Cote d'Ivoire: A “Chocolate Revolution” Or War For Oil? Part Two

Secret Report Ordered by Obama Identified Potential Uprisings

Ochere-Darko begins his article, Cote d'Ivoire needs a chocolate revolution, byGabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Ghanaian Chronicle, Opinion | Fri, 04 Feb 2011, with the following:

“U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, gave a prophetic advice to Middle East leaders gathered in Qatar for the Forum of the Future on January 12 that their regimes should adapt or die. Reform or deform. A few days later, Ben Ali fell and, and scents from the Jasmine Revolution filling the air of Egypt, with Hosni Mubarak, misreading the mood and sacking his government and promising to step down at a future date when the demand of the masses are simply: 'go and go now!'.”

Speaking at the "Forum for the Future: Partnership Dialogue" panel session today in Doha, Qatar, Secretary Clinton said:

"This is the last stop on a trip that has brought me from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Yemen, Oman, and now to Doha. On this short, but intense journey, I saw many signs of the potential for a new and innovative Middle East: a solar-powered city rising from the sands of the UAE; civil society leaders in Oman partnering with their government to improve education and create economic opportunities; a young Yemeni woman and a young Yemeni man, both of whom studied abroad and then returned to work for progress in Yemen. And of course, here in Qatar, the home of the 2022 World Cup, we see many examples of a commitment to innovation. Last year I visited Education City, which is connecting Qatar's young people to the global economy.

"...We all know this region faces serious challenges, even beyond the conflicts that dominate the headlines of the day. And we have a lot of work to do. This forum was designed to be not just an annual meeting where we talk with and at each other, but a launching pad for some of the institutional changes that will deal with the challenges that we all know are present. “

Perhaps Ochere-Darko, in his zeal to extricate himself and his owners from the potential blow-back from the 30 years of imperialist support genuinely confused science with prophecy. The impression he is giving that all of a sudden, the Americans realized that they have been dealing with dictators does not wash with the facts. A news story of the same title, published as recently as February 16, 2011 throws some light on this enigma. MarK Landler, writing in the New York Times, begins this way:

“WASHINGTON — President Obama ordered his advisers last August to produce a secret report on unrest in the Arab world, which concluded that without sweeping political changes, countries from Bahrainto Yemenwere ripe for popular revolt, administration officials said Wednesday.

Mr. Obama's order, known as a Presidential Study Directive, identified likely flashpoints, most notably Egypt, and solicited proposals for how the administration could push for political change in countries with autocratic rulers who are also valuable allies of the United States, these officials said.

The 18-page classified report, they said, grapples with a problem that has bedeviled the White House's approach toward Egypt and other countries in recent days: how to balance American strategic interests and the desire to avert broader instability against the democratic demands of the protesters.”

Somewhere down the line we also read:
“By issuing a directive, Mr. Obama was also pulling the topic of political change out of regular meetings on diplomatic, commercial or military relations with Arab states. In those meetings, one official said, the strategic interests loom so large that it is almost impossible to discuss reform efforts. The study has helped shape other messages, like a speech Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave in Qatar in January, in which she criticized Arab leaders for resisting change.”

Thus, it is clear that Ochere-Darko is simply doing his job by putting a spin on it to look as if the Americans were really in the front-seat in the ongoing struggle in the Middle East and North Africa. Nothing could be further than the truth.

In a recent interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Professor Emeritus, Noam Chomsky debunked such propaganda is his comments on one of the White House declarations calling for an orderly transition in Egypt:

“Well, Obama very carefully didn't say anything. Mubarak would agree that there should be an orderly transition, but to what? A new cabinet, some minor rearrangement of the constitutional order—it's empty. So he's doing what U.S. leaders regularly do. As I said, there is a playbook: whenever a favored dictator is in trouble, try to sustain him, hold on; if at some point it becomes impossible, switch sides.

The U.S. has an overwhelmingly powerful role there. Egypt is the second-largest recipient over a long period of U.S. military and economic aid. Israel is first. Obama himself has been highly supportive of Mubarak. It's worth remembering that on his way to that famous speech in Cairo, which was supposed to be a conciliatory speech towards the Arab world, he was asked by the press—I think it was the BBC—whether he was going to say anything about what they called Mubarak's authoritarian government. And Obama said, no, he wouldn't. He said, "I don't like to use labels for folks. Mubarak is a good man. He has done good things. He has maintained stability. We will continue to support him. He is a friend." And so on. This is one of the most brutal dictators of the region, and how anyone could have taken Obama's comments about human rights seriously after that is a bit of a mystery. But the support has been very powerful in diplomatic dimensions. Military—the planes flying over Tahrir Square are, of course, U.S. planes. The U.S. is the—has been the strongest, most solid, most important supporter of the regime. It's not like Tunisia, where the main supporter was France. They're the primary guilty party there. But in Egypt, it's clearly the United States, and of course Israel. Israel is—of all the countries in the region, Israel, and I suppose Saudi Arabia, have been the most outspoken and supportive of the Mubarak regime. In fact, Israeli leaders were angry, at least expressed anger, that Obama hadn't taken a stronger stand in support of their friend Mubarak."

The claim that the US played any role worth writing home about is therefore extremely ridiculous. Indeed, it is as ridiculous as the claim by another member of the Governing Board of the Danquah Institute, Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr. who argues that far from thanking Kwame Nkrumah for our independence, we need to thank President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill for signing the Atlantic Charter which called for the independence of colonized peoples!

Several of the NPP spin doctors who understand the import of this great sack of Arab dictators who have been in bed with the Americans, are trying to de-link the NPP as much as possible from the fall-out. They even admonish us to study Black History in order to understand what is going on. I think a recent comment I made on this issue shall be sufficient to “make my circle just”:

“We hear from our MOVE friends in the United States that the reason why February was chosen as the Black History Month in the United States is because it is the shortest month in the year! Perhaps this explains why people like you have so much undigested chunks of our history in your alimentary canals The people in the streets who are chasing away these bloody dictators and stooges of imperialism, know fully well what they are doing! If anything at all, what is happening is a threat to all those African leaders whose list of opinions are e-mailed to them from London, Paris and Washington!

We are getting rid of leaders who have systematically sided with the imperialists against the people, such as Nana Addo-Danquah Akufo-Addo and Alassane Ouattara who are known to ask "How high?" whenever their imperialist owners ask them to jump! Forget about your ridiculous spin and silly attempts to throw dust into our eyes! We see clearly what is going on! Thank you very much for the feedback that you are desperately trying to control the impending and inevitable damage coming your way by the current Peoples' Power Demonstrations!”

To be continued!
Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!
Cheers!
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro
Member, International Solidarity Committee
Pan-Africanist International
http://www.panafricanistinternational.org/

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Articles by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro