By William Reed, for Business Exchange
Saying that "It's time for Gadhafi to go," President Barack Obama joined a coalition of colonialist countries to invade Africa. Ignoring protests from leaders of the African Union, Obama partnered with NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) league of neo-colonialists to “get Gadhafi”.
Black Americans would do well not to drink from the same cup of Kool Aid as has Obama. We should be aware that Western media’s characterizations of Gadhafi as “crazy” and “a brutal dictator” deserve due scrutiny. Mainstream media in NATO countries have played a major role in demonization of Gadhafi to get the acceptance across the world these imperialists’ intervention in a civil matter.
Black Americans would do well to not to drink from the same cup of Kool Aid as Obama; who ignoring the call of the African Union, joined with old colonialist powers to "get Gadhafi”. The West’s mainstream media is enjoined in telling the same ole story: that Gadhafi “is crazy”, “a brutal dictator”, that “this is not about oil” and that “we will be in and out quickly”. The corporate media has played a superb role piling on in the demonization of Gadhafi toward getting the world’s outright acceptance of the imperialists’ intervention in an internal and civil matter.
Cleveland Congressman Dennis Kucinich said Obama has committed “an impeachable offense”. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Obama should have a meeting with Gadhafi and that “you can’t order him to step down and get out, who the hell you think you are?”
Obama failed to notice the African Union’s caution that “Libya’s territorial integrity should be respected” and that “outsiders have armed Libya’s rebels to get access to the country’s oil”. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe called Libya “an African issue that should get its solutions from Africans and not from Europe and America” Mugabe was joined by South African President Jacob Zuma in saying that “the arming of the rebels in Libya by the Americans and other foreign western powers is a direct attack on African sovereignty and a clear demonstration of foreign interference”.
Where Libya’s revolts fuelled by economic issues as the media would have us believe? Black Americans are as foolish as Obama if they try to perceive what is happening in Libya within a Eurocentric perspective. Libya's system and the battle now taking place are outside of Westerners’ imagination. Libya’s young people are well dressed, fed and educated. Libyans earn more per capita than the British. Libya's wealth has been fairly spread throughout society. Every Libyan gets free, and often excellent, education, medical and health services. New colleges and hospitals are impressive by any international standard. All Libyans have a house or a flat, a car and most have televisions, video recorders and telephones.
Gadhafi has been target of aggression from the West since the 1980s. News coverage by Western media is oversimplified, misleading and stacked toward getting rid of Gadhafi. An array of anti-Gadhafi spokespersons, most living outside Libya, has been paraded in front of us. The media and their selected commentators have done their best to manufacture an opinion that Gadhafi is just another tyrant amassing large sums of money in Swiss bank accounts. In contrast to Western depictions, Libya utilized revenue from its oil to develop the country and its people. Instead of letting people know that Libya has one of the world’s highest standards of living, Western media and Obama will lead you to believe “we need to go save them”.
Before they endorse this move by Obama “to save the world” through military might, Blacks should ask themselves: “Which country has the bloodiest history of genocide, slavery, invasions, coups, installing and backing brutal regimes, bombings, massacres and mass destruction, including the use of nuclear weapons? Which government imprisons its own people, in particular its minorities, at the highest rate in the world? Do we want to continue these practices? America’s first Black President is proving himself “one of the boys” when it comes to participating in, and being a part of, imperialists’ interventions.
(William Reed is available for speaking/seminar projects via BaileyGroup.org)
