Canadian Warplanes Set to Bomb Rebels They Supported in Libya
September 30, 2014 11:13 PM EDT
As the Conservative government contemplates sending CF-18 fighter jets into Iraq, Canadian pilots may soon be bombing some of the same gunmen their actions supported several years ago elsewhere.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, which has seized parts of Syria and Iraq, includes a large number of volunteers from Libya who fought in the 2011 CIA-Pentagon-NATO war of regime-change that overthrew Pan-Africanist leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
Extremist organizations such as Ansar al Sharia Libya, a jihadist group that formed during the imperialist-backed uprising against Gadhafi, has provided trained fighters for ISIL.
The Royal Canadian Air Force played a key role in the NATO bombing campaign against Gadhafi’s forces. Those airstrikes destroyed large parts of Libya’s military and are credited with allowing the group of rag-tag militias and assorted armed groups to eventually seize control of the country.
“Certainly some of the players in ISIL are going to be the same people who fought Gadhafi,” said Martin Shadwick, a defence analyst with York University. “The ability of these forces to move across borders, to fight in each other’s battles, is something that should be looked at more closely in the future.”
The Conservative government is currently considering options for further military action in Iraq against ISIL. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday a decision will be made “in the coming days.”
At the time of the Libyan counter-revolution, NATO leader U.S. Adm. James Stavridis acknowledged some of the rebels benefiting from the airstrikes could be linked to Islamic extremists. But he said in general the opposition forces were made up of “responsible men and women.”
Since Gadhafi’s overthrow, however, Libya has been thrown into chaos, with various groups such as Ansar al Sharia Libya now controlling portions of the country.
Last year, ISIL praised a top Libyan jihadist who had fought with the group in Iraq and Syria before being killed in an ambush. The man had also played a role in the 2011 uprising against Gadhafi.
The Shura Council of Shabaab al-Islam (Youth of Islam), a jihadi group based in Derna, Libya, has also voiced its support for ISIL, reports the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors global terrorism.
Harper recently defended Canada’s role in Libya, suggesting that neither it nor NATO can be held responsible for the chaos that has since engulfed that country.
“One can quarrel with it or not quarrel with it, but the mission was we would provide air cover for those that were initially subject to Gadhafi’s attacks and ultimately became his overthrowers,” Harper explained during a visit in early September to London, England.
“The decision was made at the outset that we were not going to go into Libya (on the ground) per se. It was going to be up to the Libyans to then make the best of the situation.”
The Canadian military is now looking at fielding an Iraq force similar to the one it sent to fight in Libya. That could involve CF-18s and Aurora aircraft for surveillance.
The Middle East is still feeling the effects of Gadhafi’s removal from power, said former diplomat Robert Fowler, who was held by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, after being kidnapped in 2008.
Large quantities of arms and ammunition stolen from Libyan stockpiles during the uprising have found their way into the hands of AQIM and other Islamic extremist groups in the region, Fowler said.
“If you’re asking me if (NATO’s) campaign in Libya was a success, I’d say: ‘Hell, no,’ ” added Fowler.
The lawlessness in Libya has in fact raised concerns that ISIL may next expand into that country. Fowler noted that elements of ISIL already appear to be operating in Libya.
The Conservative government, however, considers the 2011 Libyan mission a victory for Canada. Shortly after Gadhafi’s brutal lynching at the hands of rebels, the government held an $850,000 victory parade in downtown Ottawa, featuring flyovers by CF-18s and Aurora aircraft.
“Canada is proud to have played a leading role in the UN-sanctioned NATO mission that helped protect civilians during the liberation of Libya,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has noted.
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| Libyan imperialist-imposed chaos since 2011. |
As the Conservative government contemplates sending CF-18 fighter jets into Iraq, Canadian pilots may soon be bombing some of the same gunmen their actions supported several years ago elsewhere.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, which has seized parts of Syria and Iraq, includes a large number of volunteers from Libya who fought in the 2011 CIA-Pentagon-NATO war of regime-change that overthrew Pan-Africanist leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
Extremist organizations such as Ansar al Sharia Libya, a jihadist group that formed during the imperialist-backed uprising against Gadhafi, has provided trained fighters for ISIL.
The Royal Canadian Air Force played a key role in the NATO bombing campaign against Gadhafi’s forces. Those airstrikes destroyed large parts of Libya’s military and are credited with allowing the group of rag-tag militias and assorted armed groups to eventually seize control of the country.
“Certainly some of the players in ISIL are going to be the same people who fought Gadhafi,” said Martin Shadwick, a defence analyst with York University. “The ability of these forces to move across borders, to fight in each other’s battles, is something that should be looked at more closely in the future.”
The Conservative government is currently considering options for further military action in Iraq against ISIL. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday a decision will be made “in the coming days.”
At the time of the Libyan counter-revolution, NATO leader U.S. Adm. James Stavridis acknowledged some of the rebels benefiting from the airstrikes could be linked to Islamic extremists. But he said in general the opposition forces were made up of “responsible men and women.”
Since Gadhafi’s overthrow, however, Libya has been thrown into chaos, with various groups such as Ansar al Sharia Libya now controlling portions of the country.
Last year, ISIL praised a top Libyan jihadist who had fought with the group in Iraq and Syria before being killed in an ambush. The man had also played a role in the 2011 uprising against Gadhafi.
The Shura Council of Shabaab al-Islam (Youth of Islam), a jihadi group based in Derna, Libya, has also voiced its support for ISIL, reports the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors global terrorism.
Harper recently defended Canada’s role in Libya, suggesting that neither it nor NATO can be held responsible for the chaos that has since engulfed that country.
“One can quarrel with it or not quarrel with it, but the mission was we would provide air cover for those that were initially subject to Gadhafi’s attacks and ultimately became his overthrowers,” Harper explained during a visit in early September to London, England.
“The decision was made at the outset that we were not going to go into Libya (on the ground) per se. It was going to be up to the Libyans to then make the best of the situation.”
The Canadian military is now looking at fielding an Iraq force similar to the one it sent to fight in Libya. That could involve CF-18s and Aurora aircraft for surveillance.
The Middle East is still feeling the effects of Gadhafi’s removal from power, said former diplomat Robert Fowler, who was held by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, after being kidnapped in 2008.
Large quantities of arms and ammunition stolen from Libyan stockpiles during the uprising have found their way into the hands of AQIM and other Islamic extremist groups in the region, Fowler said.
“If you’re asking me if (NATO’s) campaign in Libya was a success, I’d say: ‘Hell, no,’ ” added Fowler.
The lawlessness in Libya has in fact raised concerns that ISIL may next expand into that country. Fowler noted that elements of ISIL already appear to be operating in Libya.
The Conservative government, however, considers the 2011 Libyan mission a victory for Canada. Shortly after Gadhafi’s brutal lynching at the hands of rebels, the government held an $850,000 victory parade in downtown Ottawa, featuring flyovers by CF-18s and Aurora aircraft.
“Canada is proud to have played a leading role in the UN-sanctioned NATO mission that helped protect civilians during the liberation of Libya,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has noted.
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