American History

America sent troops in Iraq in 2001. Since then, the question of whether the troops have achieved what they went to do is still unanswered. Basing on the previous Anti-war campaigns around the world with the USA and Britain leading the park, its clear that the troops have brought more harm to the volatile Iraq than any good. Tony Blairs meeting with George Bush where he agreed to send British troops to Iraq have since then brought controversies making him face a tribunal to answer for his decisions. Even after change in leadership, there are still American troops in Iraq killing innocent civilians including women and children. President Obama has just been good in speeches giving promises that the troops shall be removed from Iraq something that has never happened.

Media coverage has mainly concentrated around the Anti-war and war campaign crusades being done by both the British and American citizens of the two super powers forgetting what the African continent has to say about this. It is important to know what other world leaders including those in Africa think about the war in Iraq.

African Leaders view on war in Iraq
Over the years, Africa has been seen as an underdog in any major global decisions. In 2003 March, all African leaders through the African Union opposed the war against Iraq citing major catastrophic implications to their continent. However, since the war was declared, many people have been left wondering on how to deal with the issue as it has seen some leaders withdrawing from their first stands and backing up the then president Bush.

Even though the African Union Spokesman Desmond Orjiako alterated the fact that the African Union stand had not changed and that President Bush could have gone for the implementation of resolution 1441 by the Iraq Government he emphasized that if the inspectors could have been allowed to do their job in Iraq, they could have come up with other non-violence ways of disarming Iraq rather than war. War was not the solution as it kills innocent civilians. He spoke comparing to what war had turned countries like Rwanda and Somali into. He acknowledged the fact that it destroys countries social amenities like good roads, power supplies, hospitals and schools. He farther commented that war destroys the poor countries especially when fighting with the rich like in the case of Iraq and the USA. The already marginalized countries continue to be marginalized even further and even suggested that million of dollars being invested in war like activities by Americans be channeled to Africa in form of Aid for the development of the continent and help it fight disasters like HIVAIDS, Malaria and extreme poverty.

Unfortunately, immediately after this, the Cameroonian president Paul Biya visited ex President George Bush to discuss about the two countries cooperation. This was a blow to the AU for he later announced that his country alongside Ethiopia and Eritrea will support the then President Bush. Uganda later followed suit.

A war of words later emerged among Senegal, Nigeria and South Africa. Apparently, the three countries had agreed to sign a letter which stated that they were against the so called war against terrorism urging Bush to ensure the preservation of the United Nations credibility and maintain justice to avoid people seeking extreme measures to get it. They urged the USA to let the UN go ahead and implement its resolution 1441 and disarm Iraq not only for the benefit of Iraq but also the interest of Africa, Middle East and the whole world in general. The process was to be transparent and meet the UN standards, as it will help the Continent achieve its millennium goals. However, the Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade sent another letter supporting Bushs policies and Bush later endorsed his letter rejecting the letter that was submitted first causing a lot of embarrassment to the continent. This was contrary to his earlier view that war would lead to unnecessary terrorism which would lead to increased prices of oil hence negatively affect the non- oil producing African countries.

The Causes of Controversy
The controversies surrounding different African states arise as a result of threat from European countries to impose sanctions to countries that would not support the war against terrorism. Most countries depend from Aid and loans from the USA and Britain hence compelled to support their policies. A country like Kenya has supported America for a long time and this has landed it in trouble for it has been bombed twice. The first was on the American Embassy in Nairobi and secondly in Mombassa leading to the deaths of many civilians. Sadly, America has done little to stop such like actions from reoccurring.

Eritrea and Ethiopia chose to support America for their own benefit. It is clear that the two countries are on the verge of war so supporting America would avoid the other taking advantage on the boundary issues by being supported by America for supporting their policies (Nohrstedt  Ottesen 2005).

Nigerias Uniqueness
Nigeria has been on the cross roads with the USA for it has been the greatest protestors against war in Iraq. Having large number of Muslim followers, the USA and Britain at one time stopped their diplomatic activities in Nigeria due to the Muslims in the country uprising against them. Osama Bin Laden in his broadcast had asked the Nigerian Muslims to takeover leadership. The USA further went ahead to stop any military assistance to Nigeria unless they supported the war against Iraq. This relation has further been damaged by a Nigerian Muslim who was caught with Bombs in attempt to kill the US citizens.

Conclusion
It is clear that Africans will never have one stand when it comes to the War in Iraq. This is mainly as a result of their poor political systems and Poverty which almost make them enslaved to the Western Countries. Even if other African states do support the protests, their views have never and will never matter because apart from speeches, they have nothing else to offer.