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people may be hatin on the French because they didn't join in the war to "free the people of Iraq" BUT according to The Economist, "France said that it would send a UN-backed peacekeeping force to eastern Congo to quell fighting between ethnic militias there." Is the US doing that????

Whoa , whoa, hol on dey Soca. Now I will agree that the US is the last administration to do anything on principle, but let us not have any illusions about what is going on, the French are not doing any of this because they have any sense of humanitarianism. In fact, no Western European nation has ever done anything in Africa or the Caribbean unless it was to benefit their interests. The reason why the French was so against the invasion of Iraq was because they already had substantial oil interests in that country that they stood to lose should the Ba’ath Party be toppled in that manner.

Bear in mind that this is the same French and the same europe that was responsible for the colonisation and partitioning of Africa since the 1884 Berlin Conference. This is the same France that perpetrated mass genocide in any parts of Africa along with the Belgians, Germans, Dutch, Russians and of course the British. Most of the current bloodletting that is taking place in African right now was engineered by the same Europeans – France included – who now want to send in “aid”. The strategy has been to create destabilised areas – usually areas where there are very rich mineral deposits – so that it is easier to come in under the guise of philanthropy and make off with whatever it is they had their eyes on. The only difference between “Old” Europe and the US is that Europe is a little subtler (though not always, as I saw some years ago when I was training French troops and observed how they treated their Black soldiers when they thought we were not looking).

Note also now that this is the same France that at the end of their colonial stay in Africa created systems so that the newly “independent” countries inherited the tremendous debt incurred by the colonial economies. France and Europe made it so that newly independent countries in Africa and the Caribbean were saddled with economic policies that forced them to export commodities that they did not need and import things they did not produce, thereby underdeveloping their social, economic and political structures and keeping them indebted to their former masters. Perhaps you should study Walter Rodney’s “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” and Dr Marimba Ani’s “Yurugu: an African-centred critique of European cultural thought and behaviour”. I think these books help greatly with our understanding of the rationale behind the actions of the Euro/Euro-American more than any other in this guava season.

very interesting points! very true that Europe, operates out of selfish interests. That is no suprise. And my post was not to say that the French are these noble people coming to assist Africans become more stable and prosperous.

Part of posting this topic was out of sarcasim for two reasons. If the US is so interested in peace, why are they not interested in this issue? (i guess because they feel they have nothing to gain). Secondly, when the war in Iraq began, posts were made about boycotting the French and their companies. This just brings another angle to the issue.

What do you feel is France's goal this time in getting involved in the conflict? What interests do they currenty have in Congo?

I'll take you up on those titles and keep yuh posted on my readings.

You may want to read this as well

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