Thread: Mandela still alive : Memo GWB ...........

Mandela still alive after embarrassing Bush remark

Fri 21 Sep 2007, 11:14 GMT




JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela is still very much alive despite an embarrassing gaffe by U.S. President George W. Bush, who alluded to the former South African leader's death in an attempt to explain sectarian violence in Iraq.

"It's out there. All we can do is reassure people, especially South Africans, that President Mandela is alive," Achmat Dangor, chief executive officer of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said as Bush's comments received worldwide coverage.

In a speech defending his administration's Iraq policy, Bush said former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's brutality had made it impossible for a unifying leader to emerge and stop the sectarian violence that has engulfed the Middle Eastern nation.

"I heard somebody say, Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas," Bush, who has a reputation for verbal faux pas, said in a press conference in Washington on Thursday.

Jailed for 27 years for fighting white minority rule, Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994. He won a Nobel Peace Prize for preaching racial harmony and guiding the nation peacefully into the post-apartheid era.

References to his death -- Mandela is now 89 and increasingly frail -- are seen as insensitive in South Africa.

I'm not sure if someone as dim as Bush is capable of metaphors, but it sounds like he was speaking metaphorically about Iraqis killing off all of their peacemakers. What I find more puzzling about Bush's statement is that I've never heard of this army of peacemaker Mandelas in Iraq. It seems that all of Iraq's leaders, alive or dead, are congenitally violent and corrupt. Bush's empty rhetoric about peace, democracy and freedom sounds more empty by the day.

Originally Posted by Mid

He won a Nobel Peace Prize for preaching racial harmony

Unlike his wife eh.

Originally Posted by floorpotato

I've never heard of this army of peacemaker Mandelas in Iraq.

Some new US led para force trained at Fort Benning Georgia?

man knows how to have a party ...........

Mandela marks 90th birthday with London concert
4 hours ago


Nelson Mandela meets the queen

LONDON (AFP) — A star-studded cast of artists gathered Friday to celebrate global icon Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday at a giant concert in London in support of his global AIDS campaign.

Queen, Amy Winehouse and Annie Lennox were among the musicians performing at the Hyde Park gig for the former South African president's 46664 campaign against HIV/AIDS, to be broadcast around the globe.

Precisely 46,664 tickets -- after Mandela's prison number during his 27-year incarceration for trying to topple South Africa's apartheid regime -- went on sale for the three-and-a-half-hour concert compered by US actor Will Smith.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and US actor Denzel Washington are among those due to attend. The charity gig was due to start at 6:30 pm (1730 GMT).

"We're particularly honoured that he'll be celebrating his birthday here in London and that he's using his birthday to selflessly fund-raise and build further support for his exceptional 46664 charity," said Brown.

"It's entirely characteristic of a great man."

Mandela made headlines by breaking his silence over the crisis in Zimbabwe, describing it as a "tragic failure of leadership" at a fund-raising dinner in London Wednesday.

Zimbabweans were voting Friday in a presidential poll with President Robert Mugabe as the only candidate. Some campaigners have called on Mandela to elaborate on his comments.

Other performers on the concert bill include Razorlight, Simple Minds, Josh Groban, Joan Baez, Leona Lewis, the Sugababes, Eddy Grant, Jamelia, Zucchero and the Sudanese "war child" rapper Emmanuel Jal.

They are expected to join Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mandela on stage.

A 46664 spokesman said Bono and The Edge from U2, busy making an album, had recorded a version of "Happy Birthday" to be shown on the big screens.

African liberation hero Mandela, who retired from public life nine years ago, is expected to retreat further from the limelight after his birthday celebrations and hand over the reins of his 46664 campaign.

Mandela, who turns 90 on July 18, is now in frail health.

The dinner Wednesday was attended by Brown, former US president Bill Clinton, poverty activist Bob Geldof, a host of film stars plus performers from Friday's concert.

The bash raised five million pounds (10 million dollars, 6.3 million euros).

"The world remains beset by so much human suffering, poverty and deprivation. It is in your hands to make of our world a better one for all, especially the poor, vulnerable and marginalised," Mandela told attendees.

A 46664 spokesman told AFP that Mandela was attending the concert to thank the British people for the giant Free Nelson Mandela Concert at London's Wembley Stadium in 1988.

Troubled British soul singer Winehouse is tipped to sing "Free Nelson Mandela", an anthem for the anti-apartheid movement which was sung at Wembley.

The 46664 campaign, which has seen four previous multi-artist concerts, aims to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic which is rife in sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa is one of the countries worst-hit by HIV, with 5.41 million people living with the illness. Mandela lost a son to AIDS in January 2005 and has now fighting the pandemic his main cause.

Tickets for "The 46664 Concert Honouring Nelson Mandela at 90" cost 65 pounds (128 dollars, 82 euros) each. The concert was to be streamed live on the 46664 Concert Honouring Nelson Mandela at 90 - 27th June 2008, London website.

google.com

Originally Posted by Mid

man knows how to have a party ...........

Mandela marks 90th birthday with London concert
4 hours ago


Nelson Mandela meets the queen

LONDON (AFP) — A star-studded cast of artists gathered Friday to celebrate global icon Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday at a giant concert in London in support of his global AIDS campaign.

Queen, Amy Winehouse and Annie Lennox were among the musicians performing at the Hyde Park gig for the former South African president's 46664 campaign against HIV/AIDS, to be broadcast around the globe.

I had no freekin idea she was a musician.
What is her genre? Reggae? Death Metal?
Good on her. But why does she collect 40M pounds from her groupies if she's a rock star?

I feel sorry for Nelson....After all those years in chockie he still manages to reach the ripe old age of 90.

And what do they do??

He has to go all the way to England, meet Brenda and get sung to by a scabby, emphasaemic drug addict.

After all he struggled for.

I bet he wishes he could go back to Robben Island.

Shame none of the kids in the shopping malls the ANC blew-up will reach the ripe old age of 90.

Same could be said about the murders of black citizens by the government.

Care to compare the numbers?

The war on terror came too late, Mandella was a good terrorist because America had not been hit then.

Same with the IRA and Norad

Originally Posted by redfoot the fence

Same could be said about the murders of black citizens by the government.

Care to compare the numbers?

Since when have two wrongs made a right?

Does'nt anyone remember, that this man Mandela, was a terrorist, and that he killed people and planted bombs and caused havoc. He should be shot like a mad dog.
Maybe I'm to old. But I will never forget.

Don't forget it was the CIA that grassed him into the South African authorities, leading to his eventual arrest and incarceration.

Good ol' CIA.

Well, which is he -- good or bad?

Was he knighted?

^ Mugabe was. Another terrorist/freedom fighter call them what you wish

Mandeld was and always will be scum! It is typical of the Europe and America to idolise this man - white peoples seem to hate their own .
And please get some facts right redfoot. The former government in SA NEVER commited any autrocities of a similar nature to the ANC.
You want to go and visit SA now to see the results Mandela has achieved.
Electricity that is not available 24/7---a water system that is unreliable and for sure undrinkable--A Massively inneficient and corrupt police force--A failed education system---Hijackings--robbery --rape - highest crime rate per capita in the world---and now some ethnic cleansing going on against blacks by blacks..

Originally Posted by toslti

I feel sorry for Nelson....After all those years in chockie he still manages to reach the ripe old age of 90.

the food, welfare/hospital etc. facilities must have been pretty good as he is
a spritely old boy now.

Not to worry guys. All is now well and forgiven!

"Former South African president Nelson Mandela and his African National Congress have been removed from the U.S. terror watch list."

Mandela, ANC removed from U.S. terror watch list - Yahoo! India News

^yes, well Gerry Adams and his boys are also "forgiven".

Only makes you wonder when Al-Q will be on that list.

Perhaps we can arrange a football match against the Taliban at Christmas ? The scenario has been done before.

Sorry I can't green you NR

Mandela: The legend and the Legacy Part 1

Sarah is an Englishwoman endowed with an incisive and razor-sharp understanding of South Africa 's recent history. Unlike so many millions of brain-washed lemmings in the UK , she sees right through the media-contrived smoke & mirrors, lies and myths as propounded by the MSM.

By Sarah, Maid of Albion

It is often said that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, however, this usually means that the other man has been less than fastidious in his choice of hero, or that the 'freedom fighter' in question was on the crowd pleasing side.

On the 27th of June, London's Hyde Park will play host to a concert in honour of Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday and we can be assured that it will receive wall to wall coverage by a star struck and worshipping media, who will continue to laud Mandela as one of the greatest, or indeed the greatest, heroes of our time.

No doubt the beaming old man will appear on stage in one of his trademark multi-coloured shirts and cheerily acknowledge the cheers of the adoring crowd, most of whom have been taught to believe in his sainthood since their first days in primary school, which, for many of them, will have occurred around the same time their hero walked free from Robben Island.

The unquestioning belief in Mandela's universally admired saintliness will again be displayed in the press and by the unending line of politicians and dignitaries who will queue up to genuflect before him and sing his praises. It is a brave politician or journalist who would dare to question the godliness of this legend and consummate showman, and hence no such questions will be raised, nor will his much vaunted 'achievements' be subjected to any objective scrutiny.

No matter how many speeches are given or how many news articles are written, it is safe to bet that the full truth about Mandela will not be told.

In fact the truth about Mandela is so hidden in mythology and misinformation that most know nothing about him prior to Robben island, and those who do tend to exercise a form of self censorship, designed to bolster the myth whilst consigning uncomfortable facts into the mists of history.

For most people all they know about Mandela, prior to his release in 1990, was that he had spent 27 years in prison and was considered by many on the left at the time (and almost everyone now) to be a political prisoner. However, Mandela was no Aung San Suu Kyi, he was not an innocent, democratically elected leader, imprisoned by an authoritarian government.
Mandela was the terrorist leader of a violent terrorist organisation, the ANC (African National Congress) which was responsible for many thousands of, mostly black, deaths. The ANC's blood spattered history is frequently ignored, but reminders occasionally pop up in the most embarrassing places, indeed as recently as this month the names of Nelson Mandela and most of the ANC remained on the US government's terrorist watch list along with al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and the Tamil Tigers. Of course the forces of political correctness are rushing to amend that embarrassing reminder from the past. However, Mandela's name was not on that list by mistake, he was there because of his Murderous past.

Before I am accused of calumny, it should be noted that Mandela does not seek to hide his past, in his autobiography 'the long walk to Freedom' he casually admits 'signing off' the 1983 Church Street bombing carried out by the ANC and killing 19 innocent people whilst injuring another 200.

It is true that Mandela approved that massacre and other ANC killings from his prison cell, and there is no evidence that he personally killed anyone but the same could be said about Stalin or Hitler, and the violent history of the ANC, the organisation he led is not in question.

According to the Human Rights Commission it is estimated that during the Apartheid period some 21,000 people were killed, however both the UN Crimes against Humanity commission and South Africa's own Truth and Reconciliation Commission are in agreement that in those 43 years the South African Security forces killed a total of 518 people. The rest, (some 92%) were accounted for by Africans killing Africans, many by means of the notorious and gruesome practice of necklacing whereby a car tyre full of petrol is placed around a victim's neck and set alight. This particularly cruel form of execution was frequently carried out at the behest of the ANC with the enthusiastic support of Mandela's demonic wife Winnie.

The brutal reappearance of the deadly necklace in recent weeks is something I shall reluctantly focus upon later.

Given that so much blood was on the hands of his party, and, as such, the newly appointed government, some may conclude that those who praised Mandela's mercy and forgiveness, when the Truth and Reconciliation tribunal set up after he came to power, to look into the Apartheid years, did not include a provision for sanctions, were being deliberately naive.

Such nativity is not uncommon when it comes to the adoring reporting of Nelson Mandela, and neither is the great leader himself rarely shy of playing up his image of fatherly elder statesman and multi-purpose paragon. However, in truth, the ANC's conscious decision to reject a policy of non-violence, such as that chosen by Gandhi, in their struggle against the white government, had left them, and by extension, their leader, with at least as much blood on their hands as their one time oppressors, and this fact alone prevented them from enacting the revenge which might otherwise have been the case..

As the first post Apartheid president of South Africa it would, be unfair if not ludicrous to judge Mandela entirely on the basis of events before he came to power, and in any event there is many a respected world leader or influential statesman with a blood stained past so in the next part I shall examine Nelson Mandela's achievements, and the events which have occurred in South Africa in the 14 short years since he took power in following the post Apartheid election in 1994.

Originally Posted by jojo333

Mandela: The legend and the Legacy Part 1

Sarah is an Englishwoman endowed with an incisive and razor-sharp understanding of South Africa 's recent history. Unlike so many millions of brain-washed lemmings in the UK , she sees right through the media-contrived smoke & mirrors, lies and myths as propounded by the MSM.

By Sarah, Maid of Albion

Razorsharp, but without a name? Did she write the introduction herself perhaps?

Originally Posted by jojo333

Sarah is an Englishwoman endowed with an incisive and razor-sharp understanding of South Africa 's recent history. Unlike so many millions of brain-washed lemmings in the UK , she sees right through the media-contrived smoke & mirrors, lies and myths as propounded by the MSM.

The OP comes from a blog I presume? Please provide a link to comply with TD Issues forum rules.

Originally Posted by jojo333

who will continue to laud Mandela as one of the greatest, or indeed the greatest, heroes of our time.

Hero. What the fcuk did he do ? Ex terrorist, jailed, freed early, won an election and became leader of SA. What defines a hero ? Mandela wasn't one. Cruel individual who used the bomb and the bullet to attain his beliefs. Would he support terrorism today ? I think not.