In the words of Panzer:
"The US forms a quasi-neo colonial regime and gives large sectors of teh countries over to corporate interests to exploit the area and then has to begin warring against anti-occupation forces belonging to the African natives who want to be fucking free for once, while putting in a 'democracy' friendly to their interests and with a president from a tribe that everyone else hates because the US doesn't understand how Africa works. Half the administration is even the same as the German one. At least unless they get purged, which might be an even worse idea since the Germans are the only ones who at least have experience doing what the US is trying to do. Also ban all members of teh African SS and collabs which is even more genius since there were thousands in Zentralafrika alone."
The only purpose of the mandates is extending free markets and American-led neo-colonial exploitation to Africa, all over half of sub-Saharan Africa and 200 million natives who want nothing more than legitimate freedom. "True, free democracries" are not in US interests. What is in America's interests are pro-US strongmen. Take Nobusuke Kishi, who the US set up as PM of Japan post-WWII, an active collaborator of Unit 731, architect of Manchukuo's mass-industrial slave system and infamous war criminal. This is a cold war, all of the superpowers are going to be knee-deep in horrific practices if it means the support of their interests. I think its great that TNO doesn't portray the US as Africa's white saviors, when they weren't anything close to that. I know some South Americans who would have... strong opinions about the US being portrayed as a completely benevolent and freedom-loving force, and I can't disagree.
There is just so much wrong with this I....... sigh......
For one we are talking about a period of time where the Press Media and the United States Government are not on the best of terms, we'd not be far removed from the Nixon Administration who caused an uproar for literally supporting a strongman in Guyana, and you're telling me the subsequent Administrations are going to do the exact same thing and expect that the public will react differently? That isn't even touching on the fact that the Media is going to be on the ground in the Mandates talking with the locals, and it would rather quickly become apparent if they were being sidelined by the American-lead Provisional Authority, or that their cause would not be taken up by African American voters who'd make up key components of the Republican-Democratic or Kennedy led NPP Coalitions. A neo-colonial venture simply isn't sustainable when it is going to have this much attention and exposure to the greater public, or a dedicated sizable minority that would go nuclear if this were attempted.
This isn't to say it is all wrong, as Panzer does touch on the theme of De-Nazification that I mentioned and how it would cause a lot of problems on the Administrative side, and the OFN would be hard-pressed to fill those roles with their own people. I do believe though that he is actually being too lenient in terms of the number of Germans in the Administration tough, especially as something akin to the original policy enacted in the American Occupation Zone of Germany would be followed and, personally, I doubt that there would be so many Germans in Afrika as to inundate the system and prompt its "simplification". The Administrative void would be mitigated by European or African contacts in the former Reichskommissariats that the CIA may have been in contact with, insurgents and the like who cooperated with the OFN in the War and could autonomously manage certain areas on the behalf of the OFN Provisional Government, thereby establishing a foundation of sorts for the future. I doubt other collaborators would be treated as harshly as the Germans however, again both because they may be necessary to fill the void left by the Germans themselves and because there will be pressure from outside groups to grant them leniency, Canadians and Australians vouching for the English for example.
I don't feel as though Nobusuke Kishi is a legitimate example of what you are trying to convey here; Kishi certainly was a favored candidate by the United States that is certainly true, but that was only after he had emerged as a contender for the Liberal Democratic Party leadership in '55, and as far as I'm aware the United States had no part in engineering his rise or in supporting his tenure as Prime Minister. Now there are certainly plenty of examples of the United States stepping in and "pushing" regime change in a pro-American direction, but it has to be remembered that outside the America's this was done because there was a fear they would fall into the Soviet sphere; how likely is it that the former parts of Afrika would fall back into German orbit, or that they may turn towards the Japanese, in comparison? I can certainly see some under-the-table dealings here and there to grease the wheels certainly, but I don't see the same kind of zeal in pursuing more extreme options unless there is clear evidence a country might be shifting.
Even on the political front you'd be beginning with a version of the Iraqi Governing Council where all the ethnic and religious minorities would be represented rather than a prop strongman (The OFN Administrator has that role), but those familiar with the early governments of Post-Invasion Iraq can recall that they were capable of causing more than a few problems on their own.
All and all, the present draft doesn't work with TNO's global scene or with America's political scene.
What bothers me the most is the part when the US will always automatically declare war on Angola when Schenck releases it during the SAW, instead of either allying with them to push out the Nazis, or at least, you know.... NOT declare war against a native independence movement that they share a common enemy with (And most likely funded themselves via the CIA if South African took the 'Support everyone' focus).
This would not fly no, and again I'd expect rioting among the African-American community once the Media is able to get a story out. The closest justification I can think of is if they were to somehow tie them to the African National Congress partisan movement, but that wouldn't work if the OFN has already been supporting them.
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To be clear, I fully understand what Panzer and the TNO team are going with here, but it is of my opinion that they have gone more than a bit overboard here in trying to establish some shades of grey with the OFN Mandates.
