WHEN THEY SAY "AID", THEY MEAN "RAID

[Col. Writ. 6/13/05] Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal

Recently, the news columns were full of a supposed dispute between the Americans and the British about foreign aid relief to Africa. If the news reports are to be believed, the British wish to push the Americans further, to provide more debt relief for countries staggering under their economic burdens.
The media image that arises is one of the rich, Western, White nations caring about the lives and conditions of starving Black Africa. And like many media images, it simply isn't true.
What is often lost in this angelic imagery is the truth behind the so-called aid. That 'aid' that was given years ago, was given to military dictatorships, and it was often military aid meant to strengthen dictatorships, against, not foreign attacks, but popular resistance, from their own people!
Indeed, in a 1960 meeting of the U.S. National Security Council, American spies and diplomats spoke rather openly about U.S. support for military regimes. The minutes of the meeting record them saying:
We must recognize, although we cannot say it publicly, that we need the strong men of Africa on our side. It is important to understand that most of Africa will soon be independent and that it would be naive of the U.S. to hope that Africa will be democratic ... Since we must have the strong men of Africa on our side, perhaps we should in some cases develop military strong men as an offset to Communist development of the labor unions. The President agreed that it might be desirable for us to try to 'reach' the strong men of Africa ... [Fr. NSA mtg., 1/14/60 as published in *Foreign Relations, 1958-1960, Vol. XIV*, pp. 73-78.]
From meetings such as this, came US 'aid' to such dictators as Zaire's late Mobutu,