As the destabilization of Syria has evolved over the course of the last year and a half, what has become apparent to political observers is the seeming incongruity of Turkey’s role in the region. While Ankara has attempted in recent years to establish itself as a force for political and economic change and progress, it has also assumed the role of a NATO attack dog, becoming a crucial weapon in the arsenal of the Western imperialists. While Turkey’s actions in Syria, in particular the sponsorship and coordination of terrorists, must be vigorously condemned, it is also important to note the geopolitical and economic issues at stake for Turkey. In doing so, those of us around the world who reject imperialist meddling and destabilization, who stand in opposition to Western hegemony and proxy states, must help push Turkey back onto the path of peace and progress. Read more È

In this episode Eric Draitser covers recent developments and their implications in several regions including: The latest developments in Syria and the US Justification-support of terrorism there, the latest sanction escalations against Iran, Russia’s pursuit of naval bases in Cuba and Vietnam, Wikileaks’ trolling of New York Times, and more!

Stop Imperialism Podcast 32 [ 1:47:35 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Eric Draitser is an independent geopolitical analyst based in New York City. He is the editor and host of StopImperialism.com and the Stop Imperialism podcast. He has provided analysis for Russia Today, Dr. Webster Tarpley’s World Crisis Radio and other programs. His articles have appeared on GlobalResearch.ca, Infowars.com, and a variety of other news sites.

This site depends exclusively on readers’ support. Please help us continue by SUBSCRIBING, and by ordering our EXCLUSIVE BFP DVD .

Eric Draitser Presents Abayomi Azikiwe

Eric sits down with Abayomi Azikiwe to discuss a variety of topics related to Africa. Eric and Abayomi examine African discourse in the Western world and how it is shaped to benefit the ruling class. Additionally, they analyze the conflicts in Nigeria, Sudan, Libya, Democratic Republic of Congo, and elsewhere, with an eye to the role of the US and Western powers. Eric and Abayomi also interpret the political realities of Egypt and its place in the African narrative.

Abayomi Azikiwe is the Editor of the Pan African Newswire which can be found at panafricannews.blogspot.com. He is a longtime activist and radical based in Detroit.

Interview with Abayomi Azikiwe [ 1:31:59 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Eric Draitser is an independent geopolitical analyst based in New York City. He is the editor and host of StopImperialism.com and the Stop Imperialism podcast. He has provided analysis for Russia Today, Dr. Webster Tarpley’s World Crisis Radio and other programs. His articles have appeared on GlobalResearch.ca, Infowars.com, and a variety of other news sites.

This site depends exclusively on readers’ support. Please help us continue by SUBSCRIBING, and by ordering our EXCLUSIVE BFP DVD .

Recent developments in Mali illustrate both the way in which the Unites States and its Western allies directly project military and political power, as well as the role of terrorism as a necessary pretext for imperialist, neo-colonial domination. Beginning with the establishment of AFRICOM (US Africa Command) in 2007, incorporating the war in Libya and the military coup d’etat in Mali, and up to today’s consolidation of power by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), it has become clear that the United States has managed to successfully destabilize West Africa and achieve many of its long-term strategic objectives in the region.

While the Western media portrays the situation in West Africa as an “unintended consequence� of the imperialist aggression against Libya, the incontrovertible fact that the United States has, for years, attempted to expand its control of the region, has been made all the more apparent by the current instability and the “decisive action� that it necessitates. The spread of AQIM, which has now consolidated control over a vast swath of land in the Sahel region, rather conveniently provides the US with the crucial cover it needs to expand its military presence.

Recent Developments

Since the fall of the Gaddafi regime in Libya, Mali has been embroiled in a fierce civil war that has torn the country apart. The Tuareg fighters, who had fought on the side of Gaddafi and the Green Resistance, began to return home armed, battle-hardened, and bearing a grudge. This was, understandably, a recipe for war in Mali where the central government was seen as little more than a US puppet regime, touting democracy as it bowed to US military and corporate interests. The rebels began waging war against Bamako in hopes of creating their own independent state of Azawad in Northern Mali, a goal which has been stifled since Mali gained its own independence in 1960. Read more È

Going Down Under the Devil’s Spell

My friends and those of you who have read my book know a bit about my fondness for New Zealand. I have been there more than once and not in the distant past. I have referred to several exemplary characteristics of its government more than a few times in my articles and podcasts. Thus, it shouldn’t come as a major surprise that the following news article was more than enough to fill me with disappointment and a great sense of loss:

Agreement with US sees NZ as ‘de facto’ Ally

A leading academic says New Zealand has become a “de facto ally” of the United States after signing a sweeping agreement on military cooperation in Washington early today. The Washington Declaration was signed by US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman at the Pentagon today.

Coleman said the declaration foreshadowed greater cooperation in key areas including maritime security, counter terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the region and promoted peace keeping and peace support initiatives.

…

You can read the entire news article here.

New Zealand is going to join this country in its counterterrorism initiatives and operations. And what is this so-called US counterterrorism model? Implementing fondling and groping exercises by known pedophiles and rapists in the airports? Because that’s exactly what we’ve been doing for years under our counterterrorism guidelines and initiatives.

You see, New Zealand airport procedures made me cry-literally cry. I was shedding tears of joy when I went from one airport to another with my dignity intact. They didn’t grope me. They didn’t make me bend over and remove my shoes. They didn’t pass me through porno-ray machines. Travelling in New Zealand didn’t boil down to making a choice between convenience and maintaining dignity. Read more È

Eric Draitser joins us to discuss Balochistan, a region rich in oil reserves and mineral deposits in Southwest Asia bordering Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and a nexus at which diametrically opposing strategic interests converge. He talks about US support for terror groups such as Jundallah and the Baloch Liberation Army in this region as part of a covert war against Iran and Pakistan, and our continuing Cold War strategies against Russia & China. Mr. Draitser discusses Pakistan’s divide between political and military leadership, the US government’s use of the Haqqani network to demonize the Pakistani government, the real powers at work in destabilizing Syria, and more!

Eric Draitser is an independent geopolitical analyst based in New York City. He is the editor and host of StopImperialism.com and the Stop Imperialism podcast. He has provided analysis for Russia Today, Dr. Webster Tarpley’s World Crisis Radio and other programs. His articles have appeared on GlobalResearch.ca, Infowars.com, and a variety of other news sites.

Here is our guest Eric Draitser unplugged!

Interview with Eric Draitser [ 1:03:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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What are the broader motivations and implications behind the Kony 2012 video? Taking a look at the geopolitics of the region, its recent history, and Western subsidies for dictatorships (“dictatorship by franchise”) as well as profiting off of genocide (such as in the Congo), the Kony 2012 video is designed as an emotional appeal for military intervention in Uganda to purportedly stop a conflict which had stopped several years ago. Taken with the context of major oil reserves having been discovered in Uganda, along with the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) program to militarize foreign policy for the continent, the video is a propaganda ploy designed to expand U.S. imperial hegemony in the region. This is no less evident from the fact that the most interviewed person in the video, John Prendergast, was a former State Department and National Security Council official during the Clinton administration, responsible for overseeing U.S. imperial policy in the region, and has since mobilized campaigns of celebrity personalities to promote foreign intervention. Coincidence or consistency?

Listen to the podcast show here:

Empire, Power and People - Episode 11 [ 40:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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The Western imperial powers seem intent on regime change in Iran. It has been said that, “the road to Tehran is through Damascus,” and such sentiments have been expressed by the King of Saudi Arabia, a ruthless tyrant who represses his own and neighboring populations (such as in Bahrain), and who calls for Syria to show “restraint” against its ‘repression.’ The hypocrisy of the West and its regional allies knows no bounds. The Western puppets, as we know from Wikileaks releases, favor a U.S. military strike against Iran, yet the Arab world as a whole does not. In fact, the wider world – and the vast majority of the global population – supports Iran’s right to nuclear enrichment, but we are told that Iran “defies” the so-called “international community.” From official report, documents, and statements, we know that Iran has no nuclear weapon or any nuclear weapons program, but still, Iran is presented as a “threat.” What is the basis for this threat? What are the intentions and actions of the imperial powers against Iran? How do the sanctions affect Iran and its people? Are we, indeed… on the road to Tehran?

Listen to the podcast show here:

Empire, Power and People - Episode 10 [ 51:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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The American Empire had an early start in East and Southeast Asia, beginning with a U.S. Marine invasion of an Indonesian town in 1832, another Indonesian town in 1839, and a brief occupation of Danang (Vietnam) in 1846. From there, the United States sought to expand its commercial hegemony and establish trade relations in East and Southeast Asia. When a U.S. mission to Japan arrived in 1853, to establish a coaling station for American ships on their way to the lucrative market of China, this marked the “opening” of Japan, which had been isolated for over 200 years. From then on, the Japanese Empire and nation state formed, expanding with the colonization of Formosa (Taiwan) in 1895 and Korea in 1910. In the late 1890s, America established its first colony during the Philippine-American War (1899-1902), and thereafter, the American and Japanese empires expanded their commercial hegemony and military strength over the region, until an inevitable clash of empires took place in World War II, and thereafter established the United States as the reigning imperial hegemony of all East and Southeast Asia.

Listen to the podcast show here:

Empire, Power and People - Episode 9 [ 47:32 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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A Step toward Greater Independence

Introduction: Between April 21-23, thousands of activists from most of the major urban and rural social movements and trade unions, human rights groups and indigenous, afro-Colombian movements will meet to unify forces and launch, what promises to be the most significant new political movement in recent history.

United by a common pledge to seek a political solution to over 60 years of armed social conflict, the meeting will decide on a strategy to defeat past and present narco- para political regimes, recuperate land and households for 4 million displaced peasants, Indians, farmers and afro-Colombians. Central to the mission of this gathering will be the recovery of national sovereignty, severely compromised by the presence of seven US military bases, the large-scale, long-term takeover by foreign multi-nationals of the country’s mineral and energy resources and the protection of indigenous and afro-Colombian communities from environmental depredation. The April meeting has been proceeded by mass gatherings, organized by popular councils, intent on breaking military, paramilitary and the landlords political machines’ control over the electorate. Read more È