Why didn’t Ambassador Reuben Brigety follow the proper channels to raise his findings?

US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety in a meeting with International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor. Picture: Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela/Twitter

US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety in a meeting with International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor. Picture: Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela/Twitter

Published May 20, 2023

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The report: “US ambassador to South Africa apologises for Russia arms sales comments”, refers.

Based on past American-issued security warnings, I would accept such statements with a “pinch of salt”. It should not be ignored and forgotten that many former American presidents used false flags to create panic in order to start a war, to capture, subjugate and invade sovereign countries.

A case in point is the illegal invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan by George W Bush. Similar casus belli, or justifications, were used to validate the Vietnam War.

Before going public with his unsupported announcement, why didn’t US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety follow the proper channels in South Africa to raise his findings?

Why issue such an open-ended statement and cause unnecessary challenges for South Africans and our fledgling democracy? Is there a hidden US agenda due to the South African government’s standpoint on the Ukraine-Russian war and the Palestinian struggle for freedom?

Or is the upcoming BRICS summit to be held in South Africa a concern for the US? Why circulate such a manufactured report to discredit South Africa, only to retract it later after the damage is done?

Just as fact-checking is expressly important when posting or reposting messages on social media, it seems that the American ambassador is in need of a fact-checking contractor or app.

* Mohamed Saeed, Pietermaritzburg.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

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