Darfurians starving in the shadows World attention remains focused on the genocidal war Russia is waging in Ukraine. The alleged war crimes Russians are committing there include kidnapping Ukrainian children en masse and raping Ukrainian women as a weapon of war. But world attention has become fixated on the genocidal war Israel is waging in Gaza. The alleged crimes Israelis are committing there include launching indiscriminate bombings and… Read more.
Africa
Morocco Earthquake and Libya Flood
Alas, earthquakes, coups, floods, famine, tribal warfare, corruption, etc. all just seem part of the African game of dysfunction… Read more.
Coup in Gabon: America Is Partly to Blame
Another week, another coup Military coups in Africa are far more regular than presidential elections in America. Africa has had 486 attempted coups since 1950 (214 successful), whereas America has had only 59 elections (and 1 attempted coup). So, waking up this morning to breaking news of a coup in Gabon was hardly surprising. Military officers in Gabon said they… Read more.
Russia-Africa Summit Putin Exploiting African Leaders as Props and Pawns
Russia is using food as a weapon of war again. Earlier this month, it torpedoed the Black Sea grain deal millions of Africans depend on to survive. That was the elephant in the room at this week’s Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg. African leaders as pawns and props Frankly, the solidarity African leaders showed at the Russia-Africa summit in Petersburg this week… Read more.
South Africa Is Sending Arms to Russia – Because China Ordered It To
South Africa is sending arms to Russia because the world is at war. For now, Ukraine is the battlefield. And, for now, Russians and Ukrainians are the combatants. But countries are taking sides. They are siding with Ukraine and the forces of democracy, or with Russia and the forces of autocracy. Some countries are hedging… Read more.
What Sudan Ceasefire? Army Launches Offensive against RSF
What Sudan Ceasefire? The Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reportedly extended their ceasefire. The RSF announced a “humanitarian truce” for 72 hours beginning at midnight tonight. Except that the army marked that announcement by launching an offensive against the RSF. It reportedly wants to drive the RSF out of the capital, Khartoum.… Read more.
Sudan’s Delayed Arab Spring: Now Withering Away Too
Sudan’s pro-democracy protesters celebrated the ouster of strongman Omar al-Bashir eight weeks ago. However, in doing so, they demonstrated the same naiveté as Egypt’s pro-democracy protesters when they celebrated the ouster of strongman Hosni Mubarak eight years ago. I published a commentary titled “Aping Egypt’s Ouster of Mubarak, Sudan Ousts Bashir” on April 17, 2019. In it, I admonished Sudan’s… Read more.
Aping Zimbabwe, South Africa Expropriating White Farms to Give to Blacks
Corruption, incompetence, lawlessness, and the spectre of racial retribution are driving South Africa into the same dysfunctional shithole where Zimbabwe has been festering for the past 30 years. I have lamented this fateful symmetry in many commentaries, most notably in “South Africa ‘Betraying Its Values’,” May 13, 2011, “Zuma Doing to South Africa What Mugabe… Read more.
South Africa Replaces Corrupt Zuma with Captured Ramaphosa
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) gave President Jacob Zuma an ultimatum on Monday: resign by Wednesday or be impeached on Thursday (via vote of no-confidence). True to form, the hopelessly beleaguered Zuma strutted and fretted his case on TV until the eleventh hour and then resigned. No doubt he’s now hoping the sinecure he… Read more.
Africans Selling Africans as Slaves … Again
Africans selling Africans Like many people, you might think Europeans captured Africans to enslave them in the so-called New World. This, however, is one of history’s greatest misconceptions. After all, for centuries before Europeans set foot on the continent, Africans had been capturing and enslaving fellow Africans. Moreover, they were aping the customary practices of ancient civilizations… Read more.