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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=571241017-24022011>Good info. Hope the US keeps its hands in its own
pockets! Lee</SPAN></FONT></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Joanne P Gavin
[mailto:joanne_p_gavin@yahoo.com] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, February 23, 2011
11:19 PM<BR><B>To:</B> sncc-list@list.mail.virginia.edu<BR><B>Subject:</B> a
little light on the Libyan situation<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: bookman old style, new york, times, serif">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><!---deck---><!---byline--->
<DIV class=published> If you have been as confused as I have by the
developments in Libya, here is the first reasonable analysis I have found.
</DIV>
<DIV class=published> </DIV>
<DIV class=published>Solidarity, Joanne</DIV>
<DIV class=published> </DIV>
<DIV
class=published>================================================================================================================<BR><SPAN
class=streamer>EDITORIAL</SPAN> <!---headline--->
<H1>Libya and imperialism</H1></DIV>
<DIV class=published>Published Feb 23, 2011 4:32 PM </DIV>
<DIV class=published> </DIV>
<DIV class=published> </DIV><!--begin page--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>Of all the struggles going on in North Africa and the Middle East right now,
the most difficult to unravel is the one in Libya.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>What is the character of the opposition to the Gadhafi regime, which
reportedly now controls the eastern city of Benghazi?</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>Is it just coincidence that the rebellion started in Benghazi, which is north
of Libya’s richest oil fields as well as close to most of its oil and gas
pipelines, refineries and its LNG port? Is there a plan to partition the
country?</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>What is the risk of imperialist military intervention, which poses the
gravest danger for the people of the entire region?</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>Libya is not like Egypt. Its leader, Moammar al-Gadhafi, has not been an
imperialist puppet like Hosni Mubarak. For many years, Gadhafi was allied to
countries and movements fighting imperialism. On taking power in 1969 through a
military coup, he nationalized Libya’s oil and used much of that money to
develop the Libyan economy. Conditions of life improved dramatically for the
people.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>For that, the imperialists were determined to grind Libya down. The U.S.
actually launched air strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986 that killed 60
people, including Gadhafi’s infant daughter - which is rarely mentioned by the
corporate media. Devastating sanctions were imposed by both the U.S. and the
U.N. to wreck the Libyan economy.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>After the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 and leveled much of Baghdad with a
bombing campaign that the Pentagon exultantly called “shock and awe,” Gadhafi
tried to ward off further threatened aggression on Libya by making big political
and economic concessions to the imperialists. He opened the economy to foreign
banks and corporations; he agreed to IMF demands for “structural adjustment,”
privatizing many state-owned enterprises and cutting state subsidies on
necessities like food and fuel.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>The Libyan people are suffering from the same high prices and unemployment
that underlie the rebellions elsewhere and that flow from the worldwide
capitalist economic crisis.</P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>There can be no doubt that the struggle sweeping the Arab world for political
freedom and economic justice has also struck a chord in Libya. There can be no
doubt that discontent with the Gadhafi regime is motivating a significant
section of the population.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>However, it is important for progressives to know that many of the people
being promoted in the West as leaders of the opposition are long-time agents of
imperialism. The BBC on Feb. 22 showed footage of crowds in Benghazi pulling
down the green flag of the republic and replacing it with the flag of the
overthrown monarch King Idris - who had been a puppet of U.S. and British
imperialism.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>The Western media are basing a great deal of their reporting on supposed
facts provided by the exile group National Front for the Salvation of Libya,
which was trained and financed by the U.S. CIA. Google the front’s name plus CIA
and you will find hundreds of references.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>The Wall Street Journal in a Feb. 23 editorial wrote that “The U.S. and
Europe should help Libyans overthrow the Gadhafi regime.” There is no talk in
the board rooms or the corridors of Washington about intervening to help the
people of Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Bahrain overthrow their dictatorial rulers.
Even with all the lip service being paid to the mass struggles rocking the
region right now, that would be unthinkable. As for Egypt and Tunisia, the
imperialists are pulling every string they can to get the masses off the
streets.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>There was no talk of U.S. intervention to help the Palestinian people of Gaza
when thousands died from being blockaded, bombed and invaded by Israel. Just the
opposite. The U.S. intervened to prevent condemnation of the Zionist settler
state.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>Imperialism’s interest in Libya is not hard to find. Bloomberg.com wrote on
Feb. 22 that while Libya is Africa’s third-largest producer of oil, it has the
continent’s largest proven reserves - 44.3 billion barrels. It is a country with
a relatively small population but the potential to produce huge profits for the
giant oil companies. That’s how the super-rich look at it, and that’s what
underlies their professed concern for the people’s democratic rights in
Libya.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>Getting concessions out of Gadhafi is not enough for the imperialist oil
barons. They want a government that they can own outright, lock, stock and
barrel. They have never forgiven Gadhafi for overthrowing the monarchy and
nationalizing the oil. Fidel Castro of Cuba in his column “Reflections” takes
note of imperialism’s hunger for oil and warns that the U.S. is laying the basis
for military intervention in Libya.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>In the U.S., some forces are trying to mobilize a street-level campaign
promoting such U.S. intervention. We should oppose this outright and remind any
well-intentioned people of the millions killed and displaced by U.S.
intervention in Iraq.</P>
<P> </P><!--end paragraph--><!--begin paragraph-->
<P>Progressive people are in sympathy with what they see as a popular movement
in Libya. We can help such a movement most by supporting its just demands while
rejecting imperialist intervention, in whatever form it may take. It is the
people of Libya who must decide their future.</P><!--end paragraph--><!--end page--><!--UdmComment--><!---copyright--->
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