WAS LIBYA GETTING A TOO POWERFUL PLAYER IN
AFRICA FOR WESTERN ENTITIES?
Issues concerning LIBYA, one does not read in
mainstream media!
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
- Destabilization of North AFRICAN - a calculated move?
- “Bought journalism” justified and sustained the war
- Human rights organisations and mainstream media networks collaborated to create “smoke and mirror” screens for the public
- LIBYA and the new “scramble” for AFRICA
- QADHAFI’S PAN-AFRICAN ambitions – one of the reason for LIBYA to be neutralized?
- LIBYA and its natural resources - the crown of AFRICA
- LIBYA had the highest standards of living in AFRICA
In
2011, as the entire world watched the ARAB SPRING in amazement, the US and its
allies, predominantly working under the banner of the NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY
ORGANIZATION (NATO) and the GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC), militarily overran
the LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA.
The
peaceful civilian protesters they claimed to be intervening to protect were not
really what the US and its cohorts presented to the world. Many of these
so-called “protesters” were armed, and when this became apparent they
eventually began to portray themselves as “rebel forces.” These so-called
“rebels” in LIBYA were not a military force that emerged spontaneously for the
most part, but an insurgency movement cultivated and organised before any
opposition activities were even reported in LIBYA.
After
LIBYA’S rapprochement with the US and the EUROPEAN UNION, it was unthinkable to
many that WASHINGTON and any of its allies could even have been preparing to
topple the LIBYAN government. Business and trade ties between LIBYA and the US,
BRITAIN, ITALY, FRANCE, SPAIN, and TURKEY had bloomed since 2003 after Colonel MUAMMAR
QADHAFI opted for cooperation with WASHINGTON. No one imagined that SAIF
AL-ISLAM QADHAFI’S “NEW LIBYA” with its neo-liberalism could be on a collision
course with NATO.
 |
| The three colonial territories |
Yet,
the US and its EU partners for several years seemed to have made preparations
for taking over LIBYA. They had infiltrated the JAMAHIRIYA’S government,
security and intelligence sectors. Longstanding imperialist objectives existing
since the Second World War, aimed at dividing LIBYA into three colonial
territories, were taken out of government filing cabinets in WASHINGTON,
LONDON, PARIS and ROME, and circulated at NATO Headquarters in BRUSSELS.
In
league with these plans, the US and its allies had been cultivating ties with
different members of the LIBYAN opposition and had always reserved the option
of using these opposition figures for regime change in TRIPOLI. Putting
together their colonial designs and mobilizing their agents, the US and its
allies began organizing the stage for establishing the TRANSITIONAL NATIONAL
COUNCIL (TNC) – simply called the TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL – and similar bodies to
govern LIBYA as its new puppet leadership.
DESTABILIZATION OF NORTH
AFRICAN - A CALCULATED MOVE?
The
BRITISH and FRENCH even held joint invasion exercises months before the LIBYAN
conflict erupted with the ARAB SPRING in 2011, while various intelligence
services and foreign military commandos from NATO and GCC countries were also
on the ground in LIBYA helping to prepare for the destabilization of the NORTH AFRICAN country and the toppling of the JAMAHIRIYA’S government and
institutions.
Realities
have been turned upside down and the victims were grossly portrayed as the
aggressors in the conflict. While the TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL’S forces, augmented
by mercenaries and foreign fighters, were torturing, raping, and murdering
civilians and those that were standing in their way with the aid of NATO and
the GCC, MUAMMAR QADHAFI was inflexibly and exclusively blamed for all the
violence inside LIBYA.
Background
Information:
POROUS
BORDERS TURN LIBYA INTO RADICAL SANCTUARY
LIBYA
- DOOMED FROM DAY ONE
“BOUGHT JOURNALISM” JUSTIFIED
AND SUSTAINED THE WAR
Nor
were the atrocities an exclusively LIBYAN versus LIBYAN matter. During the
conflict, allegedly NATO committed serious war crimes in its effort to overrun
and control the NORTH AFRICAN country. Not only did foreign journalists help
justify and sustain the war, but they played major roles in assisting NATO’s
war effort by passing on information about LIBYAN targets and checkpoint
locations to the JAMAHIRIYA’S enemies. The war, however, did not go as planned
and LIBYAN resistance proved far stronger than the PENTAGON initially imagined.
Background
Information:
GERMANY:
LAME JOURNALISM, OR DELIBERATE DISINFORMATION ON SYRIA?
DIE ARROGANZ DER ENTWERTETEN
In
the course of the confrontation and at the international level, a series of
human rights organisations and think-tanks were utilized for preparing the
stage for the conflict in LIBYA and the toppling of its government. These
organisations were mostly part of a network that had been working to establish
the mechanisms for justifying interventionism and creating the net of
individuals and public faces needed for creating a proxy government in LIBYA in
the name of “democracy.” When the time came, these bodies coordinated with NATO
powers and the mainstream media in the project to isolate and subjugate the LIBYAN
ARAB JAMAHIRIYA. These so-called human rights organisations and the mainstream
media networks worked together to propagate lies about AFRICAN mercenaries, LIBYAN
military jet attacks on civilians, and civilian massacres by MUAMMAR QADHAFI’S regime.
HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS AND
MAINSTREAM MEDIA NETWORKS COLLABORATED TO CREATE “SMOKE AND MIRROR” SCREENS FOR
THE PUBLIC
International
news networks extensively quoted these human rights organisations in what would
amount to a self-fueled cycle of misinformation, while the same human rights
organisations continued to make claims on the basis of mainstream media’s
reports.
In
other words, each side fed the other. It was this web of inaccuracies which
were presented at the Human Rights Council in the UNITED NATIONS OFFICE at GENEVA
and then handed to the UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL in NEWYORK City as the
basis for the war in LIBYA. These inaccuracies were accepted without any
investigation being launched by the UNITED NATIONS or any other international
bodies. LIBYAN requests for international investigation teams were ignored. It
was from this point onward that NATO used the UN Security Council to launch its
war against LIBYA under the pretext of protecting civilians and enforcing a
no-fly zone over the Arab country. Although not officially accepted by the UNITED
NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL, the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) doctrine was
being showcased as a new paradigm for military intervention by NATO.
All
known advocates of Pentagon militarism and global empire demanded this war take
place, including PAUL WOLFOWITZ, JOHN MCCAIN, JOSEPH LIEBERMAN, ELLIOTT
ABRAHAMS, LEON WIESELTIER, JOHN HANNAH, ROBERT KAGAN, and WILLIAM KRISTOL. The PROJECT
FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY (PNAC) and the neo-conservatives was aligned with
the realist foreign policy camp in WASHINGTON. The entire US establishment
lined up to pick off TRIPOLI and reduce it to a weak and divided AFRICAN
protectorate.
LIBYA AND THE NEW “SCRAMBLE”
FOR AFRICA
To
put NATO’s war in LIBYA within the framework of historic analysis, one only
needs to be reminded that the main thrust of the sudden physical EUROPEAN colonization of AFRICA, called the “Scramble for AFRICA,” started when an
economic recession originally called the “Great Depression,” but in retrospect
renamed as the “Long Depression,” hit much of EUROPE and NORTH AMERICA from
roughly 1873 to 1893. In this period the entire tempo of WESTERN EUROPEAN contact
with AFRICAN nations transformed.
Background
Information:
VOLATILE
SAHEL REGION
LIBYA’S
INSTABILITY IS ALREADY SPILLING OVER INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN
Prior
to this economic recession, WESTERN EUROPEAN companies and enterprises were
content dealing with AFRICAN leaders and recognizing their authority. Few WESTERN
EUROPEAN colonies in AFRICA had existed aside from a few coastal strips based
on strategically-placed trading posts in SIERRA LEONE and LAGOS in the
possession of BRITAIN; MOZAMBIQUE and ANGOLA in the possession of PORTUGAL; and
SENEGAL in the possession of FRANCE. At this time the biggest external force in
AFRICA was the OTTOMAN EMPIRE, which was beginning its long decline as a great
power.
Background
Information:
AFRICA
IS FORECAST TO EMERGE AS THE FASTEST-GROWING REGION IN THE WORLD OVER THE NEXT
20 YEARS.
GLOBAL
REALIGNMENT OF POWER IS TAKING PLACE.
DEMOCRATIC
RECESSION: 9 OF THE 11 TOP CRUDE EXPORTERS ARE LABELED AS DICTATORSHIPS.
Even
with WESTERN EUROPEAN colonial incursions into AFRICA by BRITAIN, FRANCE, and PORTUGAL,
most of the AFRICAN continent was still free of external or alien control.
Intensified EUROPEAN economic rivalries and the recession in WESTERN EUROPE,
however, would change this. BRITAIN would lose its edge as the world’s most
industrialized nation as the industrial sectors of the USA, FRANCE and GERMANY
all began to increasingly challenge BRITISH manufacturers. As a result of the
recession and increased business rivalries, the corporations of WESTERN
EUROPEAN countries began to push their respective governments to adopt
protectionist practices and to directly intervene in AFRICA to protect the commercial
interests of these corporations. The logic behind this colonial push or
“scramble” was that these WESTERN EUROPEAN governments would secure large
portions of AFRICA as export markets and for resource imports for these
corporations alone, while these AFRICAN territories would effectively be closed
off to economic rivals. Thus, a whole string of WESTERN EUROPEAN conquest began
in AFRICA to secure ivory, fruits, copal (gum), cloves, beeswax, honey, coffee,
peanuts, cotton, precious metals, and rubber.
Background
Information:
AFRICA,
A CONTINENT WHICH DECADES AGO WAS OF NO OR MERELY PERIPHERAL INTEREST TO THE
REST OF THE WORLD SUDDENLY BECOMES A FOCAL POINT.
Although
appropriating LIBYA’S financial and material wealth were objectives of the NATO
war in 2011, the broader objectives of the intervention were part of the
struggle to control the AFRICAN continent and its vast wealth. The “Scramble
for AFRICA” was repeating itself. Just like the first time, recession and
economic rivalries were tied to this new round of colonial conquest in the AFRICAN
continent.
The emergence of ASIA as the
new global center of gravity, at the expense of the nations of the NORTH ATLANTIC
in NORTH AMERICA and WESTERN EUROPE, has also primed the UNITED STATES and its
allies to start an endeavor to close AFRICA off from CHINA and the emerging centers of power in RUSSIA, INDIA, BRAZIL, and IRAN. This is why the PENTAGON’S UNITED STATES
AFRICA COMMAND (USAFRICOM/AFRICOM) played a major role in the war.
PAYBACK TIME FOR BEING LEFT OUT
OF THE LIBYAN EQUATION
Unlike in LIBYA, RUSSIA and
CHINA this time around will not tolerate to be left out of the SYRIAN equation
and energy game
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. 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
Background
Information:
AFRICOM
EXPANDS MISSION IN AFRICA
SEVEN ECONOMIES IN SUB -
SAHARAN AFRICA ARE EXPECTED TO BE AMONG THE TEN FASTEST GROWING ECONOMIES IN
THE WORLD. http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/africa-forgotten-and-underestimated.html
The LONDON Conference on LIBYA,
where the Libya Contact Group was formed on 29 March 2011, was a modern version
of the BERLIN Conference of 1884, which attempted to solidify the gains made by
EUROPEAN colonial powers in their first rush to control AFRICAN societies and
territory. The ISTANBUL Conference on LIBYA, where the LIBYA Contact Group met
for the fourth time on 15 July 2011, was virtually a declaration of the
intentions of the US and these countries to appropriate LIBYA’S vast wealth.
This is a template for usurping the wealth of other countries in AFRICA and
beyond. In this regard, the TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL has served as nothing more
than a proxy that was designed to help embezzle LIBYA’S vast wealth.
QADHAFI’S PAN-AFRICAN AMBITIONS
– ONE OF THE REASON FOR LYBIA TO BE NEUTRALIZED?
LIBYA AND ITS DEVELOPMENT AND
POLITICAL PROJECTS WERE EFFECTIVELY ERECTING A BARRIER TO THE RE-COLONIZATION OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT.
In this regard, the war was
launched by “OPERATION ODYSSEY DAWN.” This name is very revealing. It
identifies the strategic intent and direction of the campaign in LIBYA. ‘The
Odyssey’ is an ancient GREEK epic by the poet Homer that recounts the voyage
and trails of the hero ODYSSEUS of ITHACA on his voyage home. The main theme
here is the ‘return home.’ In other words, the military assault’s codename
meant that countries like the US, BRITAIN, FRANCE, ITALY, GERMANY, BELGIUM, and
TURKEY were on their own odyssey of ‘return’ into AFRICA.
LIBYA AND ITS NATURAL RESOURCES
- THE CROWN OF AFRICA
LIBYA is a lucrative prize of
massive economic value. It has immense oil and gas resources, vast amounts of
underground water from the NUBIAN SANDSTONE AQUIFER System, important trade
routes, substantial foreign investments, and large amounts of liquid capital.
Up until 2011, LIBYA was blessed with a rare gift in regard to its national
revenue in that it saved a significant amount. In fact LIBYA possessed more than US$150 billion in
overseas financial assets and had one of the largest sovereign investment funds
in the world at the start of 2011.
Until
the conflict in LIBYA ignited, there was a very large foreign work force in the
JAMAHIRIYA. Thousands of foreign workers from every corner of the globe went to
LIBYA for employment. This included nationals from places like the PHILIPPINES,
TURKEY, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, CHINA, LATIN AMERICA, BELARUS, ITALY, FRANCE,
BULGARIA, ROMANIA, CANADA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, SERBIA, KOSOVO, BOSNIA, MACEDONIA,
CROATIA and every corner of the ARAB world. For years, these jobs inside LIBYA
were an important source of economic remittances in the cases of some AFRICAN
economies, such as NIGER. Moreover, many foreign workers from places like the PHILIPPINES
and ITALY even chose to make their lives in LIBYA and open their own local
businesses.
Background
Information:
BE
CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
AFTERMATH
OF THE 2011 MILITARY INTERVENTION IN LIBYA
Before
the NATO war, LIBYAN society had come a long way since 1951 when it became an
independent AFRICAN country. In 1975, the political scientist HENRI HABIB described
LIBYA on the dawn of its independence as a backward country saying: “When LIBYA
was granted its independence by the UNITED NATIONS on December 24, 1951, it was
described as one of the poorest and most backward nations of the world. The
population at the time was not more than 1.5 million, was over 90% illiterate,
and had no political experience or knowhow. There were no universities, and
only a limited number of high schools which had been established seven years
before independence.”
According
to HABIB, the state of poverty in LIBYA was the result of the yoke of OTTOMAN
domination followed by an era of EUROPEAN imperialism in LIBYA that started
with the ITALIANS. He explained that, “[e]very effort was made to keep the ARAB
inhabitants [of LIBYA] in a servile position rendering them unable to make any
progress for themselves or their nation.” This colonial yoke, however, began
its decline in 1943 after ITALY and GERMANY were defeated in NORTH AFRICA during
the Second World War.
In
1959 LIBYA’S oil reserves were discovered. Despite political mismanagement and
corruption, since 1969 these LIBYAN oil reserves were used to improve the
standard of living for the country’s population. In addition to the revenue
from LIBYAN energy reserves, the LIBYAN government played an important role in
maintaining LIBYA’S high living standards. Although never fully nationalised, LIBYA’S
oil would only, in progressive steps, fall under the control of LIBYANS after
the 1969 coup against the LIBYAN monarchy by QADHAFI and a group of young
military officers. Before 1969 most of
the country’s oil wealth was actually not being used to serve the general
public. Under Qadhafi’s leadership this changed and the National Oil Company
was founded on 12 November 1970.
 |
| QADHAFI’S PAN-AFRICAN AMBITIONS |
To
a certain extent the isolation of LIBYA in the past as a pariah state played a
role in insulating LIBYA economically and maintaining its standards of living.
From an economic standpoint, most of the ARAB world and AFRICA have become globalized as components of an integrated network of regional economies tied to
the UNITED STATES and the EUROPEAN UNION. LIBYAN integration into this global
economic system was delayed because of the past political isolation of the LIBYAN
ARAB JAMAHIRIYA when WASHINGTON, LONDON, and PARIS were openly at odds with TRIPOLI.
LIBYA HAD THE HIGHEST STANDARDS
OF LIVING IN AFRICA
Despite
having vast sums of money stolen and squandered by QADHAFI’S family and their
officials, social services and benefits, such as government housing and
numerous subsidies, were available to the LIBYAN population. It has to be
cautioned too that the apparatus of a modern welfare state does not mean that
neo-liberal restructuring and poverty were not afoot in LIBYA, because they
very much were. What this means is that economics was not the driving force for
the internal dimension of the fighting in LIBYA. For years, up until 2011, LIBYA
had the highest standards of living in AFRICA and one of the highest in the ARAB
world. There is an old LIBYAN proverb, “if your pocket becomes empty, your
faults will be many.” In this regard, LIBYA’S faults were not many in economic
terms.
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
By
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, via NDM
Thank you for providing this essential information for those of us trying to find our way and record the truth, through the thick jungle of toxic lies about Libya and Qaddafi.
ReplyDelete"All known advocates of Pentagon militarism and global empire demanded this war take place, including PAUL WOLFOWITZ, JOHN MCCAIN, JOSEPH LIEBERMAN, ELLIOTT ABRAHAMS, LEON WIESELTIER, JOHN HANNAH, ROBERT KAGAN, and WILLIAM KRISTOL."
ReplyDeleteWell, lest anyone should have missed the obvious, the names rather underline the usual tribe's involvement dont they?