By Emmanuel Christian Thorli
No US President ends a speech without ending in “God Blesses the United States.”
Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush (Sr), George Bush (Jr), Barrack Obama and others not mentioned here have used the phraseology when they addressed the American people. Current President Joe Biden too uses it too. Ordinary Americans always also prays for their country by saying “God bless the United States” during discussions. To demonstrate their faith in God, the US dollar bears the inscription ‘IN GOD WE TRUST.’
The continuous prayers for God’s blessings to fall on the most powerful country in the world by the American themselves is a glowing testimony of unwavered patriotism ( love for country) which has made America dominant in world affairs.
The US has contributed immensely to the socio-economic and political development of nations in the world including Sierra Leone. Striving to make such achievements, the US is guided solely by her key foreign policy objectives: democracy, human rights and development.
The concept of democracy was given a true and practical meaning by US President, Abraham Lincoln who once said in his most enlightened moment that “democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.”
A cursory inspection of the brilliant statement means that a governments derive their mandate from the people whose interest they must always secure, and the people own the government. This meaning attached to democracy by the American President became a template for other democracies in the world.
It was through US’s effort that most countries embraced and adopted democracy without question as it brings peace and development. Abundant evidence has shown that most African states who practised democracy in the early 1970s and 1980s delivered to their people while autocratic states did not.
Sierra Leone started democracy between 1960s and 1970s and successive governments delivered to the people. But, it was in 1996 that Sierra Leone graduated to a multi-party democracy thus winning the hearts of the American people. Through the UN and other inter-governmental bodies, the US has immensely contributed to the country’s stability and development.
When Sierra Leone’s democracy was toppled in 1998, the US through ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) restored peace and democratic order in a country caught on the throes of a civil war. Within March of the same year, Sierra Leone was put back on the wheels of democracy and prosperity.
The US, backed up by the UK and other peace-loving nations, worked to ensure the end of the war in Sierra Leone. The symbolic burning of arms and ammunition in Lungi town in PortLoko district in 2002 marked the end of the war. Through the UN, America also spent millions of dollars to consolidate peace and democracy in the country.
Between 2002 and 2005, Sierra Leone played host to thousands of UN troops to assist the people of Sierra Leone to enjoy peace and development. The UN troops in Sierra Leone was the largest peace-keeping force ever to have been deployed in a post-conflict state, thanks to the United States.
America did not only ensure the end of the war but also supported accountability mechanism to prevent a recurrence. The Super World Power poured huge sums of money in support of the setting up of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to create an impartial and historical record of the war and proffer recommendations about what should be done to prevent another war.
Arguably, America’s greatest contribution to Sierra Leone was the effort to establish a rule of law culture. Under UN Security Council Resolution 1315, an ad hoc and hybrid international tribunal known as the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) was set up to bring warlords to justice.
Acting in line with the principle of ‘those who bear the greatest responsibility’ Foday Sankoh, Issa Sesay, Ibrahim Bazzy Kamara, Chief Hinga Norman, Alex Tamba Brima, Morris Kallon, Moinina Fofanah, Allieu Kondewa and others were brought before the court by David Crane, an American Professor of Military Law. The inductees were leaders of the Revolutionary United Front, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council and Civil Defence Force.
Former Liberian President, Charles Taylor too was also humbled at the SCSL. He was indicted at the time he was a sitting President. None of the indictees saw the light of a free as all were convicted, thanks to David Crane, the American prosecutor. Although it has wrapped up, the defunct court taught a very important lesson that warlordism has no place anywhere in the world including Sierra Leone.
SCSL sent a loud and clear message to the world that those who commit war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity will no longer be beyond the reach of justice. After restoring peace , the US re-focused her attention to Sierra Leone’s development.
America has funded several human rights, governance and development projects in the country to ensure that Sierra Leoneans’ living standards are improved.
Apart from Sierra Leone, other African states have also benefitted from the US under the Millennium Challenge Corporation. To access millions of US dollars in aid, a country is required to pass only several governance benchmarks set by the UN.
The signing of a memorandum of understanding for an energy project by the US Ambassador and government ministers is the latest of America’s development interventions in Sierra Leone. As stated in the MoU, the energy project would make foundational investments in Sierra Leone’s transmission network including the construction of the Southern corridor 225kv transmission line, national despatch centres and complementary projects at the sub-transmission level and substations on the 161 kv line running from Bumbuna to Freetown. The project comes at a time Sierra Leone is graphing with energy challenges.
It is an axiom that America’s contribution to the world is tied to her cherished ideals of liberty, freedom and democracy which dates back to a period when the greatest and most historic question was posed: ‘DON’T ASK WHAT YOUR COUNTRY HAS DONE FOR YOU, BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR YOUR COUNTRY.’
This question has lingered throughout the ages, and various countries have used it as a template to contribute to their countries’ development. Throughout history, the US is a beacon of Freedom, and the move to earn their freedom came in 1775 when they told the colonisers in the strongest of terms that they needed self-determination.
The colonialists who had stayed too long on the American soil endorsed the American position although it was not an easy ride on the two sides. The origin of Freedom and independence in the United States marked the beginning of freedom in several parts of the world.
Slavery which was a normal way of life for centuries came to an end. America believes in one creed: all men are created equal, and they are endowed at birth with several inalienable rights: life, liberty, security of the person and the pursuit happiness.
These are the four key values held tenaciously by the US in everything they do. American Presidents often say in their public addresses to the world that the US strength lies not in the size or might of her army, but in those values afore-mentioned. It is these values that compelled America to end six years of Nazi terror (1939-1945) when World War Two came to an end in a day.
The decisive military action of one of greatest US leaders, Harry S. Trueman deserves a particular mention. The Nagazaki and Hiroshima bombing brought to an abrupt end of the world’s most powerful dictator, Adolf Hitler, then President of Germany. The end of the second World War established America as the World’s Super Power.
The US has held the world together through the UN. She supports nations that walk towards peace, and frowns at those who attempt to tear the world down. Successive governments in America have not failed or faltered in pursuing those who wanted to destabilise the world.
The Americans have succeeded in this direction, and the greatest US’s success is the prevention of a Third World War. The US has always provided global leadership with a determination to make the world free and peaceful.
Although other countries are emerging as economic powers, America is still the catalyst for global action. Theses great achievement are reminders that the dream of the founders of America is still alive, and it is alive at all times.
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