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Mike Hampton's avatar

Whilst publicly claiming South Africa was a bad, bad country, the USA had Mandela arrested, and fought with the Apartheid government in Angola (because it needed something for its post-Vietnam staff to do).

That orders counter argument is as generalised: "All executive departments and agencies (agencies), including the United States Agency for International Development, shall, to the maximum extent allowed by law, halt foreign aid or assistance delivered or provided to South Africa." i.e., beyond USAID.

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Billy Masterson's avatar

@Mike Hampton

Since the end of USSR the long term purpose of US foreign policy has been to prevent ANY economic/military development towards peer rival status vs. USA by ANY country or group world wide. Plus ensuring that multinational companies get natural resources for fire sale prices, of course.

Degrading the economy and political cohesiveness of South Africa still serves those ends, nothing has changed but the rhetoric.

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Mike Hampton's avatar

Agreed. The USA won our election, so this is bargaining for more.

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Billy Masterson's avatar

@Mike Hampton

As far as I can tell, the whole kerfuffle is arm wrestling between ownership factions with different schemes- Should the cows be milked for some years of additional diversified profits before getting slaughtered or sent to the butcher as soon as they reach marketable size?

As a cow, I might have a third opinion? but it is going nowhere. We must follow one herd or the other, trying to escape leads to application of herding dogs or electrical shocks.

https://www.amazon.com/Bacacoo-Rechargeable-Electric-Shock-21-65/dp/B0CNLRY36Q

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Mike Hampton's avatar

The Oppenheimers probably still have more cattle prods than others.

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