I'm not a big Jacob Zuma fan. Of course, it's difficult for any mere mortal to serve as South Africa's President in the formidable shadow of Nelson Mandela. Still, how can somebody agree to serve as part of the African Union's heads-of-state negotiating team in Libya and skip the Benghazi portion of the trip? Negotiating peace means speaking with both sides, Gaddafi in Tripoli and the rebels in Benghazi.
Zuma has seen fit, however, to reap the publicity and adulation of the pro-Gaddafi forces, which almost certainly has been his aim from the start, while thumbing his noise at Benghazi. His people say he needs to return to South Africa to depart for the BRICS meeting in China. Baloney. This is too important to not have carved out a day in Benghazi and, besides, his presidential aircraft is just as capable of departing for Beijing from Benghazi. The AU's mission to Libya is nothing more than posturing and window dressing and, in Zuma's case, has only made matters worse.
Zuma has seen fit, however, to reap the publicity and adulation of the pro-Gaddafi forces, which almost certainly has been his aim from the start, while thumbing his noise at Benghazi. His people say he needs to return to South Africa to depart for the BRICS meeting in China. Baloney. This is too important to not have carved out a day in Benghazi and, besides, his presidential aircraft is just as capable of departing for Beijing from Benghazi. The AU's mission to Libya is nothing more than posturing and window dressing and, in Zuma's case, has only made matters worse.