[Peace] Fwd: Anti-Anti-Imperialism: Gilbert Achcar’s Leftist Imperialism with Caveats

[karen]

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> Roger D. Harris <https://mintpressnews.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3b33b8b02bdc833e727219156&id=ac40636ef5&e=9c85e5de6e>: That such noble intentions regarding “responsibility to protect” inexorably unravel is attributable to the fact that R2P is nothing more than an ideological defense of the imperial project.
> 
> Legitimizing imperialism
> Achcar, by his own admission, supported the U.S./NATO imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya, which quickly and predictably morphed into a full war of Western imperial conquest against one of the then most prosperous African nations. Today Libya is a failed state, where black African slaves are openly traded and military factions contend for state power.
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> Achcar’s alibi <https://mintpressnews.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3b33b8b02bdc833e727219156&id=83fdef5e44&e=9c85e5de6e> is that he warned “there are not enough safeguards in the wording of the [no-fly] resolution to bar its use for imperialist purposes,” adding that he favored the imperialist action as a measure for the “protection of civilians and not ‘regime change.’” This is an example of leftist anti-anti-imperialism; i.e., supporting imperialism but with caveats.
> 
> Achcar wished for a democratic people’s uprising in Libya rather than Western imposed regime-change. So, while he echoed the main imperialist talking points about the “brutal dictator” and his “regime,” he hoped for a nice imperialism that would achieve regime change by “democratic” means. He admits to no responsibility for his propagandizing, which, whether it was his intention or not, foreshadowed the ensuing disaster.
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> Behind Achcar’s leftish rhetoric is a flawed belief that somehow the imperialist actions of the U.S. and its allies may be truly humanitarian. In short, the U.S. purportedly has a “responsibility to protect” (R2P). Achcar championed R2P in the former Yugoslavia, Libya, and Syria, where his article lauds how the U.S. bombing “rescued” people on the ground, even though in every instance the outcomes were neither democratic nor humanitarian.
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> Read the full analysis <https://mintpressnews.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3b33b8b02bdc833e727219156&id=49496aa32b&e=9c85e5de6e> on MintPress News. 
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> In solidarity,
> Roger D. Harris
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