Biden’s ‘Summit for Democracy’

We already tried US-style ‘democracy promotion’ — with catastrophic results

It was beyond parody for US President Joe Biden to host a ‘Summit for Democracy’ and earmark $700 million to promote ‘democratic renewal’ around the world by advocating free and fair elections, human rights, and anti-corruption measures. In an untimely coincidence, this virtual gathering coincided with the 20th anniversary of his country’s invasion and occupation of Iraq, which killed hundreds of thousands of people and turned it into a quasi-failed state riven by corruption and controlled by militias — all in the name of promoting democracy and eradicating dictatorship.

It is worth recalling that Biden was one of the strongest and most enthusiastic supporters and advocates of invading Iraq, partitioning it along ethnic and sectarian lines, and ending its existence as a cohesive unified state. The objective, in addition to stealing Iraq’s oil, was to consolidate Israel’s military superiority and dominance over the entire Middle East. That is why the first thing the US military governor did was to disband Iraq’s army and security agencies. Dictatorships are cherished and held dear if they serve US plans and interests.

The US does not promote the kind of democracy its own people enjoy in our part of the world, but a perverse, deadly, and destructive mutant. We have seen it in all its horror in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan. Democracy whose main implements are bloodletting and the imposition of starvation sanctions against the people of those countries and others (including Lebanon, Iran, occupied Palestine, and many more in the Third World).

Biden launched this summit — at which Benjamin Netanyahu was a star player — by announcing the allocation of $700mn for democracy and human rights promotion. But he will be spending ten times or more of that amount on destroying the targeted countries, many in the Middle East. The war to bring democracy to Iraq cost it more than two trillion dollars in destruction, in addition to the $800 billion stolen by the corrupt government it installed. The pro-democracy war on Syria caused 500,000 deaths and half a trillion dollars in losses. The losses in Libya were double that figure. We know how much the Afghanistan war cost the US: one trillion dollars according to semi-independent estimates. But we still don’t know the cost to Iran of the US embargo imposed on it for more than 40 years, also under the pretext of promoting democracy. And we haven’t even mentioned the war to ‘restore democracy’ to Yemen.

People used to be taken in by American democratic values, especially freedom of expression and standing up for justice. But we have seen how these values are faked and distorted to serve the US and its allies. Any criticism of Israel’s crimes and racism on social media can get you banned. The liberal West has shut down Russian news outlets so they cannot reach their audiences. The hugely popular Tik-Tok platform is being attacked and banned purely because it is Chinese-owned, though it does nothing different from Facebook, Twitter, and other US applications.

Many of the countries invited to the Summit for Democracy are corrupt oligarchies, but they have the singular virtue of being loyal to the US.

So, we say: no, thanks, Mr President. We do not want your toxic democracy soaked in the blood of our people. Nobody is taken in by that lie any longer, and your war in Ukraine, which threatens the entire world with devastation, hasn’t changed that. The cost even of dictatorship is lower than that of your deadly democracy which has ravaged our countries with its wars and corruption.

Biden’s ‘Summit for Democracy’