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Imperialists Plot to Seize Libya
gar - 01.03.2011 23:28
External and internal opponents of the government of Libya have escalated their efforts to overthrow the longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi and his government. The U.S. and international corporate media outlets are attempting to portray the conflict as a spinoff of the recent developments in Egypt and Tunisia.
Yet the forces leading this campaign against the country are remnants of the monarchy that was overthrown by the Revolutionary Command Council headed by Gaddafi in September 1969. The opposition in Libya has been a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) financed and coordinated disparate group that has sought unsuccessfully to overthrow the government for decades.
US, France, Britain set up bases in Libya
Britain, France and the United States have dispatched hundreds of military advisors to Libya to set up military bases in the country's oil-rich east, reports say.Several Libyan diplomats have been quoted by news outlets as saying these forces are setting up bases in the eastern cities of Benghazi and Tobruk -- the two oil-rich cities that have been liberated by the opposition forces. British and US special forces entered Libyan port cities of Benghazi and Toburk on February 23 and 24.
 http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167578.html
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External and internal opponents of the government of Libya have escalated their efforts to overthrow the longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi and his government. The U.S. and international corporate media outlets are attempting to portray the conflict as a spinoff of the recent developments in Egypt and Tunisia.
Yet the forces leading this campaign against the country are remnants of the monarchy that was overthrown by the Revolutionary Command Council headed by Gaddafi in September 1969. The opposition in Libya has been a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) financed and coordinated disparate group that has sought unsuccessfully to overthrow the government for decades.
What is unique about Libya is the vast oil and natural gas reserves and the country’s key role in supplying energy resources to European Union states. The country is estimated to have the largest oil resources on the continent of Africa, therefore, making it a coveted territory for capitalist states and their multi-national corporations.
Isolating Libya in the Mind of the Public
The effort to engineer regime-change in Libya is highly dependent upon corporate and western government-controlled media sources that portray Libya as a poor destitute country with a corrupt regime. These news reports over the recent period have resorted to the vilest forms of racism designed to isolate Libya from the rest of the African continent and the Arabian Peninsula.
Repeated claims of “African mercenaries” hired by Gaddafi to massacre the people of Libya is specifically geared towards making it appear as if Libya is not on the continent despite the fact that the country was a founding member of Conference of Independent African States in 1958, the Organization of African Unity in 1963 and the African Union in 2002. Libya served as the Chair of the African Union in 2008-2009, when Gaddafi came to the United Nations General Assembly in New York to represent his country and the continental organization in September 2009.
In regard to the economy of the country, the production of oil generates 95 percent of the export earnings. Even the CIA Factbook states that “Substantial revenues from the energy sector coupled with a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita gross domestic products in Africa.” (CIA Factbook, 2011, Economic Overview of Libya)
According to the CIA Factbook, the per capita income is estimated at $13,800, placing it far above most states on the African continent. Another source of economic data on Africa, NationMaster, places Libya at number five in per capita income on the continent.
However, the NationMaster ranking is based on per capita income being at $11,354, lower than that of the CIA Factbook. If the CIA Factbook figures are taken as accurate it would place Libya second in regard to per capita income ranking only below Equatorial Guinea, another oil-producing African state, at $16,507.
In addition to data supplied by the CIA Factbook and NationMaster, the Energy Information Administration says that “Libya, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), holds the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, followed by Nigeria and Algeria. The Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ) says that Libya had total proven oil reserves of 43.7 billion barrels as of January 2009, up from 41.5 billion barrels in 2008. About 80 percent of Libya’s proven oil reserves are located in the Sirte basin, which is responsible for 90 percent of the country’s oil output.”
Over the last few years with the lifting of economic sanctions against the country, Libya has entered into extensive economic agreements with European states. The country supplies 20 percent of the natural gas utilized in Switzerland and has signed agreements with Spain and Italy to provide this same resource as well.
In May 2007, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a visit to Libya oversaw the signing of an exploration contract with the BP oil corporation for $900 million. The country’s stock of direct foreign investment is estimated at $18.64 billion at home and $15.56 billion abroad. Libya also has estimated reserves of $107.3 billion in foreign exchange and gold.
The vibrancy of the Libyan economy can also be judged by the large numbers of workers from outside the country who live and hold jobs in the North African state. It has been estimated that over one million people residing in the country are foreign nationals from other African states, Arab countries, Asian nations as well as Europeans and Americans.
As recent as Oct. 2008, Libya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh to supply tens of thousands of workers. According to Libya Online, “Libya signed an MoU with Bangladesh to recruit a large number of workers as Tripoli launched a $130 billion infrastructure development program that will require over one million foreign workers. Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and visiting Libyan Labor Minister Maa'touq Mohammed Maa'touq signed the MoU after an hour-long official talk at the State Guest House Padma.
“Itekhar and Maa'toug termed the signing of the MoU as a historic occasion and a milestone in the development of bilateral relations between the two Muslim brotherly countries. Under the five-year development program that started this year, Libya will construct 300,000 housing units, 27 university complexes, over 10,000 kms roads and maintain 24,000 kms roads.
Reports in the Tripoli Post indicate that large numbers of foreign nationals have been employed in Libya for years. The recent unrest inside the country and the appeals for military intervention and sanctions has prompted a large-scale exodus from the North African state. (Tripoli Post, Feb. 28)
Some of the numbers reported include 8,000 workers from 89 nationalities have arrived in Malta, 2,800 Chinese are currently hold up in Crete, an estimated 25,000 Turks employed in the construction industry have began to flee with hundreds being airlifted to Greece.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council on Feb. 26 that 22,000 workers have crossed the border with Tunisia and another 15,000 have entered Egypt. Overall around the border with Tunisia, it is reported that 60,000 workers are waiting for transport and relief.
U.S. and European Union Seek to Foster Chaos in Region
Amid the growing unrest in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, where U.S. and European-backed regimes have faced mass protests and rebellions, the situation in Libya provides an excellent opportunity for the imperialists to attempt to reverse the course of the revolutionary uprisings throughout the region. On Feb. 26, the Obama administration called for the imposition of economic sanctions, the ouster of the Libyan government and pledged whatever assistance was necessary to bring about regime-change.
In an article published on the David Rothscum Reports website, “Before chaos erupted, Libya had a lower incarceration rate than the Czech republic. It ranked 61st. Libya had the lowest infant mortality rate of all of Africa. Libya had the highest life expectancy of all of Africa.” (Feb. 23)
This report continues by pointing out that “Less than 5 percent of the population was undernourished. In response to the rising food prices around the world, the government of Libya abolished all taxes on food.”
The imperialists and their allies are attempting to justify economic sanctions and military intervention by claiming that the response of the Libyan government to protests have been harsher there than in Tunisia and Egypt. In both neighboring North African states hundreds of people were killed in protest demonstrations starting in December 2010 where demonstrations brought about the resignation of the heads-of–state Ben Ali and Mubarak, but the neo-colonial western-backed regimes have remained largely intact.
Rothscum’s report refutes this premise by noting that “The building of the general people’s congress, the parliament of Libya, was put on fire by angry protesters. This is comparable to protesters putting the United States Capitol on fire. Do you think that for even a moment the U.S. government would sit idly by as protesters put the U.S. capitol on fire?
This report also points out that “A group calling itself ‘Islamic Emirate of Barka’, the former name of the North-Western part of Libya, has taken numerous hostages, and killed two policemen. On Feb. 18, the group stole 70 military vehicles after attacking a port and killing four soldiers.”
The opposition group National Front for the Salvation of Libya is well armed and financed by the CIA. In 1996 this same organization tried to foment a rebellion in order to seize control of the oil-rich nation. The flag seen flown over crowds in Benghazi and other cities under the control of the anti-government forces is that of the monarchy which was overthrown by the Revolutionary Command Council in 1969.
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BENGHAZI, Libya — Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces struck back at his opponents on three fronts on Monday, with special forces, regular army troops and, rebels said, fighter jets, in an escalation of hostilities that brought Libya a step closer to civil war.
But the rebels dismissed the attacks as ineffectual, and Colonel Qaddafi faced a growing international campaign to force him from power, as the Obama administration announced it had seized $30 billion in Libyan assets and the European Union adopted an arms embargo and other sanctions.
As the Pentagon began repositioning Navy warships to support a possible humanitarian or military intervention, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton bluntly told the Libyan leader to surrender power “now, without further violence or delay.”
The attacks by the colonel’s troops on an oil refinery in central Libya and on cities on either side of the country unsettled rebel leaders — who have maintained that they are close to liberating the country — and showed that despite defections by the military, the government may still possess powerful assets, including fighter pilots willing to bomb Libyan cities.
Rebel leaders said the attacks smacked of desperation, and the ease with which at least one assault, on the western city of Zawiyah, was repelled raised questions about the ability of the government to muster a serious challenge to the rebels’ growing power.
In an interview with ABC News, Colonel Qaddafi said he was fighting against “terrorists,” and he accused the West of seeking to “occupy Libya.” He gave no hint of surrender. “My people love me,” he said. “They would die for me.”
Those unyielding words, and the colonel’s attacks on Monday were met with both nerves and defiance by rebel military leaders as the two sides seemed to steel themselves for a long battle along shifting and ever more violent front lines.
The antigovernment protesters, who started their uprising with peaceful sit-ins but have increasingly turned to arms to counter Colonel Qaddafi’s brutal paramilitary forces, have promised a large military response that has yet to come. At the same time, government forces have been unable to reverse the costly loss of territory to a popular revolt that has brought together lawyers, young people and tribal leaders.
Across the region, the tumult that has already toppled two leaders and threatened one autocrat after another continued unabated on Monday. In Yemen, protests drove President Ali Abdullah Saleh to make a bid for a unity government, but the political opposition quickly refused. An opposition leader, Mohamed al-Sabry, said in a statement that the president’s proposal was a “desperate attempt” to counter major protests planned for Tuesday.
In Bahrain, protesters blocked access to Parliament, according to news agencies. In Oman, whose first major protests were reported over the weekend, demonstrations turned into violent clashes with the security forces in the port city of Sohar, and the unrest spread for the first time to the capital, Muscat.
Libya itself seemed to be brewing a major humanitarian crisis as tens of thousands of mostly impoverished contract workers tried desperately to flee to its neighbors, Tunisia to the west and Egypt to the east. The United Nations refugee agency called the situation a humanitarian emergency as workers hauling suitcases stood in long lines to leave Libya, many of them uncertain how they would finally get ho
 Website: http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2011/03/libya-forces-strike-back-against.html
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| aanvullingen | | EMPIRE LOOK AT ALGERIA, AFTER LIBYA | SONS OF MALCOLM - 01.03.2011 23:36
Last week's British mainstream (right-wing) newspaper Evening Standard, (24 Feb, 2011), business page had a major piece on price of oil. All the calculations were based on - if Algeria follows Libya.
If imperialism wrests control of Libyan & Algerian hydrocarbons (which at present they don't have - joint ventures, exploration rights, profit sharing agreements, etc are not control) - then it is a massive boost to the empire, giving empire life for another century-nearly, which is a strategic set back for the third world revolution.
Specifically for Western Europe, one leg with US & Japan of the tripod of the imperialist world system aka Empire. Western Europe has basically three sources of oil & gas - North Sea; Middle East & North Africa (MENA); Russia & former Soviet republics (CIS). North Sea oil & gas is divided between Britain & Norway. Norway's is quite enough for its domestic needs. Good for Norway.
The UK's is not - and is rapidly being depleted. Maybe there are major new fields but decripit Britsh capitalism does not have the dough to develop them. Regarding CIS, Russia is simply too big to just be a puppet besides which Putin is a patriot. In any case, only the communist party and government collapsed in USSR. The army & the security/intelligence services did not. And they are the main component of state power. The empire set great store on pitting Ukraine against Russia. But the return of Yanukovich is the return of Ukraine to the Russian camp. Kazakhstan & Turkimenistan, the other 2 key CIS oil/gas powers are also increasingly aligned with Russia & China.
Hence MENA grows in importance. And in this smokeless oil/gas war Libya & Algeria (if anything Algeria) have been staunchly aligned with Russia. Not to mention being solid OPEC brothers in the same trench with Venezuela, Iran, etc. Added importance of Libya & Algeria to Europe is geographical proximity. and Libyan oil is sweet crude
Website: http://sonsofmalcolm.blogspot.com/2011/03/empire-look-at-algeria-after-libya.html
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