Washington’s Man in Libya – by Stephen Lendman
After ousting independent leaders, Washington replaces them with puppets. Mustafa Abdul Jalil is interim chairman. Until October 23, Mahmoud Jibril was prime minister.
Abdurraheem el-Keib replaced him, a dual US/Libyan citizen. He lived in America, holds a doctorate in electrical engineering, and taught at North Carolina State University and the University of Alabama for years.
A businessman and prominent Tripoli family scion, he also taught at the UAE’s Petroleum Institute. Big Oil giants fund it.
He played no part in the conflict. Last August, Washington parachuted him in as their man. Past puppet rulers were installed the same way.
After WW II, Syngman Rhee came in from Hawaii to run South Korea. In 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem became South Vietnam’s president the same way, brought in from New Jersey.
In February 2004, after US marines ousted Haiti’s Jean-Bertrand Aristide, south Florida’s Gerard Latortue was anointed interim prime minister. Ordinary people had no say each time.
Keib’s not only Washington’s man, he’s Big Oil’s man, chosen to assure they control Libya’s oil, gas and whatever else they want. Forget about sovereign rights. Only imperial and corporate ones matter.
It’s the American way, also the British, French, Italian, German and Canadian, wanting their share of war spoils.
Libya’s puppet Transitional National Council (TNC) “elected” Keib. Some election, about as legitimate as America’s money controlled ones. They’re all theater, not democracy. Corporatists win every time. Voters are entirely left out.
Keib will choose puppet cabinet ministers and be Washington’s man until something called “elections” next year, or maybe the year after if postponed. It hardly matters. Democracy’s not on the ballot.
On November 2, NSNBC said fighting continues between rebel rat factions, their elements and imperial forces, as well as “all of the above” against Jamahiriya loyalists committed to keep struggling until free.
Keib’s interim government will form a constitutional counsel to replace Gaddafi’s Green Book direct democracy with Western-style power. It’ll be written to serve monied interests. Libyans will have no say.
NATO’s “successful mission” slaughtered tens of thousands, ravaged the country, and replaced a people’s regime with imperial rogues. Jamahiriya loyalists won’t tolerate them. Expect protracted conflict for years.
Rebel rats want their own power centers and spoils. Insurgent leader Anwar Fekini told The New York Times:
“We are the ones who are holding the power – the people with the force on the ground – and we are not going to give that up until we have a legitimate government that will emerge from free and fair elections.”
“(W)e will use all available means,” he added, “first of all our might on the ground.”
According to The Times:
Rebel leaders already expressed resolve “to step into the political process.” Anonymous Misrata ones threatened to intercede for their demands. Ongoing clashes suggest continuing power struggles. Practically everyone in Libya is armed to do it.
NATO created a violent, unstable environment to justify becoming paramilitary occupiers. Entire cities were destroyed. Sirte’s now a ghost town. Tawergha’s 30,000 population was terrorized and displaced. Others also died. Reports are it’s burned to the ground or still burning.
Ravaged Libya will take years to rebuild. Much will stay undone. People needs will be unmet. Imperial interests only will be addressed. That’s what pillaging is all about. Massacres will continue like sport. NATO-style liberation revels in them.
It’ll will have Libya enter a “Mediterranean Alliance.” African unity will be weakened. Resources won’t be nationalized. Plunder instead is planned. Everything achieved under Gaddafi is gone. Libyans retain nothing but their spirit to fight on. Tribal leaders vow to join them.
Jamahiriya spokesman Moussa Ibrahim announced an alliance being formed. United Leaders of All Tribes are preparing a “Document of Honor,” a declaration of unity and solidarity against imperial invaders.
Resistance will formalize and spread. Fighting continues across Libya, including inside Tripoli, as well as at the international and military airports. Other battles raged in Bani Walid, Gheryan, and elsewhere. Only southern and central Libya remain calm in Jamahiriya hands. Al Qaeda elements now control Benghazi, but territory shifts back and forth so front lines can change day to day.
NATO waged war with proxy killers. From early 2011 through end of October, media scoundrels called them freedom fighters. Language now is changing them into terrorists.
Occupying forces will come from 13 countries, including America, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Qatar, and others. One or more US super-bases will be built to launch new wars. Israel wants its own to target enemies and work jointly with Washington.
On October 27, Security Council Resolution 2016 passed unanimously. No-fly zone prohibitions ended. Orwellian language “(w)elcome(d) the positive developments in Libya which will improve the prospects for a democratic, peaceful and prosperous future there.”
The UN Secretary-General was “notified….to take all necessary measures….to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack….”
In other words, Resolution 2016 lets NATO keep control. Blue Helmet paramilitary occupiers are coming. Libya’s now a Western colony. Plunder and exploitation are planned. Protracted conflict is assured.
Human misery grows daily. So do body count numbers. Already they top 100,000. Perhaps five-fold that number were injured, some seriously, others permanently maimed.
NATO’s “responsibility to protect” served its interests only. Millions of suffering Libyans lost everything. The stench of death is everywhere. A once peaceful, prosperous country no longer exists. A ravaged charnel house replaced it.
NATO plans replicating its model globally. Without opposition, what’s to stop imperial ravaging one country at a time.
Only people power can. They must fill the void. Libyans are committed. Jamahiriya loyalists are “everywhere.” Saif al-Islam Gaddafi vows to fight on. Reports about his surrender plans were bogus.
“Bani Walid is under Libyan control after heavy fighting inside and around the city. Fighting continues in Zawaya,” Tripoli, Tobruk, and elsewhere. Jamahiriya loyalists are reorganizing to keep struggling.
NATO’s official mission ended. Theirs just began “and will become part of a larger war (for) Africa against the colonial ambitions of the Anglo-America Empire.”
The more it rampages, the more it’s reviled, the more resistance grows against it. Don’t bet against it longer term.
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/.
