General, let me explain to you what happened. This is a part of the Fulbright pacifist isolationist stuff, but it has misled a lot of people. They said, we have a barrier out there where we have these electronic things in the trees and when people go under them they give a sound and they notify our planes and our planes can go in there and hit them and it's working out very good and it has nothing whatever to do with anything euclid. The Westmoreland asks that he be given authority to put some of these what you'd call a mine. When you touch it, it looks very much like the earth. It's about the size of your fist, may look like a mushroom or something. You step on it and it blows them up, well as a result they quit coming that way when you scatter them around. So he wanted to build a circle around case on with this what they call a gravel. Many scientists were sent out where one scientist at some university evidently where Professor Brown will say he was going who had worked on this barrier, nothing to do with nuclear. He told his wife and his wife told his sister something and anyway one of these peacemakes got a hold of it. So they call a Fulbright staff member, they got the telephone call so they called in the New York Times then and said Johnson's group has sent a big crowd out. To be pouring nuclear weapons, so they put it in all the papers. That says we want you to explain if you are doing this, have you quit beating your wife, that type of letter. So Christian, the press secretary, same as your haggard, he said first they have never recommended anything like this to the president, second the president would have to be the one that would make the decision, it's never come to him and you're not doing your country any good by publicizing all over the world that we're considering doing something which has never been considered. So that kind of put an end to it. Then time comes along and said, well Johnson said that I said in seven years that I've been in the executive branch, I am not aware that anybody has ever made a recommendation to use nuclear weapons. Now, I know in the four years I've been president, nobody has ever recommended it, but as vice president I sat in on most of the meetings and I knew to my knowledge it hadn't that. So they say this week, well Johnson said he was not aware but that implied that he might not have heard it. So you just can't hardly knock it down. Now the truth to be said, we have no nuclear weapons in South Vietnam. The people out there do not think the case on area that the tactical nuclear weapons are suitable, but we need this to say the joint chiefs have never made a study, never made a recommendation, never come to the president, and so forth.


Good afternoon. I think we'll get started now. My name is Mark Korterman, and I'm a senior advisor and director of the post-conflict reconstruction project here at CSIS. And I'd like to welcome you here for an interesting and timely discussion co-hosted by the Center and the US Department of State's Office for the Coordinator of Reconstruction and Stabilization of the diplomatic and security challenges facing the Central African Republic, a country in the heart of Africa that has not always elicited the interest of the rest of the world. The session will start with a brief presentation by Ambassador Robert Loftus, the acting coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization at the State Department, about whom I'll say a few words in a moment, to be followed by a discussion by a distinguished panel. After the presentations, we will open the floor to questions from the audience. Ambassador Loftus, our next speaker and co-host, had a distinguished career in the Foreign Service that included service as US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho, lead negotiator for the Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq, and State Department Special Representative for Avian and Pandemic Influenza. I speak in the past tense because he proves the rule that no good deed goes unpunished. After these many accomplishments, Ambassador Loftus retired from the Foreign Service in 2009, only to be pulled back very recently as acting coordinator for Reconstruction and Development because of his experience, knowledge, and wisdom. I am pleased to introduce Ambassador Robert Loftus to make a few introductory remarks. Ambassador. Thanks, Mark. I'm not sure about the wisdom part since I was actually enjoying retirement. But as it turns out, I'm enjoying this job even more than I was enjoying retirement. So it turned out to be a good thing. I want to thank CSIS, in particular, the Post-Conflict and Reconstruction Project, Mark, for co-hosting this with us. I think it's very important that we highlight issues such as this early on. I also want to thank Ambassador Gauls and Ambassador Waller. And when she arrives, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Ms. Zude, for joining us here by videoconference. I just want to make a few brief introductory remarks before we get into the substance of this conference. I think it's important for the United States to respond to international threats posed by instability and insecurity, which in their most extreme forms manifest themselves as failed and failing states, not only because of the threat that they posed to our own interests, but because of the threat that they posed to the interests of citizens around the world. And in particular, in Africa, it's not just a humanitarian interest or it's also a humanitarian interest to help the countries of Africa become part of the wider international and global community. For us, this means in the United States really focusing on building a civilian capability to work with host governments to help them find solutions, develop solutions, and implement those solutions. And please note that I put the emphasis on helping the host governments. These are not our solutions to come up with. In Africa, SCRS and our Civilian Response Corps are working on several fairly substantial and important projects, including our largest overseas deployment, which is helping with the preparations for the independence referendum in southern Sudan and working with our special envoy, Scott Gratian, on those issues there. We've also worked with the UN and other organizations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And we've worked on developing assessments in Sudan, the DRC, and the Horn of Africa in situations similar to this, trying to identify the drivers of conflict and the resiliancies within host countries that will allow them to get past these conflicts. And the CAR, our hope in working with you and with CSIS on this, is that by increasing attention to the Central African Republic now, we can reduce the potential for conflict in the future. This is a very difficult region. I won't get into specific issue while we'll be doing that. But certainly addressing issues of governance, of border control, of arms flows to rebel groups dealing with the Lord's Resistance Army and the overflow from events in other areas of the region will be critically important. Despite these difficulties, I mean, there are rays of opportunity, if you will. We can continue to work with the peace process with the rebel groups. We can work on ensuring that the elections are held successfully. We can help the government to increase its transparency and its efficiencies. And we can try to work the entire international community to make sure that we're all supporting these same goals. And I hope that this conference will help us to get to that point. I want to thank you all for coming. And again, thanks to CSIS for hosting this. And thank you, Ambassador Loftus. I'm pleased now to introduce our panelists. First to speak will be the US Ambassador to the Central African Republic, Lawrence Woolers, who has recently assumed his post but is serving for the second time in the CAR. He's also recently served as senior advisor to the international programs at the Smithsonian Institution, executive assistant to the Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy, and minister counselor for public affairs at the US Embassy in Moscow. Our second speaker is Ambassador Jan Kralz, permanent representative of Belgium to the United Nations. Over a long and distinguished career in the Belgian Foreign Ministry, his tenure has included service as Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry, chef to cabinet of the foreign minister, diplomatic advisor to the prime minister, and deputy chef to cabinet and diplomatic advisor to the king of Belgium. The final speaker who will be joining us through teleconference and will be arriving soon, I understand, is Ambassador Saleh Wurzoudi, the special representative of the United Nations Secretary General and head of the UN peace building office in the Central African Republic, Vulnuqa. Before taking up this important post, she spent 20 years in the Ethiopian diplomatic service with posts that included Ambassador and permanent representative to the African Union and Ambassador to France, Senegal and Djibouti, among others. We'll start with Ambassador Wallers. Ambassador Wallers, thank you. Thank you. And thank you to SCRS, Ambassador Loftus, and to CCSAS for organizing this discussion today. I'm not going to actually speak for a very long month myself. I'm very much in the learning mode and I'm very pleased to see that there are so many people here. I'm sure that some of you will want to learn too, but there are also many of you who have some expertise. And I'm really interested in hearing from people, and particularly from the other panelists, Ambassador Walls, who have spent a lot more time in recent years on this than I have. I am just coming back from all of two whole weeks in Bongi. And I did serve there 25 years ago. So let me just sort of put out a little bit of an impressionistic set of points here to sort of get things going in many ways. These are more questions than answers. But one of the things that struck me going back to Bongi is that after several months here of reading in and talking to people, and the focus was all very much on conflict and post-conflict. And when you get there, I guess because of that, the first thing that surprised me was how normal things seemed in Bongi. There is lots of economic activity going on, lots of taxis, the markets, the stores. And I was able to travel up country for a considerable, went up to Balsangora, which is several hundred kilometers north, this is truly post-conflict in that sense. Things are going on, people are getting on with it, they're lives. And so that leads to sort of the question in my mind. Are the key set of questions for us, political, political, military conflict questions, or are they really economic questions? Is it, are we at a point now where the really important issues for the country are how to get the economy really going again, ensuring that there are enough jobs, enough economic activity for everybody? And is it possible that many of the tensions that we've been talking about over the last five, six years there will go away, almost on their own, if people have enough economic activity in front of them, enough economic hope in front of them? I don't have the answer to that, but it's certainly something that struck me in the two weeks I was there. The other thing was really quite interesting compared to when I've been there before was the number of NGOs with SUVs and the very, very heavy focus on this humanitarian framework for the foreign donor relationship with the country. That certainly wasn't the case, again, when I was there before. And there again comes a question, are we at that point where we need to be shifting over from a humanitarian framework focus to a development one? I think that will be happening, to some extent, in of its own. The European Union, I know, which is a major donor. Many of their programs that they've been developing are really just coming out of the design stage. That's going to be very important, because one thing you can see clearly is for the future you desperately need more roads, more energy. That was another thing that struck me after this time that the lack of consistent energy supply was a great break to economic activity. More focus on agriculture, which is clearly going to be the comparative advantage of the country for quite some time. And then another perception that struck me in talking to a number of people around town there was education, that the country's gone through a couple decades in which, because of the political instability and because of payment of salary, et cetera, young people have not received a consistently strong education. And so that raises the question that people were asking me. They're certainly both on the business side and elsewhere, who are going to be our interlocutors and who are going to have the people running the economy in 10 years from now? One NGO mentioned that they had a plot. They had advertised for an accountant. And in Cameroon, they would have had 100 applications. And in Bongi, they couldn't find one. So that technical training is going to be an enormous challenge. And then last, of course, in the very near term, the elections really pleased to see the high level of popular interest in the elections in Bongi, lots of discussion on the radio, some excellent spots, radio spots explaining to people what their role was and the registration process. But clearly interest in that, people were assuming they were going to have an election and assuming they were going to vote and vote freely. And that's obviously extremely important. So my conclusion is 2011 is going to be a very important year for the Central African Republic. If the elections can move forward in a way that everyone sees them as being fair and accepted, we can move on with the DDR process, American Sovietation, and drive forward the economy just a bit, then that's a very good sign for the future. So I'll leave it on that sort of hopeful note and turn it over to people with more expertise than I have at this point. Thank you very much, Ambassador. Now I turn to Ambassador Calls. Ambassador Quoterman and Ambassador Loftis, thank you very much for your introductory remarks. And to Ambassador Wolos, I would like to say, well, we didn't know each other. We met each other a couple of minutes ago, but I'm sure we're going to work hand in hand. And as I understand, the US government has decided to get more involved in the Central African Republic, and that's a very good omen. And I wish you all success in your new mission. Thank you very much also to CISS. It doesn't happen often that the Central African Republic is on the agenda of a meeting. For many, many, many years, it has been a forgotten country. And I always use this expression that sometimes I had the feeling that the international community deliberately had decided to forget about the Central African Republic, because unfortunately, as you probably know, it has a sad history of internal strife, civil war, major parts of the territory being occupied by rebels or bandits and the control of the central government extending just over part of the territory. With all the human suffering, you can imagine. Well, it was there in the Central African Republic up two years ago. So it's good that the Central African Republic is on the agenda of famous institutions like this one. And two weeks ago, I think we had a major success in New York because you know that the Millennium Development Goals Summit took place two weeks ago, and we organized a side event on the first day, the very first day of the MDG summit on the Central African Republic. So this hadn't happened for years. And it was attended by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, by the President of the African Union, Mr. Ping, by the Vice President for Africa of the World Bank, by the European Commission on the Development, and it was a high-level attendance. And I think this was for the first time that this happened. But this shows, I think, that there is a renewed interest by the international community for the Central African Republic. And why is this? Because the Central Africans themselves have decided to turn the page over these dark years they have behind them. And back in 2008, peace agreements were signed with the major rebel groups. And the political forces of the Central African Republic also concluded a kind of peace agreement. They call it the dialogue and the political dialogue. So they really decided to turn the page over that sad part of their history and to envisage a new future. And that was the basis for a renewed engagement by the international community. And in fact, the United Nations reacted favorably to that because they set up a peace-building commission for the Central African Republic. Perhaps a word on what a peace-building commission is. You may remember that in 2005, the UN celebrated its sixth-year anniversary. And there was a summit meeting in 2005 around this time, well, September 2005. And there was a lot of talk about reforming the UN after 60 years because, as we all know, the UN probably needs reform because it's not always adapted anymore to the realities of today's world. And one of the decisions that were taken back in 2005 was to set up a PBC, a peace-building commission. And this was one of the new features. This is now part of the UN architecture. And what is peace-building about in a UN context? It is about assisting countries that are in a post-conflict phase but that are still in a very fragile situation and countries that are not yet eligible for the traditional aid tools we know. And the Central African Republic is one of these countries. As I just explained, they concluded peace agreement and internal peace agreement with the rebels and with the political forces. So they were considered as being in a post-conflict phase but they needed assistance because of the fragility of the situation. And that is where the peace-building commission steps in as international community. As UN, we step in to assist these countries in their needs during that fragile episode in their history in order to prepare them to receive the more traditional development aid. And I see that in the meantime, Adam Zewde is there but he isn't listening yet. But she knows my story. She knows my story. Now just for your information, this peace-building architecture in New York, it has a commission, a peace-building commission. It's a kind of intergovernmental advisory body comprised of 31 member states of the UN. The role of this commission is to bring together international donors and financial institutions, national governments, and troop contributing countries in certain countries. A peace-building commission tries to ensure coordination of the different aid efforts that are being made in a country that is on the peace-building agenda. One of the major tasks of a peace-building commission is to find resources, to mobilize resources. And I myself have been very active on that. And then, of course, another objective of the peace-building commission is to extend the period of attention given by the international community beyond the initial post-conflict phase because very often countries are on the radar screen for a certain time and then after a couple of months they disappear from the radar screen of the international community. A peace-building commission's role is to keep countries that are in a post-conflict phase definitely and strongly and firmly on the radar screen of the international community and, more particularly, the donor community. There's also a peace-building fund. It's a kind of trust fund that has been set up in 2006. It's managed by the Secretary General of the UN, Mr. Ban Ki-moon. The initial funding target of $250 million has now been overtaken. And I think last year it received $348 million from voluntary contributions of UN member states. And the basic role of the peace-building fund is to address critical funding gaps that may exist in countries that are on the peace-building agenda. For the moment, 16 countries may contributions to... No, sorry, 16 countries have been assisted by the peace-building fund. And then there's the peace-building support office and Philip Helminger sitting here to my left is a member of the UN Secretary. He's working for the peace-building support office and they offer expertise and they manage also the peace-building funds. And by the way, Philip van den Belke to my left is from my mission and we're working together on Central African Republic. That's what I wanted to say just to give you a short introduction on what peace-building is in the UN. I have been elected chair of the peace-building commission for the Central African Republic back in June 2008. So I've been chair now for two years and a couple of months. It's a mandate I like very much because you can put personal commitment in it. And I tend to say that I'm so naive to think that as a chair of a PBC you could make a difference. But it's a good experience because I sense that this peace-building commission has the potential of becoming a success story for the Central Africans themselves and for the UN. And let me briefly explain why I think that we are on the right track. One of the first things we had to do when this peace-building commission was set up in June 2008 was to develop a kind of work plan, a kind of roadmap. What are we going to do? We, international community, and the Central African government. And broader, not just the government, but the Central Africans at large. So we worked on that for a couple of months, but we had a very, very good dialogue with the Central African authorities. They have some very good ministers. And the President, President Bozice, was very, very helpful also. My main interlocutor in Bargy is the Minister of Planning, the Minister of State in charge of planning, Mr. Malico, who's a former UN official. So it's a good training. I mean, those people that have been working for the UN, Mr. Quaterman, as you may know. And so we drafted a work plan, which was approved by the Peace-building Commission and by the Central African Republic. And let me perhaps briefly say what is in this work plan because an Ambassador Wallace already referred to that. When you go to this country, literally when you go outside the capital, Bargy, literally everything has been destroyed by this terrible civil war. No bridges, no schools, no clinics, no roads, everything literally, everything has been destroyed. And then there are still these regions where rebellions are or rebels are active. And I define them as rebels, but I mean, it's a kind of mix of political opposition, banditry, I mean, that type of thing. And these rebels are exploiting the local population. I have done a road for a couple of, I mean, you can see where villages were used to be, but they have been destroyed, they have been burned, and the local population is again living in the bush as so many years ago in appalling sanitary conditions and so on. That is the Central African Republic. It gives you an idea of the task ahead, which is gigantic. But as Peace Building Commission, we said without security all over the territory, you shouldn't start doing development work. You need to secure the whole territory. So security is our first priority. Bring back security to the territory and to the people of the Central African Republic. What does that mean? Basically two things. First of all, you need to disarm and demobilize the rebels and give them a future in their own society, a normal future. And that is what we call DDR, demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration of these people. We had to mobilize resources for that. We have been working with UNDP, the UN Development Program, and this DDR is now underway, particularly the DD, the disarmament and the demobilization phase is now fully underway, and that's good. And we did find the money. What's the budget again, Philip, for the DDR? It's 31 million. We did find the money. The Central African government has been helpful, but of course the major part of this budget had to come from the international community. The fact that we did find the money indicates that the international community is rediscovering, is understanding that something needs to be done in the Central African Republic. That's one part of the security agenda of our PBC. The other one is SSR, its security sector reform. Useless to say that the army and the police force of the Central African Republic could perform better, to put it mildly. They are underpaid, they didn't get inadequate training, there's a problem of discipline, and there have been violations of human rights by the army and by the police force. So we need to do something about the army in order to give the citizens confidence again in their own army and in their own police force. So that is what I mean by our first priority, bringing back security to the entire territory and to the population of the Central African Republic, which has suffered so much from this situation. The second priority is legal security, if I may call it like that. The second priority is about the rule of law and it's about good governance, because there too, of course, a lot of things can be done. Strangely enough, they have good laws in the Central African Republic. When it comes to human rights and so on, the laws are quite good. Also, for example, the mining code is adequate, but there is a problem of implementation of laws and legislation. So we're working on that also, because bringing back legal security to the country means that private investment will come, will follow, what will follow. Private investors never go to countries where there is a risk of legal uncertainty. And when it comes to rule of law, of course, elections are very important, I mean democracy and the level of democracy. The Central African Republic held elections back in 2005, which went well.  New elections were due this year, but for good reasons, because preparations were not yet where they had to be, they had to be postponed, but they are now going to take place in January of next year. And this was a consensual decision by the majority and by the opposition, which is good. So elections, and again, what's the budget for the elections? 27? 27. But again, we did find the money for that, and again, this shows that the international community believes or starts to believe in the Central African Republic. So that's our second priority. It's about good governance and the elections, of course, are an important part of that. There are still some security concerns because, as you know, there is, first of all, the phenomenon of the LRA, the Lord Resistance Army. They are in the southeastern part of the Central African Republic, not for political purposes, but they just consider the Central African Republic as a place where they can come to rest, and it's a kind of refuge before they take on new campaigns, but the effects of their presence in that part of the territory are devastating for the local population. Then there are the rebellions in the north, west of the country, and there's a peacekeeping operation which is being taken care of by the economic community of Central Africa, SEAC, the BIKO PACS peacekeeping operation. And then in the northeastern corner of the country, which is closed, which borders Chad, part of the Minerkart UN peacekeeping operations is present on the Central African territory. Minerkart, unfortunately, is coming to an end by the end of this year, and the Security Council is now examining what to do about that part of the territory because we can't leave it without any peacekeeping presence there. That is basically what I wanted to say, what we are doing as a peacebuilding commission. Perhaps a word also on our partnerships because as a peacebuilding commission, we can't do our things alone. We need partnerships. We have a very good partnership. We have established that now with the World Bank, which is a bit new in a UN framework. And before coming here, I was at the World Bank next door to discuss the follow-up of the event I mentioned which took place in the margins of the MDG summit. We have a very good relationship, of course, with the different UN bodies and programs like UNDP and so on. We also have a very good relationship with the European Union, which is one of the major donors in the Central African Republic together with the World Bank and with France, the former colonial power. But only three major donors which shows that the Central African Republic is still a kind of aid orphan. And that is also the task of the PBC to increase and to enlarge the family of donors to that country. My feeling is that the PBC for the Central African Republic, as I said already, has the potential of becoming a good success story. Of course, we will need to continue as we have been very, very busy on that. There is a very good ownership by the Central African Republic itself. I could feel that over these two years, this ownership has increased. At the beginning, of course, it was new for the Central African government, this peace-building experience. And I didn't have always the feeling that the ownership was 100%, but over the months and after two years, I can say that I'm very happy with the cooperation we have established between the UN and the Central African Republic. So these were a number of comments I wanted to make, but let's also listen to Madame Zavide, the special representative of the Secretary General. She has arrived and we rely very much on her leadership in car to guide our work as she knows. And while the PBC as an intergovernmental body is not present on the ground, we are very, very fortunate to be able to count on SRSG, Zavide, which we gladly and wholeheartedly support. Thank you. Ambassador Harals, thank you very much. Especially thank you for that endorsement of UN staff and management, which one doesn't always hear. So I appreciate that as someone who's recently come from the UN. We are pleased and honored now to introduce Ambassador Saleh Wurzoudi. Before you start, Ambassador, I just would like to catch you up. We have heard now from Ambassador Loftus, who heads the Department of States, is the Department of States Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. Oh, you can't, okay. We are gonna try to- Can you hear me? Can you hear me? We can hear you, yes. Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? Yes. No, yes, I can hear you very clearly. It's just to tell you that I have been here since the very beginning. You couldn't see me, but I could see you and hear you. Listen to you, so don't worry. I have been listening to all what you have said about our work here. Thank you very much. So don't worry. Thank you. That's actually one of the benefits of video conference. You can put a picture up and listen in surreptitiously. So thank you very much. Then without further ado, Ambassador, please. Thank you. Thank you very much. I would like first of all to tell you how pleased I am to join you from Bangi with this technology. And thank you for having accommodated this link between Washington and Bangi via video conference. And I would like to really thank the organizers for having invited me to join you. It's very difficult to take the floor after those who have spoke before me and who know very well the Central African Republic. But I'll try to stick to what you have asked me to do, to concentrate on the pressing issues, and then I will of course touch some, based with some issues that concerns also the region. First of all, it's very important to have this kind of gathering. As it has been said, the CRR is a forgotten country, an aid orphan. And it's very important to really have this kind of interaction where the CRR will be kept on the radar screen of the international community. This comes after the high level event which took place on the 20th of September in New York on the sidelines of the MDG summit, which was a very good meeting. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ambassador Grouch and the World Bank, the Vice President for having convened this meeting. I would like to tell you here from Bangi that the reception here has been very positive and it has given really confidence to the Central Africans. So this has been a very welcome move. And also, I'm very happy to participate in a meeting where we talk about the Central African Republic because quite often this country will be cited or quoted in light of what's happening in the region. Darfur, Chag Sudan, Elare, and what have you. It's very important to talk about the homegrown, the specific problems of the CRR. And by so doing, I think we will help have a secured and prosperous country which will help the security and prosperity of the sub region. So this is really to thank you for what you have done. On the pressing issues, I would like to focus on elections first. On elections to say first and foremost that the problem that we are having, to start with the problem that we are having is a perception about elections, a perception that we have on the continent here in Africa about elections. Elections being the panacea to other problems, to the challenges that the country faces. It has to be kept at the level where it should be kept. It's a very important step into a democratic process but it's not an end by itself. So I think it's very important to know that. And I mean to have it in mind, of course we all know that and here at one point it was elections and elections will solve anything, everything rather. Now, I remember that even the African Union sorry had to talk and discuss this issue in 2008 at the summit of Heads of State because most of the conflict on the continent are the consequences of elections. So a good reflection has to be conducted and that was the directives of the Heads of State when we really hope that this will take place. After some ups and downs, we have the feeling that now we are on the right track as far as the elections are concerned. For us, the bottom line was not to have elections that will bring us back to violence. This is a peace-building mission and this is what we have tried to do. We have to be able to move forward. We have to be able to have in 2010 elections better than 2005 that will help the country move forward. That was really the bottom line where the international community rallied around. But because of the lack of professionalism from the Electoral Commission and many delays, the elections have to be postponed, I think, twice. Now we are in a critical moment where the census, the voter census, is taking place throughout the country. The Electoral Commission has sent all the commissioners on the ground. This is very important because in Africa, we used to have in the 70s, 60s, post-post-independence era where to win an election, you have some modus operandi, you stuff ballot boxes and so on and so forth, then you can secure your success. Then came the issue of voter's list and that is very important. Once you have a consensual list, I think the rest can easily be conducted. Now, this date has been fixed by consensus by all the entities, 23rd of January. Now they are on the ground, the census is taking place. It's very important that we get a consensual voter's list so that we have a good elections in January. We have had reports that the registration process was slow. Tomorrow we'll have a steering committee meeting and one of the topics that I intend to have on the agenda is to see how we can really push the process forward and invite really the population to go to the registration places and register. After we have that, I think we will be able to have a serene atmosphere where we can have these elections held. As Ambassador Grauls said, the international community has now come up to its commitment. It has been a bit slow, but now there is no funding gap and the rest of the process can easily be funded. There are few technical problems, but I hope that we will be in a position to overcome them. This is where we stand and we hope that by the end of October we will be fixed on the voter's list. The international community on the ground is helping the process. We have set up a steering committee, as I said earlier. As you know, the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations give assistance to this kind of process. There was a need assessment mission which came here a year ago, in fact, and suggested that the steering committee be set up. That's where we discussed the different issues. We hope that we're moving into the right direction. Now we have some issues that we'll have to settle with the Electoral Commission, but let me remain on this optimistic and positive tone that we are really on the right track and we're all moving toward the same direction. I must say that the message that we heard during the high-level event two weeks ago has also helped because we have the messages were very clear, calling for these elections to be helped as soon as possible, to commit themselves to the dates that they have all together fixed and for the international community to continue being involved after the elections. Since we see good prospects towards that, I think that it's in everybody's interest to have these elections done as soon as possible and have them at the back so that we can move forward. This is what I can say as far as elections are concerned. The second point I would like to raise is the whole security sector reform, which is very important to the country. You will see when I will mention later on the LRA issue, the security, the defense forces is almost inexistent outside Bangui. This sector reform is very important. Binuka, which has been transformed into an integrated office since January, has now with the new structure a unit in charge of the SSR. We will be fully involved in that. We really count on the international community to come on board after the elections to really help this process. But part of this process is the DDR, as mentioned by Ambassador Raoult earlier. The DDR is a process that has gone really slow, but it has started moving now. But let me say from the outset that when we talk about rebels in the Central African Republic, we have to be in nuance with that, because we are not talking about rebels as we know them in the DRC or Sierra Leone or Liberia or the country where I come from with a clear political agenda and so on and so forth. The rebels here are more than bandits and gangs operating on highways and so on and so forth, not really more than that. We are talking about 8,000 of them without even verifying the list. The total that has been given by the five rebel movements that have signed the Libreville peace agreement is a total of 8,000. This has to be of course verified and it's not a big number. But it's all around the northern part of the country. Now, the biggest movement is in the northwest. The verification of the list of combatants have been going on for some time. Now it's over, so the next step is the D1, which is disarmament. So we're really happy after more than a year of this long process that we can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel and talk about disarmament. And then of course demobilization. We couldn't do the same thing in the northeast because of first logistical problems during the rainy season, you cannot go to the eastern part of the country to the north. To many parts of course, bridges will break and so on, roads cannot be used and so on and so forth. So that was not being able, but we have prepared a plan and we will see how to move toward it. But the northwest is very important because out of 8,000, 5,000 are concerned. With this DDR program in the northeast. But of course we will try to have a parallel process both in the northwest and in the northeast. But the departure of Minerkat and so on might not help our process. This is where we are, but the most important thing when you ask someone to disarm, I'm not a technician in disarmament or an expert, but is to know of what tomorrow will be. The R part, the reintegration part is very important. So this is where we are now. The government is proposing a strategy which is very good because we all have to support the government's strategy. So we are looking into it and see how we can move forward. But of course it has to do with the whole development issue and so on and so forth. And the level of the host community which is very low and the poverty is very high in the country. So we need to have to lift up the whole community I would say in this process. So this is where we stand and up to now the response is very encouraging. We have a project which is on the pipeline from the European Union which we can use immediately for the northeast. Sorry, northwest. So this R part will have to be clearly defined. We need to have clear mapping and to know who will do what. The third point I would like to raise among one of the main mandate that we have here is to follow the implementation of the recommendation of the government. Inclusive political dialogue that took place back in December 2008. Elections are part of it. DDR is part of it and many other issues. That's very important if we want to move in this consensual base because all of them has agreed to these recommendations. But I must say that the implementation rate is very low. Last week we had a meeting of the follow-up committee and the report was not that much encouraging. So we will be again highly involved in order to help this be implemented fully. And that's very important and we will see how we can also involve other UN agencies in that regard. When we talk of, by the way, of integrated peace building mission, it's to make our action on the ground more coherent and that the UN can deliver as one in the CR. This is what we are trying to do currently. Just a few words on maybe development, which is also very important. As I said, there is a linkage, of course, between the objectives, political security and development objectives. It's very important and this has been clearly stated. These are different pillars of the PRSP here and the strategic framework of the peace building commission. So the development is very important. I think that the government has to be encouraged for the work it has done. The macroeconomic performance remains satisfactory. There are progress that has been also said last week, two weeks ago in New York. Now, I think that after two decades of disorder, we have to come back to work and really work and job creation and so on and so forth. The cake that everybody is trying to share is very small and this is the public service. We have to have a larger cake, which includes the private sector. Where we can really have job creation and so on and so forth. The government is expected to create the conditions for that to happen. Currently, the humanitarian aid is very important. I don't think that the CR have reached the stage where they can live without it. But of course, we need a more long-term vision and development is definitely very important. When we talk about development, this is a country where anything is possible. The potential is very high. The population for 620 square kilometers is only 4 million. They have used only 2% of the total arable land that they have. I mean, when you see it as face value, it's very easy and very simple. But the conditions have to be created. The problem of development are deeply rooted. So I think it's very important that we also concentrate on those and try to encourage and, you know, development assistance in order to tap the high potential that this country has in developing the private sector. As I said, infrastructure, the channels of distribution of goods and services and so on and so forth. By doing so, we will have also consolidated the peace building that we are trying to do here. Just a few words on the LRA because I was also asked to talk about it. LRA has appeared here around 2008 in the triangle between DRC Sudan and Southern Sudan and the CER. The LRA was there operating small groups for a certain period of time. And it has caused the displacement of around 20,000 people here. The modus operandi and the patterns of violence are those well known, unfortunately, and raiding villages for food and abductions. So these are remnants, of course, of those who were in the Garamba Park in the DRC and who have managed to move to the CER, where they know that they will not have resistance here because the state authority is very weak and they can resist for a longer period of time. So they have been evolving in another triangle within the southeast of the Central African Republic. Since a few weeks, we have heard that there is a group which is supposed to be belonging to LRA. LRA itself has moved northward and some of the attacks have been said to be conducted by LRA elements and if the attacks are confirmed, if it is an LRA attack, then it would have been the first time that they are operating the mission area of Minurgat. But they have been moving along an axis towards north and we don't know exactly where they are aiming to. But this is a small number, 40, 50 people, we don't know exactly, but this is what's going on. So, of course, it's not a life-threatening issue for the CER, but this is part of the country, especially the east, which is very vast, very scarcely populated and where they will not have a resistance. Now, with some reinforcement of the armed forces, they have been able to increase the number in the southeast and I know that some partners have agreed to help them. And of course, the UPDF also is giving hand to the FAKAS here on the ground. They were even deployed up in the northeast part of the country. So this is what it looks like as far as the LRA is concerned. So not to take much time, I will stop here and maybe listen to other comments and try to answer the question. Thank you very much for the opportunity. Ambassador, thank you very much and thank you to all our panelists for comprehensive interesting comments. We have a full house today. I hope there are a number of questions out there and I'd like to get started on a discussion now between our panelists and the audience. We have CSIS staff with microphones, so please, when I identify, you wait for the microphone and then ask your question. And there's a gentleman right here who raised his hand. Aisha, I think there's a microphone in front of you for those sitting at the table. Thank you. I am from the CR. My name is Jean-Pierre Le Boudere. I have a few comments. One is, I believe democracy is a process. And to send monitors for elections every four or five years is not enough. It should be put in perspective and I believe strongly that we should have some kind of technical assistance for those elected so that they know how to build their capacity and deliver the job properly. And this takes money, accompanies the people on the ground. I know years ago I volunteered for parliamentarians for global action. I believe that in the case of Namibia you should know that they had even training arrangements with representatives of Canada and Germany. I think it is something important. We need to think that democracy will be built over the years and also have a plan of action so that the objectives, the immediate objectives are limited. Can I make a suggestion that we take a couple of questions, bundle them together and then the panelists can respond? So is there anyone else who would like to ask a question, make a comment? May I just... Please, sir. No. About the CR, I think that it is important to see also the CR not in its capacity to create a problem for neighboring countries. It is a small country but it has more than 1,000 kilometers of border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 700 with Chad. And if it becomes a failed state it will threaten all the efforts of the international community in these countries. So this is something that I think is important also to take into account. Those are my two comments. Thank you. Thank you very much and did you have your hand up as well for a comment? Okay. If there are no further questions for this round why don't I turn it over to the panel to respond. Thank you. Well, on your first question I fully agree. I fully agree democracy is a process. And the international community as we have explained is fully involved in that. In providing logistical support but also of course in providing technical support and more importantly financial support. It is clear that in the future the Central Africans need to build capacity, electoral capacity to put it like that. Because in five years time there will be new elections and organizing elections is not always easy. Particularly in a country where infrastructure has been destroyed. And it's a vast country with a rather small population. But the political will is there and that is of course very, very important. And we are integrating this need for a more long-term strategy in our own work program of the Peace Building Commission. So in the future we want to assist the Central African Republic in building this capacity, this electoral capacity. And as Peace Building Commission we have been in touch with the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Turalia. Because they provide technical assistance to governments and to parliaments. So we have picked up that idea because again I fully agree with you it's a process and it's not one blip on a radar screen in an election. You need to provide assistance so that countries can take on this task in the future alone. And also in terms of financial commitments of course each time elections take place, each time the government should come up with more money. And at the end of the day the government should be in a position to come up with the budget on its own. But that of course is not yet the case in the Central African Republic for obvious reasons. I also fully agree with this regional dimension. This country, the Central African Republic is at the heart of that region. And the political situation has been influenced by events taking place in neighboring countries. It has been negatively influenced but there has also been a very positive contribution by the region. And former President Bongo of Gabon for example who died a year ago. But he has been very, very, very effective and very supportive of this process of reconciliation in the Central African Republic. If the political, inclusive political dialogue which was referred to has taken place. If these peace agreements have been signed with the different rebel groups it was also thanks to the personal involvement of former President Bongo of Gabon. And again I mean this peacekeeping operation that is present now in the northwestern part of the country, it's a regional peacekeeping operation. So I couldn't agree more with you and of course the question can be raised also what is going to be the effect after the referendum in Sudan. When South Sudan becomes independent because that is the expectation that that is going to be the outcome of the referendum. What could be the implications for the Central African Republic? It's a very, very important question and it's good that the international community is already now thinking. About that but I'm sure Madame Zewde would like to comment on these two questions also. Ambassador Zewde please. I don't know what I can add. Thank you. I don't think I will have more to add on what Ambassador Grauls has said. It's very important of course to have to know that I mean democracy is a process. It cannot be built overnight. That's very important, that's obvious. So an election as it has been said has, we have to start preparing the elections as soon as we finish one. I mean this is how it has to go. It cannot be a surprise, it cannot come as a surprise. This is what I wanted to say. But the capacity issue is also very important. And we see it now with the Electoral Commission and the members and those around, I mean a number of people have been recruited for the census and so on and so forth. So there is of course a problem of capacity. This has to be done long before the elections day gets closed. So that's very important and it's not only elections. Democracy means many other things too. So that has to be taken into account. So this technical assistance has to be there all permanently I would say. The regional dimension is also very important. As I said, the CRR was on many occasions forgotten or seen as an appending to other issues. Because there are many other issues that remain high on the agenda of the international community. Sudan, the referendum in South Sudan, the impact on the region, the Chad-Sudan relationship and so on and so forth. DRC, we're going to have elections in almost all countries. I mean normal democratic elections I would say. So this is very important. CRR is really at the heart of this Central African region. So helping this country stabilize and have a lasting peace will be definitely helping the region.  Especially the one with appending in Sudan in the very near future. Thank you Ambassador Zuday. Ambassador Wolers? Yes, I obviously agree very much with what was said before me. Obviously it's very important that people see their role and their right not just to vote but to continue to exercise accountability over a government after the elections as well. And that's certainly something we need to be thinking about, accountability with their elected representatives to the assembly for example. The role of journalists, there are lots of things that can and should be thought about. That said, the elections are not by themselves enough for democracy but in a sense they are a precondition to move forward. We do need to ensure that these elections do happen, that they are accepted by everyone as being representative. Because if we can't do that then it's very difficult to move forward on the rest. So I think the next, that's why our focus will be on the elections over the next several months. Thank you very much. The gentlemen here. Rebels are really little more than bandits looking to get some income. I would think strong agricultural development would help to end some of the circumstances that essentially have to push resources into security and security sector reform. I wonder if we could hear a little bit about any special efforts that are being made in the area of agricultural reform or agricultural development. Thank you very much. Maybe we'll start with Ambassador Zude. The gentlemen, we couldn't hear him. You couldn't hear the question. I was all, no, no. Okay, to boil it down, it was a question about the importance of agricultural development and whether that should be a priority both for the economic development of the country and also to provide less of an incentive for Rebels and for bandits to operate as well. And wanted to hear more from each of you about that. Maybe we'll start with our panelists here and then we'll come back to you Ambassador Zude. Ambassador Karals, would you like to start? Very, very to the point comment and I should have mentioned that earlier. But agriculture, there's an enormous potential for agriculture in that country. When you fly over the territory of the central Africa, well it's green, apart from the northern part, but it's very green. There's a lot of water, small rivers and so on, and there's a lot of space. So agriculture is the future of that country, but unfortunately there are no large agricultural exploitations like you can see them in other African countries. And I think, again, one of the reasons is of course the instability, but the other reason is the lack of infrastructure. You can grow crops, but if you can't export the product or if you can't bring it to other regions of course then there is a marketing problem if I may put it like that. But agriculture is very much part of the R of DDR. We are working with FAO, the U.N. Agency for Agriculture and Food, because there is also a problem of food security in the Central African Republic. So the R of DDR it is mainly, I'm not going to put a percentage on that, but it is of course mainly agriculture. If you want to give these rebels a new future, I mean it's in agriculture, mainly that their future lies. And I would like very much to develop this idea of the importance of agriculture beyond the DDR when it comes to development proper. There again I think agriculture will take a major place in the development and already takes a major place in the development strategy of the Central African Republic. So these are some comments I wanted to make just to make sure, I mean of course agriculture is in our programs. One word on these development hubs, which we didn't elaborate on, but this is another priority we have. What are development hubs? As I said outside Bogey everything needs to be rebuilt, reconstructed. We would like to start in a certain number of small towns to establish their school, a small clinic or hospital, build a kind of tribunal and so on. Hoping that from these hubs, bolder développement as we call it in French, development will spread. And again in this project of bolder development agriculture is going to be an important factor. These are some comments I wanted to give, but Madam Zadeh may wish to comment on this too. Thank you Ambassador Kralz, Ambassador Zadeh. Sorry, thank you very much. I couldn't agree more. As I said in my presentation, I mean the potential of this country is very high. And as Ambassador Kralz said for us coming from the continent, we would in a positive way of course envy what the CAR has. I mean a lot of land, fertile land, anything would grow I'm sure, and water, most of all. That's very important. So I think that the future of the CAR will be in agriculture, in the private sector coming into agriculture. The socioeconomic study that was undertaken among the combatants, these 8,000 that I have mentioned earlier, most of them would like to go to agriculture. Some in the northeast would have preferred maybe trade and mines and so on. But most of the bulk of it would go to agriculture. This is also a good potential that one can have. Again the African Union has a very good program in terms of agriculture. And we are helping the CAR to be into that and to benefit from that. But here again there is a problem of capacity starting from the Ministry of Agriculture and those who should be responsible for that. So we have to see it from the very beginning. And of course the security issue is there. There is a need, there is small internal resources also for that. And there is an expectation generally for external resources. But as I said it's the future. It's very important. And we will really help them in that regard. In Bangui you would find fruits and vegetables imported from neighboring countries. This is just unacceptable. Even for the daily use. So I think it's the future lies in agriculture and I cannot agree more on that. And I think the conditions are there for that. Thank you. Thank you Ambassador Zouday. Ambassador Wallers would you like to add? Well I agree very much with what was said. And obviously as I was saying at the beginning it's a very green country. Things do grow. Which is a very important foundation for agriculture. I'm also of course very mindful that this is going to be a complicated thing. That there are people for example who have left the farms for insecurity reasons. Or they went into diamonds or they came to Bangui. Now the diamond industry has fallen through several floors. And people might want to get back into agriculture. There are people who in Bangui who now with the security they might want to go back out. But how do you do that? If you don't have any funds.  So these are actually rather complicated issues. Where you need a very strong ministry agricultural extension service for example. That doesn't currently exist. There is fortunately the World Bank is putting some money into this. The EU, the Polder de Development. Which is of course at the market which is another issue. So the good news is there is this important foundation of having land and water available. It doesn't make it simple. It's going to be some years of hard work. Thank you. The gentleman at the table here. My name is Benvenutian from DWDC. I want to thank the panel for such a great presentation. I feel it's rather a comment or a question. So at this defining moment where you try to unify all the forces of the country. So what I've been missing maybe in the presentation is the role of the diaspora. So is it any effort there to try to get the effort of the diaspora too? Thank you. Anyone on the panel like to comment on this? Ambassador Zilder. Definitely when we know the contribution of the diaspora to the development of their country, of origin of their country in other African countries, we would say that it's very important to reach out to the diaspora too. I know that the government is trying to do that with those residing especially in Europe. But the impact is not really very visible in terms of remittance or in terms of really having investment in the country. And we have seen elsewhere how this has been very important. And I think it has to do with what, as I said earlier, that we have gone into two decades of kind of disorder. So I think this climate that we are in, it looks like we are in a transition period where things are settling down slowly but surely. And as Ambassador Wolers has said, you know, bangy life has come back from some time. It's safe and so on and so forth. So are some cities in the interior. So I think this will really help the diaspora to think. And they are the dual citizens also in numbers if I got it well. So this is something that would be important to look at for the near future. I think what is being done now will give confidence for those to come. If it's acceptable to the panelists, we'll take two more questions if they're brief. There's not much of a chance to talk about CAR. So I'd like to give us that chance even if we run over a bit. If the questions and the answers can be brief. And we'll see if there's time for one more question as well. But the gentleman in the second row. Dave Peterson, National Endowment for Democracy. Just wondering if you could give us a little bit more of a sense of the political environment currently in the country. In particular, the state of the independent media and then the state of civil society to what extent are there organizations like the League of Sun traffic and the Duct alum that are still viable. And then finally, what is the ability of the political parties to work freely. How much political space is there for them to conduct an election campaign? Maybe what we'll do is we'll try to bundle questions so that we can answer them together and wrap up. And there is a question in the front row here on the table. Yes, hello. We can't hear them. Ah, okay. You're not able to hear the microphone. Pardon me. The question that you just received was about the role of regional organizations and human rights organizations, if I'm not mistaken. Independent press. So society and the political parties have so much freedom. How much freedom independent organizations, civil society as it were, including political parties have. And then we'll have one more question and we'll bundle the two together and wrap the gentleman at the table here. Sir. Okay, I am Ambassador of Central African Republic here. And I have one question for Ambassador Groles. Two weeks ago in New York, President Boise made a proposition about reinforcement of operational capacity of our security forces. And they're financing by international community. Thank you. So this will be our last question. And I would open it maybe to Ambassador Groles to start. Yes, the first question on civil society, press and so on. I think they have in the Central African Republic a vibrant civil society. When I go there, I always meet particularly the women's organizations are very active. But you feel that they're still weak. But they have good ideas and they deserve, I think, our support. We associate them with our work. This is much appreciated. And I think it's important in a peacebuilding effort that you not only talk to the government. Of course, the government is our main interlocutor. But that you talk also to others and civil society and women organizations are an important interlocutor. And I learned a lot from these women talking about the way in which the society is organized, their role, their place and so on. Because so often in Africa, women have a very important place also economically. But they can't express it in the formal structures of the country. The press is free in the Central African Republic. There's a lot of small newspapers, particularly in Bangui. And I'm reading them. You can read them there on the web. And so it's if you want to keep in touch with what's going on. If I may say so, I think there's still scope for improving, let me say, the quality. Because I sense that these newspapers are working with very small, small budgets. And that the journalists are doing a lot on a free basis. But it's good. It's free. There's a free press. And that is good. I mean, this is a personal comment, perhaps sometimes a bit too many rumors. And then rumors give rise to certain truths. But the press in any case is free. And that I think is important. And that's not always the case in these places. On the political parties, perhaps I can ask Madame Zewide to. Because she of course is on the ground. And of course I have an idea of the political parties that are now part of the political spectrum. And that part of this political, inclusive political dialogue. They signed this agreement end of 2008. And as was said, I mean, they made very good recommendations. There's still a lot to be done in terms of implementing the recommendations. But in itself, they were so good that we incorporated these recommendations in our program of work of the Peace Building Commission. But I think we need to give perhaps a new push together with our Central African friends so that these recommendations become a reality. There have been some delays. On the ambassador's question of the operational capacity of the FACA, the Central African Army, of course the Central African Army needs to be strengthened in its operational capacity. It needs better funding and the military and the police also need a better training. And they deserve that. And the Central Africans deserve to have a better paid army and police force. And that is what SSR is about. And that is one of the priorities we are working on. Now, when it comes to the withdrawal of Minerkat by the end of the year, this is now on the agenda of the Security Council. There was a debate a bit a month ago in the Security Council on this, but I mean, there were no conclusions where drawn. Last week, as I understand, but Madam Zewdeck can probably confirm this, there was a kind of military mission of the UN in Bangui and they traveled to the different areas, and particularly the northeast of the country. I don't know what their conclusions are, but the Security Council will have to take a decision on that. But my answer to you, Mr. Ambassador, is yes, we need to do something about the armed forces of the Central African Republic. We know that this is very high on the agenda of your government. The same goes for the further police force. And I'm confident that the international community will come up with ideas. Madam Zewdeck. Yes, thank you very much. On the first question very quickly, I also have the feeling that the civil society here is very vibrant, active, and really participate in the life of the nation. There are quite a number of local NGOs, youth, women, and so on and so forth. We are helping them really in the limited capacities of ours. And I think they really contribute to participate in the daily life of the country. So they have to be encouraged. They have to be helped definitely. As far as the press is concerned, the press also is very dynamic.  And we really need them with interest. And the press is free as far as I can see it. They can say whatever they want. And so we haven't seen any problem here again. Of course, there is an issue of capacity where we will have to help them really. As far as the political parties are concerned, again, there are about 50 of them. But more in numbers than in terms of presence in the country and really being an effective political party. I don't even know how many of them have a real program as far as political parties are concerned. But those who are recognized are around 50. So I would say that they are playing their role. And this is how we see it from here with no major problems. Now, on the second point, as it has been said earlier the Secretary General has made two proposals for Security Council. One has been retained and that is reinforcing the capacities of the FACAS, of the National Army. So this is what has been decided and trying to see how this can be done. We have tried to help in assessing the need of the Army and that has been done. And I know that our Central African friends are trying to contact also to meet bilateral partners in order to get any regional partners to get any kind of assistance that might be possible. But the most important thing is that on the 20th of this month the Security Council will meet on a minor cut and we will see what the Council might decide on that on the way forward and what will be also our role as Binooka. But of course, building the capacities of the Security and Army Forces is part of the SSR, mid and long-term program of the SSR. That's why we're going to give special attention to that. It's very important. The government, the country needs it. The level of the FACAS is very low and the country is huge. And to combat any threat who more than the National Army can do the job. So I think it's very important to give them the capacity to do it both in the South East, in the North East and in that. So we will see what the Security Council will decide but of course, building their capacities is very important. The country has been going through a series of peacekeeping experiences. The one that has been cited earlier, Mikopax is here and also contributing to the peace building and I'm sure that they will also have a role in this training and helping the capacity of the FACAS. So this is what I could say. Of course, there was a mission on the ground from DPKO last week. I saw them during the weekend but they are going to report to the Security Council. So we will see what will come up from there. It's to assess the security situation in the North East after the withdrawal of Minerkat. Thank you. Ambassador Zude, thank you very much. Ambassador Woolers, will you have a final word for us? In that case, I would like to thank all of our panelists. Ambassador Zude from Bangi, Ambassador Woolers and Ambassador Kral. It's been a fascinating panel. Comprehensive information, thank you very much. That has not been discussed as much as it should. So thank you for illuminating that for us and thank you all for attending.


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I I had skulls all over my poster or all over my notebooks posters tattoos See there there right there But this looks awesome and there's on the cork Crystal head vodka with the logo very nice here on the bottom crystal head vodka This is 750 milliliter 40% alcohol Very cool. I cannot wait to try this I may film my wife and I both trying it For the first time later tonight right now she's in making my birthday steak So here this it comes with this it came the it's an elastic band Looks like it's Got a bead or something on the end holding it together But crystal head vodka for the creative spirit 12 international gold metals Here we have distilled four times from the highest quality locally sourced Canadian corn Silky smooth with a hint of sweetness and vanilla both vodkas are filtered through Hercuma diamonds and blended with pristine Newfoundland water Then over here we've got crystal head Aurora distilled five times From English wheat each bottle is unique due to the decor Due to the decoration process a crisp drier and bolder vodka Both vodkas are additive free and gluten-free use your head drink responsibly copyright 2020 crystal head the bottle and design are registered trademarks of Glove fill incorporated to the creative class We are the purest and smoothest vodka made with creativity that provides inspiration to dream Build and make unlike other vodka brands. We see the world differently without limitations We catapult imagination into reality crystal head vodka the skull bottle Crystal head vodka.com. So there's that I'm gonna set this to the side so that once this bottle is empty I can just put it back on there and set it on my ghost post one of my ghost busters display shelves so anyway as I said, I'm getting ready to eat some steak but I will come back here in just a little bit and and film That would be my dog getting into something and my wife fighting with him But I will be back here in a little bit and we'll film a taste test of Crystal head vodka. So here's the birthday present that the wife and kids got for me today It's Egon Spangler's Neutrona wand. Pretty cool. It comes with the stand, it comes with the hook, and it's turned up. All right guys, and we're back with our taste test of the crystal head vodka Got my beautiful wife Elizabeth here with me It's just got a cork. We'll be serving it over ice The stem it's really smooth Very slight hint of vanilla, but not a whole lot. I have not drank vodka in a very long time How long has it been for you? A couple months. I'm more of a whiskey drink. I'm sure this would be a lot better If it was chilled, but yeah, it's not it doesn't have that strong aftertaste that most vodkas have. I could definitely get drunk up here So anyway And you said it was, what, 50 bucks? Yeah. For a bottle this size? 750 milliliters $50 US currency So it's not cheap Okay, so If you haven't done so yet Give it a try Yeah, I like it. Won't be able to drink it all the time, but yes, Sally Anyway, I've been Shannon. That's been Elizabeth. And I'm nobody.  Hi everyone I want to take a few minutes to tell you about my first book which was just released Jack the Ripper the man behind the blade available now on Amazon Barnes and Noble and author house Dot-com it's currently available in hardback and paperback format and will soon be available in e-book and audio book Jack the Ripper the man behind the blade contains 20 chapters of evidence I have gone through to present to you my theory as to the identity of the Ripper of Whitechapel for over 130 years Saucy Jack's identity has gone undiscovered Until now and he's the last person anyone would ever suspect I've long held a fascination of Jack the Ripper and because of this became intrigued by true crime My first high school English paper back in 1998 was on the murders and the many suspects Since then I've siphoned through data in order to learn the savage monsters identity My time as a psychology major in college and the multiple sociology classes I've taken has helped me to uncover the truth and it's much stranger than people believe Jack the Ripper the man behind the blade now available By today If you enjoyed that video make sure you hit the subscribe button right there So you stay up-to-date on all things geek culture Also, go ahead and check out one of these two playlists on a side for more videos just like the one you just watched I'm Shannon for Comic NTV the only place on YouTube where all geek culture collides. 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