Garvey's Ghost: Black Talk

The Debates

Since Al Sharpton is not on the dais I'll post what I would have said if I had been invited to the debates.

Do you believe you can do a better job than President Bush in making America safe?

I can do a way better job than Bush or Kerry. The reason why I could do a better job is because I understand how it feels to be on the receiving end of flawed American foreign and domestic policy. I am not tainted with the disease of White Supremacy or racism. I do not need to stroke my ego or engage in cowboy showboating. I do not see the world as something to dominate and exploit. Because of this I have the unique ability to navigate the issues that cause America to be unsafe and bring the necessary changes in policy to assure that America is never put in a position to have bad karma and blowback cause the deaths of millions here.

Do you believe that the election of Kerry will lead to another Terrorist Attack?

To be honest the election of practically any white male who does not understand the global repercussions of white supremacy as practiced by many members of the US government and other governments, who is elected will certainly lead America to face another terrorist attack. It may not be in the form that we saw on September 11, 2001, but someone will strike because there are people out there who have had enough of our meddling in there societies, specifically their material assets. We need leadership that understands this and is willing to make the structural adjustments necessary to address these concerns and position the US as a true "Honest broker."

What Colossal Mis-judgment has the President made?

This President, as well as those who came before him continued in the grand tradition of bullying the world. But let us be fair here, in this country the president cannot start military action without the consent of Congress, So let's put some responsibility on those persons in Congress who in their thirst for revenge and their callus disregard for the consequences of legislation they wrote and passed, that allowed the president to make the mis-judgments he made. The invasion of Iraq was the biggest mistake in and of itself. It was unnecessary and in violation of international law.

Was it proper priority to go after Saddam or Osama?

Clearly in the wake of 9-11, Osama was and should have continued to be target #1. The invasion of Iraq was, as said earlier, simply unnecessary.

What would you do to increase homeland security?

The best thing to do is to change how we deal with the world. If you use your imagination you can think of many, many ways that "terrorists" can kill Americans and very few of the ideas involve planes or exploding shoes or even dirty bombs. The single most important means to increase homeland security is to change our foreign policy. Simply stop giving people reasons to come here and kill people. I also believe that the US needs, as any country should, an extensive intelligence gathering effort that keeps us informed of organizations around the world. Since the previous administrations have managed to piss off much of the world, we will also need to make sure that we properly fund law enforcement organizations in cities across the nation so that these cities do not have to tax their inhabitants or take away from public services.

When and how do you bring the troops home?

As soon as I am in office, I will put into place a team to deal with the necessary logistic plans to immediately withdraw all troops from Iraq, leaving an undetermined number of our forces in Kuwait. Some believe this is giving in to the enemy. It is not. The Iraq war was illegal and should never have happened and we are not going to compound the issue by remaining there. The Iraqis no longer have Saddam to worry about, and unfortunately we left them quite a mess, however, any government formed while we occupy Iraq will be seen as a colonial government and rejected by the people. After we withdraw and the Iraqis set up their own government we will need to offer reparations for the damage we did to the country.

Are Americans dying because of a mistake?

Yes. Not only Americans but many ,many more Iraqis. And the death of these Iraqis will come to haunt us.

What was the miscalculation for post war Iraq?
Well post war Iraq does not exist. There is still a war going on in Iraq. Just because President Bush said that “formal hostilities” are over does not make it so. This is the problem, which stems right from the start with going into Iraq in the first place. But if we are referring to after the fall of Baghdad then the largest miscalculation is that which every empire makes? No people will tolerate an occupying power. If we were supposed to be going after Hussein, then once we got him we should have left immediately. But it is clear that the reasons for going in and staying have little to do with justice for Iraqis.

Bush not telling truths in Iraq. Give examples
Well I’m not sure where to start: I believe that Bush, as leader of this administration is responsible for what his admin puts out. It was clearly known by the intelligence community that Iraq had no WMD. We had “no fly zones” which bombed anything that moved in Iraq in designated zones. We have satellites that can see people in homes. We had years of inspectors and they said there’s nothing there.

There was the Saddam link to 9-11, this was put out there by the admin and thus regardless of whether Bush actually said it, he is whom we hold responsible because that’s what leadership is about. He should have done everything to counter that message, so by his inactions I say he is guilty.

The claim that Niger had sold Saddam Yellow cake was another egregious lie put out by this administration. There are numerous websites that have documented the Bush Lies for everyone to see and verify and the list is extremely long.

Has the war in Iraq been worth the lives of US soldiers?
In the words of Malcolm X: We’ve been duped, bamboozled, lead astray. This war has not been worth the lives of the soldiers who have died. They have not died for justice for 9-11 nor have they died for democracy. They died for a group of greedy people in the Whitehouse and I intend to remove them from harms way immediately.

Specific plan for ending involvement in Iraq

As I indicated earlier, all US troops, according to the most efficient logistical plans would be removed from Iraq, orders being given as soon as I get into office. We will leave a small team in Kuwait in order to monitor the events in Iraq and be on the lookout for activity that may threaten out national security or lead us to Osama bin Ladin. Once we are out, then we show the world and Iraqis that we are not occupiers of conquerors. At the same time we will coordinate with the UN to bring in peacekeepers and personnel needed to train police and help elections or whatever form of government the people of Iraq decide to form.

Has the Iraq experience made it more or less likely to engage in other actions?

The Iraq experience should serve as a lesson on how not to engage in military exercises in the future. We will engage in actions as necessary regardless of this recent debacle.

Position on Pre-emptive strike
As a black person in America, I am a part of a group that has been the object of “pre-emptive” strikes. Amadou Diallo is what happens when pre-emption occurs. We will keep in line with the principles of the UN, which we host here in NY. That all nations have the right to defend ourselves and that offensive actions are the last resort after diplomatic means. Let us be clear we do not face a military threat here. We can destroy any place, in fact we can destroy the globe 7 to 10 times over with the military power we have. What we have here is blowback from decades of bad decision making by both Democrats and Republicans and this doctrine of pre-emption merely makes us more vulnerable because when we signal that we will attack anyone at anytime, we force them to develop WMD in order to defend themselves, It’s the logical thing for a country to do, therefore such a policy only increases the insecurity of America.

Diplomacy & sanctions work against Iran and N. Korea?

Again, The reasons we have to even THINK about Iran is because of the Dictator we put into power. That was the work of the people represented here today by Bush and Kerry, The people who manipulate the politics of other countries because we “hated communism.” Of communism is so bad it will fall under it’s own weight. The situation in Korea and Iran are due to the “pre-emptive” policies of this administration, Korea was fine until Bush declared them a part of an Axis of Evil and subject to “pre-emptive strikes” Same with Iran. So because this administration has been so reckless in its approach to these nations, we now have a nuclear Korea and a coming of nuclear Iran. Yet this president claims to have made the world safer. Who is he fooling?

Darfur. why no discussion of military intervention?
On this subject I part with many of my colleagues and peers. I do not believe in military intervention in Darfur other than a blockade on the importation of arms to the government of Sudan. There have been a series of devastating wars in Africa that have killed millions. 2 million in the DRC alone. Many times as I watch the footage I see people clamoring for the US to come in and help them. It is high time for the people of Africa to stop killing each other. It is also high time for America and companies that sell arms to these armies to stop aiding in the killing. The late Marcus Garvey clearly stated that the Black man and woman should rise up and do for self. So again, I believe that the US should blockade the country for arms. We should hold companies and countries responsible for funding the Sudanese government by freezing their assets and putting them on trial in the international courts and putting them out of business, but on the ground it is time for Africans of whatever religion or ethnicity to stop killing each other and start building up their countries.

Any character issues that should deny your opponents the presidency?

I’m not going to get into that. I say that each candidate’s records should speak for themselves.

If elected, what do think is the single greatest threat to the US?

The biggest threat to the US is not nuclear material because nuclear material is inanimate. Guns and WMD are not threats because they too are inanimate objects. It is the people who use these things that are the greatest threats to the US and the world. We have some very bad people out there and we have some equally bad people here. It has been the racist policies of the US that has caused a great deal of our current problems. How do we claim to support democracy yet illegally remove the elected head of state in Haiti? How do we claim to respect democracy yet support a coup in Venezuela? How do we claim to support the rights of people to choose a government of their own choice, and put up blockades and economically strangle Cuba? How do we claim to be an honest broker yet supplies Israel with 4 billion in aid to occupy Palestinian land? No it is the people and attitudes that threaten America. These things must change and they will change when I am in office.

Do you feel that what Putin is going with democracy to combat terrorism is ok?

Well this goes back to the issue of Iraq and pre-emption. In fact Putin has said this before, How can we judge Putin for changing his government in reaction to terrorism when we have created Patriot Acts and claimed that we will go and do anything anywhere? I think again that what Putin does in organizing the government in Russia is not our business if the people of Russia are for it. I really need to stress this point: We need to learn in America that we should not be running around the world threatening people and passing judgment on their forms of government. It is right to critique and analyze and make suggestions but you don’t go about meddling in internal affairs of countries.