Imperialists to Continue Bombing Libya

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, holding microphone at Detroit MLK Day March on Washington Blvd. downtown, January 15, 2007. (Photo: Robert Akrawi)., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Imperialists to Continue Bombing Libya

NATO-led forces face strong resistance in battle for coast city of Sirte

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire

United States Secretary of Defense and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Leon Panetta, held a news conference at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on October 6. During the course of the discussions with the international press, Panetta said that the nearly nine-month-old war against the North African state of Libya would continue until all vestiges of resistance on the part of the people were eliminated. This means that the intensive bombing of civilian areas and national infrastructure would not let up indicating that more innocent people will die in the thousands in this oil-producing country.

On the following day, October 7, the Pentagon chief visited the Naval Air Station at Sigonella, Italy in Sicily which served as a major launching point for the more than 20,000 sorties and 9,000-plus airstrikes that have been carried out in the war. During his visit and press conference at this military station, Panetta stood in front of the Global Hawk, a sophisticated fighter aircraft that provides important surveillance and intelligence information while engaging in its flights over Libya.

This aircraft has the capacity to fly 24-hour high-altitude missions that capture and transmit photographs of what is taking place on the ground. Panetta said that when the air and sea war over and off the coast of Libya began many people questioned the effective capacity of NATO. Nonetheless, the defense secretary boasted that the war on Libya is a success and it will provide lessons for future military operations.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen echoed the sentiments of the Pentagon when he stated on October 10 that “We conducted the operation ‘Unified Protector’ (the codename for the war against Libya) successfully against the backdrop of the global financial crisis.” He made these remarks in Bucharest, Romania at the 57th Parliamentary Assembly.

Rasmussen said “I am very satisfied with the way the operation has been conducted, it is an example of solidarity.” However, he stressed that the “allies need to invest more in critical fields such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.”

In highlighting the central role of the United States in the war against Libya, the NATO Secretary General noted that “We could not have carried out this operation without the unique and essential assets from the U.S. This is no breaking news that we need help from the U.S., that is the essence of the alliance and not a weakness.” (al-Arabiya, October 10)

Resistance Continues in Sirte

For over a month the U.S. and NATO supported forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) have been attempting to take both Bani Walid and Sirte, two strongholds of the loyalists forces still committed to defending the country against the imperialist onslaught that began with an armed uprising on February 17 and the bombing of the nation that has continued non-stop since March 19. Despite numerous attempts to seize both cities, the NTC rebels have been repelled suffering hundreds of casualties.

According to an Associated Press report on October 10, “The inability to take Sirte, the most important remaining stronghold of Gaddafi supporters, more than six weeks after the capital fell has stalled efforts by Libya’s new leaders to set a timeline for elections and move forward with a transition to democracy.” Yet the NTC and NATO have no mandate to wage war or govern Libya which is reflected in the fierce fighting by the Libyan people against these foreign-financed and armed elements that are seeking to take the country in order to hand it over to the imperialists so the oil, natural gas and waterways can be totally dominated by the capitalist states.

British Defense Secretary Liam Fox, who is consumed by charges of corruption in the scandal-ridden government of Conservative leader David Cameron, announced that even if the NATO-led forces took Sirte, the western “military actions would continue as long as remnants of the regime pose a risk to the people of Libya.” (AP, October 19) The NTC rebels launched a new offensive against Sirte on October 7 after NATO bombing operations struck neighborhoods, municipal infrastructural sites and a major hospital.

Although the city has been under siege for weeks and NATO has bombed the areas inside and around the coastal town extensively, the putative leader of the NTC, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, said on October 10 that “Our fighters (rebels) today are still dealing with snipers positioned on the high buildings and we sustained heavy casualties.”

The imperialists view the capture of Sirte as key in their strategic objective of subduing Libya. Sirte, which is 250 miles southeast of the capital of Tripoli, is considered essential in solidifying the neo-colonial control of the country of 6 million people because it lies at the center of the coastal plain where most of the population resides.

Gaddafi Calls for Intensifying Resistance

In an October 6 audio message from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi that was broadcast over Al-Rai Television based in Syria, he called for the escalation of both military and political opposition to the NTC rebels and their NATO backers. Gaddafi in his address to the nation said that people should “go out in new million-man marches in all cities and villages and oases.” (Al-Rai TV, October 6)

Gaddafi continued by telling the Libyan people to “Be courageous, rise up, go out in the streets. Raise the green flag in the skies…the conditions in Libya are unbearable. The so-called NTC revolution is a charade gaining its legitimacy through airstrikes.”

In regard to the conditions prevailing in Sirte resulting from siege and bombing by the NTC rebels and NATO, civilians interviewed who have fled the city say that “We didn’t know where the strikes were coming from. Everyone is being hit all day and all night.” (Reuters, October 10)

As it relates to the humanitarian crisis engendered by the NATO-led attacks, one family pointed out that “There is no electricity and no water. There is nothing. There is not one neighborhood that hasn’t been hit.” However, the resistance to the rebels and the western military onslaught against Sirte remains formidable.

Even Reuters press agency noted that “NTC forces have repeatedly claimed to be on the point of victory in Sirte, only to suffer sudden reversals at the hands of a tenacious enemy fighting for its life, surrounded on three sides and with its back to the sea. In just one field hospital to the east of the city, doctors said they had received 17 dead and 87 wounded in the fighting on October 9. There were dozens more casualties elsewhere.” (Reuters, October 10)

NATO War Seeks Imperialist Domination

Other developments in Libya are further exposing the character of the imperialist war which includes the refusal of NATO to investigate the thousands of civilian deaths emanating from the atrocities committed by the NTC rebels and the North American and European airstrikes. It has been reported that at least $15 billion in property damage has been carried out against the country thus far.

In addition, the imperialist countries have frozen $128 billion in Libyan assets that were accumulated during the period of the leadership of Gaddafi. It has also been reported that the country owes no money to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank, which is a unique situation that distinguishes it from other African and developing states who are strangled by debt to the global financial institutions based in the West.

A delegation of World Bank and IMF officials are scheduled to visit the country amid infighting among the NTC rebel leaders who have consistently failed to create a provisional government. A recent plot to assassinate one of the military leaders of the NTC is a clear indication of the incapacity of this group to control the country without the continuing support and coordination of NATO.

Anti-war forces inside the NATO countries must step up their opposition to the war against Libya and expose through leaflets, broadcasts, mass demonstrations and petitions that this effort on the part of the imperialists is no different than what is taking place in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Palestine. The U.S. and the other NATO countries in response to their worsening economic crisis are escalating their aggression against the oppressed nations.

With the rise of demonstrations and occupations among the youth and workers inside the U.S. and Europe greater efforts are needed to link the plight of the proletariat and the oppressed both inside the imperialist states as well as around the world in the most underdeveloped regions of the planet. It is only through this unity that the economic crisis can be effectively challenged by those who are the most severely impacted by the current stage in capitalist globalization.