Interesting article http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/30/sprj.irq.mandela/index.html I think it's a shame that a man who has done so many good things could be so foolish as to seriously accuse the United States with wanting a Holocaust and undermining the United Nations because the secretary-general is black. What are your thoughts on the article?
Re: Re: Mandela accuses US of wanting Holocaust This is the funniest, best post ever on Big Soccer!!!!!
Re: Re: Mandela accuses US of wanting Holocaust Good idea. I'm not a big Dubya fan but I don't think he is a rascist Nazi hell bent on world destruction like Mr. Mandela believes.
While I think Bush is a boob, Mandela's stupid and senseless hyperbole only bring discredit to those who stand against this impending war. Nelson, take your medication dude...
(1) Mandela is - excessively - trying to match Bush hyperbole for hyperbole...the difference is, Mandela, although famous, no longer has any engine of "spin"/propaganda getting the public to do the Bill Maher "Sophia Loren" chant...which brings me to: (2) Ari (and Gerson) - have we stopped to think about WHY its okay in today's politics - or ever - for a leader to have a personal "Mouth of Sauron" and a personal speechwriter? Maybe I'm some sort of regressionist, but I look forward (backward?) to the day when statesmen (and women), not politicans, begin to reflect a whole host of values simply bereft in Bush and most other "leaders," among which is the ability to speak their own mind and write their own words...sans "frontmen," who are of course not elected and not accountable...
I was wondering that as well. I worry that those years behind bars have finally taken their toll on him.
For a man who fought the good fight against racism, he sure has brought it back into the limelight with little hesitation. I had so much respect for the man, but his words have jepardized the degree of that respcet. Make no mistake I still respect what he did, but what he is now doing is something completely different.
the guy has lost it totally with his aging brain... i expecially enjoyed his claim that if the leader of the the UN was not a black individual then he questions whether this supposed defiance of the UN by george and blair would not have happened...have they defied anything yet? i don't believe in the war and have not been convinced of iraq's WMD claim 'yet' but have we defied the UN and attacked iraq and i am on the only one to not know? "come on nelson, it is time to take your meds"
I hope we're a little more upset about Mbeki's AIDS comments which were infinitely more destructive. Mandela can say what he wants. Let's not forget that the right in the USA and UK was generally supportive of apartheid while many Arab dictators were against it. You can't blame him for his worldview.
Re: Re: Mandela accuses US of wanting Holocaust My God, man, you couldn't even answer a simple question without pontificating endlessly (and mindlessly). I feel for those who have to endure numbing conversations with you on a daily basis.
Mandela said U.S. President George W. Bush covets the oil in Iraq "because Iraq produces 64 percent of the oil in the world. What Bush wants is to get hold of that oil." In fact Iraq contributes to only 5 percent of world oil exports. I liked this little bit of the CNN article. 64% of the world's oil production? Ole Nellie is a little off his rocker on this one. Anyone who takes this guy seriously needs to be committed.
Are there any jails we can throw Nelson into for say 20 years until maybe he changes his mind? not funny, i know
It's hardly surprising that he would be critical of the Anglo/American right of politics, given that many of those people called Mandela a "terrorist" before Apartheid collapsed. So if these same people now identify 3rd parties as "terrorist", it should be obvious why Mandela might identify with them. But I am concerned that his health is declining.
I saw excerpts on the news last night, and as far as I'm concerned, he can go f*** himself with his Peace Prize.
Instead of giving him more meds .... somebody needs to get to his doctor and have him greatly reduce the prescription .... so sad. Such a great example of anti apartheid - and he just wasted his legacy. He has clearly left the farm.
More from Mandela from today's, er, Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12588911&method=full&siteid=50143 He was equally damning about Tony Blair, sneering: "He is the foreign minister of the United States. He is no longer Prime Minister of Britain." .... The world statesman went on to launch a withering attack on America's human rights record. Referring to the US wartime atom bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagaski, he said: "Because they decided to kill innocent people in Japan, who are they now to pretend they're the policeman of the world? "lf there is a country which has committed unspeakable atrocities, it is the US...they don't care for human beings.'' ... Nice guy...BTW, don't expect a nice welcome the next time you come to the US.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Mandela accuses US of wanting Holocaust You got a problem with freedom of religion? If dawgpound wants to worship me, let him.
Considering how preposterous it would be to say that Iraq produces 64% of the world's oil, is it possible that Mandela said "Iraq produces 6 to 4% of the world's oil" and the reporter missed it due to Mandela's accent? It just doesn't make sense that he would say 64%. My mom would even understand that figure is wrong. He may engage in hyperbole but he should know enough about world economics that the 64% doesn't even pass the first sniff test. Murf
he is clearly, as stated, a little off his rocker... but he is right about the atom bombs. For my money, those were the two biggest terrorist acts in the history of the world. and it DOES seem ironic to a certain degree that we, the united states, seem so concerned about weapons of mass destruction, when we are the only ones to have actually used A-bombs.