Dedicated to the Restoration of Progressive Democracy
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Three Ways Stephen Harper Aided al Qaeda in Mali
Scott Taylor of Espirit de Corps magazine indicts Stephen Harper for repeatedly aiding al Qaeda in Mali and now turning his back on the mess he helped create.
Do the West never learn from history? Every time some chinless fuckwit decides to get his "soldier on" and try and help we invariably mess it up. If there is one thing we in the West should all recognise it is the common hatred of us that unifies everyone, everywhere else. Sides that up until the point of our involvement, were intractable foes that wouldn't even sit down and talk to one another, will, at the slightest inkling of our involvement put aside their differences and fight alongside each other against the common enemy. Any leader of a faction that claims we will be welcomed is likely a despot who is playing their last trump card to hang onto power and possibly life. Conflicts in S America, C. America, the Caribbean, SE Asia, Africa and the M.East provide enough examples of this but still we think otherwise. Before any Western leader should be given the authority to deploy troops abroad they should be made to pass a test on all the miserable failures in history and then asked to if they still want to do that. As an added incentive to take making their decision seriously they should be asked to lead the action personally, then we'll see if it is necessary.
That is indeed his way, Owen. In Afghanistan he found it necessary to keep moving the goalposts to define-down the notions of victory he had originally boastfully prescribed.
No, Harebell, we do not learn from history. We make history although it does usually turn out to be a steaming pile of ...
Waldo, you're right. al Qaeda played a significant role in the civil war and ouster of Gadhaffi. That should have been foreseen but wasn't. It was why I (and somewhat later people like Gwynne Dyer) advocated that the Egyptian army be sent into Libya to rout the dictator when the unrest began. al Qaeda was itching for a way into that part of North Africa and said as much. Egypt and Libya share a common border that is spanned my the same tribes. It was in Egypt's interests to end the Libyan civil war quickly to secure their own western border.
Sadly we settled for a half-assed air war instead and, in the process, married the Tuareg with Islamist extremism. Well done, Steve.
Failed states are easier to exploit economically. Taking down Hussein, Assad and Gaddafi, states that had highly controlled and successful economies, fits in with the goals of disaster capitalists.
If Harper is consistent about one thing, Mound, it is this: He takes credit for what others have done and ignores the damage he has caused.
ReplyDeleteDo the West never learn from history? Every time some chinless fuckwit decides to get his "soldier on" and try and help we invariably mess it up.
ReplyDeleteIf there is one thing we in the West should all recognise it is the common hatred of us that unifies everyone, everywhere else. Sides that up until the point of our involvement, were intractable foes that wouldn't even sit down and talk to one another, will, at the slightest inkling of our involvement put aside their differences and fight alongside each other against the common enemy.
Any leader of a faction that claims we will be welcomed is likely a despot who is playing their last trump card to hang onto power and possibly life.
Conflicts in S America, C. America, the Caribbean, SE Asia, Africa and the M.East provide enough examples of this but still we think otherwise.
Before any Western leader should be given the authority to deploy troops abroad they should be made to pass a test on all the miserable failures in history and then asked to if they still want to do that.
As an added incentive to take making their decision seriously they should be asked to lead the action personally, then we'll see if it is necessary.
One must not forget that the rebels who liberated Libya (and are now active in Syria) are also Al-Quaida.
ReplyDeleteWhere's Waldo
That is indeed his way, Owen. In Afghanistan he found it necessary to keep moving the goalposts to define-down the notions of victory he had originally boastfully prescribed.
ReplyDeleteNo, Harebell, we do not learn from history. We make history although it does usually turn out to be a steaming pile of ...
Waldo, you're right. al Qaeda played a significant role in the civil war and ouster of Gadhaffi. That should have been foreseen but wasn't. It was why I (and somewhat later people like
Gwynne Dyer) advocated that the Egyptian army be sent into Libya to rout the dictator when the unrest began. al Qaeda was itching for a way into that part of North Africa and said as much. Egypt and Libya share a common border that is spanned my the same tribes. It was in Egypt's interests to end the Libyan civil war quickly to secure their own western border.
Sadly we settled for a half-assed air war instead and, in the process, married the Tuareg with Islamist extremism. Well done, Steve.
Failed states are easier to exploit economically. Taking down Hussein, Assad and Gaddafi, states that had highly controlled and successful economies, fits in with the goals of disaster capitalists.
ReplyDelete