Wordspinning

Mau Mau - Iraq Connection

While doing research on the Mau Mau insurrection in Kenya just prior to their independence from Britain I developed a critical case of deja vu. The language used to describe the state of emergency, the actions taken by the colonial government, the outcomes of their lack of cultural understanding... It seemed so much like what is going on now at the hands of the US Government in Iraq.

In 1950s Kenya there were prison abuse scandals, prisoners who died while in custody... There was a government insisting that there was a highly organized group of terrorists and it was necessary to declare a state of emergency, remove the corrupt leadership and educate the savage people in the ways of the West.

I may find more intelligent comparisons later, but I've already come across an article that makes some of the same connections.

John Pilger wrote an article called "Get Out Now, Before We are Thrown Out."

It is really eery the parallels between our so-called nation building and the acts of a colonial government bent on keeping power.

posted by Kiara at 12:17 PM