London, UK, January 16th 2013 – UK Prime Minister David Cameron has authorised the use of C-17 planes in support of France’s military intervention in Mali.
In justifying this military assault, France, Britain and other Western states claim – once again – that this is about fighting ‘terrorism’ and protecting the Malian people. To win the sympathy of the Western public, the media has been emphasising the ‘Islamist’ aspect of the opposition.
Commenting on the military action, Taji Mustafa, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain said: “For France, West African uranium is like Middle East oil is to everyone else. Two thirds of France’s electricity is from nuclear power; requiring significant uranium imports from neighbouring Niger. Its former colonies in West Africa have been vital for it to access raw materials (Mali is Africa’s third largest gold producer) and markets. Hence its heavy military presence in the region.”
“Colonial states like France and Britain do not send their troops to wage war to help civilians. Their armies are not humanitarian organisations. Similarly, they do not care about many of the illiberal features of the opposition they caricature as ‘Islamist’, since they enjoy intimate relations with many illiberal regimes, whether in Saudi, Kuwait, Bahrain or elsewhere.”
“Moreover, their action in Mali (or Libya in 2011) contrasts with inaction in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bahrain, where we have seen humanitarian abuses by those regimes.”
“This is yet another example of a military intervention in another Muslim country by a Western colonial state – like the bloody interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq which cost so many innocent lives – to try to maintain their political and military enslavement of the people in order to facilitate their economic exploitation, while using the tired rhetoric of the ‘war on terror’, ‘Islamism’, ‘extremism’ and ‘terrorism’.”
“We have no doubt that America and Britain will be watching closely to see if they can protect, maintain or advance their interests in the region – no matter the human cost. Indeed, we would not be surprised if we saw other players trying to use neighbouring countries, like Algeria, to play a role similar to the role of Pakistan in the war in Afghanistan – much to its own cost.”
“We oppose foreign intervention by capitalist states who deploy the mantra of ‘human rights’ and fighting ‘terrorism’. They have unleashed terror on the people in Afghanistan, and Iraq, and now to add Mali to this list.”
“It is obscene that in today’s world, without the Khilafah (Caliphate), Muslim countries are seen as the fuel depots of the colonial West, to be carved up and passed around between rogue states who call themselves ‘civilised capitalist democracies’.”
“The lack of a unified leadership in the Muslim world has continued to ensure that the West carries on with her colonial adventures in Muslim countries. Hizb ut-Tahrir calls upon all Muslims to continue their work to remove the puppet rulers in the Muslim our countries and re-establish the Islamic Khilafah that will put an end to these ongoing colonial policies.”
[Ends]
