Redstate

By Marcus Traianus Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

The President has now signed this bill. The event was not complete without Democrat Barbara Lee taking a shot at Ronald Reagan;

Your Democrat Congress is of course hard at work. Preeminent in their plethora of issues is the topic of homeland security. They have opined ad nauseum about "change" and their ability to secure our nation. Now they have set out to prove it with this;

Negotiators from the Senate and the House agreed Thursday night on a final version of the bill to remove from U.S. databases the names of the former South African president and anybody else marked only because of a relationship with the African National Congress.(snip)

Rep. Howard Berman , D-Calif.,introduced the bill to remove the stigma from Mandela and other ANC members.

One can not argue either intellectually or scrupulously the end of Apartheid in South African was an unpropitious event. However, does the end justify the means?

Please read on.

I will first make it patently lucid it has always been my sincere belief that Apartheid was an appallingly callous, inhuman and despicable policy. One can think of few other actions in contemporary history that displayed such a callous disregard for human rights and dignity. The use of force to gain subservience over another race or indigenous population has been responsible for some of the most horrendous, deplorable acts mankind has ever perpetrated.

However, in this era where we preeminently discuss issues such as enemy non combatants and deplore tactics used against civilians the ANC is worthy of discussion. History tells us the ANC originally believed that a peaceful approach modeled on Gandhi's example would lead them to victory. This was latter abandoned for a more militant strategy with the advent of Umkhonto we Sizwe (or MK). The tactics of "MK" were clearly terrorist based and included guerilla warfare, indiscriminate civilian bombings, landmine planting, torture and executions. One of the most famous bombing incidents was the Church Street bombing in 1983 which killed 19 people including civilians, women and children and wounded more than 200.

Many of the ANC's and MK's terrible acts were detailed as part of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A great deal of the content is catalogued here and here.

Irrespective of stature provided to the ANC as a "liberation" movement and dubious claims they endeavored to abide by the Geneva Conventions, these precepts were regularly ignored. In contemporary times where the issue of war tactics and civilian safety is constantly foisted by Democrats, this action to expunge ANC and MK members from terrorist status is extraordinarily contradictory.

Are terrorists holistically defined by their tactics and willingness to contravene human decency or does the cause define righteousness? Are Democrats, liberal orthodoxy and expediency the new yardstick for judging merits of callousness, civility and indecency? Apparently, they believe so and we are all complicit unless otherwise summoned to refute such specious claims.

Call the sponsor, co sponsors and those supported this bill. Ask them if The Church Street Bombing was a terrorist act or excusable action of responsible liberators. I am curious what their response and reasoning will be.