Free Republic

He spent nearly three decades in prison. Known the world over as a freedom fighter and an ambassador of social justice, today Nelson Mandela is an icon whose death in 2013 at age 95 sparked mourning around the globe. President Barack Obama and a high-profile official delegation that included former presidents Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton attended the memorial service, televised everywhere on the planet. But—if a former State Department official and reported Central Intelligence Agency operative can be believed—the U.S. government aided in Mandela’s 1962 capture and thus bears some responsibility for the 27 years he...

Nelson Mandela at the Communist Party’s first public meeting in post-apartheid South Africa, 1990. You're not supposed to speak ill of the dead, so I figured I'd get a head start.One of the landmark events of my Gen X youth was the 11-hour, internationally televised “Free Nelson Mandela” concert in 1988. Because, come on: how could you not be anti-apartheid? It was a no-brainer, risk-free cause, the type you could support without having to think about it too much or inviting unpopularity or controversy, right? Actually, no. Lots of big-name musicians who now boast of being on that concert roster...