Nelson Mandela: Just Another Thug

Nelson Mandela is reportedly in bad condition in the hospital and may soon die.  When that happens I fully expect the media, the United Nations and countless governments and leftist groups around the world to respond as if Jesus himself had just died.  Mandela is certainly not Jesus and he is also not the peace loving moderate portrayed to the world since his release from prison in 1990.  Anyone examining his past will see clear ties to terrorism and overwhelming support and admiration for communist countries and their dictators.

His terrorism ties began in 1961 when he formed the belief that violence was the proper way to oppose the apartheid government of South Africa.  Already in the African National Congress for more than a decade, he and the communist Joe Slovo formed the ANC’s guerrilla force called Umkhonto we Sizwe, which means Spear of the Nation.  Over the next twenty nine years this group was responsible for countless attacks, explosions, car bombings and many deaths.  The ANC was listed with the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization.  Mandela was jailed in 1963 when the police raided the groups headquarters on a farm outside Johannesburg.  Twice while imprisoned, in 1976 and 1986, Mandela was given an opportunity to be freed if he would renounce violence.  Both times he refused.  In 1990 the apartheid government waved the white flag, removed the ban on all political parties and released all ‘political’ prisoners, including Mandela.  Not even once did Mandela renounce the violence and murders or so much as express regret.

Colin Freeman of The Telegraph has an excellent article detailing Mandela’s ties to the South African Communist Party.  The article tells of a book by British historian Professor Stephen Ellis, who wrote about the Umkhonto we Sizwe receiving bomb making lessons from the Irish Republican Army and intelligence training from the East German Stasi, which they used to conduct brutal interrogations of suspected spies in the ANC.

After apartheid ended and Mandela was freed he wasted no time in lavishing praise on communists and thug dictators.  In 1991 he and his wife Winnie went to Cuba, which they called their second home, to celebrate the communist revolution with Fidel Castro.  While there he said, “Long live the Cuban Revolution. Long live comrade Fidel Castro… Cuban internationalists have done so much for African independence, freedom, and justice. We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of a vicious imperialist campaign designed to destroy the advances of the Cuban revolution. We too want to control our destiny… There can be no surrender. It is a case of freedom or death. The Cuban revolution has been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people.”

Mandela also said of Cuba, “There’s one thing where that country stands out head and shoulders above the rest.  That is its love for human rights and liberty.”

Of Libya’s dictator, Moammar Qaddafi, Mandela said he admired his commitment to fight for peace and human rights in the world.

And in a speech given in Harlem, he referred to four Puerto Rican terrorists who shot and wounded five Congressmen and said, “We support the cause of anyone who is fighting for self-determination, and our attitude is the same, no matter who it is.  I would be honored to sit on the platform with the four comrades you refer to.”

Under ANC rule, South Africa has severely deteriorated.  According to the Centre for Research on Globalization, most black South Africans are worse off now than they were under apartheid.  Hundreds of thousands of jobs have vanished, costs for electricity, water, food and rent have skyrocketed, unemployment hovers around 40% and South Africa has become the violent crime and rape capitol of the world.

In spite of all this and more, Mandela is considered by many to be a great statesman.  Why?  What has he accomplished other than terrorism, murder and vocal support for violence, thugs and communists?  The answer is nothing.  But because he targeted an apartheid government with his terrorism he is given a free pass for all that he did.  Instead of rotting in prison where he belongs he is free to be lauded by the U.N. and all the leftists in our country and the rest of the world.  When he dies he will be heralded as a great reformer and leader who brought about change in South Africa.  What we will not be told about is the terrorism he and his comrades used to bring about that change.