Videos arising across the internet have been gaining a growing amount of views and attention lately, these videos which have gone viral on social media websites, show African migrants being auctioned off in open slave markets for prices ranging from $200-$400. Since the NATO and US backed coup in 2011, which overthrew Libyan revolutionary leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, Libya has been thrown into chaos and ruled by separate militias, gangs and tribes in which control certain areas of Libya as the U.N. backed government has been unable to implement rule of law and bring Libya back to a stabile region. The Libyan coup itself was a recipe for disaster and was evident to leave the Country in a state of anarchy which lacked the same stability it had enjoyed under Gaddafi, during the revolution it is estimated by the National Transitional Council that the total amount of losses in the revolution amounted to 30,000-33,000 dead and 50,000 wounded. As well since NATO bombed the Great Man-Made River in 2011, an estimated 50% of Libyans have no access to clean water. Since the beginning of the uprising and civil war the GDP per head in Libya, which was highest in Africa under Gaddafi, has been halved, while the citizens of Libya have experienced widespread poverty and unemployment. The slave market is a product of overcrowded detention centres established by the U.N. backed Libyan government, which disturbing reports from witnesses state the prisons to be overcrowded as well as there are cases of Rape, murder and theft, which have left African migrants vulnerable to being sold off as laborers in slave auctions.
The U.S. and NATO supported opposition which overthrew the Gaddafi regime was largely comprised of Al Qaeda terrorists, Al Qaeda is largely in control of Libya and responsible for the modern slave market. After Gaddafi was toppled Al Qaeda flags were flown over the Benghazi courthouse, ironically 4 years after the West point report cited Benghazi as a hotbed of Al Qaeda terrorists leading the uprising against the Gaddafi regime, Gaddafi-rightfully so, claimed that Benghazi was an Al Qaeda stronghold and main source of the Libyan rebellion. However NATO planes prevented Gaddafi’s army from invading the advancing Al Qaeda troops in order to protect Benghazi, whom France, Qatar, the United Kingdom, Canada, USA and Italy provided millions of USD in arms to. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton stated after Qatar pledged $400 million-$500 million to the rebels, that Washington would try to pass legislation to unblock billions of dollars in Libyan assets for the Benghazi rebels (Al Qaeda), “no one else could have played the role like we did,” Hillary stated in her book (Hard choices) when discussing her opinion on the topic. However in reality, during the battle of Sirte, the rebels funded by NATO killed 2,151 civilians (loyalist claim) accused of being loyal to Gaddafi, including women and children. A local elderly woman stated, “They are killing our children. Why are they doing this? For what? Life was good (under Gaddafi)!” By October 26, it was reported that the bodies of 267 loyalists had been found across the city, 300 bodies were buried in mass graves dug by rebel forces outside of Sirte. Another 572 loyalists were buried in the cemetery, while another 53 loyalist civilians were publicly executed. The irony of this being that the countries funding Al Qaeda rebels accused Gaddafi of killing innocent protesters, however in 2011 Mustafa Abdul Jahil, head of National Transitional Council in Benghazi, admits;
“Gaddafi did not order the shooting that started the false revolution in Libya”.
Gaddafi did not order the shooting that started the false revolution in Libya. Now after the destruction of Libya, Jalil admits to the world on Libyan Channel One that the protesters that were killed in Benghazi that caused the UN and NATO to attack Libya were killed by a group of spies and mercenaries who were not Libyan. He admits that he knew the truth at the time but it was done to take down the Libyan government and break the state. He admits that he was briefed in advance that this was going to happen and that the people of Libya did not recognize the dead protesters because they wore civilian clothes and there was no one who came to their funerals as they had no relatives or friends in Libya.
Before we analyze the actual motivator as to why NATO armed rebels in which committed so many human rights abuses against civilians to topple a regime in which never actually attacked its own civilians, let’s first examine the fact as to why, since 2011, Gaddafi’s approval ratings have risen to 85% and 2,000 out of 2,335 Libyan tribes remain loyal to Gaddafi. While gaddafi was leader Libyans had access to free healthcare and University, Gaddafi’s education project increased literacy rates from 25% (1969) to 87% by 2011 prior to the NATO uprising. Gaddafi established an incredible social safety net for the people of Libya including the Great man-made River in which provided water access to Libyans in which experienced shortages prior to Gaddafi and whom relied on rainwater as their only water source, under Gaddafi new mothers received $5000 to support their child financially, and Gasoline was subsidized by the government so that it cost Libyans only $0.14/litre (USD). As well under Gaddafi Libyans considered it a natural human right to own a home, Libya’s homeless population (as % of total population) in 2009 was 0.00%. In 2014 Libya’s homeless population was an estimated 287,000. This success is different to the media portrayal of Libya under Gaddafi in which many people, especially in the west, often fail to consider. An example of a misconception formed by western media outlets was that Gaddafi was a military dictator, however according to journalist Garikai Chengu, “In 1977 the people of Libya proclaimed the Jamahiriya or ‘government of the popular masses by themselves and for themselves.’ The Jamahiriya was a higher form of direct democracy with the ‘people as president.’ Traditional institutions of government were disbanded and abolished, and power belonged to the people directly through various committees and congresses.” Based on actual interviews with the majority of Libyans, journalists found that Libya was an incredibly democratic state, Gaddafi believed that true democracy only existed through the participation of the people and not their elected representatives. Gaddafi stated that Libya was, “the only true democracy on earth,” and that, “representation is a falsehood.” Through the Jamahiriya style of democracy Libyans had direct input and voting rights into state affairs.
To understand why the US supported intervention of the Gaddafi regime we must go back to the 1970’s and review America’s process of global economic domination from its roots. Throughout the 1970’s Richard Nixon began persuading King Faisal of Saudi Arabia and the OPEC to begin trading oil in USD in exchange for military protection. This lead to the USA’s global military and economic dominance, this meant that if any Country dropped the USD it risked creating a chain reaction and could potentially hinder the world economy. To prevent any country from challenging US hegemony like Hussein, Gaddafi or Assad has, the United States military has cracked down on many regimes to sustain its global dominance. Not only did Gaddafi threaten the US dollar by dropping it, but he threatened neo-colonialism as we know it in Africa. Gaddafi aspired to create an African central bank in which was backed by its own resources and would declare the Gold dinar as Africa’s reserve currency, dropping its reliance on the IMF and USD. This would essentially mean that African nations would no longer be dependant on western countries for loans and would gain control of its own resources in which western corporations exploited for trade purposes. The (NATO) countries in which benefited from the exploitation of African resources had many reasons to be concerned of Africa unifying under a single currency backed by its rich supply of resources. For example under Nicolas Sarkozy, according to the memos sent to the US from French intelligence, “the DGSE officers (in support for money and support) indicated that they expected the new government of Libya to favor French firms and national interests, particularly regarding the oil industry in Libya.” The memo says that the two leaders of the Council, Mustafa Abdul Jahil and General Abdul Fatah Younis, “Accepted this offer.” The destruction of the Libyan government and the prevention of Africa from creating a central bank independent of reliance on developed nations in which exploit African labour and resources was essential to preserving neo-colonial interests in the west.
So,As the world has awakened to the truth about the rebels in which many supported arming during the revolution, the truth that the rebels have been criticized for a number of human rights violations, including indiscriminate bombardment of heavily populated cities, torture and killings of Gaddafi loyalist civilians (including children) and the racist lynchings of Black Libyans and establishing an open slave market. More and more protests are arising demonstrating the people’s stance against NATO’s imperialist tendencies, and support is rising for Saif Al Islam Gaddafi in the coming 2018 election. The Libyan people have taken their stance against the West’s activities and continuous human rights abuses in Libya, their feelings on the matter in regards to the west maintain legitimacy as long as Libya maintains its current state until any form of true and helpful type of aid takes place to compensate for NATO’s actions against the people of Libya
New Democrat Society 