by Stephen Lendman
On August 1, Ramadan began. Nonetheless, fighting continues. The good news is Libyans are winning. The bad news is NATO knows it but keeps bombing, averaging 52 daily strike sorties in the past week alone.
On August 2, London Telegraph writer Damien McElroy headlined, “Libya: Gaddafi regime rallies after rebel turmoil,” saying:
Gaddafi’s son Saif “used a meeting with Libyans displaced by fighting to declare the regime had blunted the five month bombing campaign,” saying:
“No one should think that after all the sacrifices we have made, and the martyrdom of our sons, brothers and friends, we will stop fighting. Forget it,” whether NATO stays or leaves.
On August 2, London Guardian writer Simon Jenkins headlined, “Nightly Britain bombs Tripoli. Bar death, what do we achieve?” saying:
“Britain’s half-war against Libya is careering onward from reckless gesture to full-scale fiasco….(E)very sensibly pessimistic forecast has turned out true and every jingoistic boast false.”
“There remains no sign that the terror bombing of civilian areas is contributing to military victory any more effectively than when Bomber Harris (infamous for fire-bombing Dresdan in 1945 and other sites) advocated it.”
“Now each night (British and other) pilot(s) fl(y) over Tripoli and drops bombs on it, achieving nothing but death and destruction. (Yet Libya represents) no threat to Britain or its people. (Daily bombings are) a mistake. But who will say so? (Moreover), Parliament fiddles while Libya burns.”
In a UK establishment newspaper, Jenkins’ article is scathing, unlike American major media journalists cheerleading Obama’s wars, falsifying reports on them, ignoring daily crimes, suppressing bad news, and keeping their readers, viewers and listeners misinformed.
Including about how Washington completely misjudged Libyans’ commitment to resist, fight back, and support Gaddafi. After months of failure, daily bombings now suggest more futility than stay-the-course commitment, let alone acknowledgment of major crimes of war and against humanity. The very notion is suppressed from official statements and media reports, concealing ugly truths on the ground.
On August 2, regular Progressive Radio News Hour contributor Mahdi Nazemroaya headlined his Global Research.ca article, “BREAKING NEWS: Libyan Transitional Council (NTC) Rebels in Total Disarray,” saying:
Bombings continue unabated against “Tripoli and other major cities.” Despite losses on the ground and a futile air campaign, “(t)ens of thousands of fliers (were) dropped,” asking Libya’s military to surrender when they’re winning.
Growing opposition to NTC rebels is building. Gaddafi enjoys overwhelming support. In rebel stronghold Benghazi, “the tide has changed dramatically….”
Assassinated rebel commander Younis’ Obeide tribe took up “arms against the Transitional Council.” Unconfirmed reports say TNC chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil “fled to Egypt,” seeking military junta protection.
Anti-TNC “revolts have broken out….in cities under their control. Benghazi, Darnah, and Tobruk have all witnessed a social uprising of the local population against NATO and” armed TNC gangs.
Members of Libya’s largest Warfallah tribe “joined the (anti-TNC) revolt….Some of them took up arms and others demonstrated demanding an end to the illegitimate” TNC rule.
On August 3, The Tripoli Post headlined, “Slain General Younis’s Tribe Vows to Get Justice,” saying:
The Obeide tribe “vowed to get justice themselves for his suspicious killing last week if rebel leaders in Benghazi fail to investigate thoroughly the circumstances leading to his death….The general’s killing raised fears of deep divisions in the rebel camp, something the tribal ultimatum so strongly underlines.”
At the same time, NATO attacked civilians in Benghazi. “(A)bout 160 Warfallah clansmen were killed at a peaceful indoor gathering.” Exact numbers aren’t known. Their bodies “are believed to have been buried in unmarked mass graves,” an attempt to suppress one of many NATO war crimes.
Nazemroaya also reported “visual confirmation of Qatari armored vehicles (and troops) inside Benghazi” and Misrata, aiding rebels fighting Libyans “trying to liberate the cit(ies)….”
According to Voltaire Network’s (voltairenet.org) Thierry Meyssan, UK think tank Chatham House analyst Alexis Crow sees NATO’s campaign “sinking into total confusion.” As a result, their only alternative is “an escape that (allows) them to hold their heads high” or perhaps retain them in the face of a humiliating defeat.
“Aware of the looming political and military disaster,” Washington wants a negotiated exit, what America’s media won’t report, pretending all is well, saying rebels are advancing, and NATO will prevail as planned.
In fact, the Washington/London/Paris axis totally miscalculated, failing to understand how committed Libyans are to defend their sovereignty. Moreover, after commander Younis’ assassination, TNC leadership and rebels are in disarray. Most acknowledged Younis as their leader, coalescing under his authority. Since his death, many assumed their own autonomy, vying with the TNC and other gangs for control.
The chaotic situation suggests a possible end to NATO bombing sooner than planned. Perhaps increasing internal conflict within rebel ranks as well. The potential for a mass anti-NATO/TNC uprising exists, though America’s media won’t report it or any other important truths, prostituting themselves for power.
On August 2, Hugo Chavez denounced NATO’s imperial war and the illegitimate TNC “pantomime.” Speaking from Merida, he said his government:
“rejects the national transition council installed in Libya, approved of by (some) European countries and by other governments, because it violates the basics of international law. We categorically reject this pantomime (and) the hypocritical show by these (countries) that have recognized a group of terrorists, who recognize them in the form of a transition council and give them legitimacy by doing so.”
He concluded saying, “Long live Gaddafi who will overcome. We’re with you and with all of Libya.”
On August 1, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro met with Gaddafi envoy Abdul Hafid Al Zleitni, telling him Venezuela gives “unconditional support to the legitimate cause of the Libyan people and their leader, Muammar Al Gaddafi, the only legally constituted authority and recognized by the international community.”
Maduro also said imperial forces “are applying a similar model of harassment and aggression in Syria,” referring to events before March 19 Libyan bombings began. He specifically accused “aggressor countries” of destabilizing Damascus by “financing and arming paramilitary groups in order to (prevent President Assad’s) dialogue (with) the whole nation” from succeeding.
He added that Venezuela was one of the first countries to “warn about (Western) plans….to divide and intervene in Libya,” to colonize it and “appropriate its abundant natural resources….the same scheme” they’ve applied across the region.
So far in Libya they’ve failed but won’t admit it. How much longer can the charade go on? Already it’s been much too long.
A Final Comment
In his new film, “The War You Don’t See,” available to view online at johnpilger.com, Pilger said:
“At the height of (WW I’s) carnage, (UK) Prime Minister David Lloyd George had a private chat with….Guardian editor CP Scott. ‘If the people really knew the truth,’ said the Prime Minister, the war would be stopped tomorrow.’ But, of course, they don’t know and can’t know” then or about all other wars.
If ordinary people knew why they were fought, they’d end because they’re all based on lies, regurgitated by major media scoundrels, sacrificing their honor, integrity, and legitimate journalism in the process.
Unseen wars are illegal, cowardly and grotesque, mostly harming civilians, innocent men and women, boys and girls, the elderly, disabled and infirm in harm’s way, getting slaughtered, their bodies disfigured and dismembered to let imperial monsters and war profiteers benefit.
They’re about wealth, resources, power and dominance. Never for liberating humanitarian reasons – the Big Lie to enlist popular support for what never could be gotten otherwise. It sold Americans on Afghanistan, Iraq and initially on Libya, Pilger asking:
“What is the role of the media in rapacious wars, (and) how are the crimes of war reported and justified? Those whose job it is to keep the record straight ought to be the voice of the people, not power,” but they’re not.
As a result, governments control public perceptions by embedding journalists, releasing official lies, and manipulating media reporting.
“The War You Don’t See” is about women who’ve lost husbands, mothers who’ve lost sons, children who’ve lost fathers, mass deaths, injuries, suffering, and destruction on a massive scale, never shown or discussed, let alone why wars are fought. Who gains and loses? Who pays the biggest price either way?
It’s about truth and human suffering only imperial powers and war profiteers support. Independent photojournalist Guy Smallman provided a snapshot from Afghanistan, saying:
“At one end of the cemetery, there was one enormous mass grave that was around 30 meters across. And in that grave were the remains of 55 people, and they had to be buried there together because they were quite literally blown to pieces, and it was impossible to tell who was who, so they had to bury them together in one long trench.”
NATO claims civilians are never targeted, lying about casualty counts and the grotesque ways people are killed, sanitizing atrocities to conceal war crimes.
In his many films and prolific writing, Pilger (like other independent journalists) reports truths, what’s never seen, discussed or tolerated in major media managed news, corrupted in service to power.
What better reason to walk away and tune them out, choosing credible sources only for real news and analysis.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
