Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Arab Revolutions Will Never be Made-in-the-USA
31 Oct 2012
🖨️ Print Article

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

A year has passed since Washington’s Libyan proxies slaughtered Moammar Gaddafi, in what the West called an Arab “revolution.” But “revolutions do not emanate from Washington, Paris and London.” America’s erstwhile allies have jihad on their minds – not western notions of what the Arab Spring should like.

Arab Revolutions Will Never be Made-in-the-USA

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

“The men that Obama used to get rid of Gaddafi, and is now using to get rid of Syrian President Assad, have their own ideas about what constitutes a revolution.”

The New York Times noted the anniversary of the murder of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi in typical imperial fashion: with a combination of lies and exhortations. The Times editorial was titled, “Making Revolution Work.” Of course, the nine month long NATO assault on a country of six million people was not a revolution in any meaningful sense of the word. The largely Islamist fighters that butchered Gaddafi after his convoy was disabled by foreign aircraft, and who subsequently executed 100 other captives were acting as proxies for the U.S. and its NATO allies who, together, account for 70 percent of the world’s arms expenditures.

No genuine revolution in world history has been brought into being by the massed arms of the globe’s reigning imperial powers. This was the old colonial order, showing once again who is in charge in Africa and the Arab and Muslim worlds. Revolutions do not emanate from Washington, Paris and London.

The Americans and Europeans, including the old Italian colonial masters who killed one-third of the Libyan population when they were in charge, were joined by the thieving royal families of Qatar and Saudi Arabia – who rightly perceive any hint of revolution in the Arab world as the equivalent of their own death warrants.

The United States and its allies and proxies ignited race war in northern Africa, a slaughter of dark-skinned Libyans and black migrants that continues to this day – as does the resistance. How befitting its national character that the United States provoke an orgy of racist violence, and call it revolution!

Hillary Clinton encapsulated the imperial nature of the overthrow of Col. Gaddafi. “We came, we saw, he died,” said the bestial secretary of state, picturing herself as Julius Caesar. Clinton understood perfectly that Libya was a war of conquest and empire.

“This second round of blowback will make the first look like a schoolyard fight.”

The New York Times, which, along with the rest of the U.S. corporate media, acted as cheerleader for the conquest of Libya, now exhorts America’s former Libyan proxies, posing as a government, to disarm the rowdier elements in their midst, lest they tarnish the so-called revolution. We certainly don’t want any more U.S. ambassadors turning up dead. But the men that Obama used to get rid of Gaddafi, and is now using to get rid of Syrian President Assad, have their own ideas about what constitutes a revolution – Salafist, jihadist ideas that do not include continued U.S. domination of the world. They gladly accepted Washington’s money and guns, and remain grateful to NATO for incinerating the real heroes of the war, the Libyan soldiers who fought on for so long while death rained on them from the skies. But a favor or two from the Great Satan doesn’t alter these jihadis’ obligations to God, as they perceive them.

The new round of blowback has begun. The U.S., Saudi Arabia and Pakistan virtually created the global jihadist network to fight the Soviets, in Afghanistan – with results we have all witnessed. This second round of blowback will make the first look like a schoolyard fight. So, if the New York Times and Hillary Clinton and President Obama think they are now such great friends of the Arab revolution – they ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.



Your browser does not support the audio element.

listen
http://traffic.libsyn.com/blackagendareport/20121031_gf_LibyaAnniversary.mp3

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio July 17, 2026
    17 Jul 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the Supreme Court ruling that ends Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants. But we begin with South Africa and discuss the origins of xenophobic…
  • South Africa
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Anti-Immigration Movement in South Africa
    17 Jul 2026
    What is behind this South African movement that drives immigrants out of the country? We are joined by Nairobi-based political writer and strategist Clinton Nzala, who provides analysis on the…
  • Haitian flags
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Trump Administration Ends TPS for Haitians
    17 Jul 2026
    On June 25, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and Syrians would end. What does this ruling mean for the more than 350,000 Haitians living…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Lindsey Graham Was the Face of the Duopoly
    15 Jul 2026
    The late Senator Lindsey Graham played the role of chief congressional warmonger very well. But many of his colleagues, who spoke in quieter voices, were completely aligned with his support of U.S.…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The White Supremacist Imperative on Violence: A Black Radical Perspective on the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination
    15 Jul 2026
    The U.S.-EU-NATO axis remains intact, and its commitment to militarism represents an existential threat to the world.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us