In 2008 , shortly before he celebrates his 90th year , the United States gave a special gift to Nelson Mandela , pulling it from the terror watch list that have been there for decades and put an end to the so-called U.S. officials as " the problem rather embarrassing . "
At that time , leaders of the anti - ethnic distinctions have long left the prison where he underwent a prisoner for 27 years .
During that time, he was enjoying retirement and his status as one of the most respected statesman in the 20th century after becoming the first black president of South Africa .
On Thursday , when Mandela died at the age of 95 years , President Barack Obama gives praise to him and ordered that all U.S. flags on government buildings flown .
Hoisting of the flag at half-mast it is the U.S. that is rarely done in respect of foreign leaders .
However , decades ago many people in America who does not agree with the high praise for Mandela and the African National Congress ( ANC ) lead.
The ANC previously declared as a terrorist organization by both South Africa and the United States .
The most right-wing critics describe it as a spicy unrepentant terrorist and a communist sympathizer .
There are even reports that the CIA has been helping engineering detention Mandela in 1962 when an ANC agent in providing information to the South African security officials to track him down .
However, in the 1980s , the late U.S. senator Ted Kennedy Democrats prepare legislation with Senator Lowell Weicker who eventually became one of the catalysts that led to the collapse of the system of racial discrimination ( apartheid ) .
President Ronald Reagan sought to bury the anti - racial discrimination in 1986 which aimed to impose economic sanctions against South Africa to use its veto .
Reagan believes the law will only lead to more severe violence and repression against the people of South Africa .
But for the first time and the only one made in the century , the U.S. Congress rebel and override Reagan 's veto comes to foreign policy .
Congress still passed a law imposing sanctions against Pretoria , cut direct flights and cut vital aid .
Some observers see that Mandela 's liberation and truth can not be denied that his case provides a lesson concerns unique to Washington .
Until five years ago , Mandela and some members of the ANC is still in the U.S. terror watch list because they waged an armed struggle against the apartheid regime .
The mention of it means that the U.S. State Department must issue a letter of the waiver to enter the United States to attend various meetings such as the purpose of the General Assembly of the United Nations .
Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was regarded as an act of neglect of the " shameful " , AFP reported .
Nelson Mandela symbol of justice , equality and dignity
By Barack Obama
Like most people around the world , I know Nelson Mandela from a distance , when he was imprisoned on Robben Island . For many of us , he's not just a man , he is also a symbol of the struggle for justice , equality , and dignity in South Africa and around the world . Sacrifice so great in calling people everywhere to do what they can for the sake of mankind kamajuan .
In the simplest way , I was one of those people who tried to answer his call . The first time I was active in politics in the years during college , when I joined the campaign in the name of freedom and an end to apartheid in South Africa . None of the personal obstacle I faced as a young man who could be compared to what the daily experienced by victims of apartheid , and I can only imagine the courage that made Mandela's prison cell inhabit it for years . But his example has helped awaken me to the wider world , and the responsibility that we all must stand up for what is considered to be good . Through his choices , Mandela made things clear that we do not have to accept the world as it is, that we can do our part in order to find the world as it should be.
Over the years , I continued to watch Nelson Mandela with a sense of awe and humility , inspired by the possibilities shown by his own life and was amazed by the sacrifices necessary to achieve his dream of justice and equality . Indeed , his life tells a story that directly deal with the cynicism and despair that so often occurs in our world . A prisoner who became a free man ; liberator who became a prominent voice for reconciliation are excited ; party president becomes president who has been promoting democracy and development . Out of official office , Mandela continued devotion to equality , opportunity and human dignity . He has done so much to transform the country , and the world , it is difficult depicts the history of several decades ago without him .
About two decades after the first time I entered political life and freedom of movement as a student in California , I stood in Mandela's former prison cells on Robben Island . At that time I was newly elected United States senator . At that time, the cell has been converted from a prison into a monument to the sacrifices made by so many people in the name of peaceful transformation of South Africa . Standing there in the cell , I tried to bring myself to the days when President Mandela became Prisoner 466/64 , a period in which the success of the struggle impossible. I tried to imagine Mandela - the legend who has changed history - as Mandela the man who has a lot to sacrifice themselves for the change .
The story of Mandela 's life is not about the perfect man and about the inevitable triumph . This is a story about the son of man who would stake his own life for what he believed , and who have worked hard to deliver the kind of life that makes the world a better place .
In the end , it was Mandela's message to each one of us . We all face the day -to-day as it was difficult to change , ie the days when our opponents and our imperfections may tempt us to take shortcuts that keep us from the responsibility to others . Mandela also face these days . But , even when a small light menerebos Robben Island prison , he can see a better future , it deserved from the sacrifice . Even when faced with the temptation to take revenge , he recognizes the importance of reconciliation , and the victory of principle over sheer power . Even when he menjumput composure , he continues to inspire his countrymen to serve the sons and daughters .
Before the election of me as President of the United States , I was awarded a huge privilege to meet with Mandela , and since the office ( power ) I sometimes talk to him over the phone . Conversation - conversation was usually short , he has been in the twilight of his life , while I face a busy schedule in my office . But always , in conversation - conversation , there are moments when the kindness and generosity , and wisdom emanating from him . It is the moments when I am reminded that the history behind that is created , there are people who choose hope over fear , progress over the prisons of the past . And I was reminded that even though he has become a legend , to get to know these people - Nelson Mandela - is to honor him deeper.
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