- by Marcus Browning
- The Guardian
- Issue #2152
Muammar Gaddafi. Photo: Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας – flickr.com (CC BY-SA 2.0)
No one should be under any illusions about the intentions of Western governments and their offensive against Iran via their two nuclear-armed attack dogs, Israel and NATO given their activities throughout the 42 years of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule in Libya. During that time there were 39 coup attempts inspired by US, British, and French agencies, most of which were centred on Benghazi and the province of Cyrenaica.
Many involved an attempt at assassination, as did the US fighter-bomber attack on Tripoli in 1986 in which eight of the 18 aircraft flying from Britain specifically targeted Colonel Gaddafi’s private residence.
Gaddafi’s overthrow began as an uprising in Benghazi which followed a Facebook call, from London on 17 February 2011, to commemorate the 2005 massacre at Abu Salim prison. In response to the ensuing fighting the UN Security Council unanimously approved resolution 1970 on 26 February.
Calling for an end to all violence, it required all member states to apply an arms embargo which also prohibited the provision of technical assistance, training, finance and all other assistance related to military activities. It soon became clear that British forces were in breach of the resolution when six members of the SAS were taken prisoner by opposition forces in Benghazi. What the troops were trying to achieve, and what went wrong with the operation has never been revealed.
ARMING THE OPPOSITION
Following reports of civilian massacres by Libyan aircraft the Security Council responded by approving resolution 1973 on 17 March 2011, although this time one-third of the 15 members abstained. (The claims concerning civilian massacres were later refuted by Amnesty International, along with allegations that the Libyan regime had been employing foreign mercenaries.) This called for an immediate ceasefire and for all sides to seek a solution to the crisis while requiring them to protect civilians. Responding to a call from the Arab League it authorised the enforcement of a no-fly zone.
A US-drafted amendment allowed for “all necessary measures [to protect Libyan civilians] under threat of attack”. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, promptly claimed that this allowed for the arming the pro-western opposition under the terms of the resolution. Jose Cabral, the chair of the Sanctions Committee, disagreed and declared that “the resolution [1973] imposes a full embargo on arms.”
The US and NATO had no interest in legal formalities and large quantities of arms were subsequently supplied to the opposition from Qatar via the Egyptian border. France also shipped in some supplies directly, while NATO Special Forces supplied training and expertise.
In response to resolution 1973, the Libyan Foreign Minister announced an immediate ceasefire and a stoppage of all military operations against opposition forces. The next day French aircraft carried out an airstrike which was followed by the launch of 110 Tomahawk missiles by US and British warships against air defences in Tripoli and Misrata.
Thus, only two days after its approval, the Security Council resolution was rendered a sham by NATO when they ignored the offer of an immediate cease-fire and refused to seek a solution to the crisis.
All subsequent calls for a ceasefire by the Libyan government were summarily dismissed by either the opposition or NATO. By 29 March the Russian Foreign Minister was moved to comment “We consider that intervention by the coalition in what is essentially an internal civil war is not sanctioned by the UN Security Council resolution.”
Apart from coverage of the murder of Muammar Gaddafi and his contemptuous secret burial there was little mainstream reportage of the results arising from this international banditry. Even casualty figures are vague. (NATO does not do casualty figures.)
During the 20th century both Syria and Libya experienced the brutal repression and racism of European colonialism, while Iran was invaded by British Empire forces a few years before Anglo-American meddling imposed a brutal puppet regime. The dark shadow of colonial occupation is attempting a come-back.
