Rule Britannia

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

Jim Heartfield wrote on LBO-talk:

> 'There is a dismal record of failure in Africa'
>
> Or so the British Prime Minister told the United Nations millennial
> summit on 6 September. 'Twenty-one of the 44 countries in sub-Saharan
> Africa are affected by conflict which undermines efforts at
> development', Blair continued, demanding that 'We must be partners in
> the search for change and hope'.
>
> But Britain's record of partnership is not promising; in fact Britain
> has proved to be the major warmonger on the African continent:
>
> Tangier campaigns against the Moors 1661-1684
> Kaffir wars at the Cape 1806/1812/1819
> Sixth Kaffir War 1835
> Seventh Kaffir War 1846-1847
> Eighth Kaffir War 1850-1853
> Abyssinian War 1868
> Ashanti War (West Africa) 1874
> Ninth Kaffir War 1877-1878
> Zulu War 1879
> Transvaal (or First Boer) War 1880-1
> Egyptian War 1882
> First Sudan War 1884-1885
> Ashanti Expedition 1896
> Second Sudan War 1898
> Boer War 1899-1902
> North African campaign, World War Two 1939-1945
> Canal Zone/Egypt 1945-1948
> Gold Coast 1948
> Eritea 1948-1951
> Somaliland 1949-1951
> Kenya 1952-1960
> Suez 1956
> Togoland 1957
> Cameroons 1960
> Zanzibar 1963
> Swaziland 1963-1966
> Zanzibar 1964
> Kenya/Uganda/Tanganyika 1964
> Seychelles 1966
> Libya 1967
> Dhofar 1969-1976
> Zimbabwe-Rhodesia 1979-1980
> Sierra Leone 2000

*****   Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 14:46:46 +0000
Subject: British Massacre in Sierra Leone
From: Owen Jones <owen_jones@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Marxist List <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Details are sketchy, but in the name of Britain's holy crusade to
civilise Africa once more, at least 17 have been killed in this
British massacre in Sierra Leone. I would not be surprised if the
women involved were not actually fighters but civilians. I expect
NATO will be bombing London by the end of next week to punish us.

 ----
Sunday September 10 8:22 AM ET
UK Troops And Leonean Rebels Injured in Attack

LONDON (Reuters) - British troops and Sierra Leone rebels suffered
casualties on Sunday as British forces attacked a rebel base and
freed six of their soldiers who had been taken hostage, the chief of
Britain's defense staff said.

``There have been a few casualties on our side,'' Sir Charles Guthrie
told a news conference. He said there had also been a substantial
number of casualties on the side of the West Side Boys, renegade
former Sierra Leone soldiers who had taken the British soldiers
hostage last month.

``The West Side boys were not a pushover. They fought very hard.
Amongst them they had women who were fighting and I think some of
them may have been among the casualties,'' Guthrie said.

The British soldiers who were freed were being medically examined on
board a British ship, he said.

The West Side Boys seized 11 British soldiers and an officer of the
new Sierra Leone Army on August 25. They subsequently freed five of
the soldiers.   *****

Yoshie