tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091580307813686433.post7258622482771779505..comments2024-03-18T22:03:28.458-07:00Comments on Monitor on Massacre Marketing: Amnesty Int'l on Out-of-Control MilitiasCaustic Logichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03082923821952309709noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091580307813686433.post-36379431471013046872012-02-26T22:30:39.331-08:002012-02-26T22:30:39.331-08:00Good points,Art. But I will dispute one point: the...Good points,Art. But I will dispute one point: the crucial and well co-ordinatd emigre and dissident movements in Canada USA, UK and Ireland were populated mainly by highly educated professionals and not "religious lunatics" as you put it. These emigres have little interest in migrating back to Libya so apart from settling old scores, one wonders what they wanted for Libya. As if a NATO counter revolution will suddenly bring everybody together... They're away from it all now anyway. Amnesty? What a farcical organsation.felixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12363991252776819712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091580307813686433.post-419879186994420332012-02-26T16:19:53.858-08:002012-02-26T16:19:53.858-08:00@ Art: Thanks for popping in and then some.I forgo...@ Art: Thanks for popping in and then some.I forgot I have word verification. Sorry for that, but I think I'd get too much spam appearing without it. Even with, I still get some. <br /><br />You have some great thoughts I'll respond to later on. <br /><br />AdamCaustic Logichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03082923821952309709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091580307813686433.post-60497979353487889262012-02-26T04:25:39.209-08:002012-02-26T04:25:39.209-08:00Hi Adam,
[This material wouldn’t fit in my previo...Hi Adam,<br /><br />[This material wouldn’t fit in my previous post.]<br /><br />Your blog is doing important work. Yes, too late to save the Libyans, who appear to be totally screwed, and not yet authoritative enough to help Syrians, who are now in the crosshairs of Responsibility2Protect, the latest con to sell imperialism to unsuspecting consumers. The Neo-conservative war drive which, lusting for re-election, Obama has adopted is not stopping with Syria, however, and force can be brought to bear on western politicians to change course.<br /><br />I must admit, I almost like Moammar. He said that he was going to die in the land of his ancestors, and so it came to pass. Can you imagine an American politician risking his life? They won’t even dare to tell the truth. Which is to say, they can be scared away from their elitist imperialism.<br /><br />If enough people knew how badly these externally imposed regime-change wars go for citizens of the invaded countries, they would support neither the wars nor the merciless leaders who seek to wage them.<br /><br />Cordially,<br /><br />Art Bethea<br /><br />PS: You might consider the ballsy act of changing the name of your blog! Why? Libya experienced much less a civil war than a western-imposed regime change.<br /><br />PPS: Why is it so hard to make out these words when one is trying to prove he is human???Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091580307813686433.post-52279752306347788662012-02-26T04:21:27.713-08:002012-02-26T04:21:27.713-08:00Amnesty International’s report implicitly endorses...Amnesty International’s report implicitly endorses NATO’s killing and wounding of tens of thousands of Libyans. According to this propaganda, Moammar Qaddafi led a “repressive regime”; “Hundreds of armed militias [are] widely hailed in Libya as heroes”; “millions of people [. . .] took to the streets a year ago to demand freedom, justice and respect for human rights and dignity.” The unvoiced assertion is that NATO’s attack was fair when, in fact, it was a criminal, murderous violation of Libya’s sovereignty.<br /><br />AI’s propaganda never describes the positive side of Libya’s “repressive” government. According to ex-Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, “The [Libyan] Jamahiriya—which had the highest living standard in all of Africa—had free education up through the Ph.D. level; free health care; free utilities; subsidized—and free, if you were poor—housing; subsidized food; subsidized transportation, including car expenses.”<br /><br />In 1969, Moammar rose to power in a PEACEFUL revolution, replacing a pro-US dictator-king. At the time, life expectancy for Libyans was about 50 years; literacy was 20-25%. Under Moammar, these figures skyrocketed. Life expectancy rose to as high as 77 (some sources say 72), while literacy rose to as high as 89% (at least one source says 83%).<br /><br />Free apartments, free water, free electricity, free healthcare, free education, gas at 53 cents a gallon—repression has never looked so attractive.<br /><br />Who was Moammar repressing? As best as I can tell, religious lunatics were oppressed or, phrased more accurately, prevented from denying the freedom of others (especially women). President Obama is killing Islamist militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as, a Brookings Institute report indicates, a much larger number of innocent civilians. If Obama can kill religious extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, why was it wrong for Moammar to imprison the same types in Libya?<br /><br />As for Amnesty’s claim that “Hundreds of armed militias [are] widely hailed in Libya as heroes,” I ask: “Hailed by whom?” By the thousands slaughtered in Sirte? By Libya’s women who clearly have less freedom than before? By the Libyans who valued People’s Congresses? By1.5 to 2 million blacks, who now have a dangerously wrong skin color for Libya?<br /><br />A year ago in Libya, millions were not demanding “freedom, justice, and respect for human rights and dignity.” Amnesty International should read its own reports. A 16 Feb 2011 AI report refers to a crowd of protestors in the “hundreds” in Benghazi, not millions. Moreover, it is well known that Eastern demonstrators were dominated by religious fundamentalism. Religious fundamentalism is completely incompatible with “freedom,” “justice,” and “human rights” as westerners understand these terms.<br /><br />As the historian William Blum judges, “it appears rather likely that a majority of Libyans supported Gaddafi. How else could the government have held off the most powerful military forces in the world for more than seven months?” NATO’s deposing a popular leader—the single largest demonstration in Libya for 2011 was held 1 July in favor of Moammar—is neither just nor democratic. Indeed, NATO grossly violated international law, which is to say, Obama, Cameron, and Sarkozy violated international law. War of aggression is a crime; NAZIS were convicted for invading Poland and hanged. Obama, Cameron, and Sarkozy have committed a capital offense.<br /><br />This is Amnesty’s subtlest, most immoral propaganda. The report mentions twelve deaths in captivity but says nothing about the tens of thousands killed and wounded by NATO bombs, missiles, and attack helicopters. Amnesty’s silence endorses this killing.<br /><br />Art BetheaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091580307813686433.post-38605529947193667692012-02-24T07:17:58.485-08:002012-02-24T07:17:58.485-08:00Thanks so much for this article, hurriya. Note y...Thanks so much for this article, hurriya. Note yet another photographer, credit Reuters/<b>Anas Mili</b>, in that narrow corridor with Alex Thomson! <i>Men accused of being mercenaries fighting for Muammar Gaddafi look on while being detained by rebel fighters at the Khamis 32 military encampment in southern Tripoli August 28, 2011. </i> Will post soon on this strange incident. Suddenly after 26 Aug, following HRW/AI obserations everybody is writing about anti-black, sub-Saharan African attacks of the rebels (after 6 months...)felixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12363991252776819712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091580307813686433.post-19366941964940116882012-02-24T06:06:18.462-08:002012-02-24T06:06:18.462-08:0022 BODIES
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article...22 BODIES <br /><br />http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article495241.ece<br />On Saturday, reporters saw the putrefying bodies of 22 men of African origin on a Tripoli beach. Volunteers who had come to bury them said they were mercenaries whom rebels had shot dead.<br /><br />Reporters saw the bodies of 22 men of apparent African origin at a Tripoli beach on Saturday, people who locals said were mercenaries killed by anti-Gaddafi fighters<br /><br />http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78003T20110901?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0<br /><br />http://www.shabablibya.org/news/libyans-count-deadly-cost-of-battle-for-tripoli<br /><br />http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78003T20110901?pageNumber=4&virtualBrandChannel=0<br />African workers live in fear after Gaddafi overthrowhurriyanoreply@blogger.com