[Debate] Tripoli - Bombs away... Kucinich on assault...

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Dennis Kucinich remains clearer and saner than most left-of-leftists
-- probably because he doesn't feel obligated to prove that he is more
"emancipatory," "revolutionary," or more of whatever than
plain-and-simple opponents of imperialist wars.  Besides, he is very
informative in this case: "I have recently received several reports
indicating that a settlement was close, only to be scuttled by state
department officials."

On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 2:32 AM, Riaz K Tayob <riaz.tayob at gmail.com> wrote:
> NATO's Bombs Led Rebel Advance
>
> By Rwp. Dennis Kucinich, Reader Supported News
>
> 21 August 11
>
>  http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/289-134/7126-natos-bombs-lead-rebel-advance
>
>     Whether Gaddafi goes or not, this costly intervention has thwarted peace
> talks and betrayed its 'humanitarian' mission.
>
>
> n March of this year, the US, France, Britain and their North Atlantic
> Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies launched military operations in Libya
> under the guise of a "humanitarian intervention." US diplomats and world
> leaders carelessly voiced unsubstantiated claims of an impending massacre in
> Benghazi. You hear no such appeals to humanity while NATO, in the name of
> the rebels (whoever they are), prepares to lay siege to Tripoli, a city of
> nearly 2 million people.
>
> Libyan rebels are now advancing on the capital city of Tripoli with the aid
> of NATO strikes; this is sure to result in a real bloodbath, as opposed to
> the one that was conjured in Benghazi this past winter. NATO is assisting
> rebels who are blocking food, water and medical supplies from coming into
> the capital city, and is stopping those who need advanced medical care from
> travelling to Tunisia to access it. NATO is bombing power stations, creating
> blackouts, and using Apache helicopters to attack Libyan police checkpoints
> to clear roads for rebels to advance.
>
> Regardless of whether Muammar Gaddafi is ousted in coming days, the war
> against Libya has seen countless violations of United Nations security
> council resolutions (UNSCRs) by NATO and UN member states. The funnelling of
> weapons (now being air-dropped) to Libyan rebels was, from the beginning of
> the conflict, in clear violation of UNSCR 1970. The use of military force on
> behalf of the rebels, in an attempt to impose regime change, has undermined
> international law and damaged the credibility of the United Nations.
> Countless innocent civilians have been killed, and NATO air strikes continue
> to place many at great risk.
>
> So much for the humanitarian-inspired UNSCR 1973 as a means to protect
> civilians. The people of Libya cannot take another month of such
> humanitarian intervention.
>
> The leading donor nations of NATO - the US, France and Great Britain - have
> been free to prosecute war under the cloak of this faceless, bureaucratic,
> alphabet security agency, now multinational war machine, which can violate
> UN resolutions and kill innocent civilians with impunity. War crimes trials
> are only for losers. The prospective conquerors, the western powers and
> their rebel proxies, will then expect to be able to assert control over
> Libya's vast oil and natural gas reserves.
>
> The US share of the war against Libya has probably exceeded the $1bn mark.
> This extraordinary amount of money for an intervention that Americans were
> told would last "days not weeks" could only be explained by looking at the
> war as an investment, and at control over Libya's wealth as an opportunity
> to make a return on that investment. Cynical? Then tell me why else we are
> at war in Libya.
>
> Viable peace proposals, such as the one put forward by the African Union
> (AU), have been quickly and summarily rejected. If there is going to be a
> peaceful resolution of the conflict, the US must work with and empower the
> AU to ensure regional security. The AU has proposed a peace plan that would
> facilitate an immediate ceasefire, the unhindered delivery of humanitarian
> aid, a dialogue between the Transitional National Council and the Gaddafi
> government, and the suspension of NATO strikes.
>
> The use of force and ultimatums has not worked. As the war enters its sixth
> month, it is time for the US president and secretary of state to clean up
> the mess they've created with this needless military intervention, and to
> work to seriously to bring about a negotiated end to this war.
>
> In June, I proposed a peace plan (pdf) derived in part from the efforts of
> the AU. This plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and lays out the
> principles necessary to create a framework to achieve reconciliation and
> national unity in Libya by a meaningful process. In its June report on
> Libya, the International Crisis Group stated:
>
>     "A political breakthrough is by far the best way out of the costly
> situation created by the military impasse. This will require a ceasefire
> between the regime and the Transitional National Council, the deployment of
> a peacekeeping force to monitor and guarantee this under a UN mandate, and
> the immediate opening of serious negotiations between regime and opposition
> representatives to secure agreement on a peaceful transition to a new, more
> legitimate political order. NATO and those states supporting its military
> action should facilitate this development, not hinder it."
>
> I have recently received several reports indicating that a settlement was
> close, only to be scuttled by state department officials. Given that the
> department of state seems to have taken a singular role in launching the US
> into this war, it is more than disconcerting to hear that the same agency
> has played a role in frustrating a resolution to this conflict. There are
> viable solutions to peacefully end the conflict, if there is a desire to do
> so.
>
> Continued military action promotes a cycle of violence that will persist
> whether Colonel Gaddafi is ousted or not. On 19 March 2003, the United
> States pursued regime change in Iraq. Eight years later, we're still
> wondering why the people of Iraq are not sufficiently grateful for our
> intervention, which has resulted in the death of over 1 million of their
> fellow countrymen and women.
>
> How can we expect this grim manifesto of interventionism to ever result in
> anything but tragedy? It's time to end the war against Libya.
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-- 
Yoshie Furuhashi
<http://mrzine.org/>