- In London, at a June 1999 anti-Yugoslavia war rally,
Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter scathed US and UK leaders, saying:
-
- "Let us face the truth....(N)either Clinton nor
Blair gives a damn about the Kosovar Albanians. This action has been another
blatant and brutal assertion of US power using NATO as its missile....to
consolidate....American domination of Europe."
-
- Today, Obama doesn't give a damn about Libyans, any more
than about Iraqis, Afghans or working Americans. At issue only is Washington
wanting unchallenged dominance everywhere, including over the Mediterranean
Basin, using two missiles - NATO and so-called rebels, enlisted, funded,
trained and armed well before bombing began on March 19.
-
- Besides civilians and former regime soldiers, Libya Islamic
Fighting Group (LIFG) paramilitaries comprise their hardcore - Al Qaeda-linked
insurgents, cutthroat killers, showing no mercy for suspected pro-Gaddafi
sympathizers.
-
- On March 23, London Telegraph writer Rob Crilly headlined,
"Libya: it wasn't supposed to be like this in free Benghazi,"
saying:
-
- Every night, vigilante gangs "mop up (suspected)
pro-Gaddafi elements." Foreign workers long ago fled the city. Most
refugees, in fact, are foreign workers, not Libyan nationals, what major
media reports don't explain.
-
- Under rebel control, Benghazi residents are terrorized,
many "too frightened to drive through the dark streets at night, fearing
a shakedown or worse at the proliferating checkpoints." One man said
unless they know you, they assume you're pro-Gaddafi.
-
- On April 17, Financial Times writer Robin Wigglesworth
headlined, "Fears rise as Gaddafi loyalists purged," saying:
-
- Former Benghazi mayor and Gaddafi loyalist Huda Ben Amer's
mansion "is now a charred husk....gutted by fire and obscene graffiti...."
-
- Throughout rebel-held areas, "firebombed buildings,
defaced posters, incendiary graffiti, (and other actions) testify to the
depths of hatred (toward) the regime."
-
- Perhaps it's also effective recruiting, choosing the
right fighters and convincing them that Western imperialism is humanitarian
intervention when, in fact, it's to carve up another conquered nation's
corpse, installing new leaders to serve Washington, not Libyans.
-
- As a result, "(m)any associated with (Gaddafi) have
been arrested, exiled or killed," in a rampaging purge, "raising
some uncomfortable issues" for rebel leaders and independent observers.
-
- Claiming only pro-Gaddafi supporters "with blood
on their hands" are being targeted, youth gangs are terrorizing Libyans,
using "rat-hunting" harassment, arrests, and "spontaneous
roadside executions."
-
- Actions, in fact, are so out-of-control that unchecked
witch-hunt justice threatens anyone suspected of pro-regime support. In
other words, they're guilty by accusation, rebels acting as judges, juries
and executioners with full Western backing.
-
- On May 10, New York Times writer Kareen Fahim headlined,
"Killings and Rumors Unsettle a Libyan City," saying:
-
- Bodies are showing up around Benghazi. "Three weeks
ago, a traveler spotted (one) in farmland on the city's outskirts, shot
twice in the head with his hands and feet bound." He disappeared the
previous day after visiting a market. Days later, another one was also
found, murdered the same way. "Masked, armed men had taken him from
his home the night before, without giving a reason, his wife said."
-
- Like many others, both killings are unsolved, and in
rebel-held territory, investigations aren't conducted in a climate of death
squad justice. As a result, Benghazi residents are "paranoid,"
wondering who's next, and when lawless killings will stop.
-
- In fact, the entire city is unsettled, intimidated by
rebel gangs rounding up suspected Gaddafi sympathizers. Unless stopped,
"it will pose a (stiff) challenge to (insurgent leaders) trying to
present a vision of a new country committed to the rule of law, while potentially
undermining hopes for" peace and justice.
-
- For weeks without letup, episodes like the following
have raged:
-
- In early May, "about a dozen men wearing balaclavas
(ski masks) and carrying guns arrived at the house of Youssef al Tobouli
in three pickup trucks." A former prison guard, he defected and was
at his store. "His terrified relatives called friends, and in the
gunfight that followed, the room (he) shared with his wife and three children
was destroyed by fire."
-
- Numerous other attacks are reported. According to Benghazi
Jalaa Hospital's Dr. Omar Khalid, bodies of executed men show up regularly
though no one knows if they were regime sympathizers. Some were shot. Others
had their throats cut. They all came dead on arrival.
-
- Deadly episodes leave everyone gripped with fear. "Last
week, rebel fighters in pickup trucks rushed to the city's radio station,"
suspecting Gaddafi loyalists inside. "Guns were fired, and a bystander
was....killed....This is a war of rumors," said the station's security
guard. "People are very edgy" with good reason.
-
- Even defectors like Hussein Gaith turn up dead, his wife
saying:
-
- "He didn't have any enemies. He joined the revolution
20 days after it started."
-
- Yet he was abducted and killed, showing signs he resisted.
Until America intervened, Libya functioned normally. Now it's the wild
west, becoming the worst of what Iraqis and Afghans face daily, including
deep poverty, unemployment, repression, and extreme violence, mostly affecting
civilians.
-
- Oscar Wilde once called a "hypocrite (someone) who
ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity."
-
- Twenty-eight months into his presidency, Obama mastered
the art of duplicity, contemptuously calling imperial slaughter humanitarian
intervention, using NATO and human "missiles" for regime change,
no matter how many corpses it takes.
-
- 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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