UN
SECURITY COUNCIL SUPPORTING WESTERN MILITARY AND ECONOMIC INTERESTS IN LIBYA
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WAS LIBYA GETTING A TOO
POWERFUL PLAYER IN AFRICA FOR WESTERN ENTITIES?
IT’S ALL ABOUT WATER, OIL
AND THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
LIBYA: FROM FINANCIAL
POWERHOUSE OF AFRICA TO INDEBTED COUNTRY, THANKS TO FOREIGN INTERVENTION
Abu ANAS AL-LIBI and AHMED ABU KHATTALA were only two of the hundreds of LIBYANS who had gained their expertise from the networks that were spawned by Western intelligence forces in the anti-GADDAFI fight. These groups could never agree and ended up in rival militias. Those militias that were from the western parts of LIBYA coalesced around the groups called DAWN. DAWN forces were resisting the domination of the bureaucratic and professional elements who called themselves the legitimate government. This faction won the most recent ‘elections’ in LIBYA. This is the faction that claims international legitimacy, the 200-member Council of Representatives (COR).
OVER
$100 BILLION UNDER THE GOVERNOR OF THE CENTRAL BANK
With the support of QATAR,
SUDAN, and TURKEY, the “illegitimate forces” controlled one of the most
strategic assets in post-GADDAFI LIBYA, the Central Bank. It is reported that
there is over $100 billion under the Governor of the Central Bank. These
militias, with the backbone forces hailing from MISRATA, had pushed through a
law in 2013 excluding former officials of the GADDAFI government from
participating in the government.[7] This law was one of the many steps to
marginalize those educated elements who had worked closely with SAIF AL ISLAM as
“reformers” but had jumped ship to place themselves at the head of the
rebellion in 2011.
REBELLION
CHIEF HIFTER RETURNED TO LIBYA WITH THE BLESSING OF THE USA
One of those who had
placed himself at the head of the rebellion was General HIFTER who had been
part of the armed forces of LIBYA under GADDAFI. In the 1980s he joined the
opposition and retreated to VIRGINIA in the USA. After the incessant NATO
bombings in 2011, he returned to LIBYA and placed himself as the most senior
officer in the rebellion, especially after the assassination of General YOUNIS.
There were credible media reports that HIFTER returned with the blessings of a
faction of the US policy-making community based in LANGLEY, VIRGINIA. Like the
Western supported (COR), HIFTER could not build a real political and military
base and was driven out of BENGHAZI militarily. In February 2014, HIFTER called
a coup d’etat but no one paid attention. It was after this failure that HIFTER turned
to EGYPT, ALGERIA and the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES for military support.
 |
| Gen. HIFTER - US sponsored? |
Then,
these states bombed positions of rival militias in BENGHAZI. HIFTER is supposed
to be aligned to the internationally recognized government in BAYDA, but as one
can see from the withdrawal of the QATAR ambassador from EGYPT, there are
members of the GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL that do not recognize this government
in BEYDA.
In many of the
recommendations coming out of the think tanks and policy centers of the West
there have been calls for reconciliation between the HIFTER forces and the MISRATA
forces. The specter of continued proxy warfare between QATAR, TURKEY and SUDAN
on one side and EGYPT and SAUDI ARABIA on the other was very disquieting for
the Western imperial forces that want to dominate the future of LIBYA and NORTH
AFRICA. Hence, on August 27, the UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL adopted
Resolution 2174, authorizing the placement of financial and travel sanctions on
individuals and entities in LIBYA and internationally who are found to be
“engaging in or providing support for other acts that threaten the peace,
stability or security of LIBYA, or obstruct or undermine the successful
completion of its political transition.”
THERE
IS REAL MONEY IN TRIPOLI
Having failed militarily
and politically to hold power in TRIPOLI, the Western backed forces of the COR
that had been driven to the border at TOBRUK then sought the intercession of
the UNITED NATIONS. By the summer of 2014, TRIPOLI was no longer safe for
Western embassies and their strategic planners. They fled to strategize from
next door in TUNISIA. The UNITED NATIONS deployed BERNARDINO LEÓN to negotiate
a settlement between the rival forces. Since these negotiations have been
underway, there emerged an even deadlier struggle regarding the control of the CENTRAL
BANK.
From the NEW YORK TIMES we
learnt that the Treasury Secretary of the UNITED STATES, JACK LEW, threw his
support behind SADIK OMAR EL-KABER, Chairman of the CENTRAL BANK OF LIBYA.
There is one branch of the CENTRAL BANK IN BENGHAZI that was seized recently by
the “internationally recognized government” forces loyal to BEYDA, but the gold
and reserves are held in Tripoli.
According to the NEW YORK
TIMES, “The central bank, which holds more than $100 billion in foreign cash
reserves and investments, has so far remained aloof from the chaos that has
steadily engulfed LIBYA since the ouster of Col. MUAMMAR EL-QADDAFI in 2011.
The bank’s chairman, SADIK OMAR EL-KABER, a respected veteran of several
international banks who was appointed by the Western-backed transitional
government after Colonel QADDAFI fell, had sought to remain neutral.
‘The central bank is the
last line of defense of state institutions and it is very important that it
stays far away from political struggles,’ the bank said in a statement at the
beginning of the month.”[8]
US
TREASURY VERSUS US FOREIGN POLICY ESTABLISHMENT
Where
are the analysts who can shed light on why the US Treasury supports the faction
in TRIPOLI that controls the CENTRAL BANK OF LIBYA, while the FOREIGN POLICY
ESTABLISHMENT and intelligence services support the HIFTER faction that has
been pushed to the margins of LIBYAN society in the BAYDA–TOBRUK region?
In the past six months,
the UNITED NATIONS has been seeking to give weight to this faction camped out
in the EAST while awaiting EGYPTIAN military support. Members of the SECURITY
COUNCIL who have been destabilized by the activities of the NATO forces and
their allies cannot be intellectually and politically lazy when it comes to
this new quest by FRANCE and EGYPT to seek the mandate of the UN to enter into LIBYA
to give legitimacy to the HIFTER faction. The “internationally recognized
faction” of LIBYAN society has now called on the SECURITY COUNCIL of the UNITED
NATIONS to lift the arms embargo against LIBYA, so that LIBYANS can defend
themselves against ISIS. This claim must be scrutinized by the real
international community, the billions of world citizens who are suffering from
the repression, exploitation, militarism and plunder of the imperial project of
Western capitalism.
WESTERN
DESTABILIZATION, ISIS AND THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY MOMENT
The uprisings in EGYPT
and TUNISIA signaled a profound turn of the peoples against the plunder and
exploitation of their societies. The Western political establishment and
military that supported governments such as BEN ALI and HOSNI MUBARAK were
taken aback by the swiftness of the removal of these loyal servants of
neo-liberal capitalism. In the book ‘Global NATO and the Catastrophic Failure
in LIBYA’ the intervention in LIBYA had been precipitated by the need to have a
base to launch a war against the workers of EGYPT when the revolution matures
and the people rise up against the militarists of the region.
The same Western
media that have been pushing the drumbeats of war are in the main silent when EGYPT
imprisons and kills those who want fundamental change in EGYPT. In the same
week that EGYPT was bombing LIBYA, the courts under the military leader EL-SISI
sentenced the prominent EGYPTIAN activist ALAA ABDEL-FATTAH to five years in
prison. Eighteen others were sentenced to three years in prison and also fined
for opposing the military dictatorship in EGYPT.
THE
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL SHOULD BE LURED INTO BACKING WESTERN FORCES TO
TAKE CHARGE OF LIBYA
The politics of
retrogression in LIBYA and EGYPT has descended to such a state and the peoples
do need peace. Yet the nature of the political and economic crisis in EGYPT is
in many ways even direr to the point where EGYPTIAN workers will still go to LIBYA
to eke out a livelihood. Many from the progressive movements have retreated
from a clear position of support for the EGYPTIAN workers and their allies who
want peace. The SECURITY COUNCIL OF THE UNITED NATIONS must not be railroaded
to place the Western-backed forces in charge of LIBYA. There should be clear
opposition to the proxy wars in LIBYA and for the UN to expose and expel EGYPT,
QATAR, TURKEY and SAUDI ARABIA from their mischief-making in LIBYA.
Before NATO’s
intervention, LIBYA’S civil war was on the verge of ending, at the cost of
barely 1,000 lives. Since then, however, LIBYA has suffered at least 10,000
additional deaths from conflict. In other words, NATO’s intervention appears to
have increased the violent death toll more than tenfold.
THE
NONALIGNED WORLD AND THE SPIRIT OF BANDUNG
This year marks 60 years
since the people of the global South met in BANDUNG to oppose colonialism and
imperialism. In those 60 years the frontiers of colonialism have been replaced
by the Wests usage of financial warfare to oppress the common people and
support financial institutions. In a world where the bankers are promoting
austerity everywhere, the push by Global NATO is to control all sources of
maneuver by oppressing people. Religious extremism has now been found to be a
useful tool to promote barbarism and counter-revolution. In a context of
neo-liberal austerity and alienation, the payment of a monthly stipend by Gulf
billionaires to unemployed youths is one more expedient to hinder the full mobilization
and politicization of these youths of the full impact of capitalism on humans
everywhere.
Pope Francis has weighed
in on the beheadings and called the 21 EGYPTIAN Copts who were murdered by
supporters of the ISLAMIC STATE “martyrs.” The Pope stated that the 21 died
purely because they were Christians. ISIS is following a grand tradition of
beheadings and cutting off of hands that had been perfected by repressive
governments for centuries. Progressive intellectuals and anti-imperial forces
have for long been pointing to the fact that the war against the regime of ASSAD
in SYRIA by the SAUDI government provided the conditions for the rise of ISIS.
Other independent authorities reach even further back as in the case of the
former UN SECRETARY GENERAL. Speaking at the MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE in GERMANY,
Kofi Annan blamed the 2003 US-led invasion of IRAQ for the rise of the Islamic
State (ISIS), warning that the MIDDLE EAST must evolve and adapt for lasting
peace.
“The folly of that fateful
decision was compounded by post-invasion decisions. The wholesale disbandment
of the security forces, among other measures poured hundreds of thousands of
trained and disgruntled soldiers and policemen onto the streets. The ensuing
chaos has proved an ideal breeding ground for the SUNNI radical groups that
have now coalesced around the ISLAMIC STATE label.”
ROLE
OF US INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES IN EASTERN LIBYA
This same statement about
the outcomes of the war in IRAQ can be stated quite firmly in relation to the
outcomes of the NATO intervention in LIBYA. In short, it is not possible to
fully discuss how to rid LIBYA and NORTH AFRICA of the so-called ISIS without a
full blown examination of the role and activities of the CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY in EASTERN LIBYA. Many of the misguided youths who are now called ISIS
were recruited by the CIA in the aftermath of the overthrow of GADDAFI to go to
fight in SYRIA. These same LIBYANS are returning and have understood the
importance of propaganda. Hence, the slick video messages with profound
bloodletting are staged for maximum shock. These recruits learnt the full
meaning of Shock and Awe.
One can agree with the
Pope that the beheadings represented a “barbaric assassination,” but the Pope
needs to use the moral authority of his position to expose and condemn the
known elements that bankroll ISIS. Now, the military regime in EGYPT is working
with the faction of LIBYANS who are supposed to be the legitimate government to
call on the UNITED NATIONS to lift the arms embargo against LIBYA and to
authorize the open military intervention of EGYPT into LIBYA. The EGYPTIAN
regime has now sought to neutralize BRICS by seducing the leader of RUSSIA and
presenting himself as being anti-imperialist. SAUDI ARABIA is at the same time
seeking to seduce CHINA so that the forces of the global SOUTH will be divided
about what is going on in LIBYA and EGYPT. In the UN SECURITY COUNCIL both the
representatives of CHINA and RUSSIA are proving that when it comes to questions
of destruction in AFRICA they will take a backseat to the machinations of the
P3.
The progressive forces
will have to be cautious about the hype over the so-called Islamic state. The
political leadership of SAUDI ARABIA cannot support violent extremists all over
the world and then seek to distance itself from elements such as ISIS that
emerged out of its financing of JIHADIDTS that are fighting in IRAQ and SYRIA.
When the academics and scribes for the military and foreign policy
establishment join in this new call for military intervention in LIBYA to fight
ISIS, the progressive forces must organize in all ways possible to expose and
deter the UN from giving legitimacy to the repressive regime of EGYPT to whip
up militarism in order to maintain itself in power.
By Horace G. Campbell
END NOTES
[1] Grace Dent, “If teenage girls want to join Isis in the
face of all its atrocities, then they should leave and never return,” The
Independent, February 23, 2015. http://tinyurl.com/k7vepky
[2] Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: ISIS Executed Hundreds of
Prison Inmates,” October 30, 2014. http://tinyurl.com/lkws28b
[3] Patrick Cockburn, The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and
the New Sunni Revolution, Verso Books, 2014
[4] See Horace Campbell, “The US, NATO, and the Destruction
of Libya,” Telesur, July 31, 2014. http://tinyurl.com/pvga7ef
[5] David D. Kirkpatrick, “Brazen Figure May Hold Key to
Mysteries: Ahmed Abu Khattala Capture May Shed Light on Benghazi Attack,” New
York Times, June 17, 2014. http://tinyurl.com/qat876s
[6] See Horace Campbell, “Lessons from the Kidnapping of Abu
Anas al-Libi in Tripoli: Counter-Terrorism and Imperial Hypocrisy’”
Counterpunch, November 8-10, 2013. http://tinyurl.com/or89zlb
[7] David D. Kirkpatrick, “New Law in Libya Bans Some From
Office,” News York Times, May 5, 2013. http://tinyurl.com/ns9m9sv
[8] David D. Kirkpatrick, “Libyan Parliament Fires Central
Bank Chairman,” New York Times, September 14, 2014. http://tinyurl.com/p6dyzsr
[9] Patrick Cockburn, “Private Donors from Gulf States
Helping to Bankroll Salaries of Up to 100,000 Isis Fighters,” Counterpunch,
February 23, 2015, http://tinyurl.com/mneedkc
[10] “Libya’s descent into violence – the Guardian
briefing,” Guardian, February 16, 2015, http://tinyurl.com/n5u3uut; See also
Frederic Wehrey and Wolfram Lacher , “Libya’s Legitimacy Crisis : The Danger of
Picking Sides in the Post-Qaddafi Chaos,” Foreign Affairs, October 6, 2014
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