doesn't the United State engage Africa (and other non-European countries) more positively and honorably? Why does the U.S. behave like a thief in the night? Or a more apt comparison: a rapist? The thief just takes your belongings, perhaps injuring one's dignity, but the rapist violates and angers the victim. No wonder Americans have been arming themselves at such unprecedented rates. It can't all be about Obama's presidency or the unholy fear of Black people by racists. Americans must have a sense -- though they aren't informed by the propaganda that passes for news in the privately held media -- of the rage that U.S. foreign policy spawns.

What about reciprocal, fair trade? Isn't it just good "Christian" values? Why not treat others as you would want to be treated? Would it be so hard to show Africans the same respect shown to by China for instance? China does not have a substantive military presence in Africa. Reportedly, the only Chinese military presence in Africa is that deployed in the past on UN "peacekeeping" missions and as military attaches, usually having duties at Embassies. China has chosen to emphasize its economic, not military ties with Africa.

(Partial Video Transcript)

People are dying… The situation is getting worst and worst… the money is there… everybody wants a piece of the Congo. Why are people living hand to mouth in one of the most mineral rich countries in the world? The Congo produces more than a billion dollars of gold alone each year. And the cobalt, and the tin, and the tungsten, and the copper.. all of that we are benefiting from. And yet we are silent.

When people invade your country, they rape your women, they rape the kids. They morally control your mind. There's a pattern to genocide. You can see it coming. It's like a hurricane. Are we going to have to wait for twenty more years, before somebody does something to stop this holocaust?

There is a global consensus that exists, that says it's ok for nearly 6 million Black people to die in the heart of Africa and for us to be silent. So I kept asking our intelligence people, is there any truth to this. What's happening out there? I don't think policymakers could claim that they didn't know.

There's something wrong. There's something wrong with us in terms of how we think about Africa.

The story of the Congo is often overlooked for its complexity. It's a story where boundaries are porous. And national identities mean little. Militant groups with ever changing acronyms are not who they claim to be. And neighbors loot and murder, while they are praised by the international community. But the death toll is now surpassing that of the holocaust. In part because of the way the United States is involved in Central Africa. Now facing a critical juncture in their history, the Congolese people need us to change the way we are involved, so that they can have the space to start rebuilding their country.

(end of partial video transcript)

What is the ultimate solution to the problems in the Congo? Activist in the video suggest that we hold governments accountable and give the Congo the space needed solve their own problems. The video also references a 2006 law (Public Law 109-456*) co-sponsored by President Obama ("for years he has been an advocate for the Congo") when he was a Congressman. One Activists thinks: "It is a law that supports the Congo." It would hold accountable Rwanda and Uganda, proposing sanctions to stop them from intervening in the affairs of the Congo. The law was passed, but key elements of that law are not being implemented by the U.S.

Makes you wonder; who really runs America? Evidently, it is not the current President of the United States, since Obama cannot even implement a laws he co-sponsored, nor can Obama deliver on most of the rhetoric and promises he made when he was Candidate Obama.

* The Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006

Support the implementation of this law, sign the petition at Change.org: Fully Implement Public Law 109-456

Requiem for an empire built on warheads, neutron bombs and Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

A tribute to Gil Scot Heron, an American who told it like it is. He was especially clear about American hegemony. He chronicled the American society's inner workings, understood its tyrannical hierarchy and talked about the ways its political agents spread tentacles out to implement American foreign policy.

His birthday was April 1, 1949. He died last year at the age of 62. He died relatively young, like a lot of Black men who end up in jail (disproportionally) for substance abuse and suffer at the hands of the American two-tiered "justus" system, he suffered from ill health that no doubt was aggravated by his time spent in adverse conditions of the U.S. prison industrial complex.

The Ghetto Code. Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash.

by Gil Scott Heron

[..] The letter that I would like to go into very briefly is the letter C.

It is one of my favorites. It is very underrated. In terms of letters, you know.

Very few people sit around and comment on the virtues of the letter C.

But it is the first letter in cash money. It is the first letter in Constitution.

And it is the last letter in musiC.

It is the first letter in CIA...

The CIA and FBI, they're noses pressed up against our window pane.

Ears glued to our telephone. Why won't they leave us alone?

Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

The CIA and FBI, noses pressed up against our window pane.

Ears glued to our telephone. Why won't they leave us alone?

Tryin' to pick up on the Ghetto Code. Old fashioned Ghetto Code.

[...] I know whoever they was paying to listen in

on my phone must have been sayin'

Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

Then Gil relates the story of how Howard Hughes was paid $400 million by the CIA to raise a sunken Russian submarine.

Project Azorian cost $800 million according to Wiki. There's a reference on Wiki to James Cameron's The Abyss -- interesting parallels there between Cameron's latest race to the bottom and Hughes big payday -- must be nice to have seemingly limitless funds... Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

Gil questions the CIA's motives for this "overextended" venture. Gil goes into the CIA in Latin America... Cuba, Castro, Allende, Chile, Communists, the Panama Canal, Columbia, and Che Guevara.

[..] The C might remind you of the Congo.

Say what? The Congo. The Congo?

The C that reminds you of the Congo

could remind you of how geography changes.

Looking at the map of Africa today.

Where you see the word Zaire, you would at one time see

the word Congo or Belgium Congo.

Remembrances of this would remind you of

a man that stood for African unity.

A man name Patrice Lumumba.

But somehow, somehow

Patrice Lumumba was assassinated

during a mysterious C. A Coup D'etat.

Other things that haven't been solved or

haven't been quite explained to anybody's satisfaction:

Was it Lee Harvey Oswald over there?

Or was it Lee Harvey Oswald over there?

Was he 5 '8 165 pounds or was he 6 '2 205?

Was he photographed for his appearance in Dallas or was that Moscow?

Arthur Brenner was he from Maryland, Maine or Massachusetts?

Was he kept in the Midwest or the Middle East?

And if they always have a chance to photograph these people

before they commit their crimes -- why can't they stop them?

Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know?

But other problems we would still like to see solved?

Like JFK - you believe all that?

RFK - you believe that?

MLK - you believe all that?

Malcolm X - you believe that?
All this was some great big old C coincidence?

Or was it a little bitty c, conspiracy?

There are two questions that concern us very much about the letter C:

The first one is the CIA. Who the hell runs that organization?

The second one is: Who runs this country?

Dot Dot Dit Dit Dot Dot Dash. Damned if I know.

Haiti's cholera epidemic is the worst in the world

Just checking… is the UN still denying responsibility for bringing cholera to Haiti? It's been long observed that Haiti was a "totally naive environment" before the UN Nepalese troops arrived to occupy Haiti's breadbasket, the Artibonite. There is abundant "Confirmation of the Origin of the Haiti Cholera Disaster: UN Nepalese Troops."

Haiti's cholera epidemic is now the worst in the world, having claimed over $7,040 victims and infecting over 523,000 more.

Even U.N. Special Envoy Bill Clinton has said the U.N. brought cholera to Haiti, but the UN is denying its role in the devastating cholera outbreak.

Until now, the UN has not officially replied to the complaint, saying it is still “being studied,” and continues to deny responsibility. Just last week, the UN Secretary General’s spokesman said that “it was not possible to be conclusive about how cholera was introduced into Haiti.”
— Haïti Liberté, Vol. 5, No. 39, 4/11/2012

What a conundrum! How does the UN explain that a "UN Panel was able to quickly use the simpler MLVA method in their analysis of the 2009 specimen, occurring a year earlier in Nepal than the epidemic in Haiti. Of this laboratory work they wrote, "a careful analysis of the MLVA results and the ctxB gene indicated that the strains isolated in Haiti (during 2010) and Nepal during 2009 were a perfect match ^(1)."

If the cholera lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice and Democracy (IJDH) ever gets assessed in a courtroom, it should be a slam dunk, right? Here's the thing that is puzzling about this lawsuit; that have skeptics asking: are they for real?

How can the very same people who are closely associated with the U.N. claim to be representing the U.N.'s Haitian victims? The IJDH is represented by Dr. Evan Lyon who works for Partners in Health in Haiti, which was founded by U.N. Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti Paul Farmer. Attorney Brian Concannon, the IJDH Director, would theoretically be the one who put Paul Farmer on the Board of Directors of the IJDH, where Paul Farmer still serves.

Meanwhile, it's clear from this July 14, 2011 interview on Democracy Now! that Paul Farmer is a U.N. employee and represents it's interests. Farmer, has gone on the record to deny U.N. responsibility for bringing cholera to Haiti and blames conditions in Haiti for the pandemic.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, you were one of the first people—you were quoted by AP—saying that the cholera after the earthquake was brought in by the Nepali—the Nepalese peacekeeping force, the U.N. force. How did that happen?

DR. PAUL FARMER: How did it happen that I was rash enough to say that?

AMY GOODMAN: No, how did it happen that they did it?

DR. PAUL FARMER: Well, of course, it was completely unwitting. I mean, no one—no one ever intends to bring a disease into a population that had been free of it. And I really, in a way, wish I hadn’t even gotten involved in the discussion, in a way.

If the attorney(s) claiming to represent cholera victims have Paul Farmer on their Board of Directors, shouldn't they recuse themselves? There is a clear conflict of interest here, which should disqualify them from representing the victims of the cholera epidemic. They should turn over their resources to lawyers who will act as "officers of the court" -- who see their duty as representing "the truth, including avoiding dishonesty or evasion."

It's outrageous that Farmer, a physician, who is sworn to "first do no harm" is also backing a "vaccine" for potential victims. If Farmer really cared about making a positive difference in the lives of Haitians (and no one can deny that Farmer has shown that side of himself in the past), he would still be fighting for a sustainable solution -- clean drinking water and water infrastructure. Cholera is a waterborne disease. The parallel that can be drawn here: it's like administering a vaccine to people in anticipation of an outbreak of salmonella and other foodborne illnesses.

Farmer, is a close associate and friend of U.N. Envoy Bill Clinton, who has been using Haiti as a disaster capitalism hub for himself and his ultra-rich friends -- like Warren Buffet of Clayton Homes and Katrina disaster formaldehyde trailers infamy. Clinton paid Clayton Homes a million dollars for bringing formaldehyde laced trailers to Haiti's school children -- that's something else we can all agree on Esquire Magazine.

The Clinton Global Initiative are co-sponsoring "cholera insurance" for Haiti's market women. What should we term that little enterprise -- windfall or rainfall profits? The Clinton's propensity for being implicated in scandals and corruption is as rampant as it ever was.

Haiti Liberté writes that the IJDH speaks for "The petitioners [who] also call on the UN to take constructive action to prevent cholera’s spread and to formally accept responsibility for importing cholera into Haiti" -- if that is so, then why is the IJDH not filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of all 523,000+ victims of the imported cholera scourge and their families? The IJDH -- the face of the "complainants" -- has instead chosen to represent just 5,000 of the "cholera survivors or close family members of someone killed by the disease."

Ezili Dantò terms the folks behind the cholera lawsuit: "paid to lose tenured progressives" because clearly they are "crisis handling" this "embarrassing" situation for their bosses and close associates at the "United Nations" -- the goal is to make it all go away.

Meanwhile, the U.N. is continuing to cower behind the amoral, unjust and indefensible mantle of "plausible deniability."

With these kinds of friends... Haiti does not need enemies.

It was the Bush regime that sponsored the Haiti coup in 2004 that brought in the U.S. puppet Boca Raton regime of Gerard Latortue responsible for these U.N. "peacekeepers" entering Haiti to practice their brutal form of "humanitarianism." The TOURISTAH have been in Haiti for almost eight years now getting their generous "hazard pay" of $6,000 a month -- with a budget of $832 million a year, MINUSTAH is paid well for their rapacious occupation of Haiti.

Bring a class action lawsuit on behalf of all the victims of U.N. cholera against the United States! The U.S. cannot continue to operate with impunity in the world, particularly against small nations, which have no standing army, weapons or means to defend themselves from the most powerful nation(s) of the world.

The U.N. is primarily a military force, which is deployed all over the world to protect and secure the interests of the 1 percent, albeit NATO seems to have taken up a lot of the U.N.'s duties of late. So do take heed closet racists in Brazil, you're mercenary services as head of MINUSTAH may no longer be required. Occupying Haiti at the behest of the U.N.'s "Big Powers" sure hasn't brought Brazil the permanent seat on the Security Council they were seeking -- thus far.

The U.S. is a signatories to international human rights treaties. Due respect to Human Rights Watch for calling out the United States on their continuing hypocrisy -- it's about time:

The failure of the US to join with other nations in taking on international human rights legal obligations has undercut its international leadership on key issues, limiting its influence, its stature, and its credibility in promoting respect for human rights around the world.

_________________
1. Cravioto A. (Chair), Lanata CF, Lantagne DS, Nair GB. Final Report of the Independent Panel of Experts on the Cholera Outbreak in Haiti. United Nations, April, 2011.

UN Impunity in Haiti: Cholera Outbreak IS Criminal Negligence

1) What this report fails to show is what "'century" exactly did Haiti have a previous outbreak of cholera? It can't since Haiti has never had a documented case of a cholera outbreak. The UN was/is well aware that Haitians did not have antibodies to protect them from cholera. The UN is the one primarily military organization (not humanitarian) which is in the best position to know this because of its supposed "mandate" to help prevent the spread of disease in the world. You'd think that would be a priority in Haiti, but evidently not, given their criminal negligence there. A legitimate question to posit: since the UN "mandate" in Haiti has been repeatedly renewed by the Security Council, are they carrying out a secret agenda? Is the UN practicing bio-warfare in Haiti?

The UN's defense of its criminal behavior in Haiti is absurd. They claim that since Haiti had prime conditions where cholera or other water-bourne disease would thrive, then Haiti itself is responsible for the deadly outbreak... so let's have another real life example where the UN's twisted logic can be applied: if a criminal shoots a policeman and that policeman is not wearing a bullet proof vest and he dies, then he is responsible for his own death.

2) What this report does show is that the UN thinks it is above the law and has operated with impunity in Haiti. So much so that it hasn't even bothered to follow through on its own legal requirements/obligations of putting in place a commission to uphold the rule-of-law; to hear criminal complaints brought against them -- an absurd conflict of interest in the first place!

3) The "agreement" that Haiti is said to have signed, which allows "MINUSTAH" to occupy Haiti under Chapter VII (conditions not met in Haiti), was signed when Haiti was under the illegal US installed regime of Gerard Latortue, so it has no validity. The criminal UN occupation of Haiti is illegal, criminal and based on lies.

Interesting reading: Bill Clinton acknowledged “that a UN peacekeeping soldier brought cholera to Haiti by accident.”

UPDATE 3.10.2012:

No cholera in Haiti prior to 2010.

Cholera in Haiti and Other Caribbean Regions, 19th Century
Volume 17, Number 11—November 2011

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/17/11/11-0958_article.htm

HatTip Mike Perrett of No Shock Dotrine for Haiti