> Empire Burlesque - > > Written by Chris Floyd Friday, 07 August 2009 21:55 > > clip -- > > > There is apparently no path blazed by George W. Bush that Barack Obama will > not eagerly follow. Surges, assassinations, indefinite detention, defense of > torture, senseless wars and rampant militarism -- in just a few short > months, we've seen it all. > > To this dismaying record of complicity and continuity, we can add an > increasing direct involvement in the horrific, hydra-headed conflict in > Somalia, whose latest round of fiery hell was instigated by the > American-backed invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia in late 2006. Under Bush, > U.S. forces were deeply and directly enmeshed in the murderous action, > dropping bombs on fleeing refugees, "renditioning" other refugees to the > tender mercies of Ethiopia's notorious prisons, and even sending in death > squads to clean up after missile strikes and bombings. (For background, see > "Silent Surge: Bipartisan Terror War Intensifies in > Somalia.<http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/3/1619-silent-surge-bipartisan-terror-war-intensifies-in-somalia.html> > ") > > The result of that intervention has been the deaths of thousands of > innocent people, the displacement and ruination of hundreds of thousands, > and the creation of what many experts call the most dire humanitarian crisis > in the world today. It has also resulted in the empowerment of violent > sectarian groups and criminal gangs, who have stepped forth to fill the gaps > of the fledgling state that the American-Ethiopian "regime change" operation > destroyed. > > So what do we see from the administration of "hope and change"? We see -- > wait for it -- a new "surge" of direct American involvement in the war, with > Obama's most ferocious war hawk -- sorry, his top diplomat -- Hillary "The > Obliterator" Clinton leading the charge. As Jason Ditz at > Antiwar.com<http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/06/clinton-pledges-us-support-for-floundering-somali-govt/>reports, > Clinton has pledged to double the recently announced supply of > American weapons to Somalia's "transitional government" -- a weak reed > cobbled together by Western interests from various CIA-paid warlords and > other factions, and now headed, ironically, by the former leader of the > aforementioned fledgling state overthrown by Washington. (Yes, it *is*hard to > tell the players without a scorecard -- or even with one. But if you > follow the weapons and the money, you can usually tell who is temporarily on > which side at any given moment.) > > full -- > > < > http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1813-tons-of-imperial-fun-hellfire-hillary-pours-oil-on-somalias-fire.html > > > > > ________________________________________________ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
