Untangling the False Narrative of a ‘New Humanitarianism’ for Darfur

In his book “Saviors and Survivors”, Mahmood Mamdani describes how US Secretary of State Colin Powell “made two pivotal presentations” during his term in Office under George Bush. The first presentation was his defense of the US government claim that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq, thus establishing the pretext for the illegal US invasion of Iraq. The 2nd false narrative Powell was instrumental in creating had to do with the claim that there was genocide being carried out in Darfur.

With respect to Powell’s claims of WMD in Iraq, much of the mainstream media in the US dutifully went along with the US government propaganda campaign by creating a false narrative to justify the US government’s military attack on Iraq.

There has been the general acknowledgement by some of the mainstream media that their advocacy on… weiter lesen

“Every Gazan projects a sense of having stared death in the face. Every Gazan has a tale of profound grief to tell,” recounted Karen AbuZayd, the Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in her presentation to the Security Council on January 27 before they went into closed session.

She reported that there had been a systematic destruction in Gaza of schools, universities, residential buildings, factories, shops and farms. (Karen AbuZayd’s Statement to the Security Council, January 27, 2009) (1)

AbuZayd told the Security Council that “There is rage against the attackers for often failing to distinguish between military targets and civilians and there is also resentment against the international community for having allowed first the siege and then the war to go on for so long.”(2)

Also speaking to the Security Council before they went into closed session was John Holmes, the Under-Secretary General… weiter lesen