Libya Lumbers
By Farooque Chowdhury
14 March, 2011
Countercurrents.org
Naked Imperialism is making Libya lumber. Intervention by petro-imperialism is poised to send Libya’s democratic struggle with seldom shown monarchist flag to limbo. France’s overt intervention and the Empire’s covert maneuvers under the shadow of an imperialism fuelled civil war are making Libya’s move to democracy difficult.
Gadhafi’s tactical advances push back his opponents’ reported resolve to stand till his fall while it fans external actors’ lust for direct intervention. The Arab League that many a times failed to stand above disunity is now having a single song: get rid of Gadhafi. But, for Europe, it is still difficult: “[H]aving 27 conversations”, as Time quoted a European leader, “around the table.” This sign of European incoherence can provide Gadhafi minute’s tactical opportunity. Intervention plan is facing problem from within the interventionist camp, and from a section of Gadhafi opponents, a reality beyond the plan of the interventionists.
As the rebels gradually lose control of the portion of land they sliced away from the authoritarian ruler section of the rebels is asking for “humanitarian” help that carries elements of direct imperialist intervention. There is every possibility of sending soldiers to guarantee safe delivery of aid. No-fly zone is on interventionist agenda, which is confused by its conflicting interests. Sex-scandal ridden Berlusconi has made available Italian military facilities to future operation in the North African country. However, Obama, Cameron and Sarkozy’s desire to intervene is facing obstacle from their internal reality: economic and political, crisis and competition, and limits of over-stretched power. One of the leading US intelligence officials has angered a section of US interventionists by publicly telling a truth: Gadhafi shall prevail because of supremacy of his firepower. Moreover, Gadhafi, as his son told during an interview, knows the game with lucrative oil deal.
“The preparation for a military intervention in Libya”, writes Yoshie Furuhashi, editor, MRzine, “will test the revolutionaries in bordering Egypt and Tunisia. The armed forces of their countries, the backbones of the regimes in power there, will be requested to provide support for any such intervention . . . that is, if they have not already privately pledged their cooperation. (“Imperialists Prepare for Military Intervention in Libya” MRzine, Feb.28, 2011)
Gadhafi with cracked legitimacy is trying to thwart imperialist military intervention. He initially blamed Laden and hallucinogenic pill filled teenagers for the revolt against his ruling system of centralized decentralization. Then, he pointed his finger to machinations by imperialists, his just-yesterday’s friends. He was having warm relation with his Washington and NATO friends, and his friends were feeding him with sophisticated arms. Even, his state of the art repression equipments were supplied by his friends from both sides of the Atlantic.
Sections of Libyans under the leadership of Gadhafi-cohorts-turned-“conscientious” guys are waving monarchy’s tricolor. “The tricolour of King Idris, the monarch Mr Qaddafi overthrew in 1969 … flies across the east...” (The Economist, March 7, 2011) “[T]he faces of the old detested regime”, writes As'ad AbuKhalil, professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus, “are now leading the so-called opposition.” (“The Libyan Uprising”, Angry Arab News Service, March 4, 2011) The claimants of having a seal of governance in the breakaway portion are unelected and unselected, with whom “democracy” designers are entering into oil stained deals. “Delegates to the new assembly”, The Economist report said, “have decked Beida’s parliament building in portraits of King Idris and his tricolour. … A secret ten-man military committee has been formed. …Jihadist groups have kept a low profile. A lawyer claimed that there is effort to a separation of religion and state.”
To shed of the despised identity of quisling or Marshal Petain Gadhafi opponents had to get hold a band of Anglo SAS commandoes and a junior diplomat. But the “transparency”- and “accountable”-democracy failed to provide an explanation. The secret diplomatic mission, press reported, was to smoothen out path of contact by a senior diplomat. A would-be Lawrence of Libya? The virtually broken away significant part of Libya with oil port and refineries is a landing ground for intervention, and the crises-ridden, budget-deficit burdened Empire, as it claimed, reaches “out to many different Libyans who are attempting to organize”. And, sections of revolting elements have dubious identities. Although a section of the opposition is aware that the external “friends” prefer oil than protecting Libyan lives.
Gadhafi, with his bizarre posture and macabre rhetoric, is trying to regain control of the ruling machine that relies on a mixture of utopian and retrogressive ideas and practices, and sows seeds of discontent. He once took anti-imperialist stance, then made appeasements with imperialism, and successfully failed to mobilize people. Its current cost, the costs now being charged by “humanitarian”- or “democracy”-imperialism, is unknown number of deaths, suffering of and hatred among the people, the regime’s significant diplomatic isolation and reduced credibility, and a divided country. His actions have lent credibility to imperialist propaganda, although Libyan TV showed Egyptian passports, CDs and cell phones purportedly belonging to detainees who had allegedly confessed to plotting terrorist operations against the Libyan people. On the other hand, facts hidden by the mainstream media blitzkrieg will surface later as have come out in many cases including Iraq and Darfur.
Pogrom
In localities controlled by anti-Gadhafi forces, migrant workers fleeing to Egypt, a British project manager and an Egyptian accountant reported scenes of mayhem as looters stormed their compounds, and looted cars and computers. Glen Ford, executive editor, Black Agenda Report, writes: “A vicious, racist pogrom is raging against the 1.5 million sub-Saharan Black African migrant workers who do the hard jobs in Libya, work that is rejected by the relatively prosperous Libyans. Hundreds of Black migrant workers have already been killed by anti-Khadafi forces – yet the U.S. corporate media express absolutely no concern for their safety. One Western report noted that large numbers of Black Africans were seized in Benghazi and were assumed to have been hanged. That is a war crime, whether these men were soldiers or migrant workers, but the Western correspondent seemed unconcerned. One suspects there are many atrocities occurring in the rebel-held areas of Libya, especially against people that are not members of the locally dominant tribe.” (“No Tahrir in Benghazi: A Racist Pogrom Rages On Against Black Africans in Libya”, Black Agenda Report, March 2, 2011) There is, The Economist report said, resentment against migrant workers as a third of Libyans are jobless. Resentment is also there against Western contractors reaping the benefits of Libyan oil wealth to the tune of millions of dollars.
A Portion of Background
The rapidly changing Libyan incidents need a closer look to its background. “As opposed to the situation in Egypt and Tunisia, Libya occupies first place in the Human Development Index within Africa and has the highest life expectancy rate on the continent. Education and health receive special state attention. The cultural level of the population is without a doubt higher. Its problems are of another nature. The population is not in need of food or basic social services. The country requires many foreign workers to implement its ambitious production and social development plans. Therefore it offers employment to hundreds of thousands of workers from Egypt, Tunisia, China and other nations. It has an enormous income and hard currency reserves deposited in the banks of rich countries, with which it acquires consumer goods and even sophisticated weapons, supplied by the very countries which now want to invade in the name of human rights. The colossal campaign of lies unleashed by the mass media has created much confusion in world public opinion.” (Fidel Castro, “NATO's inevitable war”)
Causes of indignation were there within the Libyan society, which has prepared ground for today’s civil war. Naked Imperialism (title of a book by John Bellamy Foster) could not miss the opportunity to take advantage of Libya’s internal conflict to advance its geostrategy. Libyan oil-industry operators, according to The Economist report, threatened to destroy pipelines, and cut supplies to Europe, if European states fail to intervene to end Gadhafi’s rule.
In the face of interventionist moves, Chávez, the Bolivarian leader of Venezuela, has taken a bold stand against intervention in Libya. Venezuela has proposed to “set up a Goodwill International Commission for the search for peace in Libya”, which has been accepted by the government of Libya, but has been rejected by the US, France, and the opposition Libyan National Council. Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba, and Nicaragua support Venezuela’s initiative to seek a negotiated solution. But, Gadhafi’s Arab brethren have said nothing about the Venezuelan proposal.
One of the tasks of democratic movements worldwide is to create an international movement that defends democracy, peace, human rights, and territorial integrity so that imperialist powers cannot subvert the movements, and cannot use democratic movements and famous personalities as covers for their intervention and plan for subjugation.
There is possibility of a long battle with implications on the entire region and the peoples’ journey to democracy there. “[T]he fundamental concern of the United States and NATO”, Fidel wrote, “is not Libya, but the revolutionary wave unleashed in the Arab world, which they wish to prevent at all costs.” (“NATO’s inevitable war”) A failure on the part of democratic forces to oppose intervention will charge a high price as forces standing against people are threatening that the next spring will be theirs.
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