March 19, 2011

The U.S. and its allies are embarking on another regime change operation. Before they started their attacks on the Libyans, they admitted that there would be civilians causalities in an act of irony. They claim to be acting to save civilians, but they will be killing them.

“Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the action amounts to an ‘act of war’ that is critical to remove Moammar Gadhafi from power before he massacres any more of his own people,” according to the Edmonton Journal. [1] It also added: “The prime minister acknowledged that the military operation will be complex and could lead to casualties among the very civilians that nations are trying to protect, and perhaps among the military personnel being sent to Libya.” [2]

The war criminals are back at it again. Hours after the attacks, sources in Libya have reported that three medical facilities were bombarded. [3] Two were hospitals and one a medical clinic.[4] These were civilian facilities. Al-Tajura Hospital was hit as was Saladin Hospital in Ain Zara. The clinic that was bombed was also located in the vicinity of Tripoli, the Libyan capital. [5] Not only where these civilian structures, but they were also all far away from the combat zone.

Civilian air facilities throughout Libya have been attacked. [6] Libyan sources have also said that all the Libyan military academies have also been destroyed. [7] This is a means to prevent Libya from training officers to defend itself.

The same sources have also said that all Libyan military bases were attacked, even ones that have no connection with imposing a no-fly zone. Libyan air bases, naval bases, and ground bases were attacked by the new Iraq-style “coalition of the willing.” Moreover, a vast naval blockade around Libya has now been imposed by the U.S. and its allies.

According to internal Libyan sources, two French jets were also shot down by the Libyan military near Janzour (Janzur/Zanzur). [7] Another French military jet was shot down by the Libyans near Anjile. [8] People in Benghazi are also fleeing the Libyan city, because of the war. [9] Surt (Sidra) and Misratah have also been attacked by the French, the U.S., the British and their coalition allies.[10]

The U.S. and its allies are now the ones that are creating a real humanitarian disaster. They talk about peace while they arm the Benghazi-based opposition rebels via the Egyptian military junta, which is as much a military client as its so-called civilian predecessor. [11] This is also a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution that the U.S. and its allies passed, which states that no weapons are to be sent to Libya.

Hillary Clinton was in both Tunisia and Egypt in context of the operations against Libya. Both the regime in Tunis and the military junta in Cairo are overtly and covertly supporting the war against Libya. The autocrats of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have also indictated that they will send military forces to attack Libya.

Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya specializes on the Middle East and Central Asia. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for Research on Globalization. Please consult his other articles about Libya.

NOTES

[1] Mark Kennedy, Canada joins UN coalition aerial mission on Libya,” Edmonton Journal, March 19, 2011.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Sources from within Libya.
[4] Ibid.; Undoubtedly there will be reports made in the U.S., Canada, and the European Union that will claim in Israeli-fashion that Gaddafi has moved military assets near schools and hospitals in an effort to justify the attacks on civilian structures.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.; Also please note the spelling of this location in the Latin script may variate and not be official.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Giles Elgood, “Egypt arming Libya rebels, Wall Street Journal reports,” ed. Andrew Roche, Reuters, March 18, 2011.