Obama’s advisor Johnnie Carson must be doing something right…
Harare – July 6 2009 - Johnnie Carson, the United States' most senior official dealing with Africa, has been labelled "an idiot" by Zimbabwean President Mugabe, following an angry exchange between the two in Libya last week. The US assistant secretary of state for African affairs had met Mugabe on the sidelines of the annual African Union summit in Sirte on Thursday last week. Diplomats in Harare reported that Mugabe stormed out of the meeting.
Picture: The Mugabes with Muammar Gadhafi July 1 2009 in Sirte comes from Mugabe’s publicity website at http://www.daylife.com/photo/010A9J05kn85q?q=Robert+Mugabe
The Zimbabwean state-controlled daily Herald quoted Mugabe as saying that he was angered by Carson's "condescending attitude", but the 85-year-old leader did not specify what remark by the highly-experienced US diplomat, who is considered one of the world’s top experts on Africa, had caused offence.
Lack of Western Aid is hurting Zimbabwe
Mugabe also said about his visit to Sirte that the West’s deliberate withholding of funding is hurting his economy very badly. “There is no funding with an investment capacity from the West that will enable us to move from primary agriculture to secondary stages of development. They do not want us, the West, to be that.They do not want us to be their equals, they enjoy being masters over us and this is what Zimbabwe rejects,” he said.
Question by Zimbabwe Herald to Mugabe: “ The American Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs sought an audience with you in Sirte. Anything which came out of that meeting?”
Reply by Mugabe: “No, you wouldn’t speak to an idiot of that nature. I was very angry with him, and he thinks he could dictate to us what to do and what not to do in the inclusive Government. We have the whole of SADC working with us, and you have the likes of little fellows like Carson, you see, wanting to say ‘you do this, you do that’. Who is he? I hope he was not speaking for Obama. I told him he was a shame, a great shame being an African-American, an Afro-American for that matter.” http://www1.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=6935&cat=10
‘Little American girl trotting around the globe like a prostitute…’
The remarks are the latest in a string of insults Mugabe has hurled at critics. Last week he said Irene Khan, the Amnesty International secretary-general who visited Zimbabwe late last month, was "bewitched" – a dangerous accusation to make in Africa, as persons who are pointed out as ‘witches’ by leaders often are ordered to be killed.
He also called Jendayi Frazer, left, Carson's predecessor under the George W Bush's presidency, "that little American girl trotting around the globe like a prostitute." And Western critics of the government's crackdown on the opposition, which included several severe beatings received by Tshvangirai in jail, were told in no uncertain terms n 2007, to "go hang."
His lack of affinity with Carson contrasts with the apparently warm relationship struck up last month between Obama and Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister; the opposition party leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe's longtime rival formed a coalition government with Mugabe in February and has been feted worldwide ever since.
Obama described Tsvangirai as "a hero of democracy" during Tsvangirai's visit to Washington last month. The US embassy refrained from commenting on the encounter between Mugabe and Carson on July 1. One Western diplomat said he assumed Carson had been impressing on Mugabe the need for progress in the area of human rights and the rule of law. The US and many other Western donors are holding back on funding the cash-strapped Zimbabwean government until seeing significant reform in these areas. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/276278,mugabe-obamas-top-expert-on-africa-is-an-idiot.html
Johnnie Carson’s testimony on African matters:
- http://foreign.senate.gov/testimony/2009/CarsonTestimony090623a.pdf
- http://en.afrik.com/article15646.html
Johnnie Carson joined the NIC as National Intelligence Officer for Africa in September 2006 after a 37-year career in Foreign Service. Prior to this appointment, Carson served as the Senior Vice President of the National Defense University in Washington D.C. (2003-2006). Carson's Foreign Service career includes ambassadorships to Kenya (1999-2003), Zimbabwe (1995-1997), and Uganda (1991-1994); and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs (1997-1999). Earlier in his career he had assignments in Portugal (1982-1986), Botswana (1986-1990), Mozambique (1975-1878), and Nigeria (1969-1971). He has also served as desk officer in the Africa section at State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (1971-1974); Staff Officer for the Secretary of State (1978-1979), and Staff Director for the Africa Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives (1979-1982). Before joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Carson was a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania from 1965-1968. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Drake University and a Master of Arts in International Relations from the School of Oriental and Africa Studies at the University of London. source: National Intelligence Council-
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