Libya

[Aerliniel]

Personally, I had been 'ignoring' what was happening for quite a long time until I stumbled across the news that Gaddafi was dead. I've read a couple of articles about the whole thing by a party from where I come from, but sadly, they are in pdf format and in spanish. I'd be grateful if anyone gave me more info about what has been going on these last months over there and, most importantly, about just what the transition government is. This has been talked over and over quite a lot these last months, but what are your opinions on what has been going on (and what may happen now)?  

[Le Pere Duchesne]

Here you go:

Imperialists Hands Off Libya 18 March 2011
MARCH 15—The opposition in Libya to the decades-long rule of bourgeois strongman Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi appears to have taken the form, for now, of a low-intensity civil war, heavily overlaid by tribal and regional divisions, between the Tripoli-centered government and imperialist-backed opposition forces concentrated in the country’s eastern areas. Leadership of the anti-Qaddafi opposition includes Islamists, tribal leaders, former generals of Qaddafi’s army and former officials of his blood-soaked regime. Much of Libya’s diplomatic corps has defected to the opposition. Marxists presently have no side in this conflict, which is essentially a struggle to decide who will control the country’s immense oil and gas wealth while lording it over the exploited and oppressed masses.

Statement of the International Executive Committee of the International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist)
Defend Libya Against Imperialist Attack! 20 March 2011
The International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) calls on workers around the world to take a stand for military defense of semicolonial Libya against the attack begun yesterday by a coalition of rapacious imperialist governments. The French, British and U.S. rulers, in league with other imperialist governments and with the blessings of the sheiks, kings and military bonapartists of the Arab League, wasted not a moment in acting on the green light given by the United Nations Security Council on Thursday to slaughter countless innocent people in the name of “protecting civilians” and ensuring “democracy.” French air strikes were quickly followed by U.S. and British missile attacks, while Egypt’s military regime is providing arms to the Benghazi opposition forces. From Indochina and the Korean peninsula to the U.S.-led occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan today, the “democratic” imperialist rulers wade in the blood of millions upon millions of their victims. Recall that Britain and France historically carried out untold massacres in the Near East, Africa and the Indian subcontinent in order to pursue their colonial subjugation of those areas. Recall that Italy, now providing the use of its air bases for the attack, is responsible for the deaths of up to half the population of Cyrenaica in eastern Libya during its colonial rule prior to World War II.

Under Humanitarian Guise
Imperialists Escalate War On Libya 29 April 2011
APRIL 25—With the month-long aerial bombing campaign by NATO failing to topple the regime of bourgeois strongman Muammar el-Qaddafi, the imperialist powers are taking new steps to ratchet up death and destruction in Libya. In rapid succession last week, Britain, France and Italy—North Africa’s former colonial rulers—dispatched military officers to Benghazi to shore up the opposition forces that have acted as the imperialists’ ground troops and whip them into shape. Today Italy announced that it would join in the bombing raids. The Obama administration, which claims to have ruled out “boots on the ground” in Libya, on April 22 ordered additional firepower into the skies in the form of remotely piloted Predator drones armed with Hellfire missiles.


Down With Fortress Europe’s War on Immigrants and Refugees!
Refugees Drown as Imperialists Step Up War on Libya 27 May 2011
MILANO—Among the main victims of the imperialist war against Libya have been nearly two million foreign workers in that country. Beginning with the low-level civil war that pitted the bourgeois government of nationalist strongman Muammar el-Qaddafi against an imperialist-backed opposition, up to 750,000 have fled Libya. While most went to Tunisia or Egypt, some 12,000, according to United Nations estimates, have tried to reach Italy or Malta by boat. This is in addition to several thousand Tunisians who had already reached the Italian island of Lampedusa following the downfall of the Ben Ali dictatorship.

Reformists Cheer Libyan “Rebels”—Flunkeys for NATO
Imperialists Overthrow Qaddafi Regime 30 September
The fall of Tripoli on 21 August marked the overthrow of the bonapartist bourgeois regime of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi at the hands of the imperialist powers. Spearheaded by Britain and France and backed by the U.S., in March the world’s most powerful imperialist countries unleashed a massive military onslaught. The assault on Libya carried out by NATO was authorised by a United Nations Security Council resolution that claimed the operation aimed to “protect civilians.” NATO subjected Tripoli and other areas of Libya to unrelenting aerial bombardment while “special forces” carried out covert operations on the ground. According to a NATO statement, between 31 March and 31 August, the imperialist alliance carried out a “total of 21,090 sorties, including 7,920 strike sorties.” These deadly bombing raids did not stop with the fall of Tripoli—NATO planes continue to pound areas held by forces loyal to Qaddafi including Sirte and Bani Walid. Several attempts by the imperialists to assassinate Qaddafi have so far failed but an intensive manhunt for him continues.  

[Aerliniel]

Le Pere Duchesne

Thanks for that. The articles were quite interesting, it makes me quite angry though that things have turned out like this... (and that almost all articles here, except the marxist ones and several others, are so slanted).  

[Gintama fan]

Qaddafi was a great socialist and anti-imperialist. He brought socialism and direct democracy to Libya, and now these racist and fundamentalist "rebels" have destroyed Libya with help from their imperialist friends. I recommend every one reads Qaddafi's Green Book.  

[Aerliniel]

Gintama fan

Qaddafi was a great socialist and anti-imperialist. He brought socialism and direct democracy to Libya, and now these racist and fundamentalist "rebels" have destroyed Libya with help from their imperialist friends. I recommend every one reads Qaddafi's Green Book

Socialism and direct democracy? confused  

[Comrade Rob]

Gintama fan

Qaddafi was a great socialist and anti-imperialist. He brought socialism and direct democracy to Libya, and now these racist and fundamentalist "rebels" have destroyed Libya with help from their imperialist friends. I recommend every one reads Qaddafi's Green Book.

He didn't bring any socialism or "direct democracy". He instilled some progressive measure but ultimately he was a liberal.

You are however correct when you say that the racist rebels are tearing up the place. Those ******** clowns are literally rounding blacks into death camps, all because the US and UN supported these ******** way, the APL came out with some good stuff on this issue, as well as the Espresso Stalinist blog.

Here is our statement on Gaddafi's murder:

http://theredphoenixapl.org/2011/10/23/american-party-of-labor-statement-on-the-killing-of-muammar-gaddafi/


You can also shift through the Lybia section in our paper, we keep very close tabs on all the s**t that goes on there:

http://theredphoenixapl.org/category/international/libya/


Espresso Stalinist:

http://espressostalinist.wordpress.com/?s=Libya  

[Gintama fan]

Comrade Rob

He didn't bring any socialism or "direct democracy". He instilled some progressive measure but ultimately he was a liberal.

Gaddafi was a socialist. He did implement socialism and direct democracy in Libya. If there was no direct democracy in Libya, then what were the Basic People's Conferences in every town, city, and village for? Also why would there be Professional People's Conferences in the work place if Libya was not socialist? Gaddafi was a socialist not a "liberal or "social democrat".