Hungry Hippos

[BarakzaiAbdali]

I thought I would beat Toramana and Soldat to posting this as generally their goal is to deflect from fruitful discussion and think they can fool us into making mutually exclusive assocations no longer mutually exclusive (that if Mauritania, a former French colony, has slavery, why then the problem must be Islam or the Arabs.)

Enjoy:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/...html?hpt=hp_c1

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Surprise, the dictator of Mauritania is backed by....

http://www.afrik-news.com/article16019.html

"But some observers believe that regardless of the enormous efforts made by General Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz to gain acceptance within the international community, Paris and Washington appear to have other reasons to support him. According to the observers, security concerns have, in fact, prevailed over the democratic ideal. The two capitals have been very concerned about the penetration of Islamist networks into West Africa. In December 2007, a group with links to al-Qaeda murdered four French citizens in Mauritania. In June, the North African branch of the terrorist network claimed responsibility for the murder of an American in broad daylight in Nouakchott."

Interestingly enough, Mr. Ould Abdel Aziz is a bigotted pan Arabist

The Mossadegh like, educated, democratically elected President of the country was Mr. Abdallahi:
"Abdallahi addressed the nation on June 29 for the first time since taking office. In this speech, he referred to the "dark years" of 1989–91, condemning the violence of that time, expressing compassion for its victims, and emphasizing the importance of tolerance and reconciliation. He said that "the State will entirely assume its responsibility to ensure the return" of Mauritanian refugees and promised that they could all "benefit from a reintegration programme in their native lands with the support of the HCR, the Mauritanian state, united national effort and the cooperation of our development partners." He also mentioned an anti-slavery bill approved by the government."

"Mr Abdallahi pledged "special legislation" criminalising slavery while his rival, Mr Daddah, promised compensation for slaves and penalties for law-breakers."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6494687.stm

Guess who supported Abdallahi?

"
Aziz had backed Abdallahi in last year's vote, but the president angered Aziz and his supporters by opening a dialogue with members of Islamic hard-liners accused of having links with an al-Qaida-affialiated terror network believed operating in northern Africa. Abdallahi also freed several alleged terror suspects from prison.
Abdallahi, a devout Muslim, also came under criticism when he used public funds to build a mosque on the grounds of the presidential palace."

http://web.archive.org/web/200808121...nppTgD92CQJ180

Oooops. So its perfectly fine to discuss slavery and ignore the nuanced details... that the "Islamist" candidate was ready to further prosecute it and give indigenous people more rights... yet Amnesty International documents scores of abuses by the current France and US approved "War on Terror" Musharraf equivalent:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/mauritania/report-2010

Sorry guys, can't pin this one on Islam since its the nationalists who are the criminal element.