Putin's 'cannibals' gaffe (Says Africa has history of cannibalism)

The Sun ^ | June 13, 2005 | DAVID WOODING

[RWR8189]

Put it there ... Putin greets Blair before his tirade

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin sparked uproar yesterday by saying Africans had a history of CANNIBALISM.

He lashed out at the continent’s past after being challenged about his human rights’ record.

In an astonishing outburst, Mr Putin said: “We all know that African countries used to have a tradition of eating their own adversaries.

“We don’t have such a tradition or process or culture and I believe the comparison between Africa and Russia is not quite just.”

Tony Blair, who had just finished talks with Mr Putin, was left squirming with embarrassment as the former KGB boss let rip.

Minutes before the outburst, Mr Blair had hailed reaching a deal with the Russian leader on aid and debt relief for Africa.

But Mr Putin’s remarks about cannibalism will be greeted with astonishment in Africa and the wider world, as he will succeed the PM as G8 president next year.

Commission for Racial Equality chief Trevor Phillips said last night: “What a preposterous thing to say. He is at best insensitive and at worst a downright racist.”

Mr Putin had invited Mr Blair to his country residence for talks about the Prime Minister’s drive to wipe out third world poverty before next month’s G8 summit at Gleneagles.

The pair struck a deal after Mr Blair agreed to Mr Putin’s demands that aid was linked to Africa’s move towards democracy.

Earlier Mr Blair made a grovelling public apology for being the only senior world leader to miss a gathering to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Moscow last month.

He sent Deputy PM John Prescott instead.

Without prompting, Mr Blair said sorry yesterday and paid tribute to the “courage, dedication and heroism” of the Russian people.

[RWR8189]

Was he wrong?

[dead]

Yum! Yum! Eat 'em up!

[Brett66]

He could have said "AIDS infested", would that've been racist?

[festus]

I think Putin is factually correct but he missed the memo that said not to say anything bad about that continent ever.....

[Ron in Acreage]

Truth is an ugly thing to liberals in the media.

[FairOpinion]

Putin is right.

Here is an article from 2003!

UN condemns DR Congo cannibalism

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2661365.stm

The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned massacres and human rights violations, including cannibalism, by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A UN investigation said that the Ugandan-backed Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) and two smaller factions committed atrocities between October and December in the eastern Ituri province.


More than 350 witnesses and victims interviewed by the UN confirmed earlier allegations that the MLC was responsible for rape, torture, executions and cannibalism near the town of Beni.

In one case, investigators heard how a young girl was cut into small pieces by the soldiers and then eaten.

[LibWhacker]

Not wrong, politically incorrect (which is the same thing in our upside-down world).

[mylife]

History? Heck it occurs today there

[jocon307]

Rats, at first I thought it said "Canabis" gaffe. Thought old Puty had come out for medical marijuanna or somesuch.

[Ron in Acreage]

He really hurt the cannibals feelings.

[Tarkin]

Hmmm, do you remember "Emperor" Jean Bedel Bokassa (good friend of Valery Giscard d'Estaign, BTW)? He was accused of eating his enemies and keeping their corpses in his refrigerator.

[nightdriver]

"Was he wrong?"

Don't think so.

The king of Matabeleland (today's Zimbabwe) was nicknamed "The Eater of Men."

He's the one ol' Cecil Rhodes toppled sometime in the 1890s.

Just one example.

[Polybius]

UN condemns DR Congo cannibalism

[bahblahbah]

Bwhahahhahahahaha. I'd love to see a video of this.

[TheCrusader]

"In an astonishing outburst, Mr Putin said: “We all know that African countries used to have a tradition of eating their own adversaries."

Ahhhhh, a refreshing outburst of the truth.

[OKIEDOC]

I wonder if the old Commies Jessie Jackson, Al Sugar Daddy Sharpton, The New York Slimes and others did back flips when their exalted leader of the socialist world uttered the truth.

I really love it when one politician tells the truth and everyone else runs to cover their PC butts thinking it may have offended Racists Robert Mugabe or that real cannibal Idiot Amin.

I just wished George Bush would tell the truth about Islam.

President Putin don't think much of those savage terrorist either.

[Tangaray]

The Truth shall set you free!

[TheCrusader]

"Truth is an ugly thing to liberals in the media."

Light has always been an ugly thing to cockroaches.

[buwaya]

Partly wrong, or at any rate its an awfully broad brush. There are Africans and there are Africans.

African cannibalism was a sometime, somewhere thing. In the Congo it was going on wholesale until the Belgians more or less put a stop to it, but it seems to have revived a bit and still happens, as we occasionally hear.

The Zulu did do a bit of it as part of their ritual magic (witchcraft) if I recall correctly. They were also terrified of this witchcraft and periodically killed witches wholesale.

But other Africans would certainly have no historical connection within written or unwritten memory, so its not going to sound like a just comment to most.

And Africans weren't the worst offenders on record. The Aztecs (and maybe other mesoamericans) made it into a central and well organized part of their lifestyle. It was done wholesale, so to speak. Many Amerindian groups, in both North and South America, did it regularly as well (read "Man Corn").

Most of the peoples of the Pacific, Melanesia, Polynesia, New Guinea, did it on a regular basis.

Now, various Europeans probably did practice cannibalism in the distant past, clear remains have been found in Britain (from @3-4000 years ago I think), its just that the business ended too long ago to make a clear memory that has persisted to the present. I do recall that Herodotos said some of the Scythians were cannibals, and ancient Scythia was the present-day Ukraine, which was of course long a part of Russia.

So its probably not a good idea to bring it up.

[ReadyNow]

The next thing you know, he'll be saying that African leaders have a history of disposessing non-African owners of farmland. Or of putting tyre necklaces on their enemies and igniting them with gasoline. Or of not being able to figure out how to get across African rivers.

Oh, the horror.