'Humanitarian Intentions of the West Are Just a Pretext,' Says Michel Collon

Tens of thousands of African refugees are arriving in Europe in the aftermath of unrest in Tunisia and the imperialist war on Libya. Thousands have died at sea amid racist opposition to their presence in Europe., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Humanitarian intentions of the West are just a pretext – investigative journalist

Published: 26 May, 2011, 21:07

With G8 leaders talking politics and economy in the French town of Dauville, investigative journalist and author Michel Collon criticized Western governments for blowing money on wars in the Middle East.

­The war in Libya, dubbed by the West a “humanitarian mission,” was “a manipulation from the beginning,” declared Collon.

The US and its allies always say they have humanitarian intentions, but it always turns out to be nothing but a pretext for intervention.

“It was obvious that it was a war to change the regime in Libya, not to protect people,” Collon said. “It was a civil war organized by the US and Western secret services with the idea to get control of the oil and of the banking reserves. The US and Europe need to keep control over the Middle East to protect Israel.”

Commenting on British Prime Minister David Cameron’s declaration that now is a once-in-a-generation moment to promote pro-democracy movements in the Arab world, Collon dismissed the suggestion as “a big lie, as usual.”

“This is the same as the lies of Tony Blair,” he said. “If the US and London want democracy, why do they send Saudi troops to fight peaceful demonstrations in Bahrain? Why do they hold up the regime in Yemen, which is a complete dictatorship? Why did they protect Ben Ali and Mubarak up to the last second?”

This is an operation to re-colonize the world, Collon argued.

Collon criticizes Western governments for turning their policies against their own people, blowing money on military campaigns instead of the public sector.

“In Spain, in France, in many countries, people are in the street, because the economic policy of the governance is catastrophic,” he said. “They have no money for pensions or for jobs. In the US, schools and hospitals are crumbling. And instead of giving money for that, they are spending billions of dollars and euros to make war for the profit of multinationals.”

The US is taking this aggressive stance in an effort to preserve its domination over the world, which has become an increasingly difficult task given the resistance of Russia and China and with emerging power from countries in the global south, such as Brazil, the journalist argues.

The only solution, the journalist concludes, especially now when the US has become “a bankrupt state” and is dragging down Europe, is to turn to a multipolar world, Collon concluded.