Word: mandela
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Justin C. Danilewitz (Commentary, "Mandela & Company," Nov. 10) is unhappy with the way South African President Nelson Mandela courts certain foreign leaders that are currently blacklisted by the Clinton Administration. As far as Danilewitz is concerned, meetings with the likes of Muammar el-Qaddafi and Yasser Arafat tarnish Mandela's stellar political credentials...
...only Danilewitz who thinks the company Mandela keeps is bad. Danilewitz cites American foreign policy and pending legislation to add moral weight to his claim that the South African President is mixing with a suspect crowd. The argument goes something like this: Iran is bad. Furthermore, America says Iran is bad. Therefore Mandela is wrong to do deals with Iran and should desist...
Second, by writing that Mandela should not have relations with "terrorists," Danilewitz grossly underestimates the value of dialogue in the international political setting. By maintaining a dialogue with such leaders, Mandela may be paving the way for better relations. Shunning Iran, Libya or Syria may do more to augment political violence than to diffuse it. Indeed, where would we be today in places like South Africa or Israel if warring parties had not agreed to sit down and talk with the enemy...
...addition to the newly-acquired Syrian friendship, Mandela seems bent on solidifying ties to Iran as well. According to The Boston Globe, the value of South African imports from Iran "has almost tripled and that of exports doubled since 1994." Only a week ago, reports the Globe, "Pretoria signed two new agreements on investment and taxation with Tehran's visiting foreign minister." This comes at a time when bi-partisan coalitions in the House and Senate have proposed legislation to impose sanctions on countries continuing to offer the Iranians missiles and missile technology...
When I met Nelson Mandela, I was captivated by his charm, his humility, dignity and the aura of leadership which he seemed to exude. He appeared to be a man of truly epic proportions, but, more importantly, he was a gentleman. My hope is that Nelson Mandela will change his policies towards the Arafats, Qaddafis and Assads of the world so that my respect for him may be restored...