/articles

The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising | Sam Dathi
▻http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/book-reviews/17129-the-people-want-a-radical-exploration-of-the-arab-uprising

But sadly, it is this reasoning that has, at least in part, led to Achcar getting himself into the terrible muddle of arguing (not in this book, but elsewhere) in favour of foreign intervention. Essentially, he argues that the Syrian people need US arms in order to take on the praetorian guard. Similarly, in 2011, he argued in favour of a no-fly zone in Libya to help resist Gaddafi’s assault on Benghazi and subsequently he supported NATO arming the Libyan insurgency. You might say he saw these interventions as the lesser of two evils when it comes to defeating patrimonial regimes.

It is clear that Achcar’s reasons here are wholly sincere: he is not doing a Christopher Hitchens. Nevertheless, his conclusions are entirely wrong: in supporting, or rather not opposing, these imperial interventions, he dangerously underplays their destructiveness and how corrosive they are to the integrity of any liberation movement. Invariably, such intervention is never the lesser of two evils. To his credit, Achcar explicitly recognises that Western interventions are bloody and do not come without strings; his error is in not giving these facts anywhere near their due weight. Further, his premise that there would have always been civil wars in patrimonial Libya and Syria, to a large degree lets Western imperialism off the hook for precipitating a great deal of that violence.

For lack of space, I will not rehash all the familiar arguments as to why NATO intervention has made things immeasurably worse in Libya and why arming the rebels in Syria would be disastrous for the people. All I will say is that, in the case of Syria, as much as I recognise how hard it will be for the people to overthrow Assad, not least given the patrimonial nature of the regime, their task will be made infinitely worse by the cruel and cynical interference of foreign powers.

Une revue du livre de James Marriott et Mika Minio-Paluello, “The Oil Road: Journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London” -

The Oil Road: Journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London | Counterfire
▻http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/book-reviews/16385-the-oil-road-journeys-from-the-caspian-sea-to-the-city-of-london

The Oil Road provides an illuminating picture of political and economic power through the form of a travelogue across the countries affected by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline

Migrant workers: Ed Miliband’s dangerous rhetoric
►http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/opinion/15857-migrant-workers-ed-milibands-dangerous-rhetoric

He seeks cover from the left by claiming immigration should be seen as a class issue. He claims the slogan “British jobs for British workers” is wrong – not because it is divisive and poses the problem as one between nationalities, but because “We cannot tell people things we cannot deliver”.

The only conclusion to be drawn is that “Red Ed” would like to deliver this, but is barred by anti-discrimination laws.

This slogan gained prominence not when Gordon Brown first ill-advisedly spouted it, but when it became the rallying call and slogan of the construction workers around the Lindsey Oil Refinery strike of winter 2009.

British Police to strike | Counterfire
►http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/163-resisting-austerity/15653-british-police-to-strike

Police officers are to be balloted on strike action over 20% cuts to front line services, before the Police Federation’s annual conference in May. The Federation took similar action four years ago when it surveyed its members on whether they would like the Federation’s Executive Board to lobby parliament for the right to strike. Of the 60 000 responses 87% were in favour.

It is currently illegal for the police force to go on strike. The last time the police went on strike was in 1919 in a dispute over low pay and conditions. The Police Act (1919) was enacted in the aftermath of the police strikes in 1918 and 1919 which were called by the National Union of Police and Prison Officers. The Act made it illegal for the Police and Prison Officers to belong to or affiliating to a trade union as well as forbidding the officers from taking industrial action or discussing the possibility of strike action with colleagues. The Police Federation was established under the 1919 Act to deal with employment grievances and provide representation to police officers.

Gaddafi loses, but who wins? | Counterfire
►http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/51-analysis/14504-gaddafi-loses-but-who-wins-nato-tripoli-libya

There will be no tears for the end of the Gaddafi regime if that is indeed what we are watching. The Gaddafi regime was a brutal dictatorship and it deserved to be overthrown just as much as that of Ben Ali’s in Tunisia or Mubarak’s in Egypt. But, unlike the defeat of Ben Ali or Mubarak, the end of the Gaddafi has not been brought about mainly by a popular revolutionary rising. It has been brought about by a military victory in a civil war in which the rebel side has become largely dependent on western military fire power.

So the question now posed is this: in whose interest will the new rulers of Libya act? NATO is already saying that it will work with the Transitional National Council. This, more of a threat than a promise, should be no surprise. The point of the western intervention in Libya was to gain a foothold in the fast moving Arab revolutions and to create a compliant regime by making it militarily and economically dependent on the west in a way in which, say, the Tunisian UGTT or the Youth Coalitions of Egypt could never be said to be. So the major powers will be looking for payback. They will want an Arab regime which is a home for western military bases. They will want a regime that is supportive of Israel (and the TNC has already made supportive statements in favour of the ‘war on terror’). And they will want a Libya that is safe for BP, Shell and other western corporations, whether from the oil industry or elsewhere.

#libye