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| French troops masquerading as UN "peace-keepers" on Ivorien soil. |
Like most neutral observers, I have watched with curious intent, the current conflict in both Libya and the Ivory Coast, but the one that has really caught my attention, is the latter.
When George W. Bush, first with the acquiescence of his brother, then Florida Governor Jeb Bush and then the seal of the U.S. Supreme Court, usurped the people's mandate in the 2000 presidential elections, the European Union never questioned his legitimacy and neither did the United Nations.
Although the division in the body politic of the United States was so palpable, there was no UN resolution, authorizing the use of force to install the true winner of the elections, Al Gore.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, himself said as much during a panel discussion in 2005 at the American University in Washington D.C., "Al Gore defeated George Bush". Carter then went on to state that the electoral process in the United States, during the 2000 elections, "was an abysmal failure".
Again, where was the United Nations? Where was the European Union? More importantly, who watches the West when no one is watching? Are the so-called developing nations, particularly those on the African continent, now supposed to give up their sovereignty to an international body (the United Nations) that has remained woefully inept (since its inception) when it comes to issues germane to the concerns of developing nations and "God's lesser children"?
The stalemate in the Ivory Coast is primarily due to the insistence of France and its Napoleonic tyrant, Nicolas Sarkozy, that Alassane Quattara was the winner of last year's elections, although the Constitutional Council of the Ivory Coast, a sovereign nation, declared incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, the winner.
The United Nations acting as a facilitator for former colonial master France, has overstepped its mandate and continues to insist that Alassane Quattara must be installed as president, even though the generality of the Ivorien people do not feel that way.
That the United Nations has lost its last semblance of credibility with its conduct in the Ivory Coast conflict, is not in question. What is however disturbing is that the African Union, with its lackeys acting as leaders, has not been careful to handle this issue in a manner that negates confrontation, but rather facilitates a peaceful resolution to a uniquely African matter.
France and the other colonial masters have only one interest in Africa, its natural resources and how best to exploit it. They could care less about the loss of one single African life and will use the Quattaras and Mobutus of that troubled continent to achieve their diabolical intentions, regardless of the cost to human life.
Alassane Quattara may however take a cue from other sycophants that have been used and dumped by the West. He needs to understand that he is only as good as what he can get Sarkozy and his band of marauders.
As we witness the initial stages of the next scramble for Africa, its leaders, intellectuals and citizenry must understand that those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
This time though, rather than the whiskey and gun powder, the halls of diplomacy of an essentially rogue international body, would be the conduit for the next grab.
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