Obama is Lying and People are Dying

The Libyan revolution, made possible by this administration's intervention, is descending into a Hobbesian state of nature. The Independent reports:

The detention of 7,000 people in prisons and camps by the anti-Gaddafi forces is not surprising. The conflict in Libya was always much more of a civil war between Libyans than foreign governments pretended or the foreign media reported.

The winning anti-Gaddafi militia are not proving merciful. Often they have had relatives killed in the fighting or imprisoned by the old regime who they want to avenge. Sometimes they come from tribes and towns traditionally hostile to neighbouring tribes and towns. Gaddafi supporters are being hunted down. According to one person in Gaddafi's home town of Sirte, they are facing a "continuing reign of terror".

"There is a deep and spreading frenzy, particularly among some of the youth militia and the Islamists, to hunt down anyone associated with the former regime," the source said.

The National Transitional Council, whose control is largely theoretical, is not in a position to stop this purge because many of its members are themselves frightened of being accused of links with the old regime.
Some groups are particularly vulnerable. The then-rebels were convinced earlier this year that many of those they were fighting were mercenaries recruited in Central or West Africa. But when these alleged "mercenaries" were arrested in Tripoli, many turned out to be black migrant labourers without identity papers.
According to Amnesty International, some of those who were put on television by the rebels as mercenaries were later quietly freed because they were migrant workers. Others faced mob justice before they were able to prove their identities.

The international media was overwhelmingly hostile to Gaddafi's regime and tended to highlight atrocities committed by it and disregard or underplay human rights violations carried out by his opponents. An example of this occurred when eight or nine bodies of Libyan soldiers were found who appeared to have been executed. The rebels claimed they had been shot by Gaddafi's men because they tried to change sides. But Amnesty located a film of the soldiers being captured alive by the rebels and it was presumably the rebels who killed them.

The purge of Gaddafi supporters is made more dangerous by the infighting between the militias, and between them and the politicians. Association with the old regime can be used to discredit an opponent. There may also be self-interest since death squads are reported to be taking their property.

 Note the pervasive perfidity and misrepresentation of the situation in Libya on the part of the current administration and the internationalist order it has chosen to serve.The NATO intervention has brought about a reign of terror, but is presented in the American media as a great humanitarian venture.

Faugh!

NATO's Quagmire

For several weeks now stories have been appearing in the American press to the effect that negotiations are taking place between Libyan strongman Muhammar Quadaffi and NATO officials aimed at ending fighting in that unhappy country. The implication has usually been that Quadaffi is on the ropes and is desperately seeking a way out of his dilemma. The story as it appears in the European press, though, has a very different cast. Richard Fernandez explains:

Reuters reports that some NATO countries participating in the Libya operation have punched themselves out, although Khadaffy is still standing. “New U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday that some NATO allies operating in Libya could see their forces ‘exhausted’ within 90 days.” European forces are wearing out from the beating they are delivering to the Libyan dictator.

“The problem right now, frankly, in Libya is that … within the next 90 days a lot of these other countries could be exhausted in terms of their capabilities, and so the United States, you know, is going to be looked at to help fill the gap,” Panetta said, speaking to troops in Baghdad.

AFP added that the Italians are pulling out their carrier and Norway is pulling out its planes. The Italians have called for a “political solution” in Libya. France is reported to be secretly negotiating with Khadaffy for a settlement, according to Saif Khadaffy, who says talks have been ongoing between a Libyan envoy and the French President. The reality is that Europe’s combat power will soon have to be cut back in Libya unless the US takes up the slack.

So it is the NATO invaders, not Quadaffi's loyalists, who are on the verge of collapse. Read it here. [emphasis mine]

Set aside the blatant duplicity and misinformation issuing from the American mainstream media. That's par for the course these days. What is really troubling is that NATO is desperately looking for a way to pass responsibility for the Libyan mess off to the United States. Let us hope our fine young president has the wisdom to refuse.

UPDATE:

CNN reports that human rights groups have documented atrocities committed by the Libyan rebels -- you know, the ones we claim are the good guys. 


(CNN) -- Libyan rebels have looted and burned homes and abused civilians, a human rights group said Wednesday.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said that in "four towns captured by rebels in the Nafusa Mountains over the past month, rebel fighters and supporters have damaged property, burned some homes, looted from hospitals, homes, and shops, and beaten some individuals alleged to have supported government forces."

 Hmmm. Isn't this the sort of thing we are supposed to be preventing.