Sharpton: Blacks should help decide if U.S. sends peacekeepers to Liberia

[Khephra]

(edit: "whether" changed to "if" so the title would fit)

July 20, 2003, 6:24 PM EDT


ACCRA, Ghana -- Black Americans should help U.S. officials decide whether to send peacekeeping troops to Liberia, Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton said Sunday in Ghana, where negotiators are working on a peace plan despite fresh fighting in the war-torn West African nation founded by freed American slaves.

President Bush is considering whether to send troops to bolster a promised West African force that Liberians hope will end more than a decade of fighting in the country.

"The African American community can have a lot of impact on what position will come from the U.S. government based on where we want to go and recommend," said Sharpton, a civil rights leader who plans to run in the 2004 U.S. presidential elections.

Sharpton is leading a delegation of prominent black Americans, including Princeton African-American studies scholar Cornel West, to Ghana's capital, where Liberian peace talks are being held.

more....................

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--liberia-sharpton0720jul20,0,6652693.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

[Dan]

1. Bull *

This is a UN issue. The U.S. does not have clean hands and we as a nation in a lot of ways have never really come to terms with our racial past. And, all of us - even if we don't want to admit - know that race is America's fault line. We don't need this grief - especially under that idiot Bush.

[saigon68]

2. I'M 100 % Irish

I want to lead a delegation to Belfast to help stop "the troubles" there !!!!

[prez_sux]

3. excellent point saifon68

have you seen sharpton's approval ratings? what makes you think he represents a majority of blacks?

[study_war_no_more]

5. I just saw a newscast of Kennedy's sixties visit to Ireland

Wow, it brought back memories of what it was like to have a President!!!
I would trust Al more than Bush & Co. in regards to Africa without a doubt and Cornel West is one smart man. I saw him at a lecture at the University of Minnesota and on several programs a very impressive man.

[Cocoa]

6. Koffi Annan has asked the U.S. to lead an intervention there

Just like the French have led an effort in the Congo, and the Brits have been asked to intervene in Zimbabwe.

[dArKeR]

4. I don't like to hear talk like this. We are all Americans. We are all

people of the Earth. Sharpton shouldn't classify this as 'we black people' need to decide. Even if the GOP talks this way doesn't mean honest people have to stoop to GOP scum thinking.

Sharpton should be talking about what is right for the people of Liberia coming from the hearts of all honest Americans.

[study_war_no_more]

7. and Bush represents this? Not

and your average american truthfully does not now and never has given a fuck about Africa. Nelson Mandela raised the conciousness but before that? Nadabit. Remember Rwanda. Remember the Congo. I am glad they are there representing America given the alternative of Bush's tour of lies and deciet.

[rocketdem]

8. exactly dArKeR

This is not a black/white issue. This is a matter of right and wrong. If the U.S. wasn't stretched so thin thanks to president dipshit, this would be a no-brainer. Considering how the U.S. did nothing when Rawanda blew up, this would have been a good opportunity to potentially do something decent for the African continent.

[classics]

9. They did get to decide.

When they voted. If they didnt vote, well, see what happens?

[copithorne]

11. I applaud this statement

I agree with what Sharpton said and I'm happy to see him say it.

Ethic blocks of voters who are organized can have an impact on US foreign policy. Jewish voters affect foreign policy towards Israel. Cuban voters affect foreign policy towards Cuba.

I've often wished that African Americans would take up US relations with Africa as a domestic political issue. I think it would be constructive if they would and have puzzled that it doesn't seem to get talked about.

[Sweetpea]

10. Because people of color are witnessing and being angered

by the white imperialist stance of the Bush administration. I think what Sharpton is trying to do is put a face of familiarity in the negotiations right now. These times are very volatile. Peace is peace. The continent of Africa has been ravaged by greed...yes. black and white. During Bush's trip a whole town had to be placed in a stadium to prevent him from being harmed. Those people are angry and right now there should be faces of people who know African history, understand the plight and are willing to work towards real change. Remember, Bush is the president who said Africa was a country.

[rook1]

12. We should stay out...

We should stay out of Africa. The majority of blacks in the United States have nothing in common with the people that inhabit Africa. There is more to it than skin color.....