The Derna tragedy shows that Canada was not generous or well-intentioned in Libya. As Owen Schalk argues, Ottawa wanted the Libyan state to fall. Now that it has, average Libyans are bearing the anguish while officials in Ottawa pat themselves on their backs for ‘freeing’ the country from tyranny. The cognitive dissonance is nothing short of astounding.
From Washington’s perspective, death and destruction “over there” is a price worth paying for weakening a geopolitical rival. As Yves Engler argues, when a “left-wing” political party falls into the trap of supporting the US empire as a core value, propaganda will be believed, lies told, history repeated, war profiteers supported, and human misery ignored.