Harrak, I am willing to be taught........

Submitted by PCMadness (New Zealand), Mar 8, 2006 at 19:21

...but only if the teacher knows what he/she is talking about and can back it up with evidence or references.

You said :
"And by the way, Dick Cheney opposed the release of Neslon Mandela from his exile in the UK."

Please enlighten me as to when Nelson Mandela was exiled to the UK (I presume you mean the United Kingdom) I can find no reference.

An exerpt from his official ANC biography:

http://www.anc.org.za/people/mandela.html

"Forced to live apart from his family, moving from place to place to evade detection by the government s ubiquitous informers and police spies, Mandela had to adopt a number of disguises. Sometimes dressed as a common labourer, at other times as a chauffeur, his successful evasion of the police earned him the title of the Black Pimpernel. It was during this time that he, together with other leaders of the ANC constituted a new specialised section of the liberation movement, Umkhonto we Sizwe, as an armed nucleus with a view to preparing for armed struggle. At the Rivonia trial, Mandela explained : "At the beginning of June 1961, after long and anxious assessment of the South African situation, I and some colleagues came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force.

It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle, and to form Umkhonto we Sizwe...the Government had left us no other choice."

In 1961 Umkhonto we Sizwe was formed, with Mandela as its commander-in-chief. In 1962 Mandela left the country unlawfully and travelled abroad for several months. In Ethiopia he addressed the Conference of the Pan African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa, and was warmly received by senior political leaders in several countries. During this trip Mandela, anticipating an intensification of the armed struggle, began to arrange guerrilla training for members of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

Not long after his return to South Africa Mandela was arrested and charged with illegal exit from the country, and incitement to strike. " .... where he was sent to Robben Island to serve his sentence.

Also fro the same site:

"In 1962 Mandela left the country for military training in Algeria and to arrange training for other MK members"

Abroad in this case does not necessarily mean off the African continent, just out of South Africa.

More information please.

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