By Kabs Kanu
Like it or not, the United States is the Policeman of the world and even Sierra Leone has benefited immensely from the U.S’ policeman role around the world. But for America, Charles Taylor and the RUF rebels , for instance, would have sent the whole nation thousands of feet down the abyss. There would have been no Sierra Leone to talk about today.
The U.S. worked tirelessly and efficiently with Britain, the UN , other international partners and regional organizations like the AU and ECOWAS to extricate Sierra Leone from the mire of destruction by the RUF and other belligerent forces. Sierra Leone owes her survival to the United States of America.
It is needless to talk about the tremendous humanitarian outreach of the United States to the world, which has contributed in no small way to stopping life on earth from being nasty, brutish and short. The American dollar is what is cushioning the effects of the global economic downturn.
The U.S, by taking responsibility, deserves the role it has assumed of being the Policeman of the World. Not only does she have the enormous economic wherewithal to keep the rest of the world afloat; she is the sole remaining superpower and for wielding and using well such immense global power , she has a moral responsibility to lead and uphold freedom, human rights and democracy around the world , cognizant of the fact that it is one of the only ways to prevent foreign conflicts and deadly chaos that cost colossal human lives and infrastructural damage.
Say what you will, the world depends more on America than any other country for security, peace, human rights , good governance and economic relief. And she has acquitted herself creditably in these responsibilities. This is especially so in Africa, a continent cursed with despicable dictators , lawless and blood-thirsty abusers of power and criminal leaders who do not respect the law or the constitution , much less human life; a continent where nothing good ever happens and billions would have been dying of poverty-induced starvation , human rights abuses and the excesses of dictators and general governance malaise .
Given the international power she possesses and the indelible manner she is using it to make the world a better place, the U.S has constructed a foreign policy to match her global influence, built around the imperatives and pillars of democracy, rule of law, human rights and good governance. This is precipitated around the age-proven belief that what America does around the world helps to make her safer and stronger here at home.
If America reneges on her moral responsibilities and the world descends into anarchy, it will lead to the establishment of terrorists cells in conflict countries which would endanger U.S. peace, security and economic wellbeing. Maintaining global peace and security is very important. If you want to talk about foreign policy , you have to talk about the global consequences of protracted conflicts in any part of the world. You cannot talk about foreign policy in today’s world without considering the globalization of politics and everything else and the imperatives of keeping the peace everywhere in the world in an age of spillovers of conflicts into other countries.
Therefore, Ambassador Bryan Hunt is not picking on President Maada Bio, the SLPP or Sierra Leone. His country has seen Maada Bio as a threat to regional and world peace and security . Those busy bashing the poor ambassador for speaking truth to President Bio and his undemocratic and human rights -abusing oligarchy in Sierra Leone should understand that he is just doing his job. He is trying to defend and promote the centerpieces of U.S Foreign Policy —democracy, human rights, rule of law and good governance and preventing global chaos.
How many times must we drum it home to this hard-to-understand SLPP that these foreign ambassadors , whether Bryan Hunt or Lisa Chesney, the British High Commissioner, do not speak of their own ? Whatever they say is the view of their countries. They are not in Sierra Leone to represent themselves, but the nations that appointed and sent them. They are messengers passing on the viewpoints of their countries.
Let the SLPP understand too that ,after our war, the U.S, Britain, the UN, EU and other international stakeholders are moral guarantors of peace, security, human rights and good governance in Sierra Leone. Have we forgotten that too ? As moral guarantors, it is inconceivable of anybody to think that these countries and organizations will bury their heads in the sand and allow Maada Bio to continue trashing our country, shedding innocent blood, accusing and arresting innocent people at will and turning the country into a theatre of conflicts and horror, a situation that terrorists could prey upon and use to harm other countries. This is the important thread in diplomacy that the SLPP do not want to understand.
The opposition All People’s Congress ( APC ) ,as a party, has nothing to do with the alleged coup attempt. Even if one thousand members are accused by the SLPP of being suspects , still the APC cannot be collectively accused by this witch-hunting SLPP Government of being behind their alleged aborted coup . Sierra Leoneans are saying it with conviction . What is wrong if Ambassador Bryan Hunt, a moral guarantor, says the same thing ?
Also, the ambassador hit the right note by saying that the SLPP cannot use the alleged coup attempt as an alibi to renege on its responsibilities to take part in the tripartite peace dialogue. We all know that the SLPP has second thoughts now about the dialogue but it has to go on and its recommendations have to be implemented to ensure peace in Sierra Leone. Stressing such a salient point does not in anyway portray the American ambassador as a meddler in Sierra Leone’s internal affairs.What happens in Sierra Leone is the business of the U.S and moral guarantors of peace and security.
The SLPP cannot and will not be allowed to rule Sierra Leone in a vacuum because Sierra Leone is a member of the globalized world and the SLPP must fall in line with the civilized politics of this globalized world. The international community would not leave Maada Bio and the SLPP to do what they want in Sierra Leone because Sierra Leone is not their freedom. What they do affects other countries in our globalized world. So, please leave Ambassador Hunt to do his job.
