After widespread bombing of Libya, U.S./NATO scramble over the spoils

The U.S./NATO war against the North African oil-producing state of Libya has destroyed the continent’s most prosperous country. The extensive dismantling of the infrastructure and theft of the people’s wealth are becoming clearer as Libyans seek redress for imperialism’s crimes.

Responding to the revelations of war crimes, NATO leaders are refusing to acknowledge the unjust acts of dislocation and mass murder. Although the imperialists claimed to “protect” civilians, airstrikes killed and injured many. A bombing raid in June in Suq Juma hit a home, killing five people, although officials said it struck a military barracks. NATO finally admitted hitting the residence, but they refused to accept responsibility for the deaths.

The Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank, claims only 100 people died from all U.S./NATO airstrikes since March 19, but Moammar Gadhafi’s government asserted that thousands of civilians died.

Britain, a leading NATO country involved in this war, will profit immensely. Press TV stated that Britain could make “profits of up to 200 billion [pounds] gained from contracts to put Libya together … [and] had made an excellent investment by spending nearly 300 million [pounds] bombing Libya.” (Nov. 14)

British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond noted, “Libya is a relatively wealthy country with oil reserves. … [T]here will be opportunities for British … [and] other companies to get involved in the reconstruction of Libya.”

John Pilger, London-based journalist, said, “The West is establishing another client in Libya. Libya [has] more oil than any other country in Africa, including Nigeria. The National Transitional Council told the French that if they sent in their airplanes they would give Total 35 percent of the oil reserves. There’s so much evidence for what this thing really is.”

NTC leaders target loyalist forces

The NTC regime is persecuting members of Gadhafi’s government. U.S. lawyer Franklin Lamb writes that “disappearance squads” are targeting “family members … associates, even former domestic employees … and household staff of former regime affiliates. … Torture has become the … means to elicit” the locations of Gadhafi supporters. (Hamsayeh.net, Nov. 13)

Exposure of these crimes against the Libyan people will make it harder to claim that the NTC rebels are building a so-called “democratic” government. Some worry they will be targeted by international bodies for torture and targeted assassinations. This is why the NTC rebels want Gadhafi’s supporters captured, killed or forced out of the country.

Lamb wrote that NTC members are approaching Western lawyers who are helping victims of NATO crimes in Libya about possible International Criminal Court prosecution. He said this is why “rumors that Seif al-Islam [will] surrender to the ICC are false. Seif is being advised to wait … because the ICC case will collapse as more facts of NATO crimes surface.”

NTC regime begins to unravel

After imperialist leaders promoted Interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril to lead Libya’s neocolonial regime, he resigned. According to the Hamsayeh.net report, Jibril claims he opposed Gadhafi’s assassination and that he wanted him alive to stand trial inside the country.

After his resignation, Jibril said that “a third party, maybe a state or a president or leader wanted Gadhafi killed” so he couldn’t reveal secrets.

Jibril, a U.S.-educated former professor, traveled to Europe to encourage the Gadhafi government’s overthrow. He now says that Gadhafi was “killed based on a request by a … foreign power.” (Bloomberg, Nov. 15)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Libya two days before Gadhafi’s assassination. She told NTC officials and the corporate media that he should be captured or killed. After his lynching on Oct. 20, Clinton claimed to be surprised that he was executed, saying there should be an investigation into his death.

Jibril said foreign powers have designs on exploiting Libya’s wealth. He said this includes the Gulf monarchy of Qatar, a staunch U.S. ally. Qatari Special Forces participated in the war, and they are part of a new imperialist-backed alliance, the “Friends of Libya.” It will replace NATO as the occupying force, since the military alliance’s mission ended on Oct. 31.

Jibril’s resignation comes amid escalating conflicts within the NTC rebel forces. Shoot-outs in and near Tripoli between rival militia groups have killed many. During the second week of November, more than 12 NTC rebels were reportedly killed in internecine conflicts.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, NTC leader, openly admitted that he is incapable of disarming the militias.

Africa alarmed by events in Libya

The U.S./NATO war, with its massive bombings in Libya, and the NTC terror assaults on governmental officials and civilians have troubled most African leaders. The African Union opposed the war. A.U. attempts to reach a negotiated settlement were rejected by the NTC and its imperialist supporters.

Writer Peter Dyer noted, “The United States, the United Kingdom and France engineered a ‘humanitarian’ intervention that was in reality an unprovoked act of war against a sovereign state. … [T]hey invoked the United Nations Charter in order to violate it.” (consortiumnews.com, Nov. 11)

Three weeks after the U.S./NATO bombing began, Libya accepted the A.U. peace plan. The imperialists and their allies in the country rebuffed it. It was falsely claimed that Gadhafi’s government opposed a ceasefire.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki said, “[T]hose who have sought to manufacture a particular outcome out of the conflict in Libya have propagated a poisonous canard aimed at discrediting African and A.U. opposition to the Libyan debacle.” (SAPA, Nov. 8)

Mbeki stressed, “The A.U. … adopted a roadmap for the negotiated resolution of the conflict in Libya. … [T]he Security Council ignored the A.U. decision and later blocked the A.U. Panel on Libya from flying into the country to [mediate] a peaceful resolution.”

Reflecting on this imperialist intervention on the continent, Mbeki noted, “Libya is an African country. … [I]n terms of international peace and security, the conflict in that country has impacted and will continue to impact directly and negatively on a number of African countries.”