Dear Members of "AFRICANS and AMERICANS FOR OBAMA" online group,
Fellow Americans, Congolese and Friends of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire),
I'm Franklin Katunda, community leader and organizer. Since 2001 I'm been president and editor of the Congoboston Network --that helps thousands of African immigrants to social networking online and through events. I learned about Senator Barack Obama after the 2004 DNC Convention, have learned about his judgement and character during his US Senate during the War in Iraq. I endorsed Barack Obama for US Senate Re-election in December of 2006 after he adressed my "Class of 2006" at the Universirty of Massachusetts-Boston. I did not know he was going to run for the higher office, but I have watched his US senate's moves to pass bills working with both sides of the aisles and ... I discovered the Man's mind.
I knew Obama is the "Man with the Plan", not a follower! Now, soon as he announced his candidacy in February of 2007, It was easy for me to back someone that I as a role model, a leader, a charismatic visionary; young and refreshing politician like I would like to be. I knew which candidate, against all odds of backing a least experienced candidate, to choose from Clinton, Biden, Dodd, Edwards bids, and I decided to believe and to back Barack Obama (D. Illinois) in the 2007 pre-primaries.
Currently I am a Non-paid Field Organizer, and an Online Group Coordinator; I am working on an ambitious current project to rally a voter's registration that supports and raises awarness in politics from newly African Naturalized US-Citizens. I work in campaigning for and in helping to elect Barack Obama as President of the United States of America. This year has been busy for us since the launch of the campaign in February of 2007, so we put our Congoboston's activities on hold to make sure the Illinois Senator is elected "President of the United States of America", first.
Why Barack Obama? Well, it is not because he is running for office and has a better chance at winning, but because the United States of America is seen and wanted as a strong ally by African countries, and particularly to the Congo. (Second), because among all US Senators from the 109th US Congress, Democrat Senator, Barack Obama is the only one who dared to introduce a bill that was passed and signed into law to require the Bush Administration to eefectively act on protecting the new Congolese Nation's choice of governance.
After a five years period of civil war and a coslty, unprepared and yet rigged election in 2006 in Congo, the US Senate and US House's bill was needed in DC to ensuring the welfare of not less than 40 millions of desperate Congolese, entrapped in a series of civil wars and social misery, as a result of a four decades reign of Mobutu. This is a vast and war-torn country that continues to provide to US and European Corporations tons of minerals such as the Coltan, the Uranium, the Cupper, Diamonds, and Gold. The Congo produces also a dozen of more unheard of minerals (exploited even during the recent killings that resulted in the loss of more than 5 million souls. [Read about the bill here] http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-2125
In December 2006 when the bill was introduced, passed and signed into law, Senator Barack Obama, works in a bi-partisan way to make sure this bill also called the " S.2125" : Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006, could be used by both the Executive Branch of the US government and Congress as a test piece to measure how the Bush foreign affairs' cabinet would handle this country's fate. The bill tells where the US stands in its diplomatical efforts to help to prosperity and peace in Congo. Response: The US government has done almost nothing since 2006 to ensure the bill was acted upon. The War (another insurrection) has started again in the eastern Congo, President Kabila of Congo has violated human rights on numerous occasions; his operatives (army, security agencies and presidential guards) continue to persecute and/ or to murder opposition leaders; Congolese protests are being shut out, when manifestants are being killed at every occasion without our embassy getting involved in checking facts; More than ever, I strongly believe that the future of this vast country in the heart of Africa is on the 2008 US presidential ballot.
Facts About US- DR Congo Foreign Affairs
The Bush GOP Cabinet had all the diplomatical tools to run a better foreign policy in regards to the DRC, [ ...and we had not need to sit with "hostile" leaders in order to save these innocent lives], but acted timidly, according to most US and Congo's politicians, newsmedia makers and well-informed human rights and citizen's networks in the DRC and here in US. How do we know it? Check facts on the ground: The Democratic Republic of Congo has plunged once again (September 2008) into another civil unrest in the eastern region where thousands of citizens are being bodily-mutilated with machettes and displaced by dissident troops of the war lord and domestic terrosist; Sir Nkunda Batware.
This man is well-known for his fame in killings and terrorism on civilians by the US State Department's African Affairs Office in Washington DC; His prouesses are well-acknowledged by the UN's Mission and its "Bush Friend" Mission's coordinator -- Mr William Swing. Yet Kunda Batware is being ignored by our embassy officials while he should be arrested as he is the most dangerous war criminal to be "deported" to the the Hague's Court. This former rebel and Kagame's army dissident is backed by current authorities of Rwanda (Congo eastern-border neighboring country). Amazingly, Sir Batware has been a close friend and a former political ally to the current Congo's president Joseph Kabila. [Bush supports Kabila who made it to the White House for official visits more than twice in less than four years of Bush re-elect term in the Oval Office.] Both Congolese President Kabila and Rwanda's president Kagame (another beloved-Bush ally in North Eastern Africa's region) have not done enough to crack down on dissident Nkunda Batware's operatives in the Kivu Eastern Region of the Congo; a pre-condition in restoring peace and democracy in Congo, and to ensure welfare of citizens in the region.
How long are we going to count our failed US diplomacy deeds, while a clear foreign policy was pushed by a known US senator on a bi-partisan way? Why do we have to continue another four years-period of uncertainty in the Congo if the United States has a chance to elect democrat candidate to wipe the republican failure? When issues of lack of consistency and involvment in our relationships with African countries are clearly established in the current GOP agenda -- the Congo has been flagged as a threat to national security and our strategic position in Africa. Congo is a strong ally to the US since the 60s when the country became politically independent from the Belgian Kingdom.
The DR Congo had aligned itself as one of the most pro-American philophical "stronghold" in Central Africa for three decades while the country has been surrounded by socialist colors; (pro-former USSR, pro-China, pro-North Korea and even ... because of its African roots, pro-Cuba) .... The regime of Kinshasa has resisted ideals and ties to African military regimes in countries like its neighbors: the people's republic of Congo-Brazzaville, the people's republic of Angola and some left progressist leaders such as the Zambian president Kaunda (in South) or the mighty President Machel of Mocambique; far the Congo secured America's presence in southern Sudan in efforts to stop the Khartum socialist agenda, their push in Ethiopia, Guinea and so forth etc...
The Congo ( known as Zaire) has been a reliable US "pied-a-terre", serving as a US military runway (the Kamina military base) to face and to deter both the rise of a communist ideology during the 30 years long civil in the war-torn country of Angola (South-Western border) and to help the US diplomacy to reign in isolating and rallying other African countries in the region to help end the threat to human rights, segregation and racism in the South Africa's Racist White-Supremacist regime of Peter Botha.
Minerals and components used in most US weaponry and the world's telecommunication devices are put together for decades with resources extracted from the Congo's soil. Congo has offered a best terrain to most US Presidents like Jimmy Carter (D), Ronald Reagan (R), Bush Sr (R) and Bill Clinton (D) to execute very complicated but vital national security decisions in regard to the stabiltity of Africa, by establising our intelligence in the region, a competitive market and intelligence strategy that helped the US to compete with Europe and Asia. The sin about our relationship with Africa, and for this case the DR Congo, is that we often benefited from all of the above for a less sustainable cooperation tools of diplomacy in regard to how African leaders offer a better governance, a sound fiscality, and the observance of citizens' human rights.
No doubt the DR Congo should remain a strong US ally in the Central African region where the French and the Belgians did nothing to disengage the "former" Soviets-aligned "Eastern-European Regimes" to establish their strong holds and networks in Africa. Now How in the world, with today's rise of another Russia's "impulse" with Georgia and its attempts to raise fears of an imminent "cold war", are we going to afford another war-torn Congo in the midle of Africa?
Distabilized - the Congo still produces tons of extractions of its massive "Uranium", very essential to make nuclear weaponry. That we cannot afford... remaining silent in America after it has been established that many Al-Qaeda and other terrorist operatives have been seeking to exploit and engage in illicit trade of these highly dangerous materials that can provide them with real weapons of mass destruction. The world knows it, President Bush does and Congress (with what I call Obama bill) warns it too!
Breaking the Silence (0n the behalf of Congo)
Many NGOs and associations around the world are observing a "Seven-Days" or the "Congo's Week". It is an Awarness Campaign with a theme: BREAKING THE SILENCE on the behalf of the DR Congo across the US and around the world. They have gotten the attention of several media cells in Western countries: France, Belgium, US, Australia etc to learn and advocate for the Congo, at least by talking about theese atrocities that took place when elections are taking place in US. One of them, I currently hold a membership, is the "Friends of The Congo" - FOTC [please visit their website] : www.FriendsoftheCongo.org
I cannot tell you enough how important and timely right it has been for US citizens who long for justice, equality and peace and the world; for those US-born Congolese, Americans and Friends of the Congo to rein in with their vote and support only "15 days" left before the 2008 elections to pass on this message. With this November 4th's Countdown to US elections, let all remember that the 109th Congress in its Democratic Majority with the help of 12 senators: 4 prominent Republicans and 8 Democrats had joined to co-sponsor a bill initiated by Senator B. Obama (D, Illinois). This 2006 bill had unanimousely (with few amendments and fewer objections) passed, and was signed into law to ensure better foreign policy , security, development, better governance in the Congo, and yet "nothing" consistent [ in other words "just a little"] has been done to follow through.
So, I am inviting those who are willing to visit the webpage that features that ONE-week (Sunday, October 19th through Saturday 25th 2008) event at this link: http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/time_critique.php for your own knowledge, to participate or donate if you cannot attend. Students, Capitol Hill's news professionals, Graduates-Interns, Human Rights Organizers...This is a great moment to raise awarness of the American public! Overhaul, lets remember that the 2008 US presidential elections is an answer to the failures the US developped in Africa.
One among our failed approaches in diplomacy with AFRICA
The GOP's last eight years continues to prophecy without actions for the US to rely on the Department of State's reports and on our European Allies' out-of-touch lines of diplomacy towards Africa; our current foreign service envoys are still using those heavily-biased and politically-partisan lines of policies that are ( ... as old as Pres. Nixon's talking points on African Affairs; demoded in their essence like the pre-Berlin Reagan's views on our relationships with Africa; our policies have been much of the former French president Mitterand's philophy; he forecasted a "pro-but-fake" democratic way of governance in Africa) -- And no wonder we cannot be relevant in solving most crisis in Africa where the United States have common strategic and national security interests as the Europeans, but where we still lagging in being equally involved economically like the Europeans are, and even the Chinese, the Russians and South-Koreans have been.
The US cannot afford being less politically and diplomatically involved in Africa in 2008, and expect our relationships to be economically sound in trades and to earn respect from the African People. News stories and real facts on the ground show that the Russians, the Chinese, and even South-Africans are developing sound trade deals and back-door deals with or without the Congo's approval in its soil. All this is happening far ahead of Washington's less aggressive approach in its African Affairs agenda. We are talking about the Congo in a vast continent, the one Historian Frantz Fanon said: (Africa) "...It has the map-shape of a gun with its trigger located in the Congo"
[ Please check the Africa's map and the Congo's location on in to better understand the metaphore].
The DR Congo is located at the (trigger)- the heart of the African Continent (in Yellow)
He was right because like I said before, the strategic plan to position in the region comes a sustained stability, peace and democracy in the Congo. This is an African country where, if there is not a strong leadership in Washington DC, our national security interests in the region will be in a permanent danger for real. Congo's strategic location on the Africa's regional map is economically a better market to engage and invest in, and with respect to the US intelligence and our military overahaul strategies in the region, the next president of the USA should do better than "all" his predecessors.
Change We Need in our relations with AFRICA
Where have we been all this time? Good question. I will tell you what? We always have developped that mentality that to deal with Africans, we ought to be careful on who (public officials) we send out to carry the message in Africa; we are always careful in choosing our "envoys", we emphasize on their ethnic and religious backgrounds; we base our selection of diplomats or State departments Officers on what is their knowledge of the region as we anticipate "wrongly" that our African counterparts (presidents, royalties or their ministers) would line up with how Europeans lines of diplomacy would dictate our stance, given the history of Africa colonists in the 1960s. For e.g. countries like Portugal, Spain, England, France, and even smaller numbers of Germans and Italian adventureers in Africa have marked their foot-prints, cultural landmarks and have shaped political philosophies in Africa.
In 2008, just like in other continents where colonists have no longer dictate the way business should be conducted, countries and territories like Hong-Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Brasil, India and many other lands where colonists left their foot prints, citizens and their government decided to "admit" they are ready to be on their own, and to embrace new ideas, new horizons, new opportinities -- to launch new markets of the 21th century. What Can the US do at this point? It is the role of the USA, I believe, to engage a new quality diplomatic approach that restores confidence from the African People's stand point. The US have to guarantee two aspects with a new and successful diplomacy tactic in its relationship with Africa: Engaging in Economic and Strategic Security Initiatives in the Continent and to Restoring democracy and a regulated and fiscally-sustained system of governance.
The African Affairs Office at the Department of State ( during the next Obama Administration) should actively work in exploring ways to offer "sticks and carrots" to hold African leaders "accountable" to respect of their signed-and-agreed upon treaties, their local politics dealings and issue promises, their binding bi-lateral agreements with the United States. We should compete with other countries like China, South-Korea or Argentina where African leaders are NOT being asked much to qualify in dealings. Economically speaking , it is about securing America, in one hand, our trades and investments' operatives (guarantying peace and stability) for "highly" profitable African markets. On the other hand, the US should ensure civil liberties are respected, they should reward fiscally-sound governance and encourage the enactment of national laws that promote the eradication of the culture of corruption as a way to monitor the improvement, to re-enforce the laws and ensure the respect of rule of law overahaul, as the 2006 Congo's "Obama Bill" outlined.
Besides many other failures to enforcing our treaties and bi-lateral accords in the African Affairs office at the Department of State, there are these US Governemt's weak actions that did not do much US initiative to Africans in terms of reenforcing the presence with the peace corps, humanitarian organizations and educational and relief organizations on the ground to work with local networks that canvass their communities.
The US should engage pre-emptively the health and human services approach in Africa in order to prevent diseases, pandemies and better nutrition for the population. To denounce and to stop adverse trends in ways of governance that leed to recent African Nation's cases of Genocide, such as Darfour (In Sudan) , Rwanda and the Eastern-Congo. Our relationships with African Leaders have to go beyond just helping them to stay capable militarly but to offer them logistic assistance when it comes to dealing with conflict resolution of hot national topics.
Our embassies in Africa should double efforts like do their couterparts in middle-eastern regions with bi-cultural and bi-lingual envoys to deal with and to clearly decongest the national political apparatus in every country where foreign service officers are assigned to. We need to learn how culture, history and tribal aspirations can shape and benefit US present and future relationships; they have to be active, as intelligence becomes available, to not only report, but to repudiate violations of human rights and to work in these countries' educational settings. Our cooperation in education should promote an agenda that eradicate sentiments of hate and philosopies that oppose the US...
The US should assist and reward only those countries that offer a progress report with fiscally-sound ways of governance; the observance of democracy and human rights. They haven't been doing so in the last decades, because we buy into fallacious French "Mitterand" ideas that because there: "... was election in a given African country, means that country's regime is "democratic".
It's Time to Turn the Page !
The 2008 elections is a time to change course in our foreign policy and to recognize our moral and historical responsibility in regards to Africa; It is an opportunity to raise awarness to the facts that the US has crucial need of a solid "diplomatic machine", made of a new generation of effective "foreign service" officials, effective appointed-government officials, foreign affairs officers in DC and in our consulates. Paramount, the US should show a stronger leadership in the White House that will level with a better diplomacy and will apply a "Peace-and-Democracy" philosophy versus the current "Our interest-Only" approach in Africa.
Like never before there is a need of a US President and an Administration in DC that hold a pro-democracy and human rights-compliant agenda in Africa. Senator Barack Obama (author of S. 2521) has the record to prove it, maybe did not articulate much about it, but worse John McCain never been vocal (not even once) for such an agenda in Africa. He won't do it, won't promise he would look into it. We can't even hold him accountable in doing some thing about it because I doesn't KNOW much about !
Barack Obama is the only alternative to save millions of lives who die in civil conflicts, of diseases and pandemies, of lack of economic development, because of political persecutions or ethnic cleansing! I will be launching a "MySpace Outreach Page" to continue rally efforts from Americans, Congolese-Americans, Africans, Friends of the Congo and Organizations that work for peace, prosperity and the economic development of this nation. We want to help solidify and organize thousands more entities for this humanitarian cause.
I believe that Africa and the Congo's fate are definetely tied to the outcome of the US Presidential Elections.
Barack Obama, a real President in theWhite House; Change for a better World.
I'm Franklin Katunda - Barack Obama Surrogate, and I approve this Message.
Thank You !
Comments are closed for this post.
