Is William Blum Right About Obama?

William Blum has always been a fascinating personality to me. This old man has meticulously documented U.S. foreign policy and United Nations activity for decades. And he is absolutely fearless and relentless, taking no prisoners when it comes to his blistering analysis and critiques of American foreign policy. When Barack Obama was elected, I was tepidly curious about what Blum would write about my new president. Like most African Americans, I was profoundly goo goo over the reality of having someone with African blood in his veins in the White House.

So I sheepishly took note of Blum’s first Anti Empire Report on Obama. I was offended with what I read to say the least.  It harkened back to to the night Obama was elected. Through tears, I could remember precisely how conflicted I felt. On one hand, elated over his election, but on the other hand, anxious and fearful of how he would handle the hegemonic juggernaut he was inheriting. Would he be co-opted? Would he be assassinated if he bucked the system?

So, when Blum let loose with one of his usual take no prisoners critique of Obama foreign policy, I challenged him. I told him Obama could not come into power and change the momentum of a high-speed train that would not be derailed. I said Obama has to do what he’s doing or he’ll be assassinated.

He wrote me back and in so many words told me I didn’t know what I was talking about. I cut him off after that. And until recently, I had not read any of his periodic Anti Empire Reports. Frankly, I was afraid to. I didn’t want my world view of Obama tainted. Obama changed all that. For when he decided to partner with Sarkozy and Cameron and overthrow the most prosperous African country; one that has consistently tried to help other developing so-called sub-Saharan African nations with billions of dollars in aid, that’s when my eyes were opened.

The manner in which Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown, lynched, sodomized and publicly tortured at the hands of racist barbarians backed by a president with African blood in his veins is still very hard for me to come to grips with! Check the posts in here in No Hegemony and familiarize yourself with the real Gaddafi legacy, not the one propagated in the corporate, government-controlled media. Here’s William Blum’s most recent Anti Empire Report.

William Blum is the author of Rogue State and Killing Hope