A People Betrayed: West Launches New War for Oil in Libya

[Karmadillo]

http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/2105-a-people-betrayed-west-launches-new-war-for-oil-in-libya.html

A People Betrayed: West Launches New War for Oil in Libya
Written by Chris Floyd
Friday, 18 March 2011 01:53

And so now, another war. Led by the United States and the religious extremists in Saudi Arabia, the UN Security Council voted to intervene on behalf of one side in the Libyan civil war. Having already armed and trained Moamar Gadafy's armies and security forces, the Western war-profiteers have now decided to do the same for his opponents.

These opponents, it must be noted, are at present led by top players who only weeks ago were at the center of Gadafy's murderous, repressive regime -- which was itself, only weeks ago, considered a worthy partner by Western governments and business interests. As As'ad AbuKhalil -- a fierce critic of Gadafy for many years -- noted today, before the UN vote:

The Libyan people have been betrayed. Their revolution against the Libyan tyrant has been hijacked by US and Saudi Arabia. That lousy henchman for Qadhdhafi, Mustafa Abd-Al-Jali , is now a Saudi stooge who hijacked the uprising on behalf of a foreign agenda. I mean, what do you expect from a man who until the other day held the position of Minister of Justice in Qadhdhafi's regime, for potato's sake? And don't you like it when Western media constantly refer to him as "the respected Libyan minister of Justice." Respected by who? By Western governments.

It should also be noted that the Saudis are even now staging a military intervention in Bahrain to help the autocratic regime there put down -- with deadly force and brutal repression -- a peaceful resistance movement seeking democracy and justice. "“We want to support the opposition who are standing against the dictator,” Hillary Clinton declared today. But she was talking about the dictator in Libya, not the dictator in Bahrain, who has willingly turned his country into a fueling station for the projection of American dominance in the Middle East.

more...

[midnight]

1. No more... Bring them home....

[Autumn]

2. Enough

K/R

[jannyk]

3. Correction! Led by the French & the Brits - get your facts straight. nt unrec for BS

[Safetykitten]

4. No. this is a just and right war. Oil just happens to be there.

[Karmadillo]

15. In what way is this a just and right war?

nt

[Hugabear]

16. So why isn't anybody discussing military intervention in Burma?

There's a genocide going on right now in Burma. And yet you rarely hear about it in the media, and nobody is discussing any form of military intervention whatsoever.

[Dulcinea]

23. Same with Zimbabwe.

Mugabe has singlehandedly destroyed that country. We won't interfere because Zimbabwe has nothing we want.

[meow mix]

5. Unrec for feeding the republican propaganda machine

are you on the right fucking forum?

[Joe the Revelator]

6. This is so stupid. Some people would be against military action no matter how just the cause....

and I consider stopping a mad man from genociding his people to be a just cause.

[doc03]

12. Let me see didn't we go into Iraq because Saddam Husein was

a brutal dictator and gassed his own people, had WMDs, had oil, tried to kill GHWB and so on? Then we went into Afghanistan because the Taliban killed and tortured the people, especially women, they have lots of minerals that we need and they were responsible for 911. Now we get involved in Libya because Gaddafi is a brutal dictator that kills his oun people, has oil and so on. I thought we were so broke we have to cut SS and Medicare, now they find money to get involved in another f---g war.

[snappyturtle]

14. Thank you! +1 nt

[jannyk]

18. Wait...the Taliban were responsible for 911? For 10 years I've been

led to believe it was Al Quaeda - you remember - that Bin Laden dude - NOT Taliban. We did not invade Afghanistan because we didn't like the way they treated woman - should have done - but sadly, no.

[EFerrari]

22. At the time, they were conflated.

Still are, to a degree.

[Bluerthanblue]

28. only in the minds of people

who refuse to think.

[EFerrari]

29. Well, they were deliberately conflated by BushCo rhetoric.

And as we know, propaganda works.

[Bluerthanblue]

33. Cheney was the master of this- but

there weren't any posters on DU (or very few) who bought that in my recollection.

I don't see the parallel- Bush set out to invade Iraq long before he did it. He had an agenda, and he manufactured propaganda to get people who were either too lazy, apathetic or whatever to go along.

I don't believe this administration wanted to get involved militarily in this issue. It's been criticized for dragging it's feet- and is being accused of spear-heading it.

Yes, we DO all know "Propaganda works ". I'm trying to work against it. I think there are statements in this OP aimed at doing the opposite.

[EFerrari]

35. The real problem, at bottom, is that our government uses "freedom and democracy"

as a blanket cover for everything it sets out to do. Obama is citing these in his trip to Latin America this week. The terms have been emptied of meaning. It's no wonder people are deeply skeptical every time they are invoked.

[Bluerthanblue]

37. weren't they the very same ideals which were invoked to get us into

Vietnam?

Nothing's changed here EFerrari. The US invokes freedom- democracy- humanitarian reasons for every military action we've engaged in as far as I can see. We've invoked it for all kinds of things, from space travel to trade to sports.

I don't understand what you are expecting. Was Pres. Obama really supposed to be some kind of a Messiah, who would right every wrong that exists in this society? I never had those expectations, though many of us were accused of exactly that. I just don't get it.

[EFerrari]

38. You are very right. The script is unchanged.

But see, to my mind, when the script is rolled out, that's a red flag to pay attention and see what the government does, not listen to what it says.

I don't single Obama out in that, not in any way.

[Bluerthanblue]

39. yeah-

well, personally, I'm not happy to see this unfolding.

I wish we could break out of our stupid cycle of violence and power and consumerism.

That isn't likely to happen any time soon, but we can keep hoping and working towards it.

I really do believe we are reluctant participants in this action. Those who equate Pres. Obama's action on this with GW Bush's actions in Iraq- aren't being very honest imo.

As you say, we need to pay attention and see what the government does. In the end, that's what really matters.

peace~

[Joe the Revelator]

20. How short is your memory? We were lied into war in Iraq, myself and many others like me may have...

been for the war had it been for humanitarian reasons instead of WMD lies.

I don't know many who argued against the initial goal of the war in Afghanistan. Its the lack of an end game that has hurt us there.

So again, I ask, how heartless are you that you can stand by and watch a madman slaughter his own people before you'd be ok with your government stepping in?

Some f--g humanitarian you are....

[Bluerthanblue]

30. I was against any military action in Afghanistan-

our only real goal was 'revenge' imo.

"We" were told we had the "right" to retaliate.

We didn't have the courage not to respond to the violence with violence.

I'm not 'gung-ho' about this decision on Libya, but the distortion and shit-stirring that is happening can't go un-challenged.

I don't believe that the US is spear-heading this acton, or to be honest, really all that anxious to be involved. I appreciate the President's statement that we won't have "boots on the ground" and that the use of force will not go beyond the goal of protecting the citizens of Libya.

:hi:

[EFerrari]

21. People have very short memories. n/t

[Bluerthanblue]

27. we didn't go into Iraq for any 'humanitarian' reasons- and anyone

who claimed that, was either either lying to themselves- or lying to the world.

Even the bogus UN resolution stated that it was about 'wmd's - NOT about the atrocities, the treatment of women (which was better in Iraq than many ME countries) or because Saddam supposedly tried to kill "GHWB"- The reasons that GW had for pushing his war were his. The reasons why the congress said ok- still confound me, but they had squat to do with a 'humanitarian' response to the brutal attack on Iraqi citizens who were trying to overthrow their dictator.

:shrug:

And, for some fucked up reason, there is always money for war in this nation. Fear is a brutal master.

[EFerrari]

32. They named the war "Iraqi Freedom", remember?

To give it a humanitarian cast.

[Bluerthanblue]

36. 'they' also call themselves "compassionate conservatives"

which is an oxymoron of similar proportions.

This isn't Iraq- it isn't an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation. It isn't something drummed up by the current administration complete with fake documents and deceitful testimony before the UN to achieve some personal vendetta, or a need to wield power or provide no-bid contracts to the administrations personal corporations.

You'll get NO argument from me on how wrong the invasion of Iraq was- and always will be. To equate that with this action as if it were just "more of the same" is wrong- and counter productive imo.

There are legitimate reasons NOT to want our country to be involved- ones that may not inspire much of a vocal following, but which are at least genuine. It's sad to see this kind of propaganda here.

imo-

peace~

[EFerrari]

40. It's not accurate to say this is just like Iraq.

The neos had a hardon for Iraq in a special way. And, Iraq was not mid-rebellion.

But what these situations do share is the US's geopolitical goals in the region, and imo, those goals are more in sync with global capital than with our welfare or the welfare of Libyans.

And yeah, the propaganda war is definitely on.

[Drale]

7. Seriously stop trying to spread fear

Gaddafi is committing genocide, and instead of sitting back and letting it happen, like we did in Rwanda, the UN is doing something to stop it.

[snappyturtle]

19. You betcha I fear this latest action by our government. I fear

the continuous raping of the U.S. treasury for the MIC with little regard to conditions at home which some could contend is the systematic genocide of the middle class, the really poor and those with no medical insurance.

[msongs]

8. "Chris FLoyd" can turn off his computer and go to Libya to fight for his cause himself nt

[Kolesar]

9. Probably the first press release ever to use the phrase: "That lousy henchman"

You've just seen history made, DUers!! !!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Who is Chris Floyd?

[snappyturtle]

17. Who is Chris Floyd?:

http://www.opednews.com/author/author3049.html

"Chris Floyd is an American journalist. His work has appeared in print and online in venues all over the world, including The Nation, Counterpunch, Columbia Journalism Review, the Christian Science Monitor, Il Manifesto, the Moscow Times and many others. He is the author of Empire Burlesque: High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Imperium, and is co-founder and editor of the "Empire Burlesque" political blog."

In the link provided in the OP you can read more of his articles. Hope this helps a little.

[DURHAM D]

11. oh yawn...

[malaise]

13. Have you seen this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12792637

[Shagbark Hickory]

24. I'm growing impatient with the potus but WTF is that source? Credibility zero.

[Bluerthanblue]

25. led by Whom???

It really is discouraging that people who have legitimate issues with policies or actions seem to need to stretch and distort in order to tweak their position.

It destroys their credibility and mutes any legitimate message they might have gotten across.

:thumbsdown:

Propaganda fail.

[WatsonT]

26. Perhaps Obama could personally attach his Nobel Peace Prize to the first US bomb dropped in Libya

it would be quite a symbolic and touching moment.

[GSLevel9]

31. well deserved REC!

[Catherina]

34. REC. n/t