[DEBATE] : Re: DEBATE Digest, Vol 166, Issue 32

[Ran Greenstein]

He might very well have got carried away with the temptation to use the 'toys' at his 
possession, taking advantage of this rare opportunity. But it does not really matter whether 
he acted on his own initiative or merely pre-empted the ANC from doing the same. What 
does matter is that it was an ill-conceived initiative that rather than show SA as the strong 
guy in the neighbourhood, exposed it as an incompetent meddler. If the aim was to reassure 
foreign investors (which I strongly doubt - who in the western world has the slightest 
knowledge of or interest in Lesotho internal politics?) it failed. Who would be scared of or 
trust an invasion force whose officers have to hail local pedestrians for directions to the 
government offices?



On 11 Jun 2006 at 12:01, muna at iafrica.com wrote:

> Dear Ran
> 
> surely you do not believe that Buthelezi acted without the full
> involvement and support of the ANC?
> 
> Muna
> 
> 
> > On 10 Jun 2006 at 6:12, Patrick Bond wrote:
> > 
> > > But the fatal flaw in your own argument, is that the invasion was
> > > 'stupid'. It wasn't stupid, it was subimperial. It made a certain
> > > kind of sense, from the standpoint of bullying neighbours,
> > > securing water, sending signals to foreign investors. Here's an
> > > excerpt from Unsustainable South Africa:
> > 
> > Surely, even from a structuralist Marxist perspective (or whatever),
> > one can recognize that people in power sometime behave in an idiotic
> > and incompetent manner? If memory serves, sending the troops into
> > Lesotho was a Buthelezi initiative, while acting president, and if
> > it did anything is to present South Africa as a bumbling fool rather
> > than as a subimperial giant...
Ran Greenstein
Johannesburg, South Africa