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The Boomerang of Empire: How Europe’s Migration ‘Crisis’ Is the Fallout of Middle East Chaos
By Marivel Guzman | Akashma News
Prior to the invasion of Iraq by the United States and their fake-NATO alliance—more accurately described as a cartel of greedy weapons manufacturers—Europe was a great touristic and economic destination. The continent’s cobblestone streets, rich cultural heritage, and strong social democracies attracted millions of global visitors and migrants seeking opportunity, not asylum.
But with the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a domino of destabilization began. What was sold to the world as a campaign for “freedom” and “democracy” quickly unraveled into a geopolitical firestorm. The war fractured not only Iraq but the entire regional balance of the Middle East. Western bombs destroyed more than buildings; they annihilated infrastructure, uprooted populations, and shattered identities. The result was a mass exodus of displaced civilians—first from Iraq, then from Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, and beyond.
Let us not pretend Europe was caught off guard. The same European nations that lament the “migration crisis” were complicit in creating it. France played its part in Libya. The UK cheered the war drums in Iraq. Germany later opened its arms under Merkel’s calculated “Wir schaffen das” (We can manage this) policy—but not without anticipating long-term economic benefits from importing cheap labor, even if that meant social upheaval.
By the mid-2010s, Europe found itself at a crossroads: one path led toward upholding human rights and ethical asylum policy; the other toward xenophobic backlash, right-wing resurgence, and border militarization. Most governments chose both—welcoming refugees publicly while quietly funding militias, erecting walls, and empowering Frontex, the EU’s controversial border agency, now equipped like a paramilitary force.
Meanwhile, the Middle East has become a testing ground for every imperial experiment: drone warfare, regime change, proxy battles, and now, digital surveillance and AI-driven repression. Syria, once a cradle of ancient civilization, lies in ruin. Yemen is bleeding under a Saudi-led coalition, backed by Western arms. Gaza is in open-air incarceration. Lebanon suffers under economic collapse engineered by debt diplomacy and sectarian manipulation. Iraq remains fractured, governed more by militias and oil interests than by sovereignty. Afghanistan has been returned to the stone age, left behind after two decades of occupation.
The result? Europe is not just dealing with a refugee “crisis.” It is dealing with the consequences of its own imperial partnerships, the karmic recoil of colonial arrogance wrapped in neoliberal policy. Now, with increased migration from Sub-Saharan Africa, war-torn Middle Eastern nations, and even Ukraine, Europe is fraying at its seams—socially, politically, and ideologically.
The rise of far-right parties is not merely a reaction to migration—it’s a product of deliberate fearmongering, orchestrated distraction, and the failure of neoliberal elites to address the root causes they helped create. Immigration, in this context, is not a problem. It is a symptom.
And let us be clear: the chaos in the Middle East is not due to an inherent instability of its people or cultures. It is the consequence of sustained foreign interference, petrodollar imperialism, Zionist expansionism, and endless corporate plundering.
Until Europe—and the United States—reckon with the monsters they manufactured, both in weapons labs and in the boardrooms of arms dealers, the flow of refugees will not stop. Nor will the political backlash.
What we’re witnessing is not just a migration crisis. It is a boomerang of empire returning home.
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Part IV: Blood Money and Broken Oaths: Collateral Empire – The Civilian Toll and the Future of Resistance
by Marivel Guzman | Akashma News
“They died for freedom,” the politician says.
But whose freedom? Certainly not theirs.
I. The Myth of Precision and the Reality of Ashes
They called it precision warfare.
They promised “smart bombs.”
But what they delivered was mass death—unaccounted, unpunished, and largely undocumented.
According to IraqBodyCount.org, between 187,499 and 211,046 civilians have been documented killed by violence since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Further analysis of WikiLeaks’ Iraq War Logs may add another 10,000 names to that ledger of loss.
Invading armies rarely excel at local mathematics—or at honoring the logistical heartbeat of a nation.
Markets became “targets of opportunity.” Ambulances became suspicious. Homes became war zones.
And in every crater, a truth buried:
This was not precision. This was policy.
Afghanistan: At least 70,000 civilians killed.
Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen: death tolls climbing, often uncounted.
Drone strikes: 90% of victims in some campaigns were not the intended targets.
“Collateral damage,” they called it.
Entire villages vaporized. Weddings bombed. Hospitals shelled.
No apologies. No trials. Just silence and the next press conference.
II. The Refugee Crisis: Manufactured Exodus
By 2022, U.S.-backed wars and destabilization campaigns had displaced over 38 million people—more than any conflict since World War II.
Iraqis flooded Jordan, Syria, and Europe.
Afghans clung to C-17s during evacuation.
Libyan migrants drowned off the Mediterranean coast after NATO’s intervention.
Syrians sought refuge from both U.S. airstrikes and U.S.-armed militias.
And while borders closed, the same governments who caused the exodus tightened asylum laws.
Militarized borders became the next frontier for profit.
III. Psychological War: Civilian Trauma as Policy
It’s not just bombs that wound. It’s what comes after.
PTSD rates among civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan exceed those of U.S. veterans.
Suicide, drug addiction, domestic violence—a quiet epidemic in rubble cities.
Schools bombed. Power grids sabotaged. Childhoods swallowed by sirens and fear.
This isn’t war. It’s social engineering through destruction. Break a population’s spirit, then offer “reconstruction” tied to debt, surveillance, and privatized aid.
IV. The New Colonies: NGOs, Contractors, and Vultures
After the last Humvee rolls out, the real occupation begins.
USAID becomes the soft hand of the Pentagon.
NGOs distribute food—but collect data.
Western contractors rebuild what they helped destroy—on the same taxpayer tab.
In Iraq, U.S. firms made $138 billion during “reconstruction.”
In Afghanistan, $19 billion went missing through fraud, waste, or abuse.
The locals get checkpoints and corruption.
The West gets contracts and stock options.
V. Domestic Casualties: The Forgotten Veterans and Homeland Decay
The war came home, too.
Over 30,000 U.S. post-9/11 veterans have died by suicide.
The VA is underfunded, overrun, and riddled with bureaucracy.
Tens of thousands of veterans live homeless, addicted, or disenfranchised.
While Boeing builds bombs, American bridges collapse.
While Palantir surveils war zones, U.S. schools go unfunded.
While Raytheon stock rises, insulin prices keep climbing.
This isn’t defense. It’s organized theft.
Part V: Blood Money and Broken Oaths —Naming the War Lords – Profiles of Power, Profit, and Permanent War
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