During the 1970s and 1980s the ANC murdered a number of military and
government personnel as well as civilians. Its attacks included the
bombing of the Amanzimtoti shopping center, in which five people were
killed and over 60 injured; the Sterland bombing in Pretoria; the
bombing of the Wimpy Bar in Pretoria, which injured 16 people; the Juicy
Lucy Cafe bombing in Pretoria, which left five women severely injured;
and the Magoo's Bar bombing in Durban, which left three people dead and
71 injured. ANC acts of sabotage aimed at government institutions
included the bombing of the Johannesburg Magistrates Court; an attack on
the Koeberg nuclear power station; a rocket attack on Voortrekkerhoogte,
a military base in Pretoria; and the 1983 Church Street bombing in
Pretoria, which killed 19 and wounded more than 200. The above list
provides a glimpse of how violent the ANC was and how many people it
murdered or injured, yet it is not a comprehensive list. Many more
individuals and their families were targeted for assassination, prisons,
theaters and railway stations were bombed, and members of the South
African police force were murdered. If these barbaric acts do not
qualify as terrorism it would be hard to define what would.
ANC, which today governs South Africa, has been allied with the South
African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade
Unions (CSATU) in the Tripartite Alliance since apartheid ended in 1994.
Some, though certainly not all, members of the ANC have been dedicated
Communists themselves with extensive ties to Moscow during the Cold War.
And yet in spite of this, the House of Representatives has voted to
rewrite history and declare that ANC's 20th-Century actions were not the
actions of a terrorist organization and to give safe haven to the men
and women who committed these atrocities.
What makes this even more appalling is that currently there is a long
waiting list for entry into the United States for Iraqis who have served
and translated faithfully for our soldiers. Many of these Iraqis have
placed themselves and their families at risk and have become the target
of murderous retaliation campaigns by al Qaeda. Instead of helping
these men and women who have sacrificed everything to assist the
American military and build a free and democratic Iraq, Congress is busy
providing succor to people among whom are terrorists and former
terrorists.
What next? Twenty years from now will Congress pursue legislation to
remove al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah from the list of terrorist
organizations for the atrocities they have committed around the world in
the 1990s and 2000s?
For obvious reasons the vote was voice, no recordation. The Senate
probably will not acquiesce. Should the House pass such a disgraceful
measure even if there is no disclosure of more than a handful of its
proponents?