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>"A great statesman?"
We have to admit he was at least wise in not attempting to foment an uprising in his country after release from Robben Island, probably because time had taught him this would be putting a light to a keg of gunpowder that would result in South Africa becoming as strife- and poverty-ridden as so many other Africn countries. There seems to be "need" to recognise African statesman in the West. Firstly honours were showered upon Kwame Nkrumah after the Gold Coast became Ghana - until he frittered away a massive favourable balance of payments on grandiose projects - mostly instruments for his own eventual deification! Hard to believe that Idi Amin was welcomed to the "fold" after getting rid of Obote in Uganda. Half a million lives later and heads in refrigerators brought about a change of heart.... Then came Julius Nyerere, courted and admired as he steered Tanzania into position number TWO on the United Nations List of the World's Poorest Countries. However, it has to be admitted in connection with Mandela tht the BBC had the courage to produce a documentary a few months back revealing his "darker side".
>In his public statements and speeches Mandela is always >critical of the democratic countries of the west, but has >nothing but praise for the remaining communist >dictatorships of the world"

Not Communist dictatorships alone. He has rarely, if ever, condemned any fellow Africans for their genocidal acts, repression or committing of suicidal economic policies that have left th eir citizens living like paupers!
But then I get the impression that the sin of "racism" is committed only by whites.

>When there were white (UN) secretary generals you didn't >find this question of the United States and Britain going >out of the United Nations. But now that you've had black >secretary generals like Boutros Boutros Ghali, like Kofi >Annan, they do not respect the United Nations. They have >contempt for it....

Deservedly so, I would say. Is this REALLY a matter of colour, or is it more efficiency and ability? One would have thought Kofi wouldh ave been the first to urge the UN to take some action against the murderous regime in Sudan as its army, plus "unofficial" units, slaughtered and displaced tens of thousands. Or in his mind would this have seemed "disloyal" towards Africa - admitting yet another human disaster?
>The State will last as long as class society exists. Only >under Communism will the State disappear. In primitive >communal society, order and discipline were maintained by >tradition and custom and by force of public opinion. It >was not necessary to rely on an instrument of force to >suppress others.
Interesting! Mau mau existed amongst the Kikuyu long before the days of Kenyatta. When it came to the ear of a chief that some upstarts were conducting oathing ceremonies with their sympathisers it wasn't long before his henchmen were down in their village dispatching the troublemakers!
>In exactly the same way, under Communism there will be no >State because mankind will have reached a high level of >political and cultural development and responsibility.
"Class" was decidedly more in evidence in the Soviet Union and its satellites than the West! There were those in positions of power in the Kremlin, Party apparatchiks,
down to Factory Managers and the downtrodden labourer at the end of the chain down to where the cream never permeated! There was no "Dissident" class!!!

>.....he lauded Qaddafi's Committment to the fight for >peace and human rights in the world.

Yeah, yeah Like bachelors were thrown out of their homes! I would have thought it was a human right to remain unmarried. An unarmed woman policeman on a London sidewalk surely had the "right" not to be shot and killed from the Libyan Embassy? And Qaddafi, as we now know, was not only involved in developing WOMDs, but had forgead ahead much farther than we had realised! There's a peace-lover for you! However, there is certain evidence to support the theory held by journalists and some of the relatives of victims that Qadaffi was not, in fact, responsible for the Lockerbie bombing and that the agent allged to have been responsible was prepared to sacrifice himself for his country to bring it back into Western favour. If you believe this evidence, it points to yet more scheming by -surprise - Iran!