Surely all this ought to be taken for granted by now? -- J. D.
full at (30th June)
Stephen Gowans provides the latest commentary on the misdirection by the Western media in its coverage of the Zimbabwean elections.
Defending the Indefensible: Sham Democracy Promoter Defends Imperialist Ties
************** "What Zunes leaves out or does not understand is that non-violent pro-democracy movements are often powerless without imperialist governments first threatening or deploying military interventions, imposing sanctions and blockades and broadcasting anti-government propaganda, thereby turning the population of targeted countries against their governments. In other words, *the bad guys Zunes can rail against to establish his leftist credentials* (my emphasis - J. D.) do the dirty work while his people's forces come in at the end to effect the coup de grace. The result is never democracy, in the original sense of the word, but improved trade and investment conditions for Western economic elites - the same elites Sharp and Zunes are taking foundation lucre from".
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( Zunes says ) governments can't be brought down unless they lose popular support.
Zunes' last point is true, but the pressure Western governments exert on foreign policy targets through threats of war, bombing campaigns, sanctions, and propaganda, go a long way toward alienating target governments of popular support, and thereby preparing the ground for Sharp- and Zunes-trained overthrow movements to go to work.
Serbia, whose once social- and publicly-owned enterprises have been sold off to Western investors, is a model of what overthrow movements Zunes celebrates and assists produce.
************* J. D.