The New People Newspaper Online Sierra Leone News and Alternative Perspectives on News, Events, and Policies in Sierra Leone .
Editorials & Op-Ed
Obama in Iraq: Withdrawal support but no timetable
USA: Sheku Kallon Jr:
Face to face with Iraq's leaders, Barack Obama gained fresh support Monday for the idea of pulling all U.S. combat forces out of the war zone by 2010. But the Iraqis stopped short of actual timetables or endorsement of Obama's pledge to withdraw American troops within 16 months if he wins the presidency.
The Democratic presidential contender also got a military briefing _ and a helicopter tour _ from the top U.S. commander in the region, Gen. David Petraeus, and he met with a few of the nearly 150,000 U.S. troops now well into the war's sixth year.
Back in the U.S., Republican rival John McCain said he hoped Obama's visit would open his eyes to the danger of withdrawal timetables. Said the Arizona senator, who was meeting with President Bush's father, the former president, in Maine: "When you win wars, troops come home." He said of Obama: "He's been completely wrong on the issue."
In Washington, the White House expressed displeasure with recent public comments by Iraqi leaders on the withdrawal question and suggested they might have the U.S. election on their minds.
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"We are hoping that in 2010 that combat troops will withdraw from Iraq," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said after Obama met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki _ who has struggled for days to clarify Iraq's position on a possible timetable for a U.S. troop pullout.
Iraq's Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, said after meeting Obama that Iraqi leaders share "a common interest ... to schedule the withdrawal of American troops."
"I'd be happy if we reach an agreement to say, for instance, the 31st of December 2010" would mark the departure of the last U.S. combat unit, he said _ then noted that any such goal could be revised depending on threats and the pace of training for Iraqi security forces. That date would be some seven months later than Obama's 16-month timeline.
Obama said almost nothing to reporters as he walked to and from his meetings.
"Excellent conversation," he said as he left talks with al-Hashemi in his gold-hued reception room. "Very constructive," he said after leaving a meeting with al-Maliki.
Obama promised to give fuller impressions after his stop in Iraq wraps up Tuesday and he heads to Jordan and then Israel.
In Washington, the White House expressed unhappiness about Iraqi leaders' apparent public backing for Obama's troop withdrawal plans and suggested the Iraqis may be trying to use the U.S. presidential election as leverage for negotiations on America's presence and future obligations in the country.
"We don't think that talking about specific negotiating tactics or your negotiating position in the press is the best way to negotiate a deal," Perino said after al-Maliki was quoted in a magazine article supporting the 16-month troop withdrawal timeline proposed by Obama. Al-Maliki's spokesman, al-Dabbagh, initially appeared to try to discredit the magazine report but on Monday newly expressed hopes that U.S. combat forces could be out of Iraq by 2010.
Said Perino: "It will not be a date that you just pluck out of thin air. It will not be something that Americans say, `We're going to do _ we're going to leave at this date,' which is what some have suggested."
The Bush administration has refused to set specific troop level targets but last week offered to discuss a "general time horizon" for a U.S. combat troop exit.
Asked whether the Iraqis might be trying to use the U.S. presidential election for leverage in negotiations over the future of the American military mission in Iraq, she said, "I think that a lot of other people look through the lens of a 2008 presidential election. ... Might they be? Sure. I mean, it's possible."
This is the third leg of Obama's tour of the region, which has included stops in Kuwait and Afghanistan.
The counterpoint was clear: Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start and views the battle against the resurgent Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan as America's most critical fight.
But Iraq is not the same place as when Obama last visited in January 2006.
Both Sunni insurgents, including al-Qaida in Iraq, and Shiite militias have suffered significant blows. And security forces in Baghdad _ once the scene of near daily car bombs and sectarian killings _ have made clear gains since last year's troop build-up of nearly 30,000 soldiers.
In an interview Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America," McCain said he hoped Obama would now "have the opportunity to see the success of the surge."
"This is the same strategy that he voted against, railed against," McCain said. "He was wrong about the surge. It is succeeding and we are winning."
All five surge brigades have left Iraq, but there are still about 147,000 U.S. soldiers in the country.
Obama _ traveling in a congressional delegation with Sens. Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, and Chuck Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska _ first arrived in the city of Basra in Iraq's mostly Shiite south.
Basra is the center for about 4,000 British troops involved mostly in training Iraqi forces. An Iraqi-led offensive begun in March reclaimed control of most of the city from Shiite militia believed linked to Iran.
In Baghdad, the delegation traveled in convoys of black SUVs with tinted windows. Obama attended some meetings wearing a dark suit and tie despite temperatures well above 100 degrees.
Security around the city was not noticeably tightened, but that's difficult to gauge in a place with permanent checkpoints, concrete blast walls and military helicopter surveillance. No major attacks were reported around the capital.
Obama's foreign stops, which will conclude with a swing through Europe, were seen as an attempt to burnish his foreign policy credentials and address challenges by McCain that he is too inexperienced to lead in a time of war and global risks.
They also gave Obama a taste of some of the difficulties in Iraq that the next president will inherit. Important negotiations on a pact defining the future U.S. military commitment has stalled.
American diplomats hoped to reach a final accord by the end of the month, but it now seems the goal is a stopgap "bridge" document that would maintain the status for U.S. forces once a U.N. mandate on their presence expires at the end of the year.
___
AP White House Correspondent Terence Hunt in Washington contributed to this report.
Publisher's Voice On NOSLINA Story and New People Policy
USA: Sheku Kallon Jr:
I wanted to reach out to the readers of the New People and my fellow Sierra Leoneans as one of the publishers of the New People and the former Executive Director of NOSLINA to set the record straight on one or two stories that have appeared in the online edition. I also wanted to share a policy of the New People so you understand what is driving us.
First on the policy of the New People: The New People is an independent newspaper and is not the organ of the SLPP. Yes, in the interest of full disclosure, the New People is ideologically aligned with the ideals of the SLPP. There is an editorial team that is responsible for the articles and stories you read. As publisher, I have taken the stance not to interfere with the work of the editorial team or influence the stands they take on issues affecting the country or the stories that are published. The only guideline the editorial team has is to ensure they cross check the stories before publishing them and to ensure it does not conflict with the National Security interests of our beloved Sierra Leone. From time to time, our team will get a few facts in a story wrong but on the most part the crux of our stories are on point.
On the story about NOSLINA that has appeared in the New People I want to correct a few errors that the editorial team had wrong. For one, NOSLINA did condemn the AFRC coup that toppled the SLPP in 1998 and the organization worked tirelessly lobbying the international community to restore the democratically elected government. The second error in the report is that Cecil Blake was never an Executive Director of NOSLINA but a Board Chair. These are the errors that I am aware of and cannot speak on the other allegations made in the story. As for the reason why Dr. Marda Mustapha and myself were not elected to the NOSLINA Board, I cannot speak for the writer of the story but for myself. Yes I am an outspoken supporter of the SLPP and have made a few enemies within NOSLINA because I thought those people were politicising the organization's goals.
I happen to believe that people vote their conscience and hopefully for what is in their best interest. It is my opinion (not a statement of fact) that some people voted against having me on the NOSLINA board because I was standing in the way of their political objectives, opposed the granting of an award to Kabs Kanu who everyone knows has made Cocorioko a mouthpiece for the APC and Ernest Koroma and finally because the New People investigative team exposed the backroom deals to ensure Kabs Kanu received the award. In my opnion, a politically neutral journalist would have been deserving of a NOSLINA community service award being that we are a non political, non profit group. By giving Kabs Kanu an award it sends a message that NOSLINA condones his work on Cocorioko and I am on record during the deliberations of having opposed it.
I want to assure Sierra Leoneans and friends of Sierra Leone to know that I have no axe to grind against NOSLINA and will not do anything to destroy what I and many others worked very hard to rebuild after the organization almost became irrelevant to the people of Sierra Leone after 1998. I have confidence in the current Board Chair Don Taylor and the Executive Director Suna Nallo in carrying out the objectives of NOSLINA. Due to a reprioritization of what I want to spend the precious little time I have after family and work, I chose not to continue as Executive Director of NOSLINA. I was even offered to be the Chair of the Board by a few people and I turned it down to focus on my family and partisan politics in the SLPP. I sincerely felt that NOSLINA should be non-political and my declaration to support the SLPP put me in conflict of being at the helm of NOSLINA. I did want to continue serving the organization and felt I could do so as a Board Member but mainly because I am personally responsible for recruiting over two thirds of the current NOSLINA Board. I did not want to abandon the organization after having recruited them to serve.
Has Tribalism Raised Its Ugly Head? Puawui Asks.
4.26.2008
FREETOWN: DR SAMA BANYA: Many a time, I have not believed some of the stories in many of our newspapers, but it is said that where so many witnesses agree, there is a likelihood that they are right. And so it is with the story in a few newspapers last week reporting on the PMDC leader Charles Margai's recent visit to Kenema. On the front page of the Premier newspaper of Friday April 4, are photographs of Charles and President Ernest Bai Koroma under the headline 'PMDC Removed SLPP Not The APC- Charles Margai" In the rest of the story Charles is quoted as saying that they as a group decided to support the APC because they wanted to put an end to trbalism in the Country, but regreted that they had not been able to remove tribalism in their struggle. He revealed that now that tribalism had raised its ugly head in our society because if anyone did not come from the North, he or she did not have any credential for any position in the Country. READ MORE
"Changing Beliefs. . . Changing Feelings" and "Attitude Change"
4.06.2008
UK: DYLAN SOGIE-THOMAS - sogiethomas@yahoo.com: What is attitude and what does it mean to ‘change our attitude? Attitude is a manner of thought, reflections of our beliefs and feeling. Our attitude allows us to respond consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given objects, person or idea. In Sierra Leone we look at politicians and other senior government officials as models. Our politicians and other government officials are paid between Le 500,000 –Le 3,000,000 but we have seen those politicians acquiring houses all over the country and abroad. Our president, ministers and other senior government officials have a significant influence on our attitude. We imitate the attitudes of people we admire and respect. READ MORE
IN THE NEWS. . . Shenanigans, Bogus Promises, Muddled Justifications, and. . . that Conjuress Extraordinaire.
4.04.2008
FREETOWN: DR. SAMA BANYA: Wednesday and Thursday, April 2 and 3 respectively carried interesting news on radio and in the press. First was the BBC stringer whose voice I had not heard for some time telling the World about the commissioning by President Koroma of the Tractor Agric. Project at Rolako, outside Makeni. Now anyone who knows anything about rice production in this Country will recall that the Chinese first worked the boliland at Rolako.There were reports that the pH (the amount of acidity or alkalinity of the soil) was not suitable for large scale rice production unless a lot of fertiliser was used. Then Rolako became a centre for Seed Multiplication under GTZ. I am not sure why the project was discontinued READ MORE
Attitudinal Change Can Only Start from the Top.
4.02.2008
UK: UNISA DIZO-CONTEH: For Sierra Leone to move from being one of the poorest nations on earth to one that is prosperous, its people will need to change their attitude – this is the message President Ernest Bai Koroma hopes Sierra Leoneans, both at home and in the Diaspora, will certainly receive. But what will it take for the president’s passionate message to be heard and practiced by all?
Last week, government politicians, including civil society organizations, launched a campaign against Sierra Leoneans who hold a negative attitude on Sierra Leone. READ MORE
"Why The Mad Rush to Register Local Government Election Candidates?" - Critical Political Commentator and Analyst, Puawui, Asks.
3.31.2008
FREETOWN: DR. SAMA BANYA (PUAWUI): In my early contact with the King's, (now the Queen's) language, I was intrigued with the idiom "putting the cart before the horse." I knew what a horse was because, rare as it was in my hometown, I had seen one. Not knowing what a cart was, I thought the word referred to pussy cat and wondered what a cat would be doing in front of a horse unless it was to be given an overwhelming start in a race. At the height of World War Two, when our mud and wattle sticks dormitories in Bo School were being replaced by mud brick ones, cows were used (two hatched to a wagon) to transport building materials to the building sites. It was then I got the idea that the horse pulled the cart. Teacher Amadu Koker was later to explain that what the expression putting the cart before the horse meant was to leave that which should come first and substitute it with that which ought to follow. I do hope Peep understands this. READ MORE
The Wages of APC “Kohkohnomics” is Stagflation.
3.24.2008
COLORADO: PROF. KELFALA M. KALLON: Several weeks ago, I described the APC government’s economic policies as “kohkohnomics” which I defined as “a collection of superstitions and rubbish” that starts with “the assumption that scarcity does not exist and that we can get everything without having to bear any opportunity costs.” Starting with the wasting of the nation’s scarce resources on a three-day coronation jamboree that was mislabeled as a presidential inauguration, to the president’s expensive international junkets, and the leasing of a 15 megawatt generator for 32 million United States dollars (using questionable bidding procedures), everything the Koroma government has done seems to demonstrate that they believe that economic theory is wrong in claiming relative scarcity to be the fundamental human problem. READ MORE
On President Koroma's Democratic Credentials
3.15.2008
By Prof. Kelfala M. Kallon, Colorado, USA. President Ernest Koroma’s self-evaluation of his performance during his first five months in office, which appeared in the March 5, 2008 issue of Awareness Times, would have been comical if his claims were not so insulting to our collective intelligence. For example, in spite of the economic hardships his government has wrought on the people of Sierra Leone, President Koroma claimed to have done much for the country during his five months in office. Particularly amazing and perhaps most galling was the President’s claim that “his All People’s Congress (APC) government has within five months succeeded in deepening the democratic process and unifying the country by effecting a smooth transition that has never happened in the history of Sierra Leone”.READ MORE
Whimpering and Whining So Soon? What For?
3.15.2008
By Dr. Sama Banya - AKA Puawui, Freetown, Sierra Leone. In the run up to the 2007 Presidential and parliamentary Election, the APC campaigned on falsehood, lies, deceit and all manner of sugar-coated propaganda to fool our people. They accused us in the SLPP of not caring for the miserable plight of the people. While the rest of our population was languishing in abject poverty, they alleged, we were busy lining our pockets with donor money. Thanks to that notorious mischief maker, the editor of Standard Times newspaper, we were accused of concealing the Libyan donated rice as a big secret and no doubt sold it and kept the money for ourselves. (italics mine.) READ MORE