OPERATION IN LIBYA IMMINENT
While facing a string of defeats
in its core territories, but in LIBYA, the Islamic State (IS) continues to
advance on key oil facilities in the country. On January 4, the militant group
began an attack east from its home base around SIRTE. On January 5, IS was in
control of the oil tanks and their immediate surroundings.
Background Information: WESTERN
GEOPOLITICS IN LIBYA
The group announced the capture
of BIN JAWAD, 30km (19 miles) west of SIDRA on the road from its stronghold in SIRTE.
It’s a significant achievement. Evidently, the seizure of yet another
population centre by the group is concerning. It has continued onwards from BIN
JAWAD towards the towns of SIDRA and RAS LANUF – the LIBYA’S biggest oil ports,
capable of shipping more than 500,000 barrels a day.
Although they have been closed
for just over a year they have vital crude oil storage facilities.
LIBYA'S
NATIONAL OIL COMPANY (NOC) MADE A DESPERATE APPEAL FOR HELP
The capture of the ports would
enable the terrorist group to supplement its revenue with money made from the
oil products trade in a similar fashion to its counterparts in SYRIA. The JIHADIS
could make gains inland and towards the east, putting at risk terminals at BREGA
and ZUEITINA, as well as a cluster of oilfields, such as AMAL and NAFOORA, that
have enabled two-thirds of LIBYA’S current production.
LIBYA'S National Oil Company
(NOC) made a desperate appeal for help on Jan.5 after ISLAMIC STATE fighters
clashed with forces guarding key oil terminals, shelling storage facilities and
setting oil tanks on fire», the Financial Times reported.
«We are helpless and not being
able to do anything against this deliberate destruction to the oil
installations in ES-SIDER (SIDRA) and RAS LANUF», NOC said in what it titled a
«Cry for Help» on its website.
LIBYAN
COAST IS UNDER DE FACTO ISALMIC STATE CONTROL
After banding together with local
fighters, the group began to rapidly expand its reach out from SIRTE and
towards the rest of the surrounding region. Approximately 125 miles of
territory along the LIBYAN coast is under de facto IS control. IS’s
consolidation of territory in SIRTE gives the group a foothold in close
proximity to EUROPE — and near a number of potentially fragile neighboring
states.
Patrick Johnston, a
counterterrorism analyst at the RAND Corporation, also told the USA Today that
«LIBYA is probably right now the most significant threat to becoming a
full-blown sanctuary» for IS.
LIBYA has had rival
administrations since August 2014, when an Islamist-backed militia alliance
overran TRIPOLI, forcing the government to take refuge in the east. The UN is
pressing both sides to accept a power-sharing agreement it hopes will help
reverse gains made by IS. On December 17, under UN guidance, envoys from both
sides and a number of independent political figures signed a deal for a unity
government. It calls for a 17-member government, led by businessman FAYEZ
EL-SARRAJ as premier, based in TRIPOLI. With the new government in place LIBYA
can appeal for international intervention. Until then, a decision to intervene
must be approved by the UN Security Council. There are reports the intervention
has started to breach the international law.
IS
HAS THREATENED TO USE LIBYA TO DISRUPT EUROPEAN SECURITY AND ECONOMIC
WELL-BEING
On Jan.3, the Daily Mirror
reported BRITISH SPECIAL OPERATIONS TEAMS (SAS) are already operating in LIBYA
preparing for the arrival of around 1,000 BRITISH infantrymen to be sent
against IS there in early 2016.
The forces including military
close observation experts from the Special Reconnaissance Regiment are
spearheading a major coalition offensive against the terror network. The
operation will involve around 6,000 AMERICAN and EUROPEAN soldiers and marines
- led by ITALIAN forces and supported mainly by BRITAIN and FRANCE. A senior
military source told the Mirror, «This coalition will provide a wide range of
resources from surveillance, to strike operations against ISLAMIC STATE who
have made significant progress in LIBYA».
Background Information: LIBYA
AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Regardless of the final results
of this offensive, it proves that the ISLAMIC STATE in LIBYA is a growing
threat. IS has threatened to use its location in LIBYA to disrupt EUROPEAN
security and economic well-being. Due to the fractious nature of the LIBYAN
politics, hardly any one group will be able to dislodge the terrorist militant
group from its positions without outside help. With this in mind, growing calls
for international intervention are to be expected. An operation appears to be
unavoidable - it’s a matter of time.
The IS LIBYAN branch is an imminent threat
to EUROPE (RUSSIA and the EU and NATO members). RUSSIA and FRANCE have set a
good example of close coordination in SYRIA. Now the events dictate the need
for urgent joint diplomatic effort to address the emerged threat. RUSSIA with
its power projection capability and main EUROPEAN actors could form a
formidable force to defeat IS in NORTH AFRICA coordinating efforts in
accordance with international law, if need be.
Background Information:
An international coalition of
nations united in the anti-Islamic State effort has a chance to drastically
change things for the better.
By Peter KORZUN
In March 2015 we wrote:
In March 2015 we wrote:
LIBYA AND THE UNITED NATIONS - Part 1
IS THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL SUPPORTING WESTERN MILITARY AND ECONOMIC INTERESTS IN LIBYA?
Also read Part 2 LIBYA AND THE UNITED NATIONS at:
Executive Summary:
- QATAR AND ITS PROXY WAR WITH SAUDI ARABIA AND EGYPT IN LIBYA
- UN SECURITY COUNCIL SUPPORTING WESTERN MILITARY AND ECONOMIC INTERESTS IN LIBYA
- EGYPT WIDENING WARS IN NORTH AFRICA AND WEST ASIA
- WARMONGERING MAINSTREAM MEDIA?
- GRAB FOR THE CENTRAL BANK OF LIBYA BY INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
- TRIPOLI THE SEAT OF POWER OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONS, THE CENTRAL BANK AND NATIONAL OIL COMPANY
- TRACKING ISIS FINANCIAL BACKERS – NOT REALLY A BIG DEAL FOR BRITAIN AND THE USA – IF ONLY THEY REALLY WISH TO DO SO
- BOTH SIDES OF THE LIBYAN POLITICAL DIVIDE ARE SUPPORTED BY EXTERNAL FORCES
- NTC MOVED TO TOBRUK-BAYDA, WHEREAS THE WESTS RECOGNIZED GOVERNMENT IS BASED IN BAYDA
- P3 OPPOSED CALLS FROM THE AFRICAN UNION AND FROM THE BRICS STATES FOR A FULL EVALUATION OF THE NATO INTERVENTION IN 2011
- REAPING THE HARVEST OF WESTERN INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS IN LIBYA
The Pope has called the beheadings, “barbaric assassinations.” Naturally, the world vented and there was righteous outrage all around. What was missing, however, was a sober analysis of what created the conditions for this so-called “Islamic State” to grow in the LEVANT and now to appear in LIBYA.
QATAR AND ITS PROXY WAR WITH SAUDI ARABIA AND EGYPT IN LIBYA
In light of the beheadings the governments of FRANCE and EGYPT called for urgent discussions in the UN Security Council in order for the UN to lift the arms embargo against LIBYA. From ITALY, WESTERN news sources are calling for an attack on ISIS in LIBYA before it reaches EUROPE. At the same moment while the EGYPTIANS were soliciting political support from EUROPE for its intervention in LIBYA, the government of QATAR, which has been waging a proxy war with SAUDI ARABIA and EGYPT in LIBYA, withdrew its ambassador from EGYPT. Using the news organization AL JAZEERA to bring out its point of view, QATAR’S foreign ministry said DOHA had expressed reservations over the raids, stressing the need for “consultations before any unilateral military action against another member state.” The QATARI government was protesting the bombing of innocent civilians in LIBYA.
Background Information: QATAR
SAUDI ARABIA AND QATAR
THE QATARI PROJECT: “DESTROYING SAUDI ARABIA”?
SAUDI ARABIA versus QATAR
EGYPT WIDENING WARS IN NORTH AFRICA AND WEST ASIA
Background Information: DERNA
ISLAMIC STATE HAS ALSO EMERGED IN LIBYA, SPECIFICALLY IN THE CITY OF DERNA
WARMONGERING MAINSTREAM MEDIA?
Although this inconsistency in the actions of the government of EGYPT has been glossed over by the WESTERN mainstream media, these same vehicles of militarism expressed shock at the news of the beheadings of COPTIC CHRISTIANS in LIBYA, and the rise of the so-called ISLAMIC STATE in LIBYA.
Where was this media when there was the ethnic cleansing of TAWERGHA? How did this same media act as cheerleaders for the NATO intervention in 2011? The argument political analysts and observers have, is that the same WESTERN states and their strategic think tanks that drove the wars in IRAQ and the intervention in LIBYA cannot give leadership in the UNITED NATIONS over the questions of peace and reconciliation. ANGOLA, CHINA, MALAYSIA and VENEZUELA will stand condemned in the court of progressive public opinion if these countries in the UN Security Council allow the world to be railroaded into another UN supported deployment of troops to support western military and economic interests in LIBYA.
Creating an international commission that can document the role of NATO, EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA and QATAR with a view to setting the conditions for an international force to intervene in LIBYA to disarm the militias could be a solution to the problem. Such an international force would exclude members of NATO and the current combatants in LIBYA: QATAR, SUDAN, SAUDI ARABIA, TURKEY, the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES and EGYPT.
GRAB FOR THE CENTRAL BANK OF LIBYA BY INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
A closer examination of the beheadings in SIRTE and focus on the struggles over the CENTRAL BANK in LIBYA and how the NATO governments are maneuvering for their “internationally recognized” government to get their hands on the billions of dollars in reserves in LIBYA.
Background Information: LIBYA AND ITS MONETARY RESERVES
WALL STREET COULD NOT ALLOW TRIPOLI TO BE DEBT-FREE, to continue accumulating international financial possessions, and to be a creditor nation giving international loans and investing funds in other countries, particularly in AFRICA.
In 2008 GOLDMAN SACHS was given us$1.3 billion dollars by the LIBYAN investment authority. (Part 2 - BALKANIZATION of LIBYA)
TRIPOLI THE SEAT OF POWER OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONS, THE CENTRAL BANK AND NATIONAL OIL COMPANY
The so-called ISIS in LIBYA have mastered the art of propaganda and have learnt how to use the media to strike fear in the hearts and minds of the citizens of WESTERN EUROPE and NORTH AMERICA, while committing real crimes against humanity in the LEVANT. Military information operation is now such a central part of modern warfare, that those who have trained this JIHADIST front know how to produce slick media products for maximum shock value.
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| Central Bank Libya |
Although the small base of LIBYANS who say that they adhere to ISIS in LIBYA is in the EAST in DERNIA, those who carried out the beheadings of the 21 EGYPTIAN workers choose the city of SIRTE. This was the birthplace of GADDAFI. It was the seat of the idea of the Constitutive Act of the African Union and it is near to the center of the institutions that hold real power in LIBYA: TRIPOLI. At the seat of power are two of the most important organizations for those who want to wield power, the CENTRAL BANK and the NATIONAL OIL COMPANY.
ISIS PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS (PSY OPS) PER EXCELLENCE
From all reports, the video of the beheadings had been skillfully produced with one of the beheaders pointing to EUROPE. This heinous media event had its desired effect. EUROPEAN newspapers have now carried stores about how ISIS considers LIBYA as the gateway to EUROPE. One BRITISH newspaper noted, “In ISIS we are observing a level of atrocity towards mankind that, post-Nazism, we hoped we would never again witness.”[1]
Every killing, beheading and rape has become a media event without real alternatives to the WESTERN drumbeat for perpetual war. Last year when the so-called ISIS made their appearance, it appeared that for westerners, ISIS was barbaric only when they killed westerners or those considered to be WESTERN allies in the region. In October 2014, Human Rights Watch reported that “Islamic State militants drove 600 SHIA, CHRISTIAN, and YAZIDI male prisoners into the middle of the desert, lined them up along the edge of a ravine, and executed them at point blank range.” [2]
TRACKING ISIS FINANCIAL BACKERS – NOT REALLY A BIG DEAL FOR BRITAIN AND THE USA – IF ONLY THEY REALLY WISH TO DO SO
BRITAIN and the USA who clearly understand and know the sources of finance, weapons and training for ISIS have joined in condemnation of the atrocities while retreating from exposing the real supporters of ISIS. The governments of BRITAIN, the UNITED STATES, FRANCE, ITALY, KUWAIT and SAUDI ARABIA have the capabilities to track the financial backers of ISIS.
ISIS is following a grand tradition of beheadings and cutting off of hands that had been perfected by repressive governments for centuries. The difference here is that the forces of ISIS were nurtured out of the somewhat reckless actions of WESTERN imperialism in NORTH AFRICA and WEST ASIA over the past twenty years.
Progressive intellectuals and anti-imperial forces have for long been pointing to the fact that the war against the regime of ASSAD in SYRIA by the SAUDIS provided the conditions for the rise of ISIS. Patrick Cockburn has spelt the regional and factional forces that coalesced into the formation that is now called ISIS in the book, ‘The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution’. [3] This knowledge is kept away from WESTERN citizens as the military and political establishments skillfully use the atrocities of ISIS to promote their political agendas.
The BRITISH Foreign Secretary, PHILIP HAMMOND, condemned the murders in LIBYA and said the UK remains fully supportive of the UN’s efforts to build a national unity government for LIBYA. “Such barbaric acts strengthen our determination to work with our partners to counter the expanding terrorist threat to LIBYA and the region. Acts of terrorism should not be allowed to undermine LIBYA’S political transition. We remain fully supportive of the UN’s efforts to build a national unity government for LIBYA and to bring a political solution to the ongoing security crisis. Those who support terrorists can have no part in this process.”
The White House called the killings “despicable and cowardly.” “This wanton killing of innocents is just the most recent of the many vicious acts perpetrated by IS affiliated terrorists against the people of the region, including the murders of dozens of EGYPTIAN soldiers in the SINAI, which only further galvanises the international community to unite against IS,” said spokesman JOSH EARNEST. “This heinous act once again underscores the urgent need for a political resolution to the conflict in LIBYA, the continuation of which only benefits terrorist groups, including IS.” From the White House and from BRITAIN, the world is alerted to the fact that the West is working on “political resolution” to the conflict in LIBYA.
WHO IS THE SO-CALLED LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT IN LIBYA?
When the UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL passed the resolution that gave NATO the green light to intervene in LIBYA in 2011, it gained the support of a small group of opposition forces that called themselves the NATIONAL TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL (NTC). These LIBYANS created a political body with 33 representatives from most LIBYAN regions. The one thing they could agree on was opposition to GADDAFI, but they could not agree on how to develop a political program to reconstruct LIBYA.
After the fall of GADDAFI and the withdrawal of the NATO jets and Special Forces from QATAR, the NTC split into different factions. Those who had access to the weapons gained the upper hand. The UNITED STATES started out as a competitor with FRANCE and BRITAIN, seeking to install a transition process. The late Ambassador CHRISTOPHER STEVENS was one of the foremost articulators of the ‘transition’ plan with the agencies and contractors such as the CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT for International Peace, RAND CORPORATION, the NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE and the STATE DEPARTMENT travelling to LIBYA with consultancies to establish “good governance.” We learnt from the army newssheet ‘Stars and Stripes’ that under this transition plan, the US AFRICA COMMAND was supposed to gain a contract for US $600 million to train 8,000 LIBYAN soldiers.
Background Information: USA AFRICOM
AFRICOM EXPANDS MISSION IN AFRICA
As with all well laid plans, reality intervened. The civilian leaders of the NTC proved incapable of building basic political organizations and those with the guns who had been organized into militias refused to disarm.
BOTH SIDES OF THE LIBYAN POLITICAL DIVIDE ARE SUPPORTED BY EXTERNAL FORCES
At first, the plan was for the CENTRAL BANK to pay-off the more than 200,000 youths in these militias with monthly stipends, but as the elements with guns grasped the political and organizational weakness of those in the transitional parliament, they decided to flex their muscles. When these armed elements started kidnapping and killing the officials of the NTC, many of whom ran away to CAIRO, MALTA, DUBAI or to GENEVA, depending on their financial strength, the infighting between the militias and the bureaucrats consumed many of the NGO workers who had joined in the rebellion such as SALWA BUGAIGHIS.
Background Information:
ISLAM – A CONVENIENT TOOL FOR AMERICA’S GEO -STRATEGIC POLICIES
Small GULF entities such as the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES and QATAR took sides in the internecine battles providing weapons and logistics as the armed elements sidelined the politicians who had been anointed by the WEST to succeed in LIBYA. [4] Frederic Wehrey, writing for Foreign Affairs magazine last year, noted that both sides of the LIBYAN political divide are supported by external forces:
“EGYPT and the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE) have backed DIGNITY, while QATAR, SUDAN, and TURKEY are purported to be backing DAWN.
Background Information: DAWN AND DIGNITY
DIGNITY FRONT VERSUS DAWN FRONT
NTC MOVED TO TOBRUK-BAYDA, WHEREAS THE WESTS RECOGNIZED GOVERNMENT IS BASED IN BAYDA
Contrary to some commentary, both sides have used force against civilians and elected institutions, and both show little sign of compromise. Despite WESTERN diplomatic and political support, and with the military support of EGYPT and the UAE, the rump of the NTC could not organize to defend themselves and gradually left TRIPOLI, settling to set up its Parliament in the far EAST in the area around TOBRUK-BAYDA. The seat of the WESTERN recognized government is supposed to be BAYDA.”
P3 OPPOSED CALLS FROM THE AFRICAN UNION AND FROM THE BRICS STATES FOR A FULL EVALUATION OF THE NATO INTERVENTION IN 2011
RUSSIA'S REVENGE FOR LIBYA
As mentioned numerous times, RUSSIA and CHINA felt that they were left out of the equation regarding the LIBYAN operation instigated by the USA, FRANCE and BRITAIN in 2011.
CHINA and RUSSIA invested heavily in LIBYA prior to the toppling of the LIBYAN regime, only to find out that they were kept completely out of the picture regarding the true intentions the Western coalition force had in mind with LIBYA once the regime was removed, namely tap the oil reserves of LIBYA.
Subsequently RUSSIA and CHINA learned their lesson and thus would not make the same mistake regarding SYRIA, permitting LIBYAN style intervention by WESTERN and GULF STATES coalition forces. No matter that SYRIA lacks oil reserves or other natural resources worth fighting over, their veto was more of a symbolic gesture telling WESTERN and GULF STATES coalition forces: that’s how far you can go this time around, but no further.
Note from the Editor: Above paragraph was written by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring in June 2012 and included into this analysis
UNLIKE IN LIBYA, RUSSIA AND CHINA THIS TIME AROUND WILL NOT TOLERATE TO BE LEFT OUT OF THE SYRIAN EQUATION AND ENERGY GAME
ENERGY DEALS RUSSIA AND CHINA INKED WITH MUAMMAR QADDAFI PRIOR TO THE MILITARY INTERVENTION
According to some analysts this instability could also be triggered deliberately by certain foreign entities who invested heavily in LIBYA’S oil and fossil extraction prior to the military intervention in LIBYA. When coalition forces decided to intervene in LIBYA they did not consider the consequences such intervention would have on the geopolitical landscape.
With the aim to gain control over Libya’s oil reserves WESTERN coalition forces thought they could outwit CHINA and RUSSIA who also invested heavily in LIBYA’S lucrative oil industry. Lured into voting in favor of the UN resolution which in the end paved the way for Military Intervention in LIBYA, RUSSIA and CHINA expected to receive their fair slice of the “energy cake” once the intervention was concluded, instead they were left out of the equation, losing millions of dollars of investments in LIBYA, for all energy deals RUSSIA and CHINA inked with Muammar Qaddafi prior to the military intervention suddenly became void, leaving the USA, FRANCE and BRITAIN the sole benefiters of the entire operation.
Read also:
Note from the Editor: Above paragraph was written by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring in October 2013 and included into this analysis
With their diplomatic muscle in the Security Council of the UNITED NATIONS, NATO members, especially the P3 (BRITAIN, FRANCE and the UNITED STATES) have opposed calls from the AFRICAN UNION and from the BRICS states for a full evaluation of the NATO intervention in 2011. Instead, the P3 pushed for the naming of a SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO LIBYA. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, BERNARDINO LEÓN, was handed the task of giving meaning to the transition plans that had been hatched by WESTERN think tanks. LEON’S mandate was “to help establish a ceasefire, facilitate political dialogue and support the work of the House of Representatives and LIBYAN Government in establishing an inclusive political framework as part of the democratic transition.”
REAPING THE HARVEST OF WESTERN INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS IN LIBYA
Throughout the years of imperial opposition to MUAMAR GADDAFI, the WESTERN intelligence agencies cultivated the ISLAMISTS in LIBYA because political opposition to GADDAFI had taken religious forms. The WEST invested heavily in the EASTERN part of LIBYA and cities such as BENGHAZI and DERNIA built networks of fighters who were interspersed with WESTERN military forces in AFGHANISTAN and other sites of destabilization. More than eight years ago, a West Point study drew attention to the fact that the corridor which goes from BENGHAZI to TOBRUK, passing through the city of DARNAH (also called DERNIA) represented one of the greatest concentrations of jihadi terrorists to be found anywhere in the world.
It was from the East where the rebellion was stoked and after the fall of GADDAFI, it was from this same region where the CIA recruited JIHADISTS to fight against the ASSAD regime in SYRIA. However, these JIHADISTS could not be controlled and when they fell out, the world found out about the den of JIHADISTS in the EAST when the US Ambassador to LIBYA was consumed in the struggles between competing militias at a CIA facility in BENGHAZI in 2012.
There is a long list of individuals that in the past worked with WESTERN intelligence operations and are now labelled as terrorists. AHMED ABU KHATTALA and ABU ANAS AL-LIBI are two such individuals who have been involved in the shadowy networks of JIHADISTs and western intelligence organizations. When AHMED ABU KHATTALA was picked up in LIBYA by Western military forces, the New York Times ran the story: “Brazen Figure May Hold Key to Mysteries: AHMED ABU KHATTALA Capture May Shed Light on BENGHAZI Attack.”[5]
In 2013, ABU ANAS AL-LIBI was captured on the streets of TRIPOLI by US Delta Force and AL-LIBI was quickly flown out of LIBYA. He was then extradited to NEW YORK to stand trial for helping to mastermind the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in NAIROBI, KENYA. ABDUL-HAMED AL-RUQUAI is another name for ABU ANAS AL-LIBI. His career as an operative with long connections to BRITISH and US intelligence services was about to be exposed in the trial which was supposed to start in January 2015. Then before his trial on terrorism charges was set to begin in MANHATTAN federal court, ANAS AL-LIBI died in custody.
This was a most convenient death because in his untimely death, the world will never know why the BRITISH government had released AL LIBI when BRITAIN knew full well the ties between the AL QUEDA forces and the extremists from LIBYA who wanted to fight GADDAFI. [6]
Adapted by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring from the original article written by Horace G. Campbell
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