SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Western Powers Continue to Reap War on Terror's Blowback
France: 'Our goal is the total reconquest of Mali'
Jan 21, 2013
Cite terrorism, bomb, fuel terrorism, repeat.
While blowback from Libya is felt in Mali, and from Mali in Algeria, recent comments from British and French leaders lay bare western powers' perception of conflict in Islamic lands through the lense of the war on terror that sees "terrorists" that must be stopped through military force with little thought given to the price that will be paid for the involvement.
As France continues to drop bombs on its former colony of Mali, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian left no doubt of his country's goal there.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian: "The goal is the total reconquest of Mali.""The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets" of resistance, Le Drian said Sunday on France 5 television.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the hostage situation at the BP gas plant in Algeria was a "stark reminder," saying events there are part of "a global threat" and "require a global response."
And, being part of the war on terror, Cameron explains, it has no end point, as he hints as all-out force to be used:
It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months. [...]
What we face is an extremist, Islamist, al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group. Just as we had to deal with that in Pakistan and in Afghanistan so the world needs to come together to deal with this threat in north Africa.
It is linked to al-Qaeda, it wants to destroy our way of life, it believes in killing as many people as it can. We need to work with others to defeat the terrorists and to close down the ungoverned spaces where they thrive with all the means that we have. [emphasis mine]
British Prime Minister David Cameron: "It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months."But looking at how 'we dealt with that' in Afghanistan would be wise, The Independent's Owen Jones writes:
It is conceivable that this intervention could - for a time - achieve its goals of pushing back the Islamist militias, and shore up Mali's government. But the Libyan war was seen as a success, too; and here we are now engaging with its catastrophic blowback. In Afghanistan, Western forces remain engaged in a never-ending war which has already helped destabilised Pakistan, leading to drone attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians and unleashed further chaos. The price of Western interventions may often be ignored by our media, but it is still paid nonetheless.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Cite terrorism, bomb, fuel terrorism, repeat.
While blowback from Libya is felt in Mali, and from Mali in Algeria, recent comments from British and French leaders lay bare western powers' perception of conflict in Islamic lands through the lense of the war on terror that sees "terrorists" that must be stopped through military force with little thought given to the price that will be paid for the involvement.
As France continues to drop bombs on its former colony of Mali, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian left no doubt of his country's goal there.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian: "The goal is the total reconquest of Mali.""The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets" of resistance, Le Drian said Sunday on France 5 television.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the hostage situation at the BP gas plant in Algeria was a "stark reminder," saying events there are part of "a global threat" and "require a global response."
And, being part of the war on terror, Cameron explains, it has no end point, as he hints as all-out force to be used:
It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months. [...]
What we face is an extremist, Islamist, al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group. Just as we had to deal with that in Pakistan and in Afghanistan so the world needs to come together to deal with this threat in north Africa.
It is linked to al-Qaeda, it wants to destroy our way of life, it believes in killing as many people as it can. We need to work with others to defeat the terrorists and to close down the ungoverned spaces where they thrive with all the means that we have. [emphasis mine]
British Prime Minister David Cameron: "It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months."But looking at how 'we dealt with that' in Afghanistan would be wise, The Independent's Owen Jones writes:
It is conceivable that this intervention could - for a time - achieve its goals of pushing back the Islamist militias, and shore up Mali's government. But the Libyan war was seen as a success, too; and here we are now engaging with its catastrophic blowback. In Afghanistan, Western forces remain engaged in a never-ending war which has already helped destabilised Pakistan, leading to drone attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians and unleashed further chaos. The price of Western interventions may often be ignored by our media, but it is still paid nonetheless.
Cite terrorism, bomb, fuel terrorism, repeat.
While blowback from Libya is felt in Mali, and from Mali in Algeria, recent comments from British and French leaders lay bare western powers' perception of conflict in Islamic lands through the lense of the war on terror that sees "terrorists" that must be stopped through military force with little thought given to the price that will be paid for the involvement.
As France continues to drop bombs on its former colony of Mali, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian left no doubt of his country's goal there.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian: "The goal is the total reconquest of Mali.""The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets" of resistance, Le Drian said Sunday on France 5 television.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the hostage situation at the BP gas plant in Algeria was a "stark reminder," saying events there are part of "a global threat" and "require a global response."
And, being part of the war on terror, Cameron explains, it has no end point, as he hints as all-out force to be used:
It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months. [...]
What we face is an extremist, Islamist, al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group. Just as we had to deal with that in Pakistan and in Afghanistan so the world needs to come together to deal with this threat in north Africa.
It is linked to al-Qaeda, it wants to destroy our way of life, it believes in killing as many people as it can. We need to work with others to defeat the terrorists and to close down the ungoverned spaces where they thrive with all the means that we have. [emphasis mine]
British Prime Minister David Cameron: "It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months."But looking at how 'we dealt with that' in Afghanistan would be wise, The Independent's Owen Jones writes:
It is conceivable that this intervention could - for a time - achieve its goals of pushing back the Islamist militias, and shore up Mali's government. But the Libyan war was seen as a success, too; and here we are now engaging with its catastrophic blowback. In Afghanistan, Western forces remain engaged in a never-ending war which has already helped destabilised Pakistan, leading to drone attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians and unleashed further chaos. The price of Western interventions may often be ignored by our media, but it is still paid nonetheless.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.