Just thought it would be nice to have a thread where all could post a tribute to a great man who passed away today the 5thDecember 2013.

The world will miss him.

I just got done reading a book about him. Very inspirational and good man.

One man did so much, for so many.

reunion with gandhiji


he would be pleased

FlyingMuck you just learned me.

So many people must be sad today.

Died the same day than my grand-father 1986.

Will not forget.

Can't say this about many: Be glad we had the chance to share the earth with this man.

It is a sad day when great people such as this man who has touched and changed the life of so many leave this earth. A strong believer in educating oneself, making a difference by never giving up and learning to forgive.

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 group's 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, foot 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.

MANDELA THE FACTS
Up until 2008 Nelson Mandela was still on a US terror watch list.
While he was on Robben Island Margaret Thatcher described his organisation the ANC as a typical terrorist organisation.
Of course for once in her life Thatcher was correct in this assumption.
Tony Hollingsworth who organised the June 11, 1988 gig at London’s Wembley Stadium said, “the gig had very little to do with Mandela’s 70th birthday, as billed.
It had everything to do with ridding Mandela of his terrorist tag and ensuring his release.
“You can’t get out of jail as a terrorist, but you can get out of prison as a black leader,” he told AFP during a visit to Johannesburg”.
Amnesty International refused to take on Nelson Mandela’s case because they asserted that he was no political prisoner but had committed numerous violent crimes and had had a fair trial and a reasonable sentence.
The then South African President P.W. Botha on a number of occasions, offered Nelson Mandela freedom from prison, if he would only renounce terrorist violence. This Mandela refused to do.
So what was Mandelas role?
Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK).
When translated means “Spear of the nation” MK were the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party.
The MK was the equivalent to the IRA being the terrorist wing of Sinn Fein.
Mandela had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilizing terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists.
Since the end of apartheid the stability of South Africa has crumbled.
The murder rate has gone through the roof,
Over 7000 white farmers and their wife’s and children have been brutally murdered.
There are over 100,000 murders a year in South Africa.
Last year there were 64,000 reported rapes.
Unemployment is above 25 percent.
Because of the mass slaughter of white farmers South Africa is heading towards starvation & famine, guess which mugs will be asked to donate to feed the hungry millions?
Yes you’ve guessed it the same mugs that are shedding their tears watching the nightly news reports of the terrorist on his death bed.
Last night 100 white doves were released outside Mandela’s hospital.
Bleeding heart white Liberals who don’t give a damn about the decline of their country crying over the terrorist.
The sooner this man is dead the better, good riddance to the man responsible for the death of thousands of our racial Brethren in South Africa.
Kev Bryan

Billythekin wrote: MANDELA THE FACTS
Up until 2008 Nelson Mandela was still on a US terror watch list.
While he was on Robben Island Margaret Thatcher described his organisation the ANC as a typical terrorist organisation.
Of course for once in her life Thatcher was correct in this assumption.
Tony Hollingsworth who organised the June 11, 1988 gig at London’s Wembley Stadium said, “the gig had very little to do with Mandela’s 70th birthday, as billed.
It had everything to do with ridding Mandela of his terrorist tag and ensuring his release.
“You can’t get out of jail as a terrorist, but you can get out of prison as a black leader,” he told AFP during a visit to Johannesburg”.
Amnesty International refused to take on Nelson Mandela’s case because they asserted that he was no political prisoner but had committed numerous violent crimes and had had a fair trial and a reasonable sentence.
The then South African President P.W. Botha on a number of occasions, offered Nelson Mandela freedom from prison, if he would only renounce terrorist violence. This Mandela refused to do.
So what was Mandelas role?
Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK).
When translated means “Spear of the nation” MK were the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party.
The MK was the equivalent to the IRA being the terrorist wing of Sinn Fein.
Mandela had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilizing terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists.
Since the end of apartheid the stability of South Africa has crumbled.
The murder rate has gone through the roof,
Over 7000 white farmers and their wife’s and children have been brutally murdered.
There are over 100,000 murders a year in South Africa.
Last year there were 64,000 reported rapes.
Unemployment is above 25 percent.
Because of the mass slaughter of white farmers South Africa is heading towards starvation & famine, guess which mugs will be asked to donate to feed the hungry millions?
Yes you’ve guessed it the same mugs that are shedding their tears watching the nightly news reports of the terrorist on his death bed.
Last night 100 white doves were released outside Mandela’s hospital.
Bleeding heart white Liberals who don’t give a damn about the decline of their country crying over the terrorist.
The sooner this man is dead the better, good riddance to the man responsible for the death of thousands of our racial Brethren in South Africa.
Kev Bryan

I, We, have NO "racial" Brethren.

Billy

You are going to have to source that to establish some credibility there. Apartheid was wrong minded just like segregation was in the US. Mandela deserves significant credit for helping to end it. Is Desmond Tutu a terrorist too?

Here is some reading material:

www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/12/0...mandela-a-terrorist/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid_in_South_Africa

Hey TX, billy is correct...does anyone here actually have knowledge (real knowledge not what they read in the press) about mandela?
I do...my father was a cop in durban in south africa (this was a place that got bombed by a man with the exact same name? It was also this same man that hangs out with colonel Gaddafi?) Yes its true...he was a terrorist! However, it does seem that prison changed him for the better and he seemed to turn over a new leaf...wether he did or it was propaganda I do not know...but my father cleaned up enough body parts to know that (at that time) this man was a very potent power of terror. I am sad he is dead, as id be saddened by the loss of anyone who helped a country....it just a shame he made so many huge mistakes in his route to being a better man.

Billythekin wrote: MANDELA THE FACTS
Up until 2008 Nelson Mandela was still on a US terror watch list.
While he was on Robben Island Margaret Thatcher described his organisation the ANC as a typical terrorist organisation.
Of course for once in her life Thatcher was correct in this assumption.
Tony Hollingsworth who organised the June 11, 1988 gig at London’s Wembley Stadium said, “the gig had very little to do with Mandela’s 70th birthday, as billed.
It had everything to do with ridding Mandela of his terrorist tag and ensuring his release.
“You can’t get out of jail as a terrorist, but you can get out of prison as a black leader,” he told AFP during a visit to Johannesburg”.
Amnesty International refused to take on Nelson Mandela’s case because they asserted that he was no political prisoner but had committed numerous violent crimes and had had a fair trial and a reasonable sentence.
The then South African President P.W. Botha on a number of occasions, offered Nelson Mandela freedom from prison, if he would only renounce terrorist violence. This Mandela refused to do.
So what was Mandelas role?
Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK).
When translated means “Spear of the nation” MK were the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party.
The MK was the equivalent to the IRA being the terrorist wing of Sinn Fein.
Mandela had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilizing terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists.
Since the end of apartheid the stability of South Africa has crumbled.
The murder rate has gone through the roof,
Over 7000 white farmers and their wife’s and children have been brutally murdered.
There are over 100,000 murders a year in South Africa.
Last year there were 64,000 reported rapes.
Unemployment is above 25 percent.
Because of the mass slaughter of white farmers South Africa is heading towards starvation & famine, guess which mugs will be asked to donate to feed the hungry millions?
Yes you’ve guessed it the same mugs that are shedding their tears watching the nightly news reports of the terrorist on his death bed.
Last night 100 white doves were released outside Mandela’s hospital.
Bleeding heart white Liberals who don’t give a damn about the decline of their country crying over the terrorist.
The sooner this man is dead the better, good riddance to the man responsible for the death of thousands of our racial Brethren in South Africa.
Kev Bryan

And how many people was he personally responsible for killing? You can't possibly state that the system of Aparteid was ethical, legal, or moral can you? As lentthy and incredibly stupid as this post is, without context it means nothing. What possible purpose other than to incite and invite harsh criticism to yourself does this serve?

It's because of views like yours that people like Mandela are venerated. Your thinly veiled attempt to disguise overt racism with highly questionable "facts" is reprehensible. This is a free forum as far as expresssing your own opinions is concerned, but it also means you live with whatever repercussions your stupidity creates. THE PROBLEM WITH CLOSED MINDED PEOPLE LIKE YOU IS THAT THEIR MOUTHS ARE ALWAYS OPEN. I've printed enough of your thoughtless remarks so that I have enough to use to pick up after my dogs when I walk them. Congratulations pal, you’ve just graduated to the top of my personal most wanted list. Can't wait to see you flying.

Resistants to the Nazism were called terrorists too.

Oi bill, chill mate yeah?, this aint your fight, no need to be all racist and that. So do me a cheesey please mate and keep your noise down a bit or you will end up banned mate...then you cant say nuffink can ya? Better to say a bit than not at all innit mate eh?. Cheers bruv.

Ok Tex here is the context you seek....sorry if I offend as you are a good friend to me but also seem a little taken in by the press and their manipulation. Firstly you said in billys speech that mandela cannot take blame for the group he was in? Now no offence but wouldnt that be the same as bin laden and alquieda??? He was the face we saw of the group, he knew he was but answer this...if you are part of a group that bombs railway stations and shopping malls and you dont like it then surely you leave the group? He didnt, now I for one know that the aparthied thing was so wrong that it screwed the whole nation but, mandela in the big chair has changed the nation for the better....some of my family own a farm in south afrca and they have white workers and they have black workers....basically they can fire the whites for being lazy or for not doing thwir job etc but it is illegal for them to fire the black guys? They have to provide housing and pay the rent on the black guys houses but not the whites and for instance...a guy here is like familly, he is black but helps protect the farm from mulisha rebels and he is a role model for everyone, anyway he and his girl (girlfriend depending where you're from) were pregnant....and my familly had to pay for the hospital and private treatment throughout...now I know he is paid well and lives in the familly home with my familly and his familly all together. I know he wanted to pay for it himself etc but this is what mandela has done, he blew it up and now he has got the bitter streak (I do t knoew if this stems from apartheid or from prison) but now he has power he has his own little racist crusade? So tex....still love him? I myself hate what he did but am sad he has died.

MaDtotheMoM wrote: Ok Tex here is the context you seek....sorry if I offend as you are a good friend to me but also seem a little taken in by the press and their manipulation. Firstly you said in billys speech that mandela cannot take blame for the group he was in? Now no offence but wouldnt that be the same as bin laden and alquieda??? He was the face we saw of the group, he knew he was but answer this...if you are part of a group that bombs railway stations and shopping malls and you dont like it then surely you leave the group? He didnt, now I for one know that the aparthied thing was so wrong that it screwed the whole nation but, mandela in the big chair has changed the nation for the better....some of my family own a farm in south afrca and they have white workers and they have black workers....basically they can fire the whites for being lazy or for not doing thwir job etc but it is illegal for them to fire the black guys? They have to provide housing and pay the rent on the black guys houses but not the whites and for instance...a guy here is like familly, he is black but helps protect the farm from mulisha rebels and he is a role model for everyone, anyway he and his girl (girlfriend depending where you're from) were pregnant....and my familly had to pay for the hospital and private treatment throughout...now I know he is paid well and lives in the familly home with my familly and his familly all together. I know he wanted to pay for it himself etc but this is what mandela has done, he blew it up and now he has got the bitter streak (I do t knoew if this stems from apartheid or from prison) but now he has power he has his own little racist crusade? So tex....still love him? I myself hate what he did but am sad he has died.

Please just a note about the comparison with
"bin laden" and "al quieda" : they do not fight for what they think to be freedom.
They are just the new Nazi in the world.

trash talking, spawn killing , team killing , crap talking , braging , camping can also be considered as terrorism

So whoopsy ....blowing up civilian innocents is fighting for freedom....heck lets go blow up mcdonalds or nandos and put it down to freedom eh?

MaDtotheMoM wrote: So whoopsy ....blowing up civilian innocents is fighting for freedom....heck lets go blow up mcdonalds or nandos and put it down to freedom eh?

No, i was just speaking about the comparison, not about the violence in the facts.

Mandela is a symbol of freedom for a lot of people, and that was his own argument.

The argument of Bin laden and Al quaeda, is not freedom but just erase all people in the world that do not think like them and put women in slavery.

This is not the same, but i do agree that innocent victims are always the same, women and child, and that hurts me in both case.

Sorry difficult to speak about such things in a language that is not mine.

I know they are both terrorists..so if bin laden said it was for freedom it would be ok? Either way they are both guilty of terroist bomb atracks o innocents.

MaDtotheMoM wrote: I know they are both terrorists..so if bin laden said it was for freedom it would be ok? Either way they are both guilty of terroist bomb atracks o innocents.

I think that if Bin Laden had ever said that he was fighting for freedom no one in the world would have trust him.

And he would have been fired from Al quaeda.

Folks, it can be horribly hard to be on the wrong side of history. In the US, it was slavery and all the horrors that included. Sadly, there were (and quite possibly, still are) some who would still justify that institution. In our case, only a Civil War, hundreds of thousands dead and maimed, and economic catastrophe could finally open the door to a change that would try to help us live up to that original promise that "All men are created equal." We are still working on it, and we still see violence stemming from those differences. But at least our institutions and, hopefully our moral, political, and social commitments are to right previous wrongs and ensure that we ALL have an equal and free stake in our system.

I am no South African. I do, however, know that change can be difficult. The institution of apartheid and all the horrors that included, was their "peculiar institution." (Sorry, an old American reference to slavery). South Africa did have the dubious distinction of being one of the last established political institutions to openly support race-based power structures. And, of course, if you aren't in the "in-crowd", you may as well have been a plantation slave in 1840 Mississippi. I know: There's an argument that the South African system was not slavery. I would suggest, though, that any system that empowers one group over another on the basis of race, ethnicity, or class is a dehumanizing and unjust institution.

There seems to be some notion that the transition of S. Africa from apartheid to a system that provides democratic access for all its citizens was brought on by terrorists. If I understand correctly, the violence in this change occurred on both sides of the issue. You should not, however, choose to hold up the horror of violent action by South African blacks who wanted the freedom, authority, and legal power to live their own lives without looking at the institutional violence directed at those same South African blacks by those in power desperate to maintain a self-serving system.

Change is hard. The power in Apartheid S. Africa was held by a minority of whites that continued to be overwhelmed by the growing black population. When I speak to being on the wrong side of history, the apparent "wrong" here was the travesty of a supposedly democratic government that deprived access by the overwhelmingly largest number of its own people. Sound familiar. We continue to get arguments over this issue in the US. But the transition to a fully democratic S. Africa, while it had its violence, doesn't even register when you consider the horrors of these transitions in the US, Warsaw, Poland in 1940-41, Viet Nam, Cambodia, India, and on, and on.

For me, one of the reasons I particularly admire Nelson Mandela, stems from this: After a life in an Apartheid system that held him as an inferior being; after decades of imprisonment; after a life of trying to bring world attention to the wrongs of Apartheid (and again, I'm not familiar with his terror/non-terror links...); after all of that, this was a man who, elected to form the first non-Apartheid government in S. Africa, promoted a transition that did not blatantly use the institutions of government to violently, economically, or in any other way attack the previous power holders. Based on his actions, I see no strategic attempts to "get even." The fact that he was a man empowered by a majority democratic vote to direct the institutions of a government that spent a long time trying to silence him, I'm also surprised he didn't burn the place down. He didn't. That is the heart and soul of a human being with a large vision for a civil society.

As changes go, I see nothing here as rough as what occurred in the US after the Civil War. The post-war republican Congress was not kind to the formerly rebel states. And the culture of racism bred a reactive violence we still see in the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazism, and I'm sure, a host of other racial hate groups. To our credit, these are an un-accepted and minority aberration that is routinely "corrected" by our legal system. But, we killed or boo-ed down the folks who championed a more reasonable transition away from the former confederacy (Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, etc.)

So yes, I admire Nelson Mandela for a number of reasons, but mostly for his post-apartheid willingness to work toward a S. Africa that empowered ALL of its citizens under a democratic form of governance. I also admire his vision for a S. Africa that could hold its head up as part of world community that no longer accepts governments by minorities who hold power at the point of a gun and at the expense of citizens who just don't happen to be of the "correct" skin color, ethnicity, etc. I admire him for being a bigger man than I am: If I lived in those circumstances where I had no political voice, where my white neighbor reaped all benefits of citizenship while I had access to little, where the system systematically treated me differently simply because of my skin color, I'd be a damn sight more violent than anything this man was involved in. So, if that makes me some kind of lily-livered, white liberal, so be it. It is a label I will wear proudly, especially if I can avoid being some kind of supremacist who feels entitled to power, legal authority, economic opportunity, and social status simply on the basis of my gene pool. [Come to think of it, this may well be why southern slave plantations, Nazism, the Klan, and aristocracy are definitely on the outs, historically speaking. Good riddance.]

Proof that one mans actions can change history!

Billythekin wrote: 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 group's 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, foot 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.

This is why western outlaws are not aloud to write the history books...... Thank God!

Didn't mean to hit the thank you button on the original post, thumb slipped while reading...….

Beautiful post Beatea,

About the wrong side, we had the same kind of tragedy here in France with the war of independance of Algeria,

our ancient colony.

My father, who is dead now, was there as soldier.

So I understand Mad better than he knows, about the violence and its scars (cicatrices in french).

And for a lot of those that were there, are still open.

But a colony is a colony, and we are all the same.

Utah70 wrote:

Billythekin wrote: 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 group's 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, foot 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.

This is why western outlaws are not aloud to write the history books...... Thank God!

Didn't mean to hit the thank you button on the original post, thumb slipped while reading...….

Lol. This happens, so many time spent with the finger on the fire button in dogfight !