Posted by seumasach on July 13, 2011
Cynical French, a naive PM, foolish MPs. This Libyan misadventure will end in tears
Max Hastings
13th July, 2011
There was a particularly bleak moment for NATO’s mission in Libya, and especially for the British Government which has led the charge against Colonel Gaddafi, in Paris on Monday. The French defence minister declared that military action against Libya is not working, and it is time to talk.
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Posted by seumasach on July 12, 2011
12th July, 2011
The United States says it is prepared to support Russia’s mediation efforts in Libya, as France signals its frustration with the lack of progress in reaching a political solution to the crisis.
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Posted by seumasach on July 12, 2011
12th July, 2011
Paris, July 12 : Military action against embattled dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is not working and Libyan tyrant must be welcomed to negotiations with pro-freedom rebels, France’s defense minister has said.
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Posted by seumasach on July 12, 2011
Le retrait italien et les déclarations du ministre français de la Défense ne sont pas surprenantes. Malgré sa puissance de feu sans équivalent dans l’Histoire, l’armada de l’OTAN a perdu cette guerre. Non pas bien sûr au plan militaire, mais parce qu’elle a oublié que « la guerre est la continuation de la politique par d’autres moyens » et qu’elle s’est trompée politiquement. Les hurlements de Washington, qui a réprimandé le ministre français et refuse de perdre la face, n’y changeront rien.
Thierry Meyssan
11th July, 2011
111 jours après le début de l’intervention de la Coalition des volontaires en Libye, aucune solution militaire n’est en vue et les experts s’accordent tous à dire que le temps joue en faveur du gouvernement libyen, sauf coup de chance et assassinat de Mouammar el-Kadhafi.
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Posted by seumasach on July 12, 2011
11th July, 2011
Pravda.Ru sources inside Libya have confirmed that the people of Tripoli are dancing in the streets in joy, celebrating a great victory, because NATO has ceased its bombing campaign. Sources in Libya state that negotiations are ongoing with France and meanwhile there has been a cessation of hostilities.
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Posted by seumasach on July 12, 2011
12th July, 2011
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet urged Libyan rebels to hold talks with pro-Gaddafi forces, citing the talks as an ultimate condition to end foreign military operations in the North African country, local media reported on Monday.
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Posted by seumasach on July 12, 2011
Franklin Lamb
12th July, 2011
One of the jokes heard at this week’s massive pro-government Friday post prayer rally at Green Square (in most of the other Arab countries Fridays are days of rage against the government du jour but in Libya Friday prayers are followed by massive pro-Qadaffi rallies, attended two weeks ago by close to 65% of Tripoli’s population) is about how each morning Libya’s leader, following early morning Fajr prayers dons his formal uniform, complete with those huge epaulets, and salutes the small NATO flag he tapes to his bathroom mirror as he moves from place to place dodging NATO drones and assassins. “Our leader does this”, one young lady informed me first with a wide smile and then growing serious, “because the NATO bombing of Libyan civilians, which the US/NATO axis claims Qaddafi is doing, has caused his popularity to skyrocket among our proud and nationalist tribal people. I am one example of this. Yes, of course we can use some new blood and long overdue reform in our government. Which country cannot? But first we must defeat the NATO invaders and then we can sort out our problems among our tribes including the so-called “NATO Rebels.”
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Posted by seumasach on July 11, 2011
Legality remains of fundamental importance to the question of war. However, just as a nation’s legal system is inevitably distorted by an excessive concentration of wealth and power, international law is inevitably distorted by states of hegemonic or near-hegemonic power: by empire. As the post-1945 period, and particularly the post-1991 period, was characterised by the global power of the USA and NATO, the UN and international law has been perverted to serve their interests. The end of US hegemony which we are now seeing is an opportunity to refound the UN and international law in the context of a more, balance, multipolar, post-imperial world. Note that I use the word “multipolar” and not “multilateral”: “multilateral” has been coined to indicate an ideal whereby US inspired actions always have the cover of international support, of their minions who rally to them.
Chase Madar
10th July, 2011
It is too easily forgotten that warfare is not primarily a matter of law. Under international law, the UN Security Council blessed NATO’s Libya campaign without the necessary debates over its consequences, says Chase Madar.
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Posted by seumasach on July 11, 2011
NATO’s military campaign is the greatest debacle in its history and all their control of the media can’t conceal it. We have the NY Times describing rebels looting villages and, here,Britain’s most gung-ho looking on in despair. For all its farcical character this intervention remains a crime which has destroyed countless lives but some consolation can be drawn from the debacle: surely this is the end of NATO.
Con Goughlin
11th July, 2011
Four months ago, when David Cameron led the international call for military intervention in Libya, the general assumption within government circles was that Col Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator, would realise the game was up the moment Nato warplanes began bombing his forces.
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Posted by seumasach on July 9, 2011
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Posted by seumasach on July 8, 2011
8th July, 2011
Nato alliance fears as Italy cuts back on Libya role
ITALY will pull back its role in the Libya campaign, the country’s defence minister said yesterday, bringing an aircraft carrier and hundreds of sailors home, in new evidence that a Nato alliance is starting to fray after nearly 100 days of bombing.
The drawdown will trim the cost of Italy’s mission by a third after it spent €142 million in three months, defence minister Ignazio La Russa said. The aircraft carrier Garibaldi will be replaced by a smaller ship, freeing up nearly 1,000 military personnel, though its three aircraft will be replaced by jets at Italian bases that would still fly missions.
The cutbacks were part of an overall trimming of Italy’s military missions abroad, but it was read as the strongest signal yet of a growing weariness with the war among some Nato allies. The US House of Representatives recently voted overwhelmingly against giving President Barack Obama the authority to continue the military mission, though it stopped short of cutting off funds.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi is under pressure to withdraw from the Libya campaign from his key ally the Northern League, which has opposed the war because of the cost and fears of an influx of migrants.
Nato’s campaign was originally intended to deliver a sharp, devastating military blow that would allow the opposition to quickly oust Muammar al-Gadhafi’s regime. France, which led the first airstrikes in March, said yesterday it is determined to continue and will urge its parliament to extend the operation.
A Nato spokesman yesterday denied a Libyan government charge it is using its airstrikes to assist rebel advances, saying it is sticking to its mandate to protect civilians.
Wing Commander Mike Bracken, an alliance spokesman in Naples, Italy, said Nato is “not involved in the ground battles,” although he acknowledged the alliance is tracking the fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Col Gaddafi.
Libya’s deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim had accused Nato of intensifying its bombing campaign and backing foreign mercenaries to lay the groundwork for an advance by rebels. Mr Kaim said increased bombings in recent days represent the “final phase” of Nato’s air campaign, but the push would fail.
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In These New Times 