Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Mali: Disregarded Lessons in ‘Humanitarian’ Intervention

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, January 25, 2013

Mali: Disregarded Lessons in ‘Humanitarian’ Intervention

Click here to access article by Jeremy R. Hammond from Foreign Policy Journal.

I believe that the author gets the facts regarding Mali correctly, but fails to draw the proper conclusions. I don't think that Empire agents under the guise of "humanitarian intervention" disregard lessons; I think they are deliberately sowing chaos in Africa to justify intervening there and establishing permanent military bases, all, of course, directed toward the ultimate goal of exploiting African resources. They are not stupid.

Western powers are engaged in yet another military intervention, this time in Mali, a country whose troubles are in no small part a consequence of the U.S./NATO war on Libya to overthrow the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. And yet policymakers and political commentators are proving as disciplined as ever in disregarding the obvious lessons.