The Puppets

International Rescue was the name of the organisation in the Thunderbirds childrens puppet show on TV . The real International Rescue may indeed be described as puppets too - puppets of international capitalism .

The website Dissident Voice carries a revealing article that can be read here . It describes the manipulation of the media by vested interests on the reporting of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in particular the recent report by the International Rescue Committee on the situation in the DRC .

"...It is a story that has been censored, manipulated, and covered up even while it is ostensibly being told. Plenty of information has been published about the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and plenty of this is flak, designed to whiteout the truth, and help keep the real story buried..."

The article describes the International Rescue Committee as :-

"... not a neutral or purely “humanitarian” organization. The IRC has a deep history of nefarious activities going far beyond relief operations. The IRC is also a huge financial operation providing scads of executives and business people with scads of income in ways that do not help to alleviate the war or suffering but rather exacerbate it. While the IRC claims 90% of its funds 'are spent on refugee programs and services,' much of this money never hits the ground in Africa, what does often barely touches the life of a refugee..."

The article asks :-

"Why doesn’t the IRC focus on feeding the living instead of counting the dead?"

One of the conclusions of this article reads :-

"...Starvation happens not because this is Africa, or the Congo, it is because we are witnessing the most devastating example of predatory capitalism and heartless, absolute greed, combined with a spiritual crises—in the “first” world—of unprecedented proportions. The long term control of Congo’s resources is best served by eliminating as many black natives as possible. The capacity to control Congo’s resources is enhanced by spreading terror, uprooting people, destroying families, sowing distrust and hatred. It is called divide and conquer and it is the oldest trick in the book of European conquest. The word that best describes the portfolio of psychological, emotional, physical, social, cultural and political effects of such campaigns of destabilization and terror is DERACINATION.

And all the while the humanitarian “misery” industry is raking in billions of dollars on programs to “help” the Congolese people, and universities create new programs and departments to train the privileged “development” work force, all to create and institutionalize dependency. This is structural violence, and it is part of a cycle of perpetuated wealth and privilege. It is managed inequality..."

Read the full article at the link

Adding support to the above claim but in a more restrained measured tone that Africa is suffering rapacious exploitation is this other article by the think tank Foreign Policy In Focus which concludes :-

"...As U.S. policy towards Africa becomes increasingly militarized, the U.S. economic agenda and energy concerns follow close behind. During the Cold War, U.S. competition with the Soviet Union led to disastrous policy decisions for the African people; it stunted the development of democracy and undermined economies. U.S.-Africa policy is at risk of repeating this historical mistake as the U.S. and China compete for African resources.

The U.S. will continue to prioritize trade liberalization and development strategies that favor U.S. investments and corporations. U.S.-backed economic restructuring programs coming out of the international financial institutions persist in depleting African economic sovereignty as leaders are forced to comply with budget ceilings and privatization prescriptions in order to be eligible for new loans or the hope of debt cancellation..."