With no update on Mandela's condition, friend urges: 'It's time to let him go'

[DonViejo]

Source: CNN


From Faith Karimi and Robyn Curnow, CNN

updated 12:50 PM EDT, Sun June 9, 2013

-snip-

'We will release him'

On Sunday, the front page of South Africa's Sunday Times read, "It's time to let him go."

The paper quoted Mandela's longtime friend Andrew Mlangeni as saying that the time may have come for South Africans to say goodbye to the beloved icon.

"You have been coming to the hospital too many times. Quite clearly you are not well and there is a possibility you might not be well again," Mlangeni told the paper.

"Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow. We will say thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too," Mlangeni said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/09/world/africa/south-africa-mandela/index.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. It is hard to see that happening...

But the time does come.

Pass gently, Mr.Mandela...

[Delphinus]

2. It seems way too soon.

{gulp}

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. Not when you consider time served.

[Malik Agar]

9. Sadly all good things must end...

I had the privilege of visiting SA and seeing both his childhood home and his prison cell. I truly appreciate the sacrifices he made in order to help his fellow man. I wish him the best and thank him for his 90+ years of service to humanity.

[jwirr]

3. We should release him but that does not mean we will not cry for his lose. He was a real hero.

[XemaSab]

5. There's no way he wouldn't be considered a terrorist in the US

Dude would be in Gitmo.

[David__77]

6. Indeed, the US did consider him a terrorist. US was pro-apartheid.

Mandela, along with the ANC alliance, brought down apartheid through waging an armed struggle with the support of its friends in the socialist countries, and countries like Libya. I'm thankful that Mandela never forgot the true friends of the South African people.

[Mika]

10. No truer friend does Mandela have than Fidel Castro.

Both are giants of their time.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/02/20/castromandela_gallery__556x400,0.jpg


BTW he is on the terra list ...

[div class="excerpt" style="margin-left: 2em; border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0.4615em; box-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #999999;"]
WASHINGTON — Nobel Peace Prize winner and international symbol of freedom Nelson Mandela is flagged on U.S. terrorist watch lists and needs special permission to visit the USA. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls the situation "embarrassing," and some members of Congress vow to fix it.
The requirement applies to former South African leader Mandela and other members of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC), the once-banned anti-Apartheid organization

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-30-watchlist_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[ColesCountyDem]

7. May your passage be gentle, as you go 'into that good night'.

"Lord, make me an instrument of
your peace.
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grants that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as
to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning
that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying
that we are born to eternal life."

-- St. Francis of Assisi

President Mandela's life has been the living illustration of St. Francis' prayer. Go in peace, Mr. President.

[davidpdx]

8. A very tough decision to make

He has lived a long life and done many great things for South Africa and the world. A human body can't only withstand so much though, and like us he is a mortal. He certainly deserves to be free of pain and suffering. Whichever way they decide I support.