Black Agenda Radio, from Glen Ford
Finally, an anti-war measure that recognizes the Iraqi people's right to be sovereign in their own country.
Iraq's Right to Determine Its Own Destiny
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I'd like to address the subject of the right to self-determination. No, I'm not talking about an individual's right to determine whether he or she will dye their hair a different color, or will identify with generation X, Y, or Z, or chooses a Ford over a Toyota automobile. That's the kind of self-determination they sell you in the corporate marketplace, the kind you are bombarded with in advertisements - the individual self-determination to choose among forty brands of toothpaste, and which we are led to believe is what makes America a great country.
The other kind of self-determination, that of whole peoples - big and small, powerful and weak - to shape their own societies, to exercise sovereignty in their own lands...well, that's the kind of self-determination that Americans seem not to understand at all. It's almost an alien concept, despite the fact that the United States played a central role in codifying the meaning of self-determination as a guiding principle of international relations.
Even on the Left - or what passes for the Left in the United States - the meaning of self-determination does not seem to compute. That's why we hear so-called progressives talking about what "we" - meaning Americans - should do to guide or coerce the Iraqis, or any other people, into doing what WE say is best for them. Such lecturing drips trippingly off American tongues - as if "we" have some super-privilege to interfere with other people's rights to self-determination in their own country.
"Imagine that - American politicians actually recognizing that Iraqis should have their sovereignty restored to them."
That's why I was very pleased to note the wording of the Out of Iraq Caucus's bill to quickly withdraw United States troops from that country. The authors of the bill seem to have some notion of the real meaning of self-determination. The legislation is titled, the "Bring Our Troops Home and Sovereignty of Iraq Restoration Act." It calls for American troops to be gone from the country within six months of the bill's passage - not at some moment in time convenient to the Americans. The bill would support funding for an international stabilization force for Iraq, but only if the Iraqis request it. It would withdraw the congressional authorization that Bush used to invade Iraq, and prohibit the construction of permanent U.S. military bases in that country. And, the sponsors affirm that "Iraqi oil belongs to the Iraqi people," and no one else.
Language like this is normal in international discourse, where a people's right to self-determination is a given. However, in the American political conversation, such language arrives like a breath of fresh air. Imagine that - American politicians actually recognizing that Iraqis should have their sovereignty restored to them; that U.S. claims of having compelling "interests" in the region - like oil - do not trump Iraqi rights to self-determination. If what passes for an anti-war movement in the U.S. can stick to that kind of language, there may be hope, yet. For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
In this week’s segment we hear about the origins of Black August with a former political prisoner, and we hear analysis of the U.S. response to the recent military coup in Niger. But first we discuss…
Leah Goodridge joins us from New York City to talk about that city’s loss of its Black population, 200,000 people in the last 20 years.
In August 2020 the late Glen Ford spoke to former political prisoner Jihad Abdulmumit of the Jericho Movement about the origins and importance of Black August.
Wilmer Leon and Margaret discussed the true reasons for antipathy towards Niger, and why other African nations are used as proxies for western interests.
Eritrea is an example of an independent and self-determining African state. Its people are rightly proud of their history.
