NPR Discovers 'Tense' Elections, Misses 40 Years of US Support for Dictator
NPR's piece on Uganda's elections focuses on the 'tension' and opposition leader Bobi Wine, portraying this as a fresh challenge to Museveni's rule. This narrative conveniently sidesteps the four decades Museveni has been in power, a tenure largely facilitated by consistent U.S. and European military and financial aid. For instance, the U.S. has provided hundreds of millions in security assistance
to Uganda, often under the guise of counter-terrorism efforts, while conveniently overlooking Museveni's consolidation of power and suppression of dissent. One might wonder how a leader manages to pursue a seventh term with such 'tension,' unless, of course, the 'international community' (read: the West) has been rather comfortable with the arrangement for decades. The media, in turn, finds its
'tension' only when the mask of democracy becomes too threadbare to ignore. It’s like discovering the ‘tension’ in a frog being boiled slowly, only when it's already cooked.