SANTA ANA, California —- Rapper and activist Immortal Technique believes Americans need to stand up and confront their country’s empire building and warmongering.

In an April 30 interview with “Behind The Headline,” MintPress News’ weekly TV show, Immortal Technique criticized Americans who justify the suffering and death caused by U.S. empire building.

“What needs to die is not people, but the mentality … of seeing yourself as moral while being able to do these things,” he told reporter Ali Salaam backstage before a show at The Observatory OC in Santa Ana, California.

“How can Obama even utter the … phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ when obviously they don’t matter when you’re launching drone strikes in East Africa, when you’re launching drone strikes somewhere in Asia?”

Immortal Technique reserved his strongest criticism for “so-called liberals” and “so-called progressives” who support President Barack Obama’s drone killing program and U.S. involvement in the destabilization of Syria and other countries in the Middle East “not for the betterment of those people but for the benefit of our economic status.”

Civilians are are dying in rising numbers as a result of drone strikes, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. At least 17 civilians died last month in a single strike in Afghanistan.

“It says a lot about where we are as a nation and as a people — we need to stand up more often and be able to confront these things,” he added.

Salaam and Immortal Technique discussed the Syrian civil war, which the rapper emphasized was a complex and chaotic situation. “We don’t actually know what is transpiring on the ground out there, although we can see that people are being killed and suffering incredibly.”

He compared the conflict to the Shining Path uprising in Peru, where he was born. Thousands were killed during the 1980 uprising and subsequent conflict between the far left group and the Peruvian government, which continues to simmer with the possibility of violence even today.

Just as with the conflicts he saw in Peru, Immortal Technique suggested, “Caught in the middle are the Syrian people, who didn’t ask for any of this.”

The U.S. support for so-called “moderate” rebel groups in Syria has consistently helped arm extremist groups like al-Qaida and Daesh (an Arabic acronym for the group known in the West as ISIS or ISIL) in hopes of destabilizing Syria’s government, while simultaneously supporting equally despotic regimes in places like Saudi Arabia, he said.

“It’s not like Assad was a democratic leader,” he explained. “But if we’re talking about dictatorships there are a lot of other dictatorships.”

Immortal Technique said the United States was not “the devil,” as some have characterized the country, but rather “the devil’s bank,” funding war and instability throughout the world in the name of profit. Likewise, the U.S. has profited from the radicalization of Islam, he suggested.

Immortal has Technique endorsed Jill Stein, the Green Party nominee for president in the 2016 election. According to her platform, Stein would dismantle the defense industry in favor of building a “green economy” which would emphasize alternative energy over fossil fuels and war.

Immortal Technique told Salaam: “When you look at contemporary politics, you’re gonna find that there is a necessity for third-party candidates.”

Yet, even more than how they vote in November, Immortal Technique said he wants people to think for themselves more and be less believing of the media and politicians.

“It’s not important that you agree with everything I say,” he said. “It’s important that you question every single thing that you’re told.”

Watch “Immortal Technique On American Empire” from “Behind The Headline”: