"I will never apologize for the USA — I don't care what the facts are" - George H.W. Bush in 1988 after U.S.S. Vincennes, operating illegally in Iranian waters, shot down Iran Air Flight 655 killing 290 people. Rather than stop killing civilians, the US has learnt to apologize.

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1438951523078258689

What of compensation? Last year, when the US extorted from Sudan $3m per US victim for the 1998 Embassy bombings, it valued Kenyan and Tanzanian lives at 14% of US lives. Lockerbie families got 10m each from Libya, but the US paid on average $225,000 per victim for Iran Air 655.

Does anyone imagine the US will value Afghan lives the same way it does Western ones?

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gathara

@gathara

17 Sep

@bbcworldservice

On @bbcworldservice Heart & Soul, the Director of the Vatican Observatory admits teaching in "Africa" and the interviewer asks if, comparing the majesty of the heavens and the suffering in "Africa", he'd queried his faith. Nothing on querying suffering in Detroit where he's from.

It always fascinates me the space "Africa" occupies in the Western imagination. A paper I once read cited a study finding that many odieros regarded volunteering in "Africa" is the greatest good one can do, and few thought easing suffering in their own countries was as worthy.

I think many buy into the myth of the "civilising mission". Nobodies can turn up in "Africa" and imagine the natives looking up to them like superior beings bringing enlightenment and civilisation. "Africa" where the benefits and privileges of whiteness can be fully realized.

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gathara

@gathara

17 Sep

@itsamaddworld

This is an appreciation tweet for a living legend, @itsamaddworld, who's been doing amazingly insightful and hilarious work for 35 years, ever since he joined @NationAfrica in 1986 as Kenya's first full-time political cartoonist.

Question: What's your favourite Maddo cartoon?

Mine was of incident in Nyanza (I may be mistaken but I think it may have been when Safari Rally went to Kisumu) and he drew a crowd bearing stones shouting "Wadwaro donjo!!" or something to that effect.

@StandardKenya

Maddo gave me my first break as a cartoonist in 1997. He had started Africa Illustrated cartoon newsmagazine I went to pitch him my toons at Likoni Rd (he had been poached by @StandardKenya in 1990, creating room for @iGaddo at Nation) and he graciously agreed to publish them.

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gathara

@gathara

16 Sep

Question: Why is Iran, which has not invaded anyone and which supports indigenous resistance to occupation in Palestine denied nuclear technology while Australia, whose troops committed horrible crimes in Afghanistan and which abuses its indigenous population, gets nuclear subs?

The racism underlying US nuclear proliferation policy is captured by the fact that it orchestrated a coup in Ghana in the 60s partly to get them to dismantle the atomic reactor Nkrumah was building at the same time it was helping apartheid South Africa build a nuclear weapon.