Abstract
The Washington Post's linking of the `blood diamond trade' carried out by Sierra Leone's rebel movement, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), to al-Qaeda published after the 9/11 terrorist attacks signalled a major shift in US foreign policy from that of withdrawal from to engagement in African crises, albeit because of geo-strategic national security interests rather than for global justice. Using quantitative content and critical discourse analyses, this article aims to demonstrate the resonance between this `War on Terror' frame and the subsequent summoning of the author of the article, Douglas Farrah, to testify before Congress, and how this served as a wake-up call for the United States not to abandon Africa since its `ill-fated sortie' in the wake of the failure of `Operation Restore Hope' in Somalia in 1992. The article concludes with a brief critical reflection on the implications of this `War on Terror' frame that contributed to a shift from withdrawal from to engagement with Africa for the mediation of conflict and global justice.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 27-44 |
Journal | Journal of African Media Studies |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2012 |
Keywords
- `War on Terror' frame
- Sierra Leone
- United States
- blood diamonds
- al-Qaeda
- war
- terrorism