If the World Could Vote for America’s President

How this election will hurt the U.S.’s global standing.

*By Joel Hilliker(Pictured ),Columnist


The whole world doesn’t agree on much, but it seems pretty united on one thing: that the next American president should be Barack Obama.
Set aside your own persuasion on who should win the November 4 election for a moment. Look at the situation from higher up. This global Obama-love is significant for a couple of reasons.

The Economist online has set up what it calls a “Global Electoral College”—a chance for its readers worldwide to vote using a globalized version of America’s electoral college system. There the McCain-Palin ticket actually has received 270 electoral votes—the number required to win in America. Trouble is, it has been absolutely crushed by Obama-Biden’s 9,120 electoral votes.

A Washington Post reporter took an informal survey around the halls of the United Nations: Obama or McCain? The overwhelming favorite: Obama, Obama, Obama. “I have not heard a single person who will support McCain,” said an African UN official. “If they do, they are in hiding.” The reporter, Colum Lynch, concluded, “[I]t might be difficult to find a sliver of territory in the United States more enthusiastic over the prospect of the Illinois senator winning” than in the global microcosm of the UN.

Amir Taheri wrote in yesterday’s New York Post of seeing “Obama! Inshallah!”—or Obama! Allah willing!—written on walls in the Gaza Strip. “While Obama has tried to push his origins into the background, his ‘Islamic roots’ have won him a place in many Arabs’ hearts,” he wrote.

Congo’s UN ambassador, Atoki Ileka, says the same about the candidate’s African roots, since Obama’s father is from Kenya: “We do not consider him an African American. We consider him an African.” Makadem, the Kenyan reggae singer who wrote the messianic anthem “Obama Be Thy Name,” evidently feels the same.

Some of the candidate’s worldwide supporters are doing more than just hoping for him to win—they’re actively funding his campaign (which is, of course, illegal). As Ron Fraser recently wrote, the Federal Election Commission has reported 11,500 foreign contributions to the Obama campaign totaling $33.8 million.

Why such overwhelming worldwide support for Obama? A common cheer among his supporters is that he represents a friendlier face to the world than both his predecessor and his opponent, and will restore America’s reputation and status as a beloved global power. By this logic, all these nations are excited about an Obama presidency because of their eagerness to restore the friendships with America that have been so ravaged by the Bush administration.

Before we accept that view, it is worth noting that among the nations most enthusiastic in their support for Obama are some of America’s worst enemies.

Take, as an example, some of his enthusiasts in the Arab world. “Obama especially appeals to pan-Arab nationalists angry at the United States for having ousted Saddam Hussein,” Amir Taheri explains. “Obama’s promise to leave Iraq gives pan-Arabs their only chance (albeit slim) to destroy the new Iraqi democracy.” Incidentally, among the millions in donations to Obama’s campaign were monies originating from Fallujah in Iraq.

Iran was also the source of some of Obama’s campaign money. It’s not difficult to see how the Iranian mullahs would prefer a U.S. president who calls himself the only major candidate who “supports tough, direct, presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions.” And not because of their sincere desire to make peace with America.

“Also enthusiastic for Obama is the Lebanese Hezbollah,” Taheri continued. “The party’s No. 2, Sheik Naim al-Kassim, went as far as inviting Americans to vote Obama as a step toward peace with Islam.” What sort of “peace with Islam” do you suppose Kassim is interested in? He belongs to an organization that, according to its founding document, “regard[s] all negotiators as enemies.”

Obama has received notable if unwanted endorsements from North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, Cuba’s Fidel Castro, and Hamas adviser Ahmed Yousef. Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi has told Obama “to be proud of himself as a black and feel that all Africa is behind him.”

Why would such demagogues and terrorists support Obama? You can be sure they’re not interested in a stronger America.

The undeniable truth is, fervent anti-Americanism infects much of the planet, and a great many people support this man because they view his policies as being favorable toward America’s enemies. The large part of the world that wants to level the global playing field by knocking America down a peg appears to see an opportunity in an Obama presidency. And as Ryan Mauro recently detailed in Global Politician, this man’s ideas on foreign policy provide those enemies plenty of cause to justify their enthusiasm.

That reality alone undermines the hope held by so many for a more peaceful world because of the political ascension of a multiracial man in the world’s most prominent nation. As his own running mate famously said recently, someone, somewhere, is bound to ignite an international crisis in order to test Barack Obama’s mettle. Things could get ugly very quickly.

But there is also a more immediate problem in the fact that global opinion, like the American media, has virtually crowned Obama with a victory already. Given the near-universal desire to see this man take up residency in the White House, we have to ask: What would it do to America’s reputation abroad should the McCain-Palin ticket manage to win?

Four years ago, the world was rooting for John Kerry. When George W. Bush won, France’s Le Monde wrote an editorial titled, “Why?” The UK’s Daily Mirror headline was, “How can 59,054,087 people be so dumb?” “This once-great country has pulled up its drawbridge for another four years and … has shown itself to be a fearful, backward-looking and very small nation,” it wrote.

That was after a John Kerry loss.

One American UN official, who says “I keep my mouth shut” about his support for McCain, said this: “It will be devastating if Obama loses. There has been such an amount of faith placed on the outcome.”

What kind of global backlash will we see if McCain pulls this election off? Within the U.S. itself, the narrative being incessantly hammered is that the only obstacle in the way of an Obama landslide is America’s racism. In the event of an Obama loss, it is not difficult to imagine a worldwide surge not only in disappointment but also in already high levels of bitterness, hostility and anger toward America.

Not exactly what you need when you’re vulnerable economically and trillions of dollars in debt to other nations.

The Trumpet does not take sides in political elections. We believe the biblical truth that “the powers that be are ordained of God,” and that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men” (Romans 13:1; Daniel 4:17). We are far less interested in who, specifically, wins elections than in how current events fulfill biblical prophecy. And one of the most important prophecies we are watching unfold is the rapid decline of America’s global power—exactly as Scripture said would happen. You can read all about this in Herbert W. Armstrong’s book The United States and Britain in Prophecy, the first version of which he wrote, astonishingly, over 70 years ago.

Whoever wins next week, the American era is ending. Whether there is a short-lived warming toward the U.S. or not, nations around the world will continue to scramble to gain power at America’s expense. The identity of the next American president may cause them to change their tactics, but not their goal.

Courtesy :www.theTrumpet.com ( published :October 29, 2008 )

Africa Stands Alone!

By Tazoacha Asonganyi in Yaounde.

When the Berlin wall came down in 1989, neo-liberals robbed their hands in glee, professing the triumph of capitalism over communism and other versions of left-wing politics. It was affirmed that the collapse was proof that at best, states should leave the market place alone, since the market regulates itself.

The dazed left responded that the ruthlessness of capitalism requires that to best serve all humans, the answer was not free wheeling capitalism but a marriage - a Third Way - that shunned the classical, outdated political positions of the left and the right and sought a convergence towards using both capitalism and social welfare politics to serve the people. The left accepted the market economy as the best avenue for creating wealth for the fulfilment of professed social aims.

With the present collapse of the market model totted by neo-liberals, it is time for the left to rob its own hands in glee in celebration of the death of unregulated markets! One of the lessons of the collapse is that the market economy can only function to the benefit of all if the state does intervene to regulate it; that the market is so selfish that left to its own designs, it consumes even itself!

The collapse brings to centre stage politics of the Third Way. Concepts like free market economy, planned economy, the welfare state, private enterprise and others need to be viewed with new lenses to provide new orientations that benefit both the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak.

Between the left and the right, it can now be said that there is no victor and no vanquished, since each side has had its moment of glee. The two sides need to return to the drawing board, not in their usual, quarrelling camps, but together to seek a new understanding of the market to redesign it to the benefit of all humanity.

The collapse of the market has seriously affected every continent except ... Africa! This is not a reflection of strength but of the weakness of the economic systems in Africa. If Africa suffers any effect at all, it would be what can be described as the bystander effect.

Africa's position brings to mind Kruskev’s answer when he was asked what would happen if all bombs in the world explode: he responded that there would be nobody left except the Chinese and the Africans. The Chinese have since moved on, leaving the Africans alone in that league! In a way, China moved on, encouraged by the nuclear status of the other four members of the UN Security Council (USA, then USSR, UK, France). Following China’s first nuclear test in 1964, members of the Security Council crated the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) which arrogantly grants to five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council the right to be nuclear weapons states and at the same time denies the same right to the rest of us.

All four recognized sovereign states that refused to be parties to the treaty - India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea – seem to all have nuclear weapons today, especially India and Pakistan. In spite of Kruschev’s comments that would hurt any proud people, no African country refused to sign the treaty on the basis of principle, as did the four countries cited above!

Africa seems to stand alone in the world, being the poorest continent, the continent most affected by HIV/AIDS, the continent most affected by malaria, the continent with the worst dictators, the continent with the most barriers to free movement of people and goods, the continent with the poorest communication infrastructure, the continent with no stake in space, and on and on! Africa needs to assert itself. Africa urgently needs renewal and change.

Oil crew kidnapped off Cameroon

Armed gunmen in speedboats have kidnapped and threatened to kill 10 crew members from an oil vessel off the West African state of Cameroon.

The vessel's owners said those taken hostage were seven French nationals, two Cameroonians and a Tunisian.

The attack reportedly took place near the Bakassi peninsula, which Nigeria recently handed over to Cameroon.

A group called the Bakassi Freedom Fighters has claimed to have carried out the attack.

The group said it would kill the hostages within three days if Cameroon's government did not meet its demands.

It was not immediately clear what the group's demands were.

Reuters news agency reported that the attack had been carried out jointly with a second group called the Niger Delta Defence and Security Council.

Bank raid

There have been a number of attacks over the last year against oil installations in the Gulf of Guinea, where the kidnapping took place.

A diplomat in Cameroon said the raid had happened near the Bakassi Peninsula, which is on the country's border with Nigeria.

Attacks on oil installations in Nigeria's nearby Niger Delta have been especially frequent, and the diplomat told AFP news agency that the boarding of the vessel off Cameroon resembled recent raids in the Delta.

Militants there claim to be fighting for greater control over oil wealth in the impoverished region, though opponents say they make money from criminal rackets and trade in stolen oil.

The vessel seized off Cameroon, the Bourbon Sagitta, is owned by the French maritime services company Bourbon.

A company spokesperson said armed hijackers had boarded it from three speedboats at around midnight.

Five crew members stayed aboard the vessel, and neither the crew members who were seized nor those who stayed on board had been injured, Bourbon said.

Earlier this month, armed robbers carried out a daring raid on banks in a seaside town of Limbe in Cameroon.

Some 50 masked men who arrived by speedboat blew up safes in banks and made away with the money.

Source:BBC NEWS: Published: 2008/10/31 12:10:49 GMT

Cameroon: Unwanted Police checks

By Mofor Samuel
After last February social upheavals that sent shock waves across the nation and within the ranks of the powers that be in particular, security road blocks and check points have taken a new twist and dimension.

Unlike in the past when the Biya administration used to blindfold the population into believing that they were doing everything possible to facilitate travels by checking the excesses of the men in uniform, this time around the check points have more than doubled with some only meters apart.

As someone puts it one can be an honest citizen in the eyes of the policeman but not in the eyes of the gendarmes and vice versa. There is even a third option whereby even soldiers are involved in the show, when some can barely read. With the new phenomenon of “apprentis sorciers” gaining grounds in the corridor of power, the powers that be are leaving no stone unturned in their bid to check and contain this phenomenon. Hence the need for mixed controls, and every Cameroonian traveling with particular bus agencies is considered without papers until they are presented

. When questioned as to why they have to ridicule people and make them walk for long distances on foot and why buses of certain travel agencies as well as private vehicles are not checked, one is simply told by these security agents that they are acting on instructions from above.

At times many buses arrive at a control point making it very difficult and cumbersome for the khaki boys to carry on their “checking”. Most often than not, they are overwhelmed with the task, coupled with the fact that the scorching sun does not give them any breathing space.
Things even get worst when it is raining torrentially. The whole thing comes to a standstill.

Permit me to present a picture of a scenario that took place in one of the several check points on the outskirts of Douala along the road to Yaoundé. I tell you it is very interesting going by what one sees unfolding. This check point was being manned by the elements of GMI No.II in Douala.

Having arrived at this check point while it was still raining or better still drizzling, the team leader and his members sought refuge in someone’s roadside hut. This narrator was able to perceive from the 70 -seater bus that there was a “njangi” going on with those without papers doing the contribution and the khaki boys the collection. The team leader was the president (police officer), the treasurer (senior police inspector) and the financial secretary (police inspector). Then the chief whips were the (senior police constable) and a simple ( police constable).
Any one, who could not go through the filter or sieve, meaning that the individual was not in possession of his/her papers, was conducted by one of the chief whips to the njangi house.

The chief whip upon sending a potential catch shouts with all overzealousness at the top of his voice to enable the team leader to know the number of persons sent. The fate of these potential contributors is decided upon by the team leader. Once in the hut as a matter of principle one had to contribute to gain one’s freedom. And that is how three passengers from our bus became victims since they were not in possession of their papers. Two did contribute to be set free.

One guy was abandoned for failing to comply since the other passengers in the bus also declared a war on the driver for wasting their time. Indeed, one could see how passengers were openly giving their bribes to one person to finally hand it over to the police.

Now, he meticulously counts them to make sure that the amount corresponds to the number of defaulters. All this is done under the watchful eyes of the Financial Secretary and President.
Interestingly, there was this old lady who had but the old National Identity Card(not longer in use). Her fate was to be determined by the young policeman- chief whip- as none of us knew what was in store for her.

Strangely enough, the young man never bothered to ask her any question. Either this young man was in a haste to run away from the rain that had suddenly moved from drizzles to torrential, or that he was hypnotized by the old lady one cannot tell.

Earlier around Bekoko, passengers were using several other means to outsmart the men –in- uniform. They just have to do with what they have in hand. This, because the amount of questions, comments, open attacks and scolding they receive from passengers divert their attention from the reality.

In fact the passengers of the bus taking us to Kribi really had some harsh words for these road policemen. Thank God, they never dared to ask anyone to go down in the rain or else the undelivered package that they had for the authorities of Jako Voyages would have been handed over to them.

It should be noted that passengers who arrived at the agency at 9 am with the intention of traveling thirty minutes later, finally left for Kribi at 2:30pm. The reason is that most of the drivers got drunk and were suffering form hang-over of the Labour Day Celebration. That too is Cameroon. Labour Day as we all know, is the day set aside for workers to demand better working conditions and salaries.

On the contrary in Cameroon, workers are celebrating since it is the only opportunity for them to wine and dine with their employers. That is how those of us passengers were grounded on that fateful Friday, May 2 ,until we had to impose the destination of the bus that came in from Yaoundé and was about to return there.

This coupled with the heavy downpour got most passengers infuriated and were just waiting for the slightest provocation to explode. Thank God the rain came and calmed down the temperature and tempers.
While the rain worked to the advantage of travelers, it actually had a message for the powers that be – that they had another serious battle to fight. If they do not want to surrender in disgrace, it is better they call off the controls before the rains eventually put an end to them thereby rendering them powerless and impotent in front of Cameroonians.

Cameroon:Why Make Anglophones Invisible Citizens?

By Ndicho Awudu in Douala

As Cameroon government deploys security forces to arrest, torture, and incarcerate some English- speaking Cameroonians under the pretext that they want to secede, it is important to situate the Anglophone in the Cameroonian society. Does the Francophone-dominated

government really recognise Anglophones or their ability to manage positions given to them appropriately? Do French -speaking Cameroonians know that Anglophones’ ability to manage has an origin? Shouldn’t that origin be recognised and accepted?

The success of any leader partly depends on the successful flow of instructions and hitch-free implementation. This seems not to be the case with Anglophones who hold positions of responsibility in our country. The current Prime Minster is said to have instructed the former Minister of Finance to allot financial provision for new furniture in the PM’s office. But the Finance Minster brushed it aside and dumped the file claiming that it was not going to improve on the country’s revenue.

Incarcerated former Finance Minster Abah Abah even refused arogantly to listen to the PM concerning the planned privatisation of Cameroon Airlines. The Prime Minister insisted and the then finance minister stood his grounds and was about to adjudicate the sale to his cohorts.

It only took a presidential decree to annul the deal. We all know that all ministers are subordinates to the Prime Minister who is Head of Government, but yet his instructions or decisions are not implemented. I believe this is because some influential Francophone power wielders don’t consider Anglophones as part and parcel of this country. Not even the clan that rules the country pays considerable attention to Anglophones’cry.

Furthermore, when Mr. Peter Mafany Musonge(another Anglophone) was Prime Minister, a commission awarded a FEICOM contract worth 188 million to an Anglophone company. The then Prime Minister signed the contract and forwarded it to the FEICOM former GM, Ondong Ndong, for visa before publication. Ondong Ndong, now in prison for embezzlement of billions of FCFA, said an Anglophone was unable to win such a juicy contract in Cameroon while he was still alive. His statement was final. Even if Anglophone firms do win such contracts from government, how many of them and how often does this occur?

When Mr. Inoni assumed functions as PM, he paid surprise visits to some ministries to encourage punctuality and duty -consciousness. French- speaking people with whom I associate refer to it as ‘‘les choses des anglos-là’’, ça va finir. But did it work? Did Mr. Inoni succeed? If not, why? Is he being respected as the head of government?

On several occasions Anglophone heads of government have had little or no say as most of their instructions are disobeyed or waived aside with the left hand even by low-ranking Francophones
However, Cameroonians believe that the post of PM. is given to us and that there should be no complaint. I believe elsewhere in the society, the story is not different.

In fact it is even worse than what I observed when I used to spend holidays in Douala in the 1980s. I recently noticed that an English- speaking citizen heading a taxation centre or a custom post is referred to provocatively as‘‘un Bamenda’’. His or her subordinates would say in French that ‘‘ l’anglo là est stricte pour rien’’. Or « il peut aller ou avec cette rigueur’’?
Before long, all decisions taken are ignored or partially executed to the detriment of the State, leaving the English speaking boss humiliated. That Anglophone nursery, primary, secondary schools and even thier lone university (Buea) are invaded by French speaking children is not news.
The question is, what is their aim? Would they really succeed in their mission? Many of them claim that the world is dominated by English speaking people, so they do not want their children to suffer the same embarrassment as they the parents. This is purely a mockery. . How many of us went to French -speaking schools to learn English before becoming bilingual?

Talking with a French speaking parent the other day, he confessed that his main reason for falling in love with Anglophone education system is that, “vous les anglos, vous êtes disciplinés. Vos écoles vous forment bien ». This according to him is not the case with the French educational system. Their children are let loose and many do not actually succeed the way Anglophone children do. Even though they have all the means, my friend says that his people are not well groomed. So he has observed and seen that ‘‘ les anglo sont meilleurs en tout’’ .

If Anglophones are truly the best why do they not give them that recognition officially, by allowing our leaders in the system to excel?

Francophone guests in Anglophone education system has plunged Anglophone parents into more trouble. It is more difficult for many Anglophone parents who in the past could sell their farm produce and get their children into good private or mission schools.
They have been so deprived that they have turned to government schools because the Francophone parents come in with their huge pockets filled with ill-gotten bank notes and can easily buy their children’s way into schools of their choice. Their children even enter “our” schools through the window before the huge fees are paid. The poor Anglophone parent who has been invisible in his or her struggle for survival is further pushed into oblivion by such invasion. Note that the some ministers, who fail to work according to Anglophone standards, go by their children to acquire an Anglophone education.

In a way, they recognise that Anglophone education system is better but wouldn’t admit it. Many fail to come to terms with Anglophones’ ability to perform better from the classroom to the public service than they. Someone needs to teach them this Pidgin English adage that ‘‘if man pass you, carry his bag’’. Let the Francophone open their eyes and see our abilities.

Let the government come out clearly and embrace us-Anglophones, not only as better managers but as true brothers working for the development and progress of our country.

Cameroon :Political Parties and The Courts

By Tazoacha Asonganyi in Yaounde
Political parties usually think that they have the right to do as they wish, since they have the liberty to make their own rules. However, they are constrained to remain within the ambit of the rule of law since they are essentially associations of free citizens.

Indeed, a political party is not just a collection of human beings but an assembly of people joined in an agreement on justice and partnership for the common good.

Most of the time, some members of political parties cover their self-interests with pretensions about "protecting" and "saving" the party from "destruction" by "enemies" through "anti-party" activities, which usually mean just anything that is not in the interest of the usurpers!

They engage in the naïve practice of always reaching judgment by ignoring external dangers or wishing them away; in unthinking hostility to other stakeholders who may be useful, even if temporal allies; in hanging to personal, self-serving convictions and outdated ideologies as guides for determining the interests of the party.

They never seek to marry rhetoric with realism; the letter and the spirit of their rules; ideals with the realities of human behaviour; wrongheaded principles with compromise and good sense.They are permanently engaged in shadow boxing in matches the shadow is always going to win! In this apocalyptic struggle to preserve/protect the party, rules are stripped of their essence and used in the crusade against "indiscipline".

Not unexpectedly, such illusions easily slide into the settlement of political and social scores in total disregard of the real interests of the party.Sooner or later, some aggrieved members turn to the courts to test the general understanding and solidity of the rules.The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party in power in Nigeria that recently dismissed the executive committee of the party in Anambra state was recently ordered by the High Court in Onitsha to reinstate the executive.
The party has obliged, declaring that "[t]he mood of the party ... is to respect judicial pronouncements as regards ... our party and we shall continue to do so...PDP as the party in the centre cannot afford to be anti-rule of law..."

The SDF was also reminded recently in Cameroon that it cannot enjoy too much impunity. Last year it removed the provincial executive committee of the West from office and replaced it with a caretaker team. The High Court in Mfoundi recently ordered the executive to be reinstated.

In spite of usual equivocation that earns headlines like "Fru Ndi Snubs Court Decision...," their regular use of the courts to resolve even some internal party matters leaves no doubt that they know the courts have a say in their internal affairs.Although many avenues for the courts to regulate political life in Cameroon through making pronouncements on issues shouting to be resolved remain wide-open, the courts are still too condescending with the CPDM party in power.
The confessions in courts by cronies of the party that some of the public money they embezzled went to CPDM coffers would have led the courts to order the return of the funds to the public treasury by the party, especially as the party continues to publish mainly the names of managers of significant amounts of public funds and other resources as their lead campaign people.
Further, it is incredible that although NEO has said among other things that 150 of 361 polling station results in Douala V were falsified before they were transferred to the Council Supervisory Commission during the 2007 twin elections, the court only cancelled the results, instead of establishing the true results using NEO counting sheets, and ensuring that the culprits are identified and punished!

This leniency of NEO and the courts towards those who falsify election results can only embolden election riggers, and ridicule the present noises of NEO about punishing those who will fraud during the election reruns. It can only help unpopular politicians to continue to call the shots against the will of the people.It is the duty of the courts to say what the law is.

It is also the duty of the courts to ensure that in the discharge of their duties, nobody is perceived to be above the law; and that equality is not just the preaching of the righteous but a reality in the life of the people.
The new deal-advanced democracy-democracy of appeasement-greater ambitions idea constitutes a sophisticated tactic of resistance and containment of opponents, guided by cronies of the regime in all areas of public life – in parliament, in academia, in the press, in the court system.

The grand idea is to ensure that the regime survives at all cost through the total control of the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. The idea may be under serious assault, but it is alive.

Powell endorses Obama as 'transformational'

Retired General Colin L. Powell(pictured), one of the country's most respected Republicans, stunned both parties on Sunday( 19 october)by strongly endorsing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president on NBC's "Meet the Press" and laying out a blistering, detailed critique of the modern GOP.
Powell said the election of Obama would "electrify the world."
"I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said. "He is a new generation coming ... onto the world stage and on the American stage. And for that reason, I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."
As a key reason, Powell said: "I would have difficult with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration."
Powell, once considered likely to be the nation's first African-American presidential nominee, said his decision was not about race.
Moderator Tom Brokaw said: "There will be some ... who will say this is an African-American, distinguished American supporting another African-American because of race."

Powell, who last year gave the Arizona senator's campaign the maximum $2,300, replied: "If I had only had that in mind, I could have done this six, eight, 10 months ago. I really have been going back and forth between somebody I have the highest respect and regard for, John McCain and somebody I was getting to know, Barack Obama. And it was only in the last couple of months that I settled on this."

"I can't deny that it will be a historic event when an African-American becomes president," Powell continued, speaking live in the studio. "And should that happen, all Americans should be proud — not just African-American, but all Americans — that we have reached this point in our national history where such a thing could happen. It would also not only electrify the country, but electrify the world."

Powell, making his 30th appearance on "Meet the Press," said he does not plan to campaign for Obama. He led into his endorsement by saying: "We've got two individuals — either one of them could be a good president. But which is the president that we need now — which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time.

"And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities — and you have to take that into account — as well as his substance — he has both style and substance, he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."

Powell said that he is "troubled" by the direction of the Republican Party, and said he began to doubt Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) when he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
"Not just small towns have values," he said, responding to one of Palin's signature lines.

"She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired," he said. "But at the same, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made."

The endorsement is likely to help Obama convince skeptical centrists that he is ready to handle the challenges of commander in chief, and undercuts McCain argument that he is better qualified on national-security issues.

McCain, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," sought to minimize the endorsement by noting his support from other former secretaries of state and retired military flag officers.
"It doesn’t come as a surprise," McCain said. "I'm very pleased to have the endorsement of four former secretaries of state, well over 200 retired generals and admirals. I've admired and continue to respect Secretary Powell."

Powell, 71, criticized McCain and his campaign for invoking the former domestic terrorist William Ayers.
"They're trying to connect him to some kind of terrorist feelings, and I think that's inappropriate," Powell said.

"Now I understand what politics is all about — I know how you can go after one another. And that's good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign, and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift."

Powell said he has "heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion [that Obama's] a Muslim and might be associated with terrorists."

"This is not the way we should be doing it in America. I feel strongly about this particular point," Powell said. "We have got to stop polarizing ourselves in this way. And John McCain is as non-discriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that within the party, we have these kinds of expressions."

Powell, a four-star Army general, was national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan; chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when George H.W. Bush was president; and was President George W. Bush’s first secretary of State.

Powell has consulted with both Obama and McCain, and the general’s camp had indicated in the past that he would not endorse.

Powell said that as he watched McCain, the Republican “was a little unsure as to how to deal with the economic problems that we were having, and almost every day, there was a different approach to the problem, and that concerned me, sensing that he didn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had."

Powell said a big job of the new president will be “conveying a new image of American leadership, a new image of America’s role in the world.”

“I think what the president has to do is to start using the power of the Oval Office and the power of his personality to convince the American people and to convince the world that America is solid, America is going to move forward … restoring a sense of purpose,” he said.

Courtesy:AP

Cameroon:Inoni Unveils Huge Gov't Projects Earmarked For Fako

*Allays fears that Limbe Sea Port, Shipyard Projects are abandoned.
By Christopher Ambe Shu
Cameroon's Prime Minister has unveiled a huge package of government projects earmarked for Fako (his division of origin)in particular and Southwest province in general to justify his call for the province's continued trust in the Biya regime and loyalty to the CPDM.


(Left to Right)Governor Eyeya Zanga,Ephraim Inoni and wife Gladys Inoni at the Conference
Premier Ephraim Inoni, who delivered a keynote address last Saturday at an all-Fako CPDM conference organized under his patronage, said a school of technology and a maritime academy will go operational next year in Limbe, while Buea will have a national school of sports.
The conference, first after the July 22 twin elections, held under the theme "Fako With Paul Biya-Renewed Dynamism for Brighter Horizons"

The PM used the conference, attended by over 4000 militants and sympathizers and described as successful by observers, to allay fears that the much –talked about Limbe deep Seaport and shipyard projects have been abandoned.

Insisting that the Limbe Deep Seaport and Shipyard projects are on course, Inoni attempted an answer to what is generally considered the projects' slow execution. " For the Shipyard project, our financial partners developed a wait-and -see attitude "and " for the sea port, a team of Koreans are working on some technical aspects". He said, "They have indicated that they are ready to begin". The Premier added that the government would soon finalize arrangement with financiers so that the project could fully and effectively begin.


He said new stadiums would soon be constructed in the province. The PM talked about government's resolve to improve the road network in the province, citing the Muea-kumba road that is already being tarred. He said some rural areas such as West Cost of Limbe and the Bakassi region would now be electrified, while others such as Owe in Muyuka and Muyenge would have portable water and telephone


To make Fako people believe his project promises, Inoni showed some cabinet ministers who accompanied him to Muyuka, noting that he brought them so that as they prepare their budgets for next year Fako should be put high on their agenda

The PM encouraged Southwest people to engage in farming, noting that the government has finances to give to those willing to do large-scale agriculture.Limbe Bank RobberyInoni insisted that the government would carry out a detailed investigation of last September 28 Limbe bank robberies so to prosecute the culprits. He urged the public to always report suspects and criminals to the administration.
Reconciliation
The PM advised militants to "close ranks and work together so to consolidate our achievements in Fako and Southwest in general". He called for genuine and lasting reconciliation in the five sections of Fako.He warned against political slumber in the sections. "We should not be seen as a party that only reawaken when elections around", he said, calling for the holding of various section conferences.
No Mention of Albatross Scandal
With allegations of the PM's involvement in what is now known as the Albatross Scandal still hanging on his neck, some militants who spoke to this reporter had expected that, Inoni was going to use the conference to clear his image, face to face with militants. But Inoni, who did not look quite cheerful, made no mention of the issue, leaving militants in suspense.For her part, Dorothy L.Njeuma, CPDM political bureau member and chair of the conference's organizing committee, said the choice of Muyuka for the conference was deliberate. She said CPDM won last year's twin elections in Muyuka, a town that for many years was opposition stronghold. Njeuma said the province by partnering with the CPDM stands at the threshold of opportunities.
"We are indeed valid partners of the CPDM in the Socio-economic development. With President Paul Biya the future is bright", she noted

Encouragement
Chief Tabe Tando, who led Party's Central Committee delegation that included Minister Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, gave words of encouragement to Fako CPDM.He thought that "the CPDM will continue winning in Muyuka for 50 more years".Another word of encouragement came from Minster Etoundi Ngoa, leader of the Mfoundi CPDM delegation, who said they came because Fako elites in Yaounde are working and very active in the Mfoundi sections.

Muyuka Ripe for Division
Praise –singing speeches came from Etonde Mbua Buea WCPDM; Ngale Isaac, Fako 1 YCPDM president, and Hon Jacob Mbange Makia, CPDM Fako 2Earlier in his welcome speech, Muyuka Mayor Njie Mokoto called on the PM to upgrade Muyuka subdivision to division. He expressed need for CDC to surrender land for Muyuka is now short of land for settlement. He also called for improved social facilities in the municipality.
Resolutions
Conference resolutions included a condemnation of recent Limbe bank robberies, a call for security to be beefed up in Limbe and a request for rapid investigation of the bank robberies.A motion of support was also issued for President Paul Biya and his regime.Cultural dances and songs animated the conferenceDignitaries present included Philemon Yang, assistant SG at the Pressidency, Hon Francis. Nkwain, former Prime Minister Mafany Musonge and SouthWest Governor Eyeya Zanga Louis

South Africa’s Lame-Duck President

Once the jewel of Africa, this nation is now going the way of the rest of the continent. A new president won’t help matters.

By Joel Hilliker

Imagine a small cabal of leaders within the Republican Party forcing the president from office. No public vote, not even any input from Congress—just the application of enough pressure on the man that he resigns. Then imagine Congress installing a deputy president to fill in for several months until another election can be held.

Such a bizarre turns of events—aside from revealing just how powerful, and also shockingly divided, the ruling political party is—would mire the nation in a political muddle. It would also leave the nation vulnerable to exploitation by outsiders.

This is just what has happened in South Africa.

Thabo Mbeki had served as the nation’s president for almost a decade. Sunday of last week, the ruling African National Congress (anc) forced him to resign over allegations that he’d interfered in a corruption case against Jacob Zuma, his longstanding opponent. When the presiding judge made accusations of political interference and dismissed all charges against Zuma, his allies had the pretext they needed to “recall” the president.

Kgalema Motlanthe, deputy leader of the African National Congress and former trade union leader, became South Africa’s third president last Thursday, the third since Nelson Mandela took the reins of post-apartheid South Africa in 1994.

An outbreak of singing and dancing from the anc greeted the announcement of Motlanthe’s win in the National Assembly—but Motlanthe’s presidency isn’t really worth cheering. His lame-duck tenure will only help the nation limp through what would have been the rest of Mbeki’s term in office. Elections are scheduled for April next year. Thus, South Africa will endure several months of an essentially meaningless administration, a situation that could well exacerbate several oppressive national problems.

South Africa is in trouble. At one time one of the most prosperous nations in Africa, today it finds itself in the jaws of the very woes that are swallowing nearly every other African state: rampant crime, corruption, unemployment, poverty and disease. This trend is doubly tragic because of the heights from which it has descended to this condition—and the speed.

Of course, fierce criticism of the white, apartheid-era rulers from which the anc took control in 1994 has been widely publicized. That criticism, however, does not change this fact: Whatever problems existed under that much-reviled system, they are simply being dwarfed by those multiplying under Marxist anc rule.

The undeniable, politically incorrect truth is that the descent of South Africa is largely the regrettable creation of the anc.

Mbeki’s failings were clear. His leadership was widely criticized for being cloistered, exclusive, aloof, vindictive toward critics and aggressive against dissenters. Though his economic policies were credited with creating a boom, they helped chase a million whites from the country in a decade and have left many blacks in the dust of poverty. While a small black middle class is growing, as is a clutch of superwealthy, politically well-connected black oligarchs, one quarter of the nation is currently unemployed—40 percent, if you include those no longer looking for work. Eleven percent of South Africans live on less than a dollar a day, double the number of those in poverty when the anc took power in 1994.

Under Mbeki, the nation also suffered from one of the worst crime rates in the world. It has eight times as many murders as the average country—nine times as many as the United States. It has more assaults, rapes and murders with firearms per capita than anywhere in the world. Over eight in 10 South African businesses are affected by crime—not missing Post-it notes, but violent crime and burglary. Even in “quiet” neighborhoods—which are routinely protected by security companies, closed-circuit cameras, palisade fencing, electronic gates, razor wire and alarm systems—burglaries and armed robberies are distressingly common.

Child protection services estimate that one third of girls and one fifth of boys in the country are sexually exploited; a child goes missing on average every six hours. And the reality is probably worse than the numbers suggest: The government is widely thought to fudge statistics down so as not to highlight its failures. The minister of safety and security once told people to stop complaining about the crime or leave the country.

Making matters so much worse is the appalling policing failure. Author and researcher Jonny Steinberg recently wrote a book, Thin Blue: The Unwritten Rules of Policing in South Africa, detailing the shocking truth about policing in post-apartheid South Africa, after spending eight years on the beat with police patrols. What did he find? “The truth is that it is not the police who control the criminals, but the criminals who dictate when, where and how they will be policed” (Pretoria News, September 17). The criminals rule South Africa’s streets.

At the same time, South Africa faces a food production crisis. “This is not a fight between racist farmers and disenfranchised black people. It’s a national crisis; it’s a fight for the economic survival of our country,” says Chris Burgess, editor of Farmer’s Weekly, the nation’s leading English-speaking farming magazine. “We are heading for a catastrophe and the cracks are already showing because our government under President Mbeki did not treat food production as a national priority.” Food production in South Africa is falling at an alarming rate as a result of white farmers being driven off the land and large tracts of agricultural land going out of production due to the transfer of land to blacks. As a result, this year the nation went from being one of only a few net food exporting countries in the world to being a net importer.

It is easy to see why so many were eager for a change in leadership. But Kgalema Motlanthe is merely a caretaker president. He stands no chance of making a dent in the country’s many woes.

The anc’s cheers over his victory were likely more directed at the fact that now, the man in prime position to become president in next year’s election is Jacob Zuma.

Zuma is expected to be the anc’s candidate, which means that, presuming he can continue to sidestep the corruption charges that have been leveled against him, he will be the next president. (Post-apartheid South Africa is effectively a one-party state.) Thus, Zuma is even now in a position to influence South African policy. Will we see a change for the good in South Africa as a result?

Zuma and his cronies have been undermining Mbeki’s power for the past nine months—ever since Zuma was elected leader of the anc last December. Now, Mbeki’s strategy of pinning corruption charges on Zuma has backfired. A South African high court ruled September 12 that the corruption trial against Zuma was illegal, causing the case to be thrown out. The legal clearing of Zuma, as Stratfor pointed out, “clears a lingering obstacle from Zuma’s path toward becoming South Africa’s next president” (September 12).

It is clear, however, that Jacob Zuma—should he become president next year as expected—will not represent a step forward for South Africa. Serious questions regarding his character, experience and policies dog him. Calling himself “100 Percent Zulu Boy” and using the anti-apartheid Zulu anthem “Bring Me My Machine Gun” as his theme song, the polygamist Zuma prides himself on his lack of formal education (some say he’s barely literate). He was brought up, fatherless, on the Soviet-era Communist ideals of the anc and joined its terrorist wing at age 16. Soon after, he was arrested and spent a decade in prison. Though he touts himself as a man of the people and defender of the poor, Zuma himself enjoys substantial wealth and a lavish lifestyle.

This is the man that the ruling party in South Africa has turned to in order to address the nation’s crushing internal crises. He’s not up to the job.

Economically, as much as he may talk about helping South Africa’s poor, Zuma’s allegiances lie elsewhere. Some believe that he will do little to change the reforms made under Mbeki’s rulership simply because of his accountability to the nation’s influential white businessmen. But there is tension over the fact that Zuma owes his political success to the anc’s powerful allies in cosatu—the Congress of South African Trade Unions—and the South African Communist Party, both of which strongly oppose anything resembling free-market reforms.

True to its revolutionary roots, the anc is proving itself increasingly driven by dangerous and shallow ideology rather than by what will best serve the country.

In clear contrast to the National Party that preceded it, the anc is anti-West at its heart. From its earliest post-apartheid days under Nelson Mandela, it has routinely fostered relationships with dictators the world over, from Cuba to Libya to Iran. In the United Nations—within which it is wrapping up a two-year stint on the Security Council—it has consistently sided with Arab and Muslim entities and against American and Israeli interests. High anc officials have publicly warned that South Africa must protect itself against possible invasion from the United States, of all things.

Zuma represents a further move in this anti-West direction.

Watch South Africa. In state after state on this aged continent, the transfer of power from colonialists to local rule, hailed as a victory for black Africans, has produced devastating results. The pattern that has been repeatedly followed is one of the new governing elite seizing the reins of power and driving their nations into the ground while making themselves criminally wealthy—often largely off international aid that never reaches the people for whom it is intended. The continent’s history of tribalism has simply overwhelmed democratic instruments and bestowed the unparalleled power of the modern nation-state on men who are essentially tribal chiefs.

South Africa has been a notable exception to this rule for several decades since becoming an independent republic. But now, that is changing—and rapidly. The true cause for this change is rooted in South Africa’s historical connection to the British Empire and the throne of England. Biblical prophecy describes and explains the curses South Africa increasingly finds itself under—curses that are destined to grow worse in the time ahead. A vital warning to the peoples of South Africa is contained in our booklet South Africa in Prophecy. Though written a decade ago, its prescient forecasts are even truer today, in the era of Zuma.

In short, by all appearances Zuma’s leadership of the anc—and potential leadership of the country—represents, at best, a continuation of the problems that have plagued anc rule, if not their intensification.

With Mbeki out, what foreign powers will come in to court his successor? This well-developed, resource-rich nation, in the absence of strong government, will likely become an even choicer target for predatory nations looking to exploit Africa’s wealth.

German-Foreign-Policy.com reports that Berlin has a long-term strategy to use Pretoria as a stabilizing factor for its interests in Africa. As such, it has been eagerly establishing extensive political, economic and military ties with South Africa, which is by far its most important business partner in Africa. More than 500 German enterprises hold majority shares in joint ventures—amounting to €4.2 billion in German investment. About 40 percent of South Africa’s exports go to Europe, and 40 percent of its imports come from Europe. Berlin and Brussels are also counting on Pretoria’s military to implement their African interests; Germany and other EU countries have been delivering military equipment to South Africa for years. One expert analysis says that Germany’s arms exports to South Africa have grown considerably since 2001, with South Africa being “the most important buyer of German military equipment” outside the Western industrial countries in 2004 and 2005. German-Foreign-Policy.com concludes, “The German hegemonic policy encompassing the African continent is taking effect.”

South Africa has tremendous natural resources and an excellent road and rail infrastructure that makes transporting the resources out very easy. With the government in crisis, a caretaker president currently in place and a questionable successor waiting to take his place, we can expect other nations to make their moves quickly.
Courtesy: www.thetrumpet.com
NB:This article was published on October1,2008

Cameroon:Another September Signed Off In Grand Style!

By Tazoacha Asonganyi in Yaounde

September does not seem to be a special month only in the USA! It is a month usually pregnant in Cameroon with mischief!It was when September 2006 was wrapping up that the present government was formed. Then we were told that standing instructions to members of the new government were to obey the PM! With all the water that has gone under the bridge, it actually looks now like the PM is presiding in impotence over an impotent government! The government looks more like a like a conscript army where members seem to be doing their duties but have doubtful faith in their commander... and in one another. If it were not Cameroon, the scandals that have been unfolding and festooning the entire government, would have led to the birth of another government in September.Roosevelt’s new deal was brought about because he believed that people who are hungry and people who are poor are the stuff with which dictatorships are made. The poverty and hunger that took us to the streets in February were still with us in September because the Cameroonian version of the new deal survives precisely because of hunger and poverty. As is customary with the new deal, there were speeches upon speeches, promises upon promises, conferences upon conferences, but all just for the sake of giving the impression that something was happening. It was little more than spectacle.Mobile phones and other communication gadgets are supposed to increase our security by reducing the distance between us and the security services. Many media outlets remind us on a daily basis, the numbers to call when there is a fire or a thief or anything that needs the immediate intervention of the security forces. When we finally sense danger and call these numbers, we usually meet with silence or lack of cooperation because there is no means of moving to the danger due to … lack of petrol! Sometimes, the lack of cooperation is due to the absence of a “chef” to give orders for action to be taken.And so we were left to watch helplessly as Limbe was taken hostage and ransacked! This was either due to this generalised nonchalance or to the absence of orders from hierarchy. Otherwise, how can one explain that with the abundance of cell phones and the availability of access numbers of security services, Limbe turned out to be so naked? Our security forces have abandoned the citizens to their fate for so long, and might have thought that it was the same old situation of the citizen fighting the thief or the fire alone, with untimely deaths or unnecessary loss of property. Again, if we were not in Cameroon, there would have been resignations and sackings!With the collapse of communism and the economic system it incarnated, there were boasts from ultra-liberals that the market would start the new millennium as an economic deity. We were told that the free market is like a sensitive nervous system that responds to events and signals in the market place with indifference to the status, religion or race of the actors. There were retorts from the left that capitalism by nature is ruthless, and leads to unfair income distribution, social injustice and human indignity; therefore there is need to influence free market forces through taxes, benefits, regulations, supervision and discipline.The closing of September with the collapse of markets in the hands of especially ultraliberal regimes is testimony to the fact that the market is an incompletely understood monster. The collapse informs us that ultra-liberal economists are not the scientists they claim they are because of the present grotesque gamble to save the market! Economists, like scientists may deal in figures, graphs, and computer print-outs, but their gamble of correlating reactions of need and greed to past actions of government, with the hope of predicting the reactions of the “greedy” to future, similar actions is not science because the results cannot be repeated over and over again by different economists in different settings. It is dawning on them that the behaviour of the greedy is not easily predictable: when faced with a situation of “greed”, they can hoard and save, just as they can spend and waste, leading to excess and collapse of prices, or scarcity and the soaring of prices that are with us today.Cameroonians easily equate capitalism with corruption because of the degree to which corruption accompanies the various efforts to force “ideal” capitalism down the throat of the new deal regime. Although cronyism is an attitude dictated more by opportunism than loyalty, the new deal has constantly sought the company of loyalists in the hope that they would help the prince to forget his own woes, since they would not judge his actions. This has been a great disservice to the country as a whole because under the cloak of party loyalty, thieves and thugs emptied the public treasury, leaving our economy in tatters. They were helped along by the conviction that since this did not result in a penalty of some kind for over two decades, their behaviour was the norm.September ended with white-collar rogues continuing to have sleepless nights, and the rest of us momentarily choking in mocking laughter! September ended with ultra-liberals using socialist strategies to save capitalism!