As Sen. Hilary Clinton rehashes her "3.00Am Call" ad touting her experience and readiness to be commander-in-chief of the U.S military and economy, it is no secret that the ambit of power of the U.S presidency extends far beyond its borders. Being the only super-power in a post cold-war era, the reach of the American Commander-in-chief is global. It includes Africa. All of it. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that Africa and Africans start having a discussion, if they have not already begun, about who of Sens. Clinton, McCain and Obama will pick up that "3.00AM call" from Africa and attend to the problem(s) when they take charge in January 2009.
Back in 1998, Tonni Morrison of the New Yorker euphemistically referred to President Bill Clinton as "The First Black President" at a time when the President was, like stereotypical black men, mired in an extramarital sex scandal with Monica Lewinski. Other aspects of "blackness" included the fact that President Clinton was born into single-parent household; born poor; working-class; saxophone-playing; and a McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas. While this context has been lost and the politicization of the label subsequently turned into one of endearment and fondness, there have been open-eyed African-Americans and other observers who have questioned what President Clinton concretely did to improve the plight of African-Americans radically or symbolically? As far as convenience and or political expediency go, it is no news that African-Americans and Africa(ns) generally fall under one and the same category - Black policy. Taking this cue as Africans, whether right or wrong, the question for us becomes that of knowing how this Black policy of the Clinton years affected Africa(ns)? Can it give any clue as to how well Sen. Clinton will do by Africa(ns)? It has to play an important part because Senator Clinton has trumpeted her experience on the hills of Mount Kilimanjaro and asked to be judged on it.
That 3.00am call from Africa came in not once, but quite a few times during the Clinton Presidency. While her White House, First lady embellishments have been established for what they were, there is consensus that she undoubtedly expressed her opinion of issues that she felt strongly about with her husband. While am not privy to what she shared with her husband regarding Africa as a whole, there are two crisis that give me a pretty good idea of what she may have done then, and might do tomorrow if given the chance:
The Rwanda Genocide of 1994. Over 800,000 Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda died under the watch of President Clinton. Those were either seven hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine unanswered calls by the Clinton Presidency or a colossal failure in judgment and understanding of real crisis. As of today, all what Bill Clinton concedes in his book is that he regrets not having acted on time. Sen. Clinton has been mute on what she did then and what judgment she showed when the people of Rwanda all but got: "sorry, this number cannot be completed as dialed", or "check the number as dialed and redial again..." or "this number has been disconnected and no further information is available".
The 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia (Black Hawk Down). The intervention that Bill Clinton called for turned out not only to be a catastrophic disaster, it may have influenced his non-interference when Rwandans desperately cried for help as blunt machetes axed down their throats. The case of Somalia showed just how much the Clintons could and will stomach violence in Africa. In policy terms, it is described as "cut and run".
If that "3.00am call" has to be answered by Sen. John McCain, there is very little one can say about what he would do or say. Apart from speaking easily about stamping out radical Islamic forces in Africa and promoting democracy in Africa, he is a fog when asked to outline his position on whether or not he would support the distribution of American-taxpayer-subsidized condoms in Africa to fight the transmission of HIV/AIDS. This ignorant posture on a scorch that is reaping some of Africa's best fruits and setting it so many decades back is quite worrisome. It could well be an indication of how much care he has for the continent. But judge me not on that, especially given how much more President George Bush has done for Africa - It is not only the increase in financial aid to Africa or his programs to fight AIDS and promote democracy. One has to acknowledge that his warning of President Kibaki of Kenya, to negotiate with opposition leader Odinga, set the ball in motion for the eventual settlement of the uprisings that claimed thousands of innocent lives.
Finally, if that "3.00am call" has to be answered by Sen. Obama, what would he do or say? This is where the candidacy of Sen. Obama has been challenged the most. In answer to his critics he has talked about his sound judgment when Sens. Clinton and McCain authorized President Bush to go to war against Iraq. But most recently, the question has come up again on his judgment and choice to continue worshiping in the controversial Pastor Wright's South-side Chicago Church. Sen. Clinton has said she would have fled from the Church. But she did not flee from her cheating husband. Still, the question of judgment remains unanswered. What will he do when that call comes in?
Excepting his speech against the war in Iraq and voting against a blanket check to invade Iran, Sen. Barack Obama may have given Africa(ns) a glimpse of what he would do. When the Kenyan uprisings broke out he picked up the phone and called the belligerent parties. He talked to them about the importance of settling the matter and saving human lives. That was action. That phone call, that moment in time spoke to his understanding of the complexities of democracy in Africa. Democratic rule in African societies is convoluted, not the least by the intricacies of the rich African cultures and their inherent opposition to some democratic principles. These conflicts will continue to bedevil the grounds made by democracy if time is not taken to build a democratic culture and institutions to outlive the puppet African leaders.
Innocent Chia
Citizen Journalist
Email: innochia@gmail.com
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