In These New Times

At the moment of writing NATO leaders, who planned this attack on Libya well before the Arab Spring, are fighting shamelessly over the spoils of war. This, however, is premature since the battle for Libya still goes on.

On one side, Libyan government forces and armed civilians under the leadership of Gaddafi, supported overwhelmingly, according to a declaration submitted to the African Union, by the Libyan tribes. On the other, NATO forces, both air and land,  and a core of Libyan “rebels” long fostered, armed, financed and trained by the CIA. The “rebels”, the international ragbag of racists, monarchists and Islamic fundamentalists so revered by David Cameron, are led in Tripoli by a leading figure in Libya’s CIA/ Al Qaeda networks. NATO land forces include SAS and other Western special forces, a fundamental component of operations involving sophisticated coordination with NATO bombers and helicopter gunships, Qattari and other Arab special forces and finally, mercenaries of various nationalities.In short, an international pot-pourri of trained killers and adventurers. Since it was generally recognised only a few weeks ago that the “rebels” were incapable of advancing in this war, the conclusion is inescapable that recent gains such as the entry into Tripoli can be attributed solely to the murderous combination of NATO shock and awe i.e. blitzkrieg with NATO  ground operations. This is in itself contrary to international law and the UN resolution 1973, but that legal framework has been reduced to rubble just as Libya itself has. NATO have declared the law of the strong, but how strong are they?

Short of a full-scale invasion they have only one means to defeat Libyan resistance: terror bombing. The towns of Sirte and Ben Walid are being subject at this moment to war crimes in the tradition of Guernica, Dresden and Fallujah. Ultimatums are being given to surrender “in order to prevent further bloodshed”. In other words if you want to stop the killing of your people, men, women and children then raise the old monarchist flag.

It is crucial to make a stand against these crimes and against this attempt by the West to impose its rule on the Libyan people and ultimately on all of humanity. But surely this is for freedom? I can do no better in response but cite an excellent article by Domenico Lo Surdo:

I want to quote Immanuel Kant. In the paper of 1798 (The conflict of the faculties), he writes: “What is an absolute monarch? It is that one when he is in command says: “war must be” and in effect, the war follows. Arguing in this way, Kant took aim in particular at the England of his time, without allowing himself to be deceived by the “liberals” of that country. It’s a lesson to treasure: the “absolute monarchs” of our time, the tyrants and planetary dictators of our time sit in Washington, Brussels and in major Western capitals.

NATO seeks to finish off Libya before proceeding to attack Syria. The post-9/11 drive to global war continues and will soon involve direct confrontation with Russia, Iran and China. The left’s much vaunted anti-war movement now amounts to nothing; we need a citizens’ movement uniting people from all walks of life and all sides of the political spectrum against this dangerous escalation and defending the sovereignty of Libya and all other nations. The combination of local initiatives with internet and social media can provide the ingredients for the expression of the popular opposition which undoubtedly exists to this war . Please publicize and support this protest and try to organise protests in your own locality.

The  protest will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, 5-6 pm, Thursday, 8th September, at the Donald Dewar Statue, top of Buchanan Street.

Defend Libya’s sovereignty.

Stop the bombing of Libya!  No to NATO terror! No to global war!