The Monitor (Kampala)
July 9, 2003
Posted to the web July 9, 2003
Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
Kampala
The American President George W. Bush begun his five-nation tour of Africa on July 7. Originally he was destined for only South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal and Botswana but a President Yoweri Museveni June visit to the US, earned Uganda a four-hour stop-over at Entebbe.
America's military prowess and economic might makes it the most strategic ally every country would want on its side and Uganda is no exception.
But Bush's visit coincides with the cries of hundreds of suffering mothers and children in Iraq and Afghanistan where American forces are operating.
It is, therefore, not surprising that former South African President Nelson Mandela is shunning the visit and will be out of his country when Bush is visiting.
Bush's aggressive foreign policy has Iran and North Korea, the other two countries that he lumped in " the axis of evil", in panic.
And who knows what would befall the millions of people there in the next couple of months. North Korea has reportedly adopted civil defence and morale mobilisation measures parallel to the American war on Iraq and the joint military maneuvers by the United States and South Korea.
Despite the massive American deployment in the Korean peninsula and unlike Iraq, North Korea is a power to reckon with. It does not cover up its possession of nuclear weapons, and has talked of the possibility of using them. What makes the Korea crisis even more worrying is the fact that its neighbour, China is her traditional ally, which will be the last to betray it.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia has also expressed concern on the Korean crisis. Aren't there signs of an entire world being plunged into another useless catastrophic war?
The wind behind this war-mongering is the one we are looking to host and our children would be lined up to entertain.
Bush of course has a lot of explanations for his adventurism, but the world is waiting impatiently for the day he would display the weapons of mass destruction that made him invade Iraq.
The invasion resulted into massive looting of the remains of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Babylon, Assyria and The Umayyad Caliphate. The death of innocent people and the destruction of infrastructure is no longer news.
By entertaining Bush, Museveni is increasing Uganda's vulnerability to international terrorism. For the past so many years, Uganda has been uncomfortable with the Islamic Republic of Sudan, now because of our blind support for the US, we are lengthening the list of our enemies to include Iraq, North Korea and Iran.
At one time, Museveni seemed to have some knowledge of the causes of terrorism. You remember his address to the business community at Kampala City Square now Constitutional Square in 1986, when he attributed terrorism to the Palestine question.
This was after ex-US President Ronald Reagan had attacked the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi targeting Museveni's friend Col. Muammar elGadhafibut missed him and instead killed his adopted daughter.
Reagan's reason for attacking Libya was that the latter was sponsoring terrorist activities. But Libya's defence was that it was sponsoring liberation groups like Palestinian Liberation Organization, Africa National Congress of South Africa that the Zionist Israel and apartheid South Africa, respectively, had outlawed.
Uganda's Foreign Minister then, Ibrahim Mukiibi, issued a statement condemning the attack. The president gave a parable of a weak man who is beaten up by a strong man in a bar. He said that the weak man had no alternative except to resort to witchcraft. "The root cause of the problem is the Palestine question which should be solved," the president said then.
Now the good Museveni has forgotten the revolutionary statements he made and is pretending to be supporting every action of US, from the bombing of a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, invasion of Afghanistan to the destruction of Iraq.
At this rate Museveni might one-day support the US invasion of his own country.
It is okay to forge a strong relationship with the US, but let us be cautious like our colleagues in the region. Unlike other African countries, which publicly supported The second Gulf War, notably Rwanda, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Kenya and Tanzania did not.
In Tanzania, President Benjamin Mkapa was officially and publicly opposed to war. He even vowed that even if it meant reducing foreign aid, Tanzania was prepared for anything.
The Parliament of Uganda passed a resolution opposing the war if the Security Council of the United Nations did not sanction it.
Museveni leaned on his cabinet and they declared their support of the war accusing Iraq of harbouring Al Qaeda.
The civil society including religious leaders opposed the war. With the exception of the US-sponsored Pentecostal Churches, the Christian clergy and laity opposed the war. Even talkshows and phone-in programmes on FM radio stations opposed the war. The business community was also opposed to it as it led to a rise in fuel prices and cost of foreign exchange.
Museveni who has become a US agent now needs battle vehicles to guarantee his security even within the city centre.
Kampala is being guarded these days by military police side by side with civil police and more plain-clothed security personnel.
Of course the terrorism threat is always exaggerated here to win US support. Some of us who go for prayers at Kibuli mosque these days share the environment with the gun-wielding, and sometimes dirty, soldiers. Other holy hills like Rubaga and Namirembe are less suspected. The other day I was appalled when I saw soldiers, stopping and checking Prince Kasim Nakibinge Kakungulu, a respected member of the Muslim community in Uganda, on his way to his own Kibuli mosque.
Let us welcome Bush but be mindful of the innocent civilians who have perished as a result of his campaigns. We should also be cautious or else we may become vulnerable to those targeting US interests.
