Peter "Just Loves Flying"

Pambazuka – Gaddafi’s assassination: Bombing Africa into ‘civilisation’.

Mr Kwesi Pratt, Jnr, a leading member of the Socialist Forum and managing editor of the Insight newspaper, was certainly not amused at hearing the news concerning the death of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. News reports from Ghana read, ‘On Multi TV’s PM: Express programme on Thursday evening, Kwesi Pratt described the NATO-backed war against Gaddafi as a disgrace to the continent.’ On the same programme he said, ‘killing any head of state, whether he is a dictator or a democrat, is wrong, and what NATO has done is appalling, it’s disgraceful and needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. This is an assassination, this is illegal and this is an act of terrorism…’

Iranian students form human shield near nuclear site amid fears of Israeli attack – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Hundreds of students on Tuesday formed a human chain around the uranium conversion plant in central Iran, in a demonstration staged by students to show that Iranians were ready to sacrifice their lives if the nuclear sites were attacked by Israel

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Africa-Center-for-Strategic-Studies—Media-Review.html?soid=1103092623686&aid=OWHJLRt3mL4.

Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Media Review for November 14, 2011

Daily Maverick :Thabo Mbeki troubled by a ‘new imperialism’ in Africa.

Thabo Mbeki’s not happy with Nato, the West or the UN Security Council. All drew criticism from the former president, who is worried that the Libyan intervention is the first step in an insidious attempt to re-colonise Africa. SIMON ALLISON explains why Mbeki should take off his pan-African spectacles and look deeper into the issues…

The African population disaster – Cyprus Mail.

ACCORDING to the United Nations, the world’s population passed the seven billion mark at the end of October, and there was much tutting and shaking of heads over its prediction that we will be ten billion by the end of the century. But almost nobody will have the temerity to point out that this is almost entirely an African problem.

Looking Beyond Spring: An African Perspective on the Arab Revolt in World Order.

There is a great deal of misunderstanding today about the African Union’s decision not to endorse the military intervention in Libya undertaken by France, Great Britain, and the United States in conjunction with several Arab States. Speculations abound as to whether the uniform decision coming out of Africa indicates that the African Union is out of step with the spirit of freedom sweeping across North Africa and the Arab World; or whether the absence of Africa in the battlefield of Libya merely suggests military ineptitude and political bankruptcy. Underlying the African objection to military intervention is a longstanding tension between international organizations that represent Africa, on one hand, and self-identified representatives of the West, on the other.  It is not accurate to say that the African Union has been indifferent to the conflict in Libya.

Looking Beyond Spring: An African Perspective on the Arab Revolt in World Order.

There is a great deal of misunderstanding today about the African Union’s decision not to endorse the military intervention in Libya undertaken by France, Great Britain, and the United States in conjunction with several Arab States. Speculations abound as to whether the uniform decision coming out of Africa indicates that the African Union is out of step with the spirit of freedom sweeping across North Africa and the Arab World; or whether the absence of Africa in the battlefield of Libya merely suggests military ineptitude and political bankruptcy. Underlying the African objection to military intervention is a longstanding tension between international organizations that represent Africa, on one hand, and self-identified representatives of the West, on the other.  It is not accurate to say that the African Union has been indifferent to the conflict in Libya. ..

African Democracy: Elections Despite Divisions.

Electoral violence in a number of sub-Sahara countries has prompted some Africa watchers to question whether the United States and other Western countries should be prioritizing “free, fair and credible” elections when the process so often polarizes a country rather than unifying it around democratic institutions and practices. Nevertheless, I believe the United States and other westerners should continue to do what they can to support Africans working to build free, fair, and peaceful democracies, not least because Africans themselves want elections, and there are no good alternatives.