“Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one shouldn't trust the evidence of one's eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest mission civilizatrice. ”
—Edward W. Said, Orientalism
Recommended Read(s)
- Ashis Nandy’s The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism.
- Vinay Lal’s The Concentration Camp and Development: The Pasts and Future of Genocide
- Vijay Prashad’s Droneland
- Chapati Mystery’s The E Word
- A historical truth deliberately ignored: America’s midwifing of violent transnational Jihad during the Cold War.
- Beyond Power/Knowledge: An exploration of the relation of power, ignorance and stupidity.
From my post on Wordpress: Challenging the Empire’s Narrative.
“Historian William Blum recently documented that, since 1945, the US has attempted to overthrow more than 50 governments, has grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries and has dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 others.”
—Passage to Ecuador: Chomsky, Assange, sham justice, sham democracies. (via London Progressive Journal)
Iraq has been torn to pieces by sectarianism since the US invasion and occupation, Libya is in turmoil in the aftermath of NATO intervention, Pakistan is being destabilised and a proxy war is being stoked by the US and its allies in Syria.
Filed under: Not surprised.
