- President Mbeki mentioned something in
a speech recently, which comes back to the very early days of AfricanCrisis,
even before I had written my book: 'Government by Deception'.
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- This evening (Sunday), I really expected
TvNews to be really boring, when I was stunned when President Mbeki quoted
from an article an old friend of mine in America had written some years
back about Recolonising Africa.
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- In fact, let me tell you the whole interesting
story behind that article which Mbeki was quoting.
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- But firstly, they had film footage of
Mbeki on Tv talking about wrong perceptions historically, about Africa.
Then he said lamented the fact that as recently as 2001 a writer, 'Gordon
Frisch' had written this... What Mbeki then quoted was directly from Gordon's
article as published on Rense.com.
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- In this article, Gordon had written that
maybe, Mercenaries should be used to kick some semblance of order back
into Africa, and that once this had been done, the United Nations could
take over, and finally, the blacks in Africa could call on the old colonial
powers to do some recolonising. That, very roughly, was what the article
said.
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- Mbeki pooh-poohed the idea, and they
even had the former speaker in parliament really having a go at that idea.
They were very irate that 'European history' had completely misrepresented
what had gone on in Africa, and that Europe had been built 'using slave
labour from Africa'. And so on... I'm not going to bore you with all the
things they said from their twisted perception of the history of Africa!
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- But I had a really good giggle about
that article.
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- Now, here in S. Africa, the Government
takes the issue of Mercenaries very seriously and there are very tough
laws, which will be toughened even more to chuck people, especially whites,
in jail if they engage in ANY kind of military ventures in Africa! (I'm
sure you remember those supposed 'mercenaries' who were stuck in Zimbabwe
for a year).
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- Anyway, let me tell you about this whole
Recolonisation business, and about Gordon Frisch. Jeff Rense was involved
in this because he dared to publish this article on his remarkable Rense.com
site. I know the article was not widely distributed at the time. The article
spread directly from Jeff's site.
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- I can't find a copy of the original article.
I'm not sure if Jeff Rense has it, but it was titled 'Recolonise Africa'.
- (Note - The original article is attached
below. -ed)
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- This happened within the the first month
of African Crisis website's 'birth'.
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- So, who is Gordon Frisch? Well, he was
(and probably still is) the Research Editor for the International Harry
Schultz Letter, which is based in Switzerland. Who is Harry Schultz? Harry
used to be regularly in the Guiness Book of Records as the World's highest
paid investment consultant. He has lived in more than 22 countries around
the world, including S.Africa at one time. He did this so that he could
get an understanding of these countries, and his internationally renowned
newsletter reflects these experiences.
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- Harry Schultz is something of a Gold
bug, and thus Gordon, his research editor is actually a geologist who has
travelled and studied much of Africa. Gordon knows what real mineral wealth
does and does not exist in much of Africa.
-
- I was introduced to Gordon by Harry Schultz
himself because I used to subscribe to Harry's newsletter, and I corresponded
with him a few times.
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- Gordon and I used to correspond a lot,
especially in the early days of my website.
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- In those days - we're talking about 5-6
years ago, we were very irritated by what Robert Mugabe had begun doing
in Zimbabwe. We also discussed the topic of Recolonising Africa a lot.
I'm sure I wrote some thoughts about that too.
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- Gordon came up with this idea of using
mercenaries to restore law and order in Africa and then to have black Africans
invite former colonial powers back for a new type of 'recolonisation'.
I can't remember all the exact details. I do remember Gordon telling me
in an email that part of the inspiration for this idea came from something
written by Frederick Forsythe. Gordon built on these ideas, and ended up
with that article which Jeff Rense dared to post. And it caused a quite
few raised eyebrows at the time! I know quite a few Americans were shocked
by this when he published it on Rense.com.
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- Back then, people believed in African
fairtales much more easily than they do now. Robert Mugabe had only just
begun seizing the farms, and many people outside Africa actually believed
it really would help the blacks in Zimbabwe. Voices like mine, and others
who questioned whether Mugabe's actions had any benefits, were pretty much
ignored and shouted down. Now, 5 years later, people can see that everything
we said about Robert Mugabe is true and that none of his actions actually
helped the black people of Zimbabwe in any way whatsoever. Since that time,
90% of the whites, and millions of blacks have left the country, thanks
to Mugabe's actions.
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- In his speech, President Mbeki merely
referred to Gordon Frisch as 'a writer'. But little does he know how well
Gordon really knows Africa as he has travelled across it, and lived and
worked in a number of African countries. If Mbeki thinks that Gordon is
just some armchair theorist sitting in the USA, he couldn't be more wrong!
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- So, as a result of President Mbeki's
speech, I searched my website to see if I could find any articles pertaining
to Gordon's original article. And I found this one, which was article number
156 (I now have over 7,000 articles on my site). This was a response by
Gordon to both Jeff Rense and myself. The book Gordon was referring to
me writing was Government by Deception.
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- I posted this on my site on: 9/3/2001
10:50:22 PM
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- A reader of Jeff's website, Alvin, accused
the author of the RECOLONISE AFRICA article of racism.
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- Alvin wrote: -
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- Jeff,
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- I must admit that this article has, initially
and on the surface, offended me; it smacks of some of the most racist bile
I have seen recently and part of me is surprised to see it on your website
(despite your disclaimer in the website's intro pages).
-
- Nevertheless; I am considering the spirit
of where it seems to be coming from as, if I am honest, I am forced to
confront the fact that I am NOT there and know far less about the land
from where much of my ancestry hails than most white people who DO live
there (and many, even abroad).
-
- Still, as of late, your offerings on
Africa and race strike me as unbalanced: Where are the perspectives written
by BLACK Africans? As a descendant of a people (African and Aboriginal
American) who have been enslaved by Colonial rapacity (and a Black man
who must STILL endure institutionalized racial oppression from time to
time in this country, even now) you will understand my deep misgivings
and 'over sensitivity' regarding issues of race as presented almost exclusively
by people who are heir to the wealth, influence, and power shamefully garnered
by their ruling class ancestors at the expense of my own.
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- I will be deeply grateful if you find
a way to include the perspectives offered by Persons of Colour on the great
issues of our age more frequently.
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- You know I respect you.
-
- Your Brother,
- Alvin
-
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- Gordon Frisch, the original author replied
to Alvin's points as follows:-
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- Dear Jan,
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- Thanks for forwarding to me Alvin's and
your comments to Jeff Rense. I would like to respond to Alvin to set the
record straight. Alvin is not the first person whose instant (completely
mistaken) reaction to the article was that it was racist. I assure you,
and Alvin, and any others, that nothing could be farther from the truth.
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- I have lived internationally for many
years, on several continents, including Africa. I met and developed many
friendships in all those places, including Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and
many others from other nationalities and ethnic origins. Many remain good
friends to this day and it has never occurred to me to differentiate between
them on the basis of race. They are all people, with individual personalities
and cultures, who receive or do not receive my respect on a case by case
basis, depending on the person, just as with Whites.
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- The article I wrote on Recolonizing Africa
derived its inspiration from several directions. Yes, I saw Frederick Forsythe's
article having a similar theme, and I mostly agreed with it.
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- Also, a few years ago I spent a few hours
(off the record) talking with two Black Africans, who had quite lofty positions
with the UN in Geneva. They both had PhD's, were highly educated, and they
were greatly concerned about the future of sub-Saharan Africa. One was
from the Ivory Coast, the other from Nigeria, and we had a totally frank
talk about the mess that is Black Africa.
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- Astoundingly, and with no prompting whatsoever
from me, they said sub-Saharan Africa's only hope was a return of colonialism
in some form. We all agreed that apartheid-like attitudes should never
play any part in any recolonization. But there were many good aspects to
the era of colonialization in Africa, I saw it firsthand when I worked
there. The positive aspects should be welcomed and encouraged, the negative
discouraged and prohibited, simple as that.
-
- Most of my views and inspiration for
the article were derived from personal experience. I lived in Africa for
a number of years and worked with Black, White and Arab Africans on a daily
basis. My firsthand observations led me to suggest recolonialization as
a possible constructive solution to sub-Saharan Africa's problems. I was
directly involved in training Blacks in Africa and there is no question
that most are extremely eager and willing to learn and work. They just
need the opportunity and they are not receiving it under the utterly corrupt
leadership they must endure. Their own leaders are their downfall. This
is not racism, this is fact, it could matter less what color the leaders
are. There are similar faults in White-ruled countries too, it's just that
it's worst in Africa. The reasons are bound up in Marxism, corruption,
nepotism, etc, the many things we talk about on a daily basis.
-
- There is much negativism in today's world
against multi-national corporations, and some of the criticism is indeed
well founded. But the flip side is that multi-national corporations also
probably offer the last best hope many Third World countries have to conquer
poverty, disease and corruption. Multi-nationals bring money, expertise,
opportunity, jobs and build infrastructures. No alphabet agency in the
world -- IMF, World Bank, UN -- can offer a fraction as much.
-
- I would encourage any Blacks to communicate
with others through your site. The only 'apparent' Blacks that I have ever
seen doing so were obviously so tainted with Marxist bias that they made
a laughingstock of themselves. A few 'apparent' Whites also had similar
outlandish leftist views and made outright fools of themselves, because
the historical failures of Marxism are indefensible. Nonetheless, let them
try; throw all the cards on the table, let's see how they can manage to
defend their views. Simple truth is more powerful than all the lies in
the world, if exposed. That is what your site does, much to its credit.
Of course, not all who contribute things to your site have what might be
considered unprejudiced views, but let them speak, they will learn along
with all of us.
-
- I might add that the greatest racism
and prejudice I have ever seen anywhere in the world is in Africa, by Blacks.
There is a Black on Black apartheid at work in Africa today that is infinitely
more devastating than anything Whites foisted on Blacks. As you rightly
point out, at the peak of apartheid in South Africa, Blacks from the rest
of Africa were still busting across the borders into White-ruled South
Africa because that's where the greatest opportunity was. Today, Mugabe's
Zimbabwe is one of the most racist and corrupt spots on Earth. And Blacks
are suffering as much or more under his brand of Marxist totalitarism than
Whites.
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- Sometime in the next 2 months, I will
see Dr. George Ayittey, a renowned Ghanian professor at American University
in Washington D.C. He will speak to an international forum where I live
and I was instrumental in getting him here. We share many similar views
on Africa, and I hope to talk with him about the idea of some form of neo-colonialism
as a solution to Africa's problems. He has alluded to this before, but
never addressed the issue head-on that I am aware of. I respect his views
greatly and want to hear what he, one of the most respected Black African
nationals, has to say on the issue.
-
- Meanwhile, I probably understand as well
as anyone Alvin's knee-jerk reaction to the very idea of 'recolonization'
as abhorable. America has its ghosts of slavery, which amount to much the
same thing. And there are still many bigots left in the USA and everywhere
today who live in that bygone era. If the world is ever to move on, it
must come to grips with issues of importance and bury the ghosts of racism.
Regrettably, I see racism surging in today's world, not subsiding, and
that saddens me.
-
- But the idea of 'recolonization' in sub-Saharan
Africa (perhaps it should be termed something else more appropriate without
negative connotations) is meant to be a constructive solution, not a return
to a bygone era laden with many negative attributes.
-
- I certainly left a part of my soul in
Africa. It is a wonderful continent with many wonderful people and I have
mostly very fond memories of it. Regrettably, it is deterioriating beyond
anything imaginable and I am immensely saddened to see it. I do what I
can to help the situation, through talks, articles, correspondence, etc.
But until Africa gets its politics sorted out, no amount of external help
will accomplish anything significant.
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- Jan, through your site and the book you
are writing, hopefully a few more people will begin to see the 'REAL' nature
of what's going on in Africa. The world media sugarcoats everything to
the point that virtually no one sees the utter travesty that is 'really'
occurring in Africa. Understanding is the first step to solving a problem.
Thus far the world does not even understand Africa's problems, so we haven't
yet arrived as step one in solving them. I am very heartened to see people
like Jeff Rense give you a hearing as this is vital to really solving Africa's
problems. Thank you, Jeff!
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- Take heart, Alvin, I'm not a racist and
I'm most certainly not anti-African. I would dare say I love Africa more
than almost anyone ... including yourself. I've been there, I've experienced
it firsthand, and I came away loving it forever. It's a wonderful, mystical
place that will always be a part of me.
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- Respectfully,
- Gordon
-
-
- Here is the original article:
- http://www.rense.com/general13/re.htm
-
- Africa - Staring Into The Abyss
- Send In The Mercenaries And Re-Colonize
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- By Gordon Frisch
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- Looking at Africa today, one can't help
but think of a line from Dante's Inferno: "All hope abandon, ye who
enter here!" AIDS is devastating sub-Saharan Africa on a scale rivaling
the worst plagues to ever besiege mankind. Annually, AIDS kills more people
in sub- Saharan Africa than all of the continent's wars combined -- 2
million in 1999, 85% of the world's total AIDS deaths, on top of 13.7
million Africans who've already died of AIDS.70% of the world's HIV-positive
people live in sub-Saharan Africa, & most will die in the next 10 years,
leaving shattered families & economic devastation in their wake.
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- AIDS by itself is bad enough. Throw in
rotten dictatorships, Marxism, corruption, illiteracy, racism, genocide,
tribal & national wars, & the term "utter hopelessness"
is inadequate to describe Black Africa's horrible plight. For years we've
counseled investors to avoid sub-Saharan Africa, saying it was headed
down a corrupt one-way road to collapse. It's arrived. Black Africa now
teeters on the edge of a yawning abyss, & at the bottom lies total
anarchy & chaos. Many say it can't get much worse. We say: it can
& it will.
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- 20 years of failed Marxist policies have
caught up with President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe is in economic &
political meltdown due to rampant corruption, Marxism's fatal flaws, 25%
HIV positive AIDS test rates, runaway inflation, etc. The crowning blow
to this once vibrant economy was Mugabe himself; he emptied the treasury
at the rate of $1 million per day to support 11,000 troops he sent to
support fellow traveler Laurent Kabila, Congo's Marxist leader. In a last
ditch attempt at survival, Mugabe is lambasting every scapegoat on the
planet -- foreign media, British govt, the IMF, opposition political parties,
white Zimbabweans, etc.
-
- But Zimbabwe's white farmers, among Zimbabwe's
most valuable assets, are bearing the brunt of Mugabe's misplaced wrath.
They own 30% of the farmland, produce the bulk of agricultural products,
employ 350,000 Blacks, & bring vital export income. Mugabe has sent
state-supported thugs to attack white farmers, brutalize their black workers
& grab their land "to right colonial injustices of the past."
-
- At the end of April, Emmerson Mnangagwa,
Zimbabwe's justice (?) minister said "Within 10 days the legal framework
to take land & redistribute it to the people [without compensation
to white owners] will be in place & we will immediately proceed."
About the same time, an unregistered Ilyushin 76 former Soviet cargo plane
arrived in Harare from Marxist Angola carrying a shipment of 21,000 AK-47's
for Mugabe. They were promptly distributed to police & land- grabbing
squatters. Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi, Mugabe's farm invasion
organizer said: "All those with British passports must go back to
Britain. If they don't, they will go into the ground."
-
- Mugabe's land-grabbing contagion is spreading
more rapidly than AIDS. Fear that South African Blacks could go on a similar
rampage has caused the rand to plummet. It doesn't help that South Africa's
President Thabo Mbeki recently joined ranks with Mugabe at a trade fair
& Nelson Mandela avoids direct criticism of Mugabe. And it seems no
one buys the assurances of KGB Joe Slovo's widow, Helena Dolny, that South
Africa won't follow Zimbabwe into a black land-grab. Namibian Blacks are
now chanting Zimbabwe's land-grab rhetoric.
-
- In North Africa, Ethiopia & Eritrea
are in a needless, stupid war, fueled by recent Russian arms deliveries
to both sides. In West Africa, the UN's feckless peacekeepers got caught
in the middle of Sierra Leone's civil war & taken hostage by murderous
RUF rebels, led by Foday Sankoh. It's noteworthy that in 1997, mercenaries
captured Sankoh & turned him over to Sierra Leone's democratically
elected president & peace ensued. Sankoh was saved from certain execution
& released last year under terms of a peace process godfathered by
none other than Rev. Jesse Jackson & the US.
-
- We never cease to be appalled at the
incredible ignorance & denial displayed by the supposedly "civilized"
world toward resolution of Africa's problems. Africa has immense economic
potential, but is its own worst enemy & needs help. All the best intentions,
trade negotiations, debt forgiveness, & blue helmets, are wasted efforts
& ineffective. What is the solution?
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- Before any political solution can work,
law & order, almost totally lacking in sub-Saharan Africa, must prevail.
To accomplish this, as history has proven time & again in Africa,
the most effective means is by the use of mercenaries. Neither the UN nor
"civilized" govts have the mandate or the will to do the job.
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- Once peace has been "made,"
then perhaps the UN could participate in "keeping" it. Then,
African govts should invite former colonists back as partners in running
their countries, developing their economies & educating their people.
The "politically correct" hacks of the world will bristle at
these proposals, but millions of Africans are dying while the "politically
correct" civilized world looks on in ignorant smugness. When all
ivory tower theories fail, try something that has proved workable.
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