Andrew Young Loves War Criminals and Money
A Black Agenda Radio Commentary by Glen Ford
"Put Andy Young where he belongs, alongside his war criminal sweethearts, Paul Wolfowitz and George Schultz."
Andrew Young is spending the waning years of his life proving that some high profile figures from the Civil Rights era were only in it for themselves. Young, the former lieutenant to Dr. Martin Luther King, mayor of Atlanta, congressman, and for a short while ambassador to the United Nations, has fallen as low as an African American ex-icon can go. He's writing love letters to Paul Wolfowitz, the war-crazed former Deputy Secretary of Defense and now scandalized president of the World Bank.
More than just your garden variety anti-social psycho, Wolfowitz's dark vision would risk plunging the planet into never-ending war and chaos in the quest for absolute U.S. global domination. As former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's Rasputin at the Pentagon, Wolfowitz, as much as any other person, is responsible for the Iraq war and the deaths of half a million people. He has earned a place at the very top tier of war criminals. But Andy Young is smitten with the guy. Young recently wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post, praising Wolfowitz as a "brother" who is the "right man" to be president of the World Bank - a job Wolfowitz may lose for giving his girlfriend a plush, very highly paid job. Young defends Wolfowitz's decision, along the way invoking Martin Luther King, the civil rights leader's father, "Daddy" King, and former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu. Andrew Young has no shame.
"Andrew Young is a prostitute for the most rapacious corporations in the world."
Young then explains that one reason he admires Wolfowitz is that he was mentored by George Schultz - another war criminal on Young's Valentine's Day list. Schultz was Secretary of State when President Reagan waged a cruel and illegal war against Nicaragua. He has been called the father of George W. Bush's "preventive war" doctrine, the doctrine that underpinned the Iraq invasion and justifies attacks on any country that might at some future date threaten U.S. interests - however those interests might be defined. In other words, George Schultz is an advocate and architect of "wars against peace" - one of the two highest crimes of all under international law, along with genocide. But Schultz is a hero to Andy Young, who still calls himself a preacher.
Actually, Andrew Young is a prostitute for the most rapacious corporations in the world, companies like George Schultz's Bechtel Corporation, which is a top war profiteer in Iraq and sucked billions out of funds earmarked to reconstruct New Orleans, Andrew Young's birthplace. Young's consulting firm, Good Works International, does political front work for companies that pillage the natural resources of Africa. He's deeply involved in the super-corrupt Nigerian regime, which steals much of the oil wealth of that country.
It has long been clear that Andy Young saw the civil rights movement as a platform to launch himself into corridors of power, where he could join in the previously all-white orgy of global thievery and world class corruption. It is way past time that he be cast out of the pantheon of civil rights heroes. Put him where he belongs, alongside his war criminal sweethearts, Paul Wolfowitz and George Schultz.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford (at) BlackAgendaReport.com.
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Orion Meadows is a non-violence trainer with Institute for Nonviolence Chicago.
Michael Li is Senior Counsel in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
