Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Presidency, Dr. Tony Aidoo has severely censured critics of President Mills’ position on the use of military intervention as a last resort to quell the Ivorian crisis saying they have no knowledge of the dynamics of international politics and are strategically uninformed people.
He wondered if these ‘detractors’ of President Mills wanted him to fold his arms and wait till the situation in Ivory Coast gets to the brink of a war before he stated his stance.
“…Prez Mills in his wisdom says ‘let’s…work hard at the diplomatic solution. And I’m not going to sit down and wait for the situation to degenerate to the point of brinkmanship then I’ll come out and say where I stand. I’ll say where I stand as part of the strategic attempt to solve the problem,” he added.
The former Deputy Defence Minister in the erstwhile Rawlings administration claimed that the NPP, from the very onset of the Ivorian crisis, thought they had an opportunity to malign President Mills and the NDC. He further alleged that when the NPP realized they had failed in their ideological fault-finding mission, they started hitting on every word and action by President Mills.
“At the very unset of the Ivorian crises, the NPP thought they had an opportunity to vilify President Mills and the NDC towards the ultimate purpose of discrediting the administration. The NPP’s first attempt to tarnish the image of President Mills was the call on him to go and talk to Gbagbo because he shares the same ideological affinity with him,” he emphasized.
Contributing to a panel discussion on Radio Gold’s Alhaji and Alhaji programme, Tony Aidoo said President Mills’ position, which is the position of Ghana, is to do everything to stop the political situation in Ivory Coast from degenerating to the point where military intervention will be inevitable. To him, President Mills has not broken ranks with ECOWAS but has rather been candid with Ghanaians.
“Anybody who argues with Professor Mills’ position has no knowledge of the dynamics of international politics and is strategically uninformed person. It is not breaking rank it is for closing the situation from where brinkmanship will then dictate military action inevitable, and President Mills has been candid enough to say this,” he stated.
According to him, President Mills’ seeming break of rank is strategic to prevent the situation from degenerating to the point where military intervention will be required, adding that opposers of Professor Mills’ stance are rather warmongers.
“If you stand against Professor Mills on this, then you are a war monger because if you worry, you will adopt rational appreciation of the point that Mills is making,” he emphasized.
Dr. Tony Aidoo also sought to explain that the Ivorian situation is quite complex and a ‘short, sharp shock’ attitude; being promulgated by some people including the NPP, is not the best solution.
“…in international politics, you look at the reality; real politic on the ground…because the real politic contains the factors and forces that will determine your cause of action. I’ve heard Kwesi Pratt talk and he’s given insight into the real politic in the Ivorian situation…This is not a situation where you can adopt an attitude of ‘sharp, short, shock’ (Short, sharp shock)…You go in quick “kpakpakpa” and Gbagbo is gone and you’ve restored democracy. Short, sharp shock does not work. It hasn’t worked anywhere. It never worked for America (USA) in Korea. It never worked for America in Vietnam,” he stated.