On The War in Tripoli

August 22, 2011

So it seems Tripoli is in flames at the moment, parts again pummeled by NATO bombs, parts now infested with their lynch mob foot soldiers for the first time in this sick little war. The header's main son, Seif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, is in custody, somehow, says the International Criminal Court (some sneaky betrayal, I presume, as opposed to great hunting skills). His father is said to have fled, and a majority of the city captured, reports are saying. The rebels have won a lightning war against this million-strong holdout behemoth, to believe the mainstream media accounts.

All this is, as usual, too much for me to keep up with, let alone investigate critically, so don't hang around here waiting for the latest. Please refer, for one, to Mathaba's running reportage:
http://www.mathaba.net/news/libya/

One  piece of interest has a video interview with Mahdi Nazemroaya on alleged targeting of critical journalists who support the government against the attrocities and lies of NATO and its foot soldiers, increasingly being threatened and fired on by "terrorists."

Others:
Dr. Moussa Ibrahim August 21st Press Conference on NATO Massacre in Tripoli
Mainstream media are waging a Psychological War on People of Tripoli

Germany Sends Military Terror Forces Into Libya For NATO

Rebels being gathered in Tripoli for a purpose (updated)

Some of this - especially the last, and reports like it -  is striking me as, at best, whistling in the dark from the regime and its supporters inside Libya and abroad, encouraging lies to rally the people, claiming victory at the moment of defeat. Some more might be false propaganda, like the exaggerated GMMR attack claims, to cause doubt in the West.

And then, truth can be the most powerful propaganda at all times. As Mathaba put it, in the third link:

Mathaba analysts are predicting a victory for Muammar Qaddafi, because the NATO objective is to kill the symbolic hero of the Libyan revolution, who brought about one of the highest standards of living in the world, with a socialist and democratic government that is a model alternative to capitalism.

Unlike the bankrupt states of NATO -- the USA, Britain, France, and much of western Europe -- which are attacking Libya in a desperate grab for Africa's resources, Libya being the wealthiest nation, in Libya all medical, dental, housing, electricity are provided to citizens free of charge from the oil revenue.

In capitalist countries such as Australia, poverty is rampant, with mining and national resources going into the coffers of private conglomerates to the tune of trillions of dollars annually, instead of being shared among the population as is the case in the Libyan Jamahiriya system.

Wether or not we will collectively look back with shame on this coalition gang-rape of a nation that might help spark world war IV, well... we should.

Pro-Libyan propaganda aside, rebel/Western media campaigns to exaggerate gains and shake the enemy's resolve are nothing new, and surely in play especially at this crucial moment. Grave as the situation has become for the government and Libya's people, it's a big enough grave to possibly swallow the rebellion and still leave part of real Libya laying on top, at surface level, once the dirt is piled on.

The surface impression of this end-is-nigh, cue-the-fireworks news isn't likely true, at least in full, but the impression will help steel the public - again - for the inevitable realization of that dream, just around the corner now, surely... as has been said since February.

These latest chess moves, do recall, are actually happening - the world is okay with this - in the streets of Tripoli, a city of a million, that recently (July 7 IIRC) hosted about that many still showing their full support for the government. Contrary to claims, they were not all there because of a million family members held hostage.

Plus there was a comparable number in other cities, some even braving exposure behind then enemy lines, and all of them behind the potential enemy lines that would extend Libya's borders, as the West already pretends. In a nation of six million, after months of the West's clear messages, one third of Libya still said no. What's so amazingly different now, aside from the proximity of sheer, brute force?

When the Green revolution first came, it was bloodless. Next time, it won't be. Ruthless suppression will be tried, however. Drones will prowl, skirmishes will persist, corporations will push for stability but Libyans, the slow ones, will finally start catching on.

I told you guys not to do this. But you decided it was too late to turn back on about February 20 (or was it back in '90, or back in '69?).