NATO's Secret Ground War in Libya
by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
Foreign Forces Were on the Ground in Libya prior to any type of U.N. Approval
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 only passed, because Moscow and Beijing abstained. This was a tactical move meant
to limit the war.
If the resolution had been vetoed by Russia and China, in all likelihood, the U.S., Britain, France, Italy (and the
Western European members of NATO) would have resorted to “other means,” including an outright invasion. By abstaining
and getting the NATO powers to vocally invest themselves to U.N. Resolution 1973 and to hide behind it, Moscow and
Beijing managed to limit the options of the Pentagon and NATO.
The efforts of Moscow and Beijing, however, have not hindered Washington and its NATO allies from breaching
international law or U.N. Resolution 1973. Washington has casually admitted that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
was on the ground supporting rebel forces. According to Washington, the involvement of U.S. intelligence agents in Libya
started as soon as the U.S. embassy in Tripoli was closed. February 25, 2011, is the date that the U.S. embassy in
Tripoli was reported as being closed.
This is a casual omission that the U.S. had violated international law and was operating on the ground in Libya before
any U.N. approval. Moreover, Italy had opened its military bases to use by the U.S., Britain, and France before any U.N.
approval by repudiating its non-aggression pact with Libya on February 27, 2011. In other words, the war against Libya
had already begun.
Unnamed U.S. officials even told Reuters that U.S. intelligence operations were underway in Libya before President Obama signed a secret order in March 2011
that authorized covert U.S. actions against the Libyan government. The U.S. was not alone in operating in Libya. It has
been reported that dozens of British agents and commandos from MI6, the Special Air Services (SAS) unit, and the Special
Boat Services (SBS) units were also operating inside Libya.
These foreign forces in Libya were sent to prepare for the war by selecting targets to be bombed. Even before the
attacks were launched, both Britain and France even announced plans in November 2010 for war games that envisioned
attacking Libya under the exercise codename “SOUTHLAND.” The British and French military assets being mobilized for
these drills ended up being used to attack Libya. November 2010, according to the Italian journalist Franco Bechis of
Italy’s Libero, also happened to be the time that Paris started planning for regime change in Libya.
Even if the November 2010 war games and the Italian article about regime change plans are dismissed, a war with Libya
was intended from the outset of the crisis. Before the assault on Libya started, the Pentagon and its NATO allies had
mobilized an excessive amount of military assets that went well beyond the needs of any evacuation operations in Libya.
In the words of the British Defence Minister, Liam Fox:
As we have seen in Libya in the past 96 hours [Britain] still has the military capability to protect British interests.
At a time when the commercial sector was unable or unwilling to fly, the [British] Government used a range of military
assets, including Royal Navy warships each with a detachment of Royal Marines and C-130 Hercules aircraft to evacuate
hundreds of Britons and citizens from a dozen other countries. In fact, British Armed Forces have been leading the way
with HMS Cumberland being the first military asset from any country to enter and evacuate citizens from the Libyan city
of Benghazi.
Days later the British Ministry of Defence acknowledged that British troops were on standby waiting to enter Libyan
territory:
The Black Watch [...] had been placed on heightened readiness, prepared to deploy to North Africa at 24 hours’ notice.
The 600-strong infantry unit returned from Afghanistan in late 2009 and is based at Fort George near Inverness. “They’re
ready, just in case,” said a source.
Under a humanitarian pretext, London has also sent military advisors to the Transitional Council. The British press
reported about this in early-March 2011: “Britain is also preparing to send diplomats and specialist advisers to the
eastern city of Benghazi, where the disparate Libyan opposition is based.” At least one of these so-called “special
advisors” was later apprehended near in the vicinity of Benghazi.
In reality, London blatantly lied about sending a British diplomat and his plain clothed security to Benghazi. In this
case, the plain clothed security guards were undercover British commandos. The British group was arrested by rebel
forces when the security team lied about not being armed. Hidden weapons and a cache of explosives were found on them.
Why was the so-called British diplomat and his security team not directly flown into Benghazi?
The British story was very dubious and problematic from the start. Even more telling was the doubt-casting language
which the BBC used to report the incident, while portraying it as a mere misunderstanding. It turned out that the armed
group apprehended on March 6, 2011 near Benghazi by rebel forces was in the process of conducting a British intelligence
mission: the diplomat was an MI6 secret agent and the security team consisted of seven British SAS commandos.
At about the same time, three Dutch Marines were also caught by Libyan forces operating inside Sirte. The Dutch
government insisted that the Dutch troops were merely evacuating two Dutch workers.
The Libyan government, however, was not informed or aware of the Dutch operation. The captured Dutch Marines were later
handed over by the Libyans to the Netherlands on March 10, 2011. Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi took the occasion to warn NATO
not to intervene inside Libya: “We told them [meaning the Dutch], don’t come back again without our permission. We
captured the first NATO soldiers, we are sending them back home. But we are still keeping their helicopter.”
The French also sent planeloads of what was reported to be medical aid to Benghazi. In turn, Pakistani sources reported
in late February that the U.S., Britain, and France had sent military advisors to Benghazi.
What these reports confirm is that there was a foreign military and intelligence presence in Libya before any U.N.
mandate for a no-fly zone was granted. In this regard, the governments involved were in blatant violation of
international law.
Another Case of Double-Standards: Yesterday’s Terrorists are Today’s Allies
Foreign intervention also consisted in embedding U.S., British and Saudi “intelligence assets” inside Libya. The latter
consisted of Islamic para-militaries from Afghanistan and other conflict zones, which were dispatched to Libya. These
intelligence assets are what the U.S. and its allies would themselves define as “terrorist elements.” This is utter
hypocrisy.
Acknowledged by numerous reports, the U.S. and its allies are in bed with their own so-called terrorist enemies. This
should come as no surprise. Washington and its allies have created, controlled, nurtured, and unleashed extremist and
criminal fighting groups in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Caucasus, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Lebanon.
The Wall Street Journal report on rebel training in the Libyan town of Darnah (Derna/Darna) identifies the role of U.S. supported terrorists
inside Libya:
Two former Afghan Mujahedeen and a six-year detainee at Guantanamo Bay have stepped to the fore of this city’s military
campaign, training new recruits for the front and to protect the city from infiltrators loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
[...]
Abdel Hakim al-Hasady, an influential Islamic preacher and high-school teacher who spent five years at a training camp
in eastern Afghanistan, oversees the recruitment, training and deployment of about 300 rebel fighters from Darna.
Mr. Hasady's field commander on the front lines is Salah al-Barrani, a former fighter from the Libyan Islamic Fighting
Group, or LIFG, which was formed in the 1990s by Libyan mujahedeen returning home after helping to drive the Soviets
from Afghanistan and dedicated to ousting Mr. Gadhafi from power.
Sufyan Ben Qumu, a Libyan army veteran who worked for Osama bin Laden’s holding company in Sudan and later for an al
Qaeda-linked charity in Afghanistan, is training many of the city’s rebel recruits.
Both Messrs. Hasady and Ben Qumu were picked up by Pakistani authorities after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in
2001 and were turned over to the U.S. Mr. Hasady was released to Libyan custody two months later. Mr. Ben Qumu spent six
years at Guantanamo Bay before he was turned over to Libyan custody in 2007.
The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) has been one of the components of the Transitional Council forces. According to
a study authored at the Pentagon’s West Point, the area around Benghazi and Darnah in Barqa is the place known for
supplying the second largest group of foreign fighters into Iraq; these fighters are tied to the LIFG, which is
currently allied to the U.S. and NATO.
NATO wanted a War in North Africa from the Start
The New York Times (February 28, 2011) asserted that the French government was opposed to military action and that NATO would “not” be
used against the Libyans. This was really an act of brinkmanship intended to pave the way towards a broader war in North
Africa. Steven Erlanger analyses the bogus French position as follows:
[Prime Minister] Fillon, like Mr. Sarkozy, spoke cautiously about any military intervention in Libya, which Western
diplomats said France has opposed inside NATO and at the United Nations. Mr. Fillon said the prospect of a no-flight
zone over Libya needed a United Nations Security Council resolution, “which is far from being obtained today,” and would
require the involvement of NATO.
All the so-called debate within NATO and lack of enthusiasm about the alliance’s role in Libya was mere bravado and a
theatrical act for the public. Gradually NATO would be presented as being involved only through a “technical role” in
the war. It is at this point the U.S. Defence Secretary, Roberts Gates, declared: “This isn’t a NATO mission. This is a
mission in which NATO machinery may be used for command and control [against Libya].” In reality, the project was a NATO
project from the onset of the mobilization of the military forces encircling Libya.
NATO was also monitoring Libyan airspace before Libya was attacked. In the frankest of terms Secretary-General Anders
Fogh Rasmussen, the Obama Administration, 10 Downing Street, and the E.U. were misleading the public. It is also worth
noting that Anders Fogh Rasmussen was selected to be the secretary-general of NATO as a reward for his support as Danish
prime minister for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Why has Operation Odyssey Dawn been Handed to NATO?
NATO is an undemocratic body and is not answerable to any constituency of voters. It is through NATO and international
organizations that the voting public is being bypassed. The command of the war against Libya has deliberately been
reassigned from the Pentagon to NATO as a clever means to bypass public scrutiny and accountability by the U.S.
government and all other governments involved in this war.
Even the so-called NATO holdouts, Germany and Turkey, are supportive of this war. Berlin is sending more military
resources to NATO-garrisoned Afghanistan so that the military forces of its allies can be freed up to attack Libya.
Moreover, Ankara did not prevent NATO from formally taking over the military operations against Libya. While the
sentiment of the Turkish people is against the war, the Turkish government has been onboard with the U.S. and E.U. war
against Libya. It is also worth quoting President Obama in regards to Turkey’s position on Libya:
In this effort, the United States has not acted alone. Instead, we have been joined by a strong and growing coalition.
This includes our closest allies – nations like the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Spain,
Greece, and Turkey – all of whom have fought by our sides for decades.
Washington is merely trying to hide behind its Western European allies. The U.S. is leading the NATO operations, just as
it was working behind the scenes with its allies to launch the war by imposing a no-fly zone. The U.S. only pretended to
be opposed to the no-fly zones. The U.S. government actually firmly backed a no-fly zone when it was presented to the
U.N. Security Council and the Pentagon had already mobilized the military resourced needed to attack Libya.
Moreover, it is a U.S. flag officer that holds the post of Supreme Allied Commander Europe. U.S. Admiral James G.
Stravridis is the supreme commander of NATO military operations. Admiral Stravridis does not need to have the approval
of anyone in NATO for many of the combat decisions he makes. As a matter of public record, this was deliberately
clarified by Senator Joseph Lieberman and Admiral Stravridis at the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing where
Libya and U.S. military operations in Europe were discussed. [30] It should also be noted, while Admiral Stravridis can
operationally work independently from the oversight of the rest of NATO’s members, he is totally subordinate to the
Obama Administration and the Pentagon.
Turkey: A Trojan Horse?
Ankara has been portrayed as siding with the Libyan regime. In reality Ankara supports the Transitional Council and the
NATO war against Libya. It has been claimed that Turkey has been advising Colonel Qaddafi and his regime, but this is
misleading. Ankara has been playing the role of a negotiator and go-between, but it is not impartial.
Turkey is administering or running the airport in Benghazi from which the U.S., British, French, NATO, and Qatar have
given covert and illegal combat support assistance to the Transitional Council. It was actually NATO that assigned
Ankara the airport authority role via a NATO agreement with the Transitional Council. Moreover, one of NATO’s
operational headquarters for the war against Libya is located in Turkey and Ankara’s naval forces are participating in
the naval operations and embargo against Libya. Turkey is also a de facto combatant through its combat support role in
the war.
NATO works on a consensus basis and if countries like Turkey and Germany were really against the war then they could
have blocked NATO from getting involved in Libya.
NATO as a whole is a military combatant in Libya and therefore all NATO members are by extension to be considered
combatants. When General Carter Ham was asked by Senator Sessions if Turkey was obstructing the military campaign or
blocking NATO attacks as was being claimed, he confirmed that Turkey was supportive of the war.General Ham is the
commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the military flag officer that originally led the war against Libya until
operations were transferred over to NATO.
Before the NATO campaign against Libya, Ankara had been deepening its tied with Tripoli and had worked to establish a
free-trade agreement between Turkey and Libya. Like its ties to Libya, the Turkish government has also been deepening
its ties with Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine (Hamas), Russia, and several former Soviet republics. This has been
presented as part of the renaissance in Turkish foreign policy, which sometimes is labelled as neo-Ottomanism. This,
however, appears to also be a means of bringing these players into the orbit of Washington and the European Union. In
this regards Turkey could be seen as working as a Trojan horse that is integrating these players into the imperial
network of Washington’s empire. Turkey’s role in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza also appear to be part of a coordinated effort
to cut them off from Iran.
Arming the Rebels: The Coalition in Breach of U.N. Resolutions and the ATT
The U.S. and its allies have breached international law and U.N. Resolutions 1970 and 1973 by sending weapons to the
Transitional Council. U.N. Resolution 1970 specifically states that no weapons are to be shipped into Libya. Qatar’s
Prime Minister Al-Thani even said that the rebels will be armed at the start of the conflict. Prime Minister Al-Thani
did not make these statements in isolation; he made these statements during the London Conference on Libya and in
conjunction with his meetings with the U.S., the E.U., and NATO.
Days later, General Abdel Fattah Al-Yunis (Al-Younis) and the Transitional Council told the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya
Network that they had taken delivery of weapons which had been shipped into Libya from abroad. A few days later, the
Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, told CNN that Qatar was delivering weapons to the Transitional Council
in Benghazi. Afterwards Qatar’s Al Jazeera went on the offensive to shield Emir Al-Thani and legitimize his actions.
While interviewing the Secretary-General of NATO, Al Jazeera openly reported that Qatar was arming the Transitional
Council. This was part of the broader effort to normalize the breaches of U.N. Resolution 1970 and international law. In
a noticeably tense interview, anchorwoman Ghida Fakhry asked Secretary-General Rasmussen if NATO members were arming the
rebels or aiding them with intelligence as Qatar was openly doing, but Ramussen refused to answer Fakhry’s question.
What Rasmussen did was avoid touching the subject by circumventing himself around it by repeating that NATO was merely
enforcing U.N. Resolution 1973. The question was asked on the basis of U.N. Resolution 1970, but Ramussen kept referring
to U.N. Resolution 1973 and repeating that NATO was enforcing it. Before the interview was over, Rasmussen was asked the
question no less than four times by Ghida Fakhry.
The logic that NATO and its allies are trying to use to justify arming the Transitional Council is that they are sending
weapons into Libya as a means of “protecting civilians.” The weapons, however, are intended to be used to fight the
Libyan military and for an offensive towards Tripoli. In this context, Qatar’s actions are not in isolation from the
broader war campaign being led by Washington against Libya. The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) also prohibits arming the
rebels, because they are not the legal government of Libya. The governments arming the rebels have tried to circumvent
this legality by recognizing the Transitional Council as the legal government of Libya.
The U.S. Government Redefines International Law and Reality to Justify its Crimes
The U.S. government is the party that has paved the way for arming the Transitional Council and unquestionably breaching
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1970 and the ATT. The directive to arm the Transitional Council with weapons was passed
down from Hillary Clinton to all the officials gathered at the London Conference on Libya. Had it all not been an act,
this would have constituted a radical change for a U.S. official who earlier was maintaining that U.S. and foreign
intervention would be counter-productive. Hillary Clinton has sought to justify arming the Libyan rebels through a
creative interpretation of U.N. Resolution 1973: “‘It is our interpretation that (UN Security Council resolution) 1973
amended or overrode the absolute prohibition on arms to anyone in Libya, so that there could be a legitimate transfer of
arms if a country should choose to do that,’ Clinton said.”
The U.S. position became public at the same time that news broke out that the CIA was going to arm the Transitional
Council. The Washington Post was told by an unnamed U.S. official on March 30, 2011 that “President Obama has issued a secret finding that would
authorize the CIA to carry out a clandestine effort to provide arms and other support to the Libyan opposition groups.”
Moreover, it would become public that Washington was sending arms into Libya through its Arab clients.
The Arab Role in Arming the Transitional Council
At the same time that Hillary Clinton was telling the international community that it was okay to breach the U.N.
resolutions, the Pentagon was coordinating a breach of the Libyan arms embargo by giving the green light to the Egyptian
military junta to arm the Transitional Council. There were also reports of that Egypt was supplying arms to the rebels:
“We know the Egyptian military council is helping us, but they can’t be so visible,” said Hani Souflakis, a Libyan
businessman in Cairo who has been acting as a rebel liaison with the Egyptian government since the uprising began,
according to the newspaper.
“Weapons are getting through,” said Souflakis. “Americans have given the green light to the Egyptians to help. The
Americans don’t want to be involved in a direct level, but the Egyptians wouldn’t do it if they didn’t get the [U.S.]
green light.”
A spokesman for the rebel government in Benghazi said arms shipments had begun arriving to the rebels but declined to
specify where they came from [to reporters].
Later on, Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesperson of the Transitional Council, told the international press gathered in
Benghazi that the Transitional Council has opened centres for “professional training” in combat. The New York Times is worth quoting for Ghoga’s response to a question asking if there were foreign military advisors and military
instructors within these combat facilities. The New York Times reported Ghoga’s response as follows: “Asked if he [meaning Gheriani] meant that foreign advisors or trainers were
present, he declined to reply but winked broadly, twice. ‘We have a lot of people being trained, real professional
training, that we don’t talk to the world about,’ he said.”
It should be noted this all happened well before Britain and France publicly acknowledged that they were sending
military units to help train the Transitional Council for combat operations against the Libyan military. This is in
contrast to what the British government publicly declared earlier when it announced that it had no intention of sending
any military personnel to assist the Transitional Council. Subsequently, the U.S. and Italy also held high-level
bilateral meetings in Washington about arming the Transitional Council’s forces.
More Double-Standards: Who is Sending Mercenaries into Libya?
London has put forward a plan for the Arab dictatorships, specifically the U.A.E. and Qatar, to send military units and
military trainers into Benghazi and Libya. Jordan, which has also been involved in the war on Libya and in the
oppression of Bahrainis, will in all likelihood be involved.
The British plan would see Qatar and Emirati troops land in Benghazi or alternatively the hiring of former members of
the British military as private military contractors. The latter are not only mercenaries, they are also British
soldiers that are given special leave from military service to fight in an unofficial capacity.
The Daily Telegraph had this to say about the plan to send British mercenaries:
Western military chiefs are looking at the example of Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance, who in 2001 helped oust the
Taliban, with support and leadership from CIA military teams and British Special Forces.
Another example [is] the 1990s Balkan wars, when a US mercenary company trained and led the Croatian army to significant
victories over Serbian forces in an intervention quietly backed by Washington.
[...]
However, it is believed that former British personnel could be used as trainers and “force multipliers”.
Former members of the Special Air Service, Special Boat Serve and other elite British regiments are frequently employed
by private military companies and Middle Eastern regimes as “advisers” for their own armed forces.
For operations where the British Government is not officially involved, Special Forces personnel are often allowed to
temporarily resign or take leave in order to fight for others.
In the 1970s, former members of the SAS fought for the Sultan of Oman with Britain’s tacit support. Many of the SAS
soldiers were allowed to temporarily resign from the British Army for the Oman campaign, then returned to service
afterwards.
British officers estimate that it would take around a month to train the rebels to the point where they can mount a
co-ordinated ground offensive against [the Libyan military].
Yet, before the British government even put forward such a plan there were reports that London, alongside Qatar, Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, and the U.S., was arming the Transitional Council’s fighters against the Libyan military. This would have
to include training by foreign contractors or military forces.
Phase Two of Operation Libya: Direct Ground Intervention?
The role of NATO and the military coalition against Libya is not limited to the air and the sea. During a U.S. Senate
Armed Services Committee hearing, Admiral Stravridis was obliged by Senator John McCain into acknowledging that NATO
forces would eventually move into Tripoli. Oana Lungescu, the spokeswoman for NATO, has denied that NATO plans on
sending boots on the ground to Libya, but this stands in stark contradiction to operational command statements.
McCain has repeatedly demanded that Libya’s neighbours and NATO fund the war against Libya too. Alongside Senator
Lieberman, McCain had repeatedly called for the arming of the Benghazi-based forces from the start of the conflict. Both
McCain and Lieberman started making these demands and calling for a no-fly zone while visiting Israel and consulting
with Israeli leaders. Both want a invasion of Libya.
A foreign military presence of some form is in the cards. It will not be like the previous NATO military occupations.
While President Obama has stated that no U.S. combat troops will land in Libya, the U.S. Armed Services Committee and
Admiral Stravridis have clarified that NATO is considering sending soldiers into Libya as part of a “stabilization
regime.”
In other words, an international force will be sent for so-called “peacekeeping” or “stabilization” missions similar to
those in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. This is another shape and name for occupation. The Pentagon and NATO are
now looking at methods to publicly side-step the U.N. in order to invade Libya.
Both Cairo and Tunis are slated to play a role in a NATO-sponsored ground invasion. In early-March 2011, Hillary Clinton
held consultations in Tunisia and Egypt with the Libyan opposition and the governments in Egypt and Tunisia. She was
actually coordinating for the war on Libya with Tunisia and Egypt.
Both the governments in Tunisia and Egypt are continuations of the old regimes in those countries. No authentic
democratization process has taken place. The “counter-revolutionary” regimes have opened Tunisia and Egypt to further
U.S. and E.U. economic control under so-called “democratic reforms” and new “foreign investment.” With the launch of the
war, Tunis would openly give its support for the war while the Egyptian military junta would provide covert support. It
was subsequently revealed in London that there were plans to sent British ground forces to the Libyan border with
Tunisia. The British government was to justify this under the pretext of helping refugees fleeing Libya.
A foreign troop presence, specifically under the E.U. and NATO, would be geared towards dividing Libya into a
loosely-knit protectorate or trusteeships. This would probably take shape under two separate administrations
respectively based in Tripoli and Benghazi. If the occupation were to occur it would also be agreed upon by at least one
or both of the governments of a divided Libya with capitals respectively in Tripoli and Benghazi.
The Justifications for War have Morphed: Deception of Mission Creep
President Obama and his allies initially said that the war was not about regime change, but they have backtracked.
While Obama was still denying that any regime change would take place, Senator McCain contradicted him and said: “Let’s
be honest with ourselves and the American people. Our objective in Libya is regime change, whether the [Obama]
Administration wants to call it that or not.” Similarly in Canada, Prime Minister Steven Harper and his defence minister
confirmed that regime change was an objective.
All the hallmarks of deceit are present. The unstated goals in Libya have always been the same, but like in Iraq the
goals stated publicly have changed. Obama, President Sarkozy, and Prime Minister Cameron have now admitted in a joint
letter that the mission in Libya is not over until Qaddafi is removed. This means regime change. It can also be part of
a strategy to get Qaddafi to agree to the partition Libya to save himself and his regime.
Moving forward, Senator John McCain and Admiral Stravridis have stated that a strategic stalemate between Qaddafi and
the Transitional Council in Libya is unacceptable for Washington or to the interests of the U.S. while also ironically
and unwittingly mentioning that no-fly zones and U.N. sanctions “don’t succeed.” If the no-fly zones and U.N. sanctions
do not work in protecting civilians, then why were they imposed on Libya in the first place? The no-fly zones and
sanctions imposed on Libya are not intended to protect civilians or to stop the internal fighting, but are intended for
weakening the defences of Libya.
The no-fly zones cover the whole of Libya and not exclusively the areas controlled by the Transitional Council. If the
rationale of the no-fly zones was to protect civilians, the no-fly zones would have been applied to the area around
Benghazi and not to Tripoli and the western portion of Libya. What this means is that the White House and the E.U. have
been using the no-fly zones as a pretext for waging a war of military aggression against Libya. As President Obama
stated in a televised address on March 28, 2011, the U.S. is helping the Benghazi-based Transitional Council, because it
is in the interest of the U.S. government.
Regime change rather than protecting civilians is a stated goal of the war. The U.S. and the E.U. originally denied
this, but with time have ratcheted up the talk about regime change while simultaneously racketing down denials about
regime change in Tripoli. Obama has also declared this objective: “[T]here is no question that Libya – and the world –
would be better off with Qaddafi out of power. I, along with many other world leaders, have embraced that goal, and will
actively pursue it through non-military means.”
More Deception: NATO and European Union Peacekeeping
The European Union has also made the preparations for deploying an E.U. military force to Libya called EUFOR Libya. The
German government has been a major, but subtle, backer of this. This is being presented under the guise of a
peacekeeping mission in Libya. This is essentially the same thing as using NATO peacekeepers, but under a different
name.
NATO is moving into fill the so-called “post-conflict” voids in places that the Pentagon and its cohorts wage war. This
has happened from the former Yugoslavia to Afghanistan and Lebanon. It is a new strategy of modern-day colonization.
The use of NATO can happen formally or informally. In Lebanon, NATO wanted to send troops, but when alarm bells began to
ring amongst the Lebanese and Arab peoples the name of NATO was formally removed. Instead NATO members did send their
troops to Lebanon, but not under the name of NATO. The operation became informal.
The role of NATO in Lebanon was not drawn in the spirit of peacekeeping. In fact, General Alain Pellegrini the former
military commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in an interview with the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir confirmed that the Pentagon had planned to launch a NATO invasion of Lebanon to help Israel and to use NATO in
occupying Lebanon in 2006.
The Pentagon and NATO are Prolonging the War to Deepen their Roles
Over a month after his claims about Qaddafi’s attempts to use chemical weapons on civilians, General Abdul Fatah
Al-Yunis also said that NATO has been slow to act in support of the Benghazi-based Transitional Council. His previous
statement about chemical weapons aimed at bolstering support for foreign military intervention is an outright lie. His
latest statement, however, could either be a coordinated propaganda effort aimed at shoring up demands for more NATO
military intervention or a genuine sign that NATO has deliberately been using measured responses to get the Transitional
Council to become more dependent on foreign support and to prolong the internal fighting in Libya. It may be both.
Al Jazeera had these statements to report about his press conference:
“Unfortunately, and I am sorry to say this, NATO has disappointed us. My staff have been in contact with NATO officials
to direct them to targets that should protect civilians, but until now, NATO has not given us what we need,” he said.
[…]
“Civilians are dying daily because of lack of food or milk, even children are dying. Even by bombing. If NATO waits for
another week, it will be a crime that NATO will have to carry. What is NATO doing? It is shelling some defined areas
only,” he said.
“When a large force of tanks, and even artillery, is on its way to Benghazi, Ajdabiya or Brega, we always inform NATO
straight away. Because we don’t have such weapons. NATO’s reaction is very slow. By the time the information reaches
from one official to another until it reaches the field commander, it takes hours. [sic.]
“Will these forces wait for hours to bomb? No, they will go into the city and burn it down. That is why I want NATO to
stand with us and support us, otherwise I will ask the [opposition] National Council to address this issue at the UN
Security Council.”
General Al-Yunis also stated: “If NATO wanted to remove the siege on Misurata, they would have done so days ago [during
their attacks on the Libyan military.]” [76] In this regard, Al-Yunis is corrected. The U.S. and NATO are deliberately
prolonging the war and for the time being are trying to keep a strategic stalemate in Libya as part of their effort to
control the entire country. This has been part of their longstanding plans to weaken Libya either through partition or
soft balkanization under a new federal system.
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya specializes in the Middle East and Central Asia. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization
(CRG).
ENDS