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Africa: U.S. Covert Action Exposed

by Eric Ture Muhammad, Final CallApril 25th, 2001

Corporate greed, combined with a desire to never allow the "throne of civilization" tounite and become self-sufficient, continues to join at the hip the U.S. Government, theUnited Nations and corporate cartels in a persistent war on Africa, a recentcongressional hearing concluded.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) chaired the hearing, "Covert Action in Africa: A SmokingGun in Washington, D.C.," and led the voices of castigation that claimed the U.S.Government, the UN, private militias and western economic interests possessedcomplete knowledge of pending civil unrest in Africa and fed the fray between Africannations. Their aim was to use war, disease, hunger and poverty as covers whilecontinuing the centuries-old practice of rape and exploitation of the continent's humanand mineral resources, testimonies charged.

Among those named as collaborators during the daylong hearing were U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of StateMadeline K. Albright and international diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman.

Mr. Tempelsman, whose role in the confluence of public policy and private profit as amiddleman for the De Beers diamond cartel, according to submitted evidence, helped toshape practically every major covert action in Africa since the early 1950s. Declassifiedmemos and cables between former U.S. presidents and State Department officials overthe last four decades named Mr. Tempelsman with direct input in the destabilization ofCongo, Sierra Leone, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Rwanda and Ghana.

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He earned his stripes with western powers in the overthrow of Ghana's first electedpresident, Kwame Nkrumah, and the CIA-backed assassination of Congo's first-electedpresident, Patrice Lumumba, documents reveal.

As late as 1997, Mr. Tempelsman was named in the ongoing cover-up of U.S.-CIA covertsupport of the former president of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo[DRC]), Mobuto Sese Seko, who died in exile in 1997 after the overthrow of his regimeby recently assassinated Congolese President Laurent Kabila. Mr. Tempelsman isnamed as the agent in charge of selling off the gross excess of the strategic diamondstockpile in the United States that was used to fund the deceased dictator's exploits.According to documents entered into evidence, Mr. Tempelsman was rumored in 1998to have engaged in a romantic relationship with then-Secretary of State Albright.

During the hearing, Ms. McKinney said the legacy of former Pres. Clinton and his foreignpolicy toward Africa is one of grave deceit. She charged that not only did hisadministration turn a deaf ear to the genocide that occurred in Rwanda under hiswatch, but that everyone who aided in the silencing were rewarded with promotions.

"Look at Madeline Albright. At the time U.N. Ambassador, she got promoted tosecretary of state," she charged. "Susan Rice, over at the National Security Council, shegot promoted to assistant secretary of state for Africa. Kofi Annan, whom The CarlssonReport [a United Nations inquiry] makes 19 observations, of which 17 blame KofiAnnan, and yet [he] gets a promotion to secretary-general and is about to be re-elected as secretary-general."

Rep. McKinney also blasted International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) JudgeLouise Arbor, who, shortly after suspending the investigation of the April 1994 rocketattack on the presidential plane that killed Presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwandaand Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi, was awarded a Canada Supreme Courtappointment.

"America's policy toward Africa during the past decade, rather than seeking to stabilizesituations where civil war and ethnic turmoil reign supreme, has seemingly promoteddestabilization," testified Wayne Madsen, author of "Genocide and Covert Activities inAfrica 1993-1999."

Ms. Albright was fond of describing as "beacons of hope" those pro-U.S. military leadersin Africa who assumed power by force, Mr. Madsen said. "These leaders, who includethe current presidents of Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Angola, Eritrea, Burundi and theDemocratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), preside over countries where ethnic and civilturmoil permit unscrupulous international mining companies to take advantage of the

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turmoil permit unscrupulous international mining companies to take advantage of thestrife to fill their own coffers with conflict diamonds, gold, copper, platinum and otherprecious minerals including one that is a primary component of computer microchips,"he said.

Mr. Madsen said the United States played more of a role in the Rwandan tragedy thanit admits, citing the U.S.-backed Rwandan and Ugandan-led invasions of Congo.Speculation behind the recent assassination of Pres. Laurent Kabila and the rapid visitto the United States by his successor and son Joseph Kabila at the same time as a visitby Rwandan President Paul Kagame, coupled with meetings with Corporate Council forAfrica and a lavish dinner-reception thrown by Maurice Tempelsman has done little toput America in a favorable light in the region, the author asserts.

"After all, the date of Kabila's assassination [Jan. 16, 2001] was practically 40 yearsfrom the very day of the CIA-planned-and-executed assassination of Congolese leaderPatrice Lumumba," he concluded.

When policy and profit converge

"This is a western syndicated proxy war and, like Sierra Leone, Angola and Sudan, it iswar-as-cover for the rapid and unrestricted extraction of raw materials, and war as ameans to totally disenfranchise the local people," said Keith Snow, freelance writer andjournalist who supplied investigative reports for the panel.

Diamonds, gold, cobalt, manganese, petroleum, natural gas, timber and possiblyuranium, he said, are just a few of the major spoils being pillaged behind the scenes aswar destroys Africa. "Some of these minerals are almost solely found in the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo," Mr. Snow said.

One of those minerals, columbium tantalite, or "Col-Tan", is a primary example of therole strategic minerals play in sustaining war. This scarce mineral is found almostexclusively in Eastern Congo and used by western nations in everything from aircraftengines to computer chips.

"Economic interests are a significant factor in the fighting in the DRC," said Bill Hartung,of the World Policy Institute in New York. In his co-authored report "Deadly LegacyUpdate: U.S. Arms and Training Programs in Africa," the researcher acknowledged thesignificant role economic interests play in the fighting in the DRC and throughout Africa.

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"Africans need western technology, investment and cooperation to transfer minerals.Africans do not process these minerals; they are processed in the west. Africans arenot dependent upon minerals used in high-tech industry, sophisticated defenseprojects, or materials used in space exploration. The west, and particularly the UnitedStates, is dependent upon the availability of strategic minerals, many of which the U.S.does not produce. Africa does not have a vibrant market for diamonds, which are cutand distributed in the west," he said.

Western corporations are aware that revenues from mineral exploitation received byAfrican countries involved in war are used to purchase military equipment. Consideringthe history of a strong U.S.-led corporate presence in Africa, it is quite likely that U.S.mining interests have benefited from the war, concluded the panel.

This may also explain the interest of American Mineral Fields International (AMF), which,according to Mr. Snow, is a classic case of cronyism. The company secured a $1 billionmining deal for cobalt and copper before Laurent Kabila came into power. According toMr. Snow, the deal was secured through a shared interest; namely Pres. Clinton. AMF'schairman at the time of the deal was Mike McMurrough, a native of Mr. Clinton'shometown of Hope, Arkansas. Mr. Snow also alleged that Mr. Clinton has financialinterest in AMF. Former Pres. George Bush Sr. was also cited at the hearing for hisadvisory board membership at Barrick Gold, Ltd., for which he used his connections withthe CIA, having once been director of the spy agency.

The UN's failure

The Carlsson Report, released one year ago, is an independent inquiry into the UN'sactions during the 1994 Rwanda genocide presented to the UN Security Council by thereport's chairman Ingvar Carlsson. The report condemns the Security Council for notpreventing the systematic slaughter of over 800,000 men, women and children inRwanda, which occurred within a 100-day period between the months of April and Julyof 1994. The UN's decision to reduce the strength of the mandated United NationsAssistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) after the genocide started, despite itsknowledge of the atrocities was the cause of much bitterness stated his report.

"The failure by the United Nations to prevent and, subsequently, to stop the genocidein Rwanda was a failure by the United Nations system as a whole," said the report."There was a persistent lack of political will by Member States to act, or to act withenough assertiveness. This lack of political will affected the response by the Secretariat

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enough assertiveness. This lack of political will affected the response by the Secretariatand decision-making by the Security Council, but was also evident in the recurrentdifficulties to get the necessary troops for the UNAMIR. Finally, although UNAMIRsuffered from a chronic lack of resources and political priority, it must also be said thatserious mistakes were made with those resources which were at the disposal of theUnited Nations," Mr. Carlsson said.

A similar report released by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) last July alsosingled out France, Belgium, the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches along with theUnited States and UN as those most guilty and demanded "a significant level ofreparations" be paid.

According to Mr. Carlsson, Mr. Annan as Under Secretary General was made privy to aJan. 11, 1994 cable which leaked information concerning a plot hatched by theInterahamwe militia to kill Belgian soldiers, force the withdrawal of Belgian troops anddispatch Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) soldiers, who were Tutsi by ethnicity, to Kigalicamps "for their extermination." The informant said that his personnel were able to killup to 1,000 Tutsi soldiers in 20-minute intervals and that a cache of weapons with atleast 135 G3 and AK 47 assault rifles were at their disposal.

"He was prepared to show UNAMIR where these weapons were located in exchangefor his family's protection," said the report.

The report said Mr. Annan wrote a letter to then-UN Secretary-General BoutrosBoutrous-Ghali's special representative in Rwanda, stating that the informationcontained in the cable was cause for concern, but insisted the information be handledwith caution. The original cable was filed into archives and Mr. Boutrous-Ghali said thathe was not shown a copy of the cable until much later. Several such communications,the report alleges, were similarly ignored.

"The Secretary-General responded to the Carlsson Report by saying that he received itwith deep regret and agreed with the report's findings," said Fahran Haqq, aspokesman for Mr. Annan at UN headquarters in New York.

On Apr. 6, 1994 Presidents Habyarimana and Ntaryamira flew back together from areportedly successful sub-regional peace summit where, according to Tanzanianofficials present, Pres. Habyarimana had committed his country to implement theArusha Agreement, a UN peace accord. At approximately 8:30 p.m., the plane wasdestroyed by rocket fire as it approached its landing at Kigali's airport. Everybodyonboard died, thus officially unleashing the civil war that engulfs the Great LakesRegion today.

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Mr. Haqq denied comment on Ms. McKinney's allegation of UN collusion and told TheFinal Call that, since Mr. Carlsson's report, Mr. Annan has been the greatest voicebehind the UN's Brahimi Report, a wide-ranging, seven-part resolution containingrecommendations and decisions on peacekeeping missions, which must be theresponsibility of the Secretary-General. Further, it urges prospective parties to peaceagreements, including regional and sub-regional organizations, to cooperate fully withthe United Nations from an early stage in negotiations. It mandates the Secretariat tocontinue comprehensive political briefings on relevant issues before the SecurityCouncil and requests regular military briefings from the Secretariat, including by themilitary adviser, the force commander or designate, before the establishment of apeacekeeping operation.

What should Africa expect from Mr. Bush?

No one during the hearing expressed any optimism that things will fare better under aBush Administration. Mr. Bush did state during his campaign that Africa was not a majorarea of national security interest to the United States; his key advisors have suggestedotherwise.

Secretary of State Colin Powell has expressed interest in Africa but has not defined inany detail what those interests are outside of resolving the conflict in the Sudan.

The new threat to development in Africa has become recent decisions by Pres. Bush toappoint Walter H. Kansteiner III as assistant secretary of state for Africa. He hasexpressed desire to draw new territorial boundaries on the continent. Also still in theworks are the enactment of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act that was passedinto law before the expiration of Pres. Clinton's term and the Zimbabwe Democracy Act2000, a sanction measure against the rights of Black Zimbabweans' claims to landownership in their own country. That bill is currently engrossed in Senate debate.

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