- Obama's claimed humanitarian intervention, if fact, is
lawless imperialism by any standard, America's latest target to be conquered,
colonized, controlled and pillaged for greater power and profit.
-
- As a result, daily NATO atrocities continue, a shocking
display of imperial arrogance against another nonbelligerent state, targeted
for other than declared reasons.
-
- Begun on March 19, NATO announced June 1 that Operation
Unified Protector (the renamed Operation Odyssey Dawn) will continue unabated
through September to inflict mass casualties and turn Libya to rubble like
Serbia/Kosovo in 1999, Iraq in 1991 and 2003, Afghanistan in 2001, and
earlier campaigns since (and during) WW II by bombing, killing and destroying
gratuitously. In fact, doing so violates international law and moral principles,
ones Western powers long ago abandoned, especially Washington.
-
- Arranged in Brussels, America and key NATO allies extended
operations with no deadline. Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan, in fact,
said concluding them "depends on conditions on the ground" to
assure mission objectives are accomplished, including killing Gaddafi and
those around him by attacking his private compound repeatedly with bunker-buster
bombs for that purpose.
-
- Relaying orders given him by Washington, NATO Secretary
General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said extended intervention "sends a
clear message to the Gaddafi regime - we are determined to continue our
operation to protect the people of Libya."
-
- In fact, imperial Washington, Britain, France and other
involved states ignore humanitarian concerns. They're participating solely
for war spoils, whatever share America allows after taking everything it
most wants, including another colonial conquest, its resources, material
wealth, and sites for one or more new Pentagon bases for greater regional
control.
-
- In the process, Libyans are being slaughtered to "save"
them, victimized by thousands of sorties, intensified in recent days, supplemented
by US/UK/French/and Egyptian commandos, private mercenaries, insurgent
cutthroats, and attack helicopters introduced June 4, preparatory perhaps
for a ground invasion though whether one comes isn't certain.
-
- Pentagon Apache Helicopter Gunship Killing Machines
-
- Boeing calls its radar controlled AH-64D Apache Longbow
"the world's most capable multi-role combat helicopter (gunship)....today
and in the future," produced for numerous countries, including America,
Britain, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
-
- Its enhanced capabilities include:
-
- -- "Longer-range weapons accuracy and all-weather/night
fighting," compared to earlier models;
-
- -- "Detection of (moving or stationary) objects
without being detected;" and
- -- Ability to prioritize "up to 128 targets in less
than a minute."
-
- In fact, for low level combat, it's the ultimate killing
machine, discussed on June 5 by London Guardian writer Kim Sengupta in
his article headlined, "NATO strike force in Libya enjoys quick success
with apache gunships," saying:
-
- Deploying them "brings greater versatility to NATO's
patrolling of Libya from (the) air" by destroying targets aerial bombardments
miss, including ground radar, commercial trucks called military vehicles,
and anything on the ground of interest. Civilians are also attacked, pretending
it's done to save them.
-
- In response, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov
and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov both condemned the escalation, saying
it's heading toward a land operation.
-
- Perhaps with combat troops aboard a large naval task
force offshore, able to invade and/or unleash "shock and awe"
capability full force if ordered, including powerful bunker-buster terror
bombs and other mass destruction weapons.
-
- Already, extensive casualties have occurred, including
hundreds of civilians killed and thousands injured, many seriously, the
toll mounting daily. They're largely omitted from Western media reports,
ordered to suppress all bad news, sticking to the official humanitarian
intervention line - the Big Lie promoting war, not condemning it responsibly.
-
- On June 1, even the UN Human Rights Council fell short,
issuing a "Report of the International Commission of Inquiry to investigate
alleged violations of international human rights law in the Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya," claiming both sides committed crimes of war and against
humanity, saying but not highlighting:
-
- It's "established that some acts of torture and
cruel treatment and some outrages upon personal dignity in particular humiliating
and degrading treatment have been committed by (rebel forces), in particular
against persons in detention, migrant workers and those believed to be
mercenaries."
-
- In fact, insurgents have committed mass atrocities against
suspected pro-regime sympathizers. Gaddafi responded defensively, not preemptively,
notions airbrushed from Western media reports, including information from
a March 1 Pentagon briefing in which Defense Secretary Gates and Joint
Chiefs Chairman Mullen admitted no knowledge that he attacked his own people.
-
- On June 4 from Tripoli, independent UK journalist/activist
Lizzie Cocker told Progressive Radio News Hour listeners she found strong
regime support, including widely displayed Libyan flags and school children
singing: "Allah, Moammar, Libya bas, Libya (under him), it's all we
need."
-
- On Tripoli state television, moreover, former US congresswoman/2008
Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney expressed solidarity
with Libyans against Western imperial aggression.
-
- Also reporting from Tripoli, investigative journalist
Wayne Madsen said Libya's Western-backed Transitional National Council
looted hundreds of millions of dollars of state and private funds, spending
or offshoring it in foreign banks. Their larceny, in fact, is so extreme
that Washington refused more funding from ITS looted billions.
-
- In addition, insurgent rebels "obtained brand new
weapons not found in Libyan stockpiles at the outset of" fighting.
Little reported is that Washington, Britain and France enlisted, armed
and funded them well ahead of hostilities.
-
- Further, reports suggest that "rebels have agree
to recognize Israel and (let IDF forces) maintain a 30-year lease for a
military base in eastern Libya" to be used against Egypt in case relations
deteriorate.
-
- Killing Gaddafi and Extending War
-
- On April 30, Gaddafi's personal compound was bombed,
killing his youngest son Seif and three grandchildren, a war crime by any
standard. Falsely calling it a military site concealed its gravity. Gaddafi,
in fact, survived by being 500 feet away. Next time, he may not be as lucky.
-
- On June 2, the House defeated Rep. Brad Sherman's (D.
CA) amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations bill to prohibit
funding Pentagon operations in Libya.
-
- On June 3, H. 51 was also defeated, "Directing the
President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove"
US forces from Libya.
-
- Bipartisan leadership, in fact, supports war, including
in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. With Obama, they disdain peace, no matter
the cost in human lives or growing domestic opposition.
-
- In America, only bankers, war profiteers, Big Oil, and
other corporate favorites matter. Peace, democratic values, and vitally
needed social services be damned when budget priorities focus most on enriching
them.
-
- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays
at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/
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