By Alex Lantier - 16 January 2013

The war in Mali is a brutal imperialist war, fought by France in the heart of its resource-rich, former West African colonial empire. The justifications cynically advanced by France — that it is a war for “democracy,” or to restore Mali’s “territorial integrity,” or to fight “terrorism” — are shot through with contradictions to the point of incoherency.

By Eric Walberg - January 7th, 2013

Not only do Canada’s natives empower all Canadians against the 1%, they also help us understand Canada’s actions in Palestine and Iran, countries whose people love Canada and root for our natives, whose struggle against the imperial order is their struggle too. Victory against Canada’s Mubarak helps Egyptians shake off the legacy of neoliberalism, helps Palestinians in their struggle against Jewish colons in Israel, and Iranians dying in hospitals for lack of medicines due to the embargo intended to crush their independence.

When professional observers of global business practices are currently critically examining the “land grabbing” by some political actors who had previously escaped scrutiny, and feel reminded of a “bygone era of colonialism,” this is, regarded objectively, a bad joke. On the other hand, it is also an index that in our free economic world order not everybody is allowed to do just anything.

It's more than about oil. It's for vast African riches. Resource/mineral wars define America's agenda.

By Yves Engler - December 20th, 2012

Since taking over from the US/French/Canadian troops that helped oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and thousands of other elected officials the UN force has been a tool of political repression. MINUSTAH backed up a violent political pacification campaign waged by the coup government’s police force against poor neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince from March 2004-May 2006. It also participated directly in attempts to pacify the slums...that each left at least a dozen civilians dead in Cité Soleil...Aside from political repression UN troops have been accused of various abuses ranging from having sex with minors to sodomizing boys.

By Justin Podur - December 20, 2012

...[I]s it unfair to call Haiti, a country that suffered 30 years of classic dictatorship under the Duvaliers from the 1950s to the 1980s, a dictatorship today?...When the institutions that govern Haiti today are examined, it is clear that the label ‘dictatorship’ applies. Haitians have no effective say over their own economic and political affairs. Their right to assemble and organize politically is sharply limited. Human rights violations are routine and go unpunished. Popular political parties are effectively banned from running.

By Joseph Kishore - WSWS

The United States and the major European powers this week have taken a number of steps to more directly intervene in the bloody sectarian civil war they have stoked in Syria, with the aim of bringing down the government of Bashar al-Assad...Syria — which has seen tens of thousands killed and faces economic catastrophe as a result of the US-backed operation — is now the latest in a long series of countries to face the prospect of American bombardment.

By YVES ENGLER - Counterpunch Weekend Edition

After Hamas won legislative elections in January 2006 the Conservatives made Canada the first country...to cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA). When Hamas officials were ousted from the Palestinian unity government in June 2007, the Conservatives immediately contributed $8 million “in direct support to the new government.” Then in December 2007 the Conservatives announced a five-year $300 million aid program to the Palestinians, which was largely designed to serve Israel’s interests.

By Finian Cunningham - Dissident Voice

The brutal irony is that Britain’s reign of death and destruction abroad is to be paid for by a reign of death and destruction imposed through austerity on its own population over the next six years.

By Yves Engler - December 11, 2012

Thank you Julian Fantino...The International Co-operation Minister caused a ruckus last week when he said that the Canadian International Development Agency should actively promote the country’s interests abroad rather than primarily focus on poverty reduction...While some commentators suggested the former Toronto police chief stuck his foot in his mouth, we should thank Fantino for his comments because they raise some important questions that Canadians seldom talk about.

Citizens in the countries of the west...are of course caught up in “our” engagement with Syrian issues by their media, i.e. supplied with war propaganda so that they understand which side deserves “our” support and which side death. This pre-fixed partisanship selects the images and stories – always showing victims on the side of the rebels and the civilian population, and looking for perpetrators on the side of the regime. In this way, the reader is engrossed in the partisan perspective of the reporting.

By Bill Van Auken - WSWS

...Al Qaeda forces inside Syria are acting as US proxies in the war for regime-change. They have been armed to the teeth by the CIA and Washington’s Arab allies, particularly Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and unleashed in a brutal sectarian civil war aimed at destroying the country and creating the conditions for the imposition of a US puppet regime...The Syrian events, like the Libyan war before them, have served to expose the US “war on terrorism” as an utter fraud.

By JEAN BRICMONT - December 04, 2012

The fundamental ambiguity of the anti-anti-war left lies in the question as to who are the “we” who are supposed to intervene and protect...Intervening means intervening militarily and for that, one needs the appropriate military means. It is perfectly obvious that the Western left does not possess those means...So in reality the actual message of the anti-anti-war left is: “Please, oh Americans, make war not love!” Better still...[as] the Americans are leery of sending in ground troops, the message amounts to nothing other than asking the U.S. Air Force to go bomb countries where human rights violations are reported to be taking place.

She's favored to replace Hillary Clinton next year as secretary of state. Obama calls her "extraordinary." She matches the current incumbent's bullying, bluster and arrogance.

By Chris Marsden - WSWS

Israel’s ability to lay siege to Gaza depended upon the backing of Washington. The belated insistence of the Obama administration on a ceasefire focused on preventing a threatened ground invasion. Its stance was motivated by the strategic goal of securing regime change in Syria and isolating Iran in order to establish undisputed hegemony over the oil-rich Middle East.