Reflections on Libya and the Left
ketellinkie - 21.04.2011 16:30
'The anti-imperialist left, in the West at least, is painfully divided over the NATO-led intervention in Libya. On the one hand, such commentators as Paul Woodward, Gilbert Achcar, Phil Weiss, and me, believe the intervention is the least worst option, that there was no better alternative. On the other hand, John Pilger, Mahmoud Mamdani and many others, are wary of a new Iraq and oppose Western intervention on blanket principle.
Both positions are legitimate. Although I disagree in this case, I’m very pleased that the general gut response – if we must work by gut responses – is against intervention. But unfortunately a number of lesser figures, emotional oppositionists of the sort who qualmlessly rearrange reality to fit their personal agendas, have wilfully ignored facts on the Libyan ground, and even stooped so low as to slander the revolutionary Libyan people.'
Nog maar eens zo'n stukje ter overdenking: 'Reflections on Libya and the Left', by Robin Yassin-Kassab, 19 april 2011,  http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/new-in-ceasefire/libya-reflections/ .
'Some say NATO is interfering in a civil war, that Libya is split between east and west, that Tripoli stands firm with Gaddafi. These people fail to understand the overwhelming unpopularity of Gaddafi’s capricious regime. In the first days of the revolution, the regime lost control of most areas in the west as well as the east, including suburbs of Tripoli. Protesters marching on Green Square (also known as “Martyrs Square”) were driven back by machine gun and artillery fire. Gaddafi is currently keeping the capital quiet by mass arrests, rooftop snipers, and roving jeeps of weapon-wielding thugs.
Some people describe the free Libyans as mere ‘so-called’ rebels. If they were real freedom-fighters, these people argue, they’d be able to take over the country without foreign help. Their acceptance of intervention proves them to be CIA stooges, agents of imperialism, traitors. ...'
Verder lezen op http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/new-in-ceasefire/libya-reflections/ .
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