White House Sending More Marines, Drones and Spies to Libya

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, featured on RT satellite television discussing the political and security situation in the post-Gaddafi North African state of Libya. Azikiwe is a frequent analyst for varioius media outlets worldwide., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

WHITE HOUSE SENDING MORE MARINES, DRONES AND SPIES TO LIBYA

ANTI-US DEMONSTRATIONS SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire

In over twenty countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe, hundreds of thousands of people have held mass demonstrations against the United States and other western embassies. The protests in
the Libyan city of Benghazi resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other diplomatic personnel on September 11.

Stevens was well known in eastern Libya where the rebellion against the former government of Col. Muammar Gaddafi began in February 2011. The attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi where the imperialist
states initiated their regime-change program for Libya, illustrates the political dilemma that the White House finds itself throughout the region.

Although it has not been clearly stated who was behind the attacks on the consulate in Benghazi, and whether it was planned or spontaneous, or a combination of both, what is important about the response of President Obama is that he immediately announced the deployment of 50 Marines to Libya. In addition to the sending in of the Marines, the president announced that warships would be dispatched off the coast of Libya and both predator and reaper drones will be flying over the North African country ostensibly in search of those responsible for the September 11 attacks in Benghazi and any other purported threats against U.S. personnel or interests.

There have been conflicting assessments even within U.S. ruling circles over the character of the attack on the Consulate and the killing of its personnel. Some within the Congress, including former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, publically stated that the destruction of the diplomatic buildings in Benghazi was part of a well-organized plan.

However, others within the administration have been ambivalent for obviously political reasons. If there was a longstanding perceived threat then why did the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other U.S. personnel operating inside Libya not take precautionary measures?

The U.S.-backed General National Congress President of Libya, Mohamed Yusef al-Magariaf, said of the September 11 attack that “The way these perpetrators acted and moved, and their choosing the specific date for this so-called demonstration, this leaves us with no doubt that this was preplanned, predetermined.” Magariaf reported that the GNC regime had arrested 50 people in connection with the investigation. (Face the Nation, September 16)

On the same day, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice said that “Based on the best information we have to date…it began spontaneously in Benghazi as a reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in Cairo, where, of course, as you know, there was a violent protest outside of our embassy sparked by this hateful video. But soon after that spontaneous protest began outside of our consulate in Benghazi, we believe that it looks like extremists elements, individuals, joined in that effort with heavy weapons of the sort that are, unfortunately, readily now available in Libya post-revolution.” (Face the Nation, September 16)

Neither the U.S. administration nor the GNC government in Libya could address the underlying reasons behind these widespread demonstrations both peaceful and violent. Washington and its installed puppet regime in Libya have created mass unemployment, poverty and social dislocation as a result of the large-scale bombing, naval blockade and the overthrowing of one of the most prosperous and stable governments in Africa under former leadership of Gaddafi.

Washington Post blogger Glenn Kessler pointed out on September 17 that “It is in Magariaf’s interest to emphasize that this tragedy does not reflect anti-American feelings by the Libyan people”… and that “It was
planned by foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months ago, and they were planning this criminal act since their arrival.”

It is quite obvious that the demonstration in Libya against the U.S. diplomatic installation was quite similar to actions taken in countries throughout the region and internationally. All of these protests could not have been organized by people from outside these respective states because the anger expressed by millions throughout the planet is a clear reflection of the animosity generated through the foreign policy dictates of Wall Street and their agents within western governments.

ABC News reported that one of the former Navy Seals who was killed along with Ambassador Stevens, Glen Doherty, was there on a separate mission related to tracking down the availability of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. This report noted that “Doherty had said he traveled throughout Libya chasing reports of the weapons, and once they were found, his team would destroy them on the spot by bashing them with hammers or repeatedly running them over with their vehicles.” (Washington Post, September 17)

In the aftermath of the killing of the diplomatic personnel, the administration is seeking to continue the same political trajectory. The aim of these diplomatic missions is to act on behalf of the economic, military and political interests of the U.S. ruling class.

U.S. policy toward the nations of Africa, the Middle East and Asia is becoming more aggressive due to the worsening economic crisis of capitalism and the failure of the Pentagon and the CIA to control events within these geo-political regions. With the deployment of additional military personnel to Libya, these imperialist troops will become targets for not only the groups identified by the U.S. as its enemies, but by ordinary Libyans who will object and oppose the even more aggressive occupation of their country.

Demonstrations Illustrate Global Discontent With U.S. Imperialism

Mass protests took place as well in the North African state of Egypt. Egypt last year was the scene of an uprising that led to the toppling of longtime Washington ally President Hosni Mubarak.

Even with the election of President Mohamed Morsi in June, the U.S. administration is still attempting to control Egyptian domestic and foreign policy. Morsi at the time of the demonstrations in Cairo outside the U.S. embassy was in Brussels, Belgium attempting to negotiate a deal with the European Union for economic assistance to his new government.

Egypt has also been in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the re-scheduling of a portion of its foreign debt. The U.S.-allied Gulf state of Qatar also has reportedly agreed to invest $18 billion in the economy of Egypt.

All of these measures cannot deflect attention away from the social aspirations of the Egyptian masses and other working people and youth throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The historic unequal relations between the oppressed nations and the imperialist states is intensifying therefore propelling the masses into motion against what is perceived as those elements that are in opposition to their class and national interests.

Protesters in all of these countries denounced U.S. imperialism and Zionism. They ripped down U.S. flags from embassy building and burned them along with the flag of the State of Israel.

In Sudan, the demonstrators could not get at the U.S. embassy and therefore attacked the German outpost where windows were broken and fires were set. In Tunisia, Morocco, Yemen, Palestine, and other states, people demonstrated in large numbers demanding that the U.S. government stop its hostility toward Islam and countries with predominant Muslim populations.

In other countries such as Afghanistan and Indonesia, thousands protested the U.S. and its diplomatic presence in these states. Demonstrators and even some members of parliament in these governments called for the severing of relations with Washington.

Rallies were also held in England, Australia, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan on September 17. In Lebanon, Hezbollah mobilized hundreds of thousands of its supporters for a demonstration through South Beirut where chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” rang out across the areas.

These demonstrations and other manifestations of anti-U.S. sentiment will continue in light of the escalating imperialist aggression around the world. Workers and the oppressed inside the U.S. must express their solidarity with the Muslim people internationally.

Inside the U.S. and Europe, Muslims are profiled, persecuted, falsely prosecuted and imprisoned on trumped-up charges. These acts of institutional discrimination against Muslims are designed to demonize the religion of Islam in order to justify repressive measures domestically as well as the continuation of imperialist wars abroad.