Galloway’s about-turn on Libya will come back to haunt him.
Before UN1973 he was, for a week or so, the valiant leader of the ‘New International Brigade’ rushing to Relieve Bengazi and resist Gadaffi.
When the world got involved, he not only dropped the project like a hot potato, but also went about deleting any reference to it, and ultimately banning anyone who raised it. Like a genuine for-real dictator or media baron.
Long story short, the man lives in a bubble. He cannot prevent or ignore the attacks by his enemies, which he swats fairly effortlessly anyway (look at the record – no convictions). But his mistake is to ensure that he never hears any genuine criticism from his potential allies. And by doing so, abuses the internet which is helping to bring freedom to the people he claims to represent.
He thinks that he’s in for another easy ride on the back of a bungling shower of chinless Tophats. And he will make a lot of mileage from Afghanistan and Coaltion NeoCon economic atrocities. But he will go too far, and at some point some honourable Smart Alec is going to pipe up:
‘And how would you have saved Bengazi?’
At this point he may or may not refer to his Facebook ‘New International Brigade’ Campaign. But eventually he will have to explain why he dropped it when it was upstaged by UN1973, and Double-Dip Dave stole the limelight. Unforgiveable.

No internet anonymity – no freedom of speech (forget Wikileaks for a start). And not just for opponents of brutal dictatorships, but for every Trotskyite bank clerk, and outraged whistleblowing nurse, and anyone whose beliefs would compromise their business if known by their network of contacts.

The demand individuals should only be allowed to express opinions on presentation of valid ID is not British and not nice. There are plenty of laws now against stalking and harassment. And ways of tracking down almost any ordinary internet user, as the Levinson Inquiry is revealing too clearly. For decades the gutter press monopolised ‘Trolling’, smearing anyone they fancied and destroying lives and businesses at will, and in the process Perverting the Course of History, which should be a criminal offence. Nobody minded much then, except the victims.

The current hysteria with its demands that everyone have the ‘courage of their convictions’ is a recipe for the far greater 24/7 intimidation of career politics. The timid clerk terrified of revealing his radical tendemcies to the boss. And the resulting homogenous bland obedient suburban paradise of corporate consensus.

Blaming anonymity for Redneck internet hoodlums is an enormous blunder and betrays an ignorance of how social networks function, especially as personal development tools. Anonymity not only allows people to express their political beliefs in confidence, but also to express ‘experimental’ beliefs, to see if they survive the barrage of instant internet Peer Pressure. Shooting from the hip from a position of security. You make yourself look a fool with your infallible solution to world hunger, so what? You will remember why it was a bad idea for a long time, if your peers are no more than usually frank.

Some people read Proust or listen to Wagner to develop their minds – some throw their ideas and opinions on the mercy of message-board natural selection. Why should they have to prove their identity to enjoy the endless fun of learning this way. Remember ‘fun’?

The demands to remove all privacy from social networking is bizarre coming from many of the same people who scream Big Brother! at Facebook and Google for their policies. The distinct feeling is that they wish Tim Berners -Lee had been strangled at birth. And their outrage at the depravity now  made visible by the internet exactly mirrors the same disgust of previous generations of the genteel when the expansion of literacy or other forms of exposure brought then too near the lower orders for their comfort. And exposed the reality of the society they were living in, as opposed to the fantasy they learned in school.

The late Victorian middle classes blamed literacy for the working classes getting above themselves, and their descendants now blame the internet for ‘Trolling’, which is like blaming Gutenberg for Mein Kampf or Razzle magazine.

The letter below was sent to Stop The War Coalition around 23rd of March 2011 by a Libyan alarmed at their policy of indifference. It represented much needed -testimony for an organisation which claimed to represent progressive opinion. The fact is that STWC consistently refused to cite or seek any Libyan opinion on which to base their official line. They opposed UN1973 with no regard to what the Libyan people thought. And when queried as to the extent and nature of their Libyan sources, STWC resorted to censorship, removing inconvenient posts from their Facebook group, and banning those who dared ask inconvenient questions. They had no Libyan sources. And as far as we know, still don’t. The fact is that STWC do not represent progressive opinion, but mere old-fashioned Peace Pledge Union pacifism, and clockwork ‘militancy’ of the most undirected and badge-waving kind.

____________________________

by Saad Essadeg

Dear Brothers and sisters Stop the War organization and the UK Arabic society are arranging a demonstration against the Coalition intervention to save the Libyan people from the mad criminal Gaddafi called Hands Off Libya, Cut the war not Public services, obviously cutting the public services is far more stressful for them than people being massacred in Libya.

I wrote the following to them, please do the same as a matter of urgency. send it to: office@stopwar.org.uk or text them on 07939242229

Dear friends,

I am a British Libyan who supported you on several other demonstrations, I can not believe that inhumane stand that you are taking over the situation in Libya. Britain and other Western countries repeatedly comment on human rights and democracy so it is only right that they support other people striving to achieve what we take for granted, when they are being barbarically slaughtered by a psychotic mad man who has been raging war against his own people for over 4 decades.

No one likes to see war and destruction but there are some cases where simply doing nothing is just not an option. If the coalition forces had not intervened Qaddafi would have totally destroyed Benghazi and its people. Yes I appreciate the country as a whole is suffering from cuts to public services etc., but I am sure that when Libya is safe and secure and democracy prevails the new government of the country will be more than generous for recompensing the coalition for its welcomed intervention, it is certain that they will not allow their country to be occupied, but they also will realise that like themselves, the British people should not pay for interventions they did not ask for and which do not benefit them in a direct way.

For your information at least 90% of the population of Libya is desperately hoping that Gaddafi will go and they will enjoy the same rights and freedoms we do in the UK – you simply can not put a price on something like this.

Unfortunately, no one brought up in this country can actually appreciate the horrors suffered by the Libyan people under the Gaddafi regime. Perhaps if you had more knowledge and understanding of the situation in Libya, past and present, you would be taking a totally different stand from the inhumane and financially motivated stand you are taking at present. Having recently seen a spokesman for Stop the War on the news, I was absolutely astonished and disgusted at his total lack of knowledge and understanding of the Libyan situation. For such a respected organization, this is just not acceptable. I would plead with you to rethink your stand as you are at great risk of missing informing and misleading the public and, quite frankly losing all credibility. You only need to watch the news to see how Gaddafi is indiscrimnately slaughtering our people in Libya, how could you sit back and do nothing, have you no conscience? where is your humanity? the fact that you are organizing a demonstration against the actions of the coalition to save the Libyan people is a great stain on your organization. please, reconsider your stand.

Saad & Carol Abdullatif

ex-supporters of stop the war movement

and to add to that, please consider this -

Everyone in the world has seen the all out war Gaddafi raged on the Libyan people, how he attacks cities with heavy weapons and jet fighters and so on, let alone what the Libyans have suffered in the last 40 years. I have no doubt that these activists have good intentions, but unfortunately they are totally ignorant and have a complete lack of understanding with regard to the situation in Libya.

I must stress in the strongest terms that Libya is a totally different situation to Iraq and only a total idiot would even attempt to compare the two as doing so immediately exposes that person’s ignornace.

If Gaddafi remains in power, believe me he will take the most horrific revenge on Benghazi, Misrat, Zawia, Zintan and all other cities that opposed him, in fact Misrata and Zawia are still being reduced to rubble as punishment for their opposition.

Where is the compassion for the civilians who are at this very time being machine gunned and shot at by snipers if they even dare to put their head out of a window for fresh air? the hospital in Misrata and the rest of the city have had no water, electricity, food or medical supplies for weeks how much longer can these besieged people survive? anyone with even a shred of humanity in their soul would want to help and assist these people who are prepared to live through this hell if it means their children will be able to live in a free and democratic society. Maybe you will not be able to comprehend the cruelty and madness of Gadafi, no one likes his country to be bombed, but if it means getting rid of this devil we support it wholeheartedly simply because there is no other solution.

Diplomatic mediation is not an option with a deceitful liar like Gaddafi, his false declarations of ceasefire whilst he continues to slaughter the people of Misrata and Ajdabiya are surely a suitable indication that the diplomatic route is not a credible option. He would only use any break in the intervention to kill more people and gain more ground.

People must understand what they are dealing with here.

Gaddafi himself deals with people whom he immersed in the blood of the Libyan people and whose own self interest is therefore to keep Gaddafi in power because their very own survival depends on his survival. do not underestimate Gaddafi and what he capable of.

Libyan Interim Constitutional Declaration

“Article 6 describes the principle of rule of law taking precedence over tribal or personal loyalties, and the principle of non-discrimination and equal rights of all citizens regardless of religion, ethnicity or social status, and the guarantee of the state upholding women’s rights, granting full participation of WOMEN IN POLITICS, ECONOMY AND THE SOCIAL SPHERE.”

“Article 29, repeated as article 33, contains the provision that no member of the Transitional National Council may nominate a candidate or themselves assume the position of President of the state, of a member of the legislative council, or of a ministerial portfolio.”

GADAFFI AND THE OIL MONEY.. Where DID it go? As if we didn’t know.
“Since the oil industry nationalization by Gaddafi 40 years ago, obtaining Libyan oil contracts was a matter of government diplomacy rather than private business. In a nutshell, who ever sucked up the most to Gaddafi with lavish gifts and would stroke his ego was allowed to dip in Libya’s oil. ..
So, what happened to all the money from oil? For decades, shrewd beyond normalcy, Gaddafi had managed to intercept and invest 120 billion dollars of Libya’s oil revenues in foreign assets abroad, mostly in European countries who also consume 85 percent of Libya’s crude oil. (Consequently, a lack of infrastructures, and refineries in particular, caused Libya to import almost 65% of its gasoline from abroad, notwithstanding the economic sanctions.)”

Censorship Index. ‘Gaddafi-how-to-build-a-dictatorship”
While the Libyan people were jealously screened from outside influences and hardly any foreign periodical allowed circulation inside the country, a selection of the leading periodicals of both Eastern and Western blocs was received at the Ministry of Information. There the front-line soldiers of the revolution made a digest of their most important contents for the benefit of the members of the Revolutionary Council — the highest authority in the land — as well as the cabinet. This daily digest — the Bulletin — was the Ministry’s proudest achievement. It was printed on roneo in an edition of about two dozen copies and classified as secret.”

The Al Qaeda Myth in Libya

Doctors reveal hospital horrors under Gaddafi
« Shabab Libya
‎”Hundreds of missing person photos line the corridor walls of Tripoli Central Hospital
Little of the sprawling complex of Tripoli Central Hospital reminds its visitors of the hardships that took place there during the final months of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.
As staff members slowly return to their normal routines, hair-raising stories are emerging of what the doctors of the hospital have endured since the start of Libya’s uprising in February.
Shortly after the first demonstrations in Tripoli were brutally dispersed by Gaddafi’s army, the hospital was taken over by government troops, forcing doctors to report patients who came in with bullet wounds, doctors told Al Jazeera.
Many patients suspected of being anti-Gaddafi were taken away and have not been found since.
Evading the terror in the hospital corridors, a group of doctors affiliated with the hospital were said to have set up a network of secret field clinics throughout Tripoli, away from the eyes of security forces.
Private homes, schools and other buildings were converted into makeshift operating theatres, supplied with medical equipment that the doctors smuggled out of the hospital’s storage rooms.
It was, according to the doctors, a dangerous undertaking, as stealing equipment from the hospital was sanctioned by severe punishment if discovered.”

“Pinch me!”: Life In Tripoli Without Gadaffi.
“People continue to celebrate every night. The difference now is they do it of their own free will””

IN MEMORY OF THE CRIMINAL GADDAFI: SOME OF HIS ATROCITIES AGAINST THE PEOPLE
“These are just a few of his crimes, while the actual number and details of the full extent of his abuses are much more.
a. Thousands killed while in prison, either as a result of torture, or deliberate mass killing of prisoners due to their Islamic inclinations and opposition to the Gaddafi regime, most famously the massacre at Abu Salim prison in 1996. Mass graves thought to be holding more than 1000 of the victims have been uncovered since the downfall of the Gaddafi regime.
b. Co-operation with the United States and Britain in the torture and rendition of opposition figures, including current prominent figures of the opposition.
c. Public Executions of Civilians in the 1980′s, by way of example -

1 – Omar Ali Debub (teacher and the university students participated in the demonstrations in January 1976): executed by hanging on 6 April 1977 in front of the Socialist Union building in Benghazi
2 – Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Tayeb (teacher and the university students participated in the demonstrations in January 1976): executed by hanging on 6 April 1977 in front of the Socialist Union building in Benghazi
3 – Ahmed Fouad Fathallah (an Egyptian): executed by hanging on 6 April 1977 the port of Benghazi Sea
4 – Saleh Ali al-Zarouk Al-Nawal (teacher): April 1982 was executed in prison
5 – Mohammed Muhatthab Ihfaf (college student) (due to membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir): Hanged on April 7, 1983 in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tripoli
6 – Nimr Khaled Khamis (Palestinian teacher) (due to membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir): Executed by hanging in front of students on 7 April 1983 al-Fatih secondary school in Ajdabiyya
7 – Nasser Mohammad Sares (Palestinian teacher) – (due to membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir): Executed by hanging in front of students on 7 April 1983 al-Fatih secondary school in Ajdabiyya”

Gadaffi’s War Against Africa
Gaddafi: A Penchant For War Crimes
In ‘87, troops loyal to Blaise Compaoré assassinated Thomas Sankara, the President of Burkina Faso, to pave the way for Compaoré to take power. As Head of State he supplied Sankoh’s RUF throughout the civil war in Sierra Leone. A 2002 UN investigation found he had breached various arms embargos in supplying arms to both Charles Taylor in Liberia and the RUF. He remains in power today still allied with Colonel Gaddafi.
His and Gaddafi’s support for Sankoh’s RUF, which committed grave atrocities as they slaughtered, maimed and mutilated hundreds of thousands in a bid to control the diamond mines throughout the decade long Civil War, is indisputable. Nicholas Kumjian, the prosecuting lawyer in Charles Taylor’s trial at The Hague for his involvement in the Sierra Leone conflict admits; ‘the involvement of Moamer Kadhafi and Blaise Campaore (in Sierra Leone) has been proven.’
The Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established to address the violations committed throughout the civil war to promote healing and reconciliation and aid the victims. It also recognises the detrimental role Gaddafi played in perpetuating the conflict; voicing dismay over Gaddafi’s visit to the country and warm reception he received from former President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in ‘07.
The TRC has called for reparations to be made by Gaddafi in recognition of his role in that conflict. “

Black Africans Caught in Libyan Arab Racism
“As Mathaba has reported for many years, the cynical abuse of Africans wishing to head to Europe in search of money by Libyans close to Colonel Gaddafi’s family, who then often simply tell them at gun point to jump into the sea and swim, results in most if not all of them ending up dead, a fact little reported in European media.
First they cross the deserts from as far away as Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Sudan, and those that survive the arduous journey are welcomed into a Libya where the majority of the Arab population, as well as many of it’s Black Libyan population, are vehemently racist. They are then exploited in shoe polishers, car cleaners, construction site slaves and other menial jobs.
In Libya, it has never been the slogans of The Green Book any reality for the Africans, who read The Green Book before arriving in Libya and hoped to find a People’s Paradise and learn from it.
On arriving, even at The Green Book Centre, they are abused and turned away without even being given a copy of the book. When I learned of this many years ago, I visited the Centre and witnessed it myself.

Of Gaddafi and Arab racism towards Blacks
“For all his claims to the contrary, Gaddafi has no respect for Africa or Africans. This is not just manifested by how very inhumanely he treats African workers and asylum seekers, nor by his self declaration as the King of All African tribes, but mainly by his deeply ingrained chauvinism and pretension to be an African Messiah. No wonder he refers to Africans as starved and ignorant and violates the rights of Black Africans in Libya. Wait a minute.Over the years Libya has been accused of racism and of officially provoking the beating and killing of African migrants. Gaddafi’s pan-African pretensions have always appeared shoddy and hollow as a consequence and his recent statement in Europe— calling Africans ignorant and barbarian invaders— has nailed his coffin as an Arab racist.Gaddafi the racist has for long been also Gaddafi the dictator, killing off his opponents both inside and outside his country, financing the likes of Fode Sankoh in Sierra Leone and meddling in the domestic affairs of other countries like Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Liberia, etc.”

Pro-Gadaffi Serb Fascists Attack Global Freedom of Speech
“Assessing that having in mind a modest number of Internet users in Serbia, such a strong movement must have been strongly supported by different political and financial means, the LYM has called the international community to intervene.”
Serbia: Ultranationalists Organize Pro-Qaddafi Campaign
“The nationalists’ embrace of Qaddafi contrasts sharply with the activities of Serbian pro-democracy youth activists who helped train Egypt’s antigovernment demonstrators in the nonviolent resistance tactics that helped push President Hosni Mubarak’s from power last month.”
Serbian ‘Nazi 1389′ fascists waging Pro Gadaffi cyberwar..
“Cyber War Over Libya: Serbian Hackers Support Gaddafi”

Serb ultra-nationalists behind Kadhafi Facebook support

SIRTE:
“”While some families reported no problems leaving Sirte, others alleged that Gaddafi forces had tried to block their exit from the city by firing at them or above their vehicles.”

Gadaffi forces turn Sirte hospital into a military nerve centre.

HRW Libya: Protect Civilians in Sirte Fighting”
If snipers were deployed on the roof, that would have made the building a legitimate military target, Human Rights Watch said. It would raise concerns over whether pro-Gaddafi forces had taken all feasible steps to remove civilians from the building and whether NATO conducted an attack that caused disproportionate civilian harm.
Several fleeing residents said that NATO bombs had struck schools. One resident identified those schools as Ibn Khaldoun, Al-Merkezia, Al-Bayan al-Awal, and Al-Majed. He and the others knew of no civilian casualties in those attacks. It is not known whether Gaddafi forces were using the schools at the time, which would have made them military
targets.”

The Heroism of Gadaffi Loyalists In Sirte Hospital
“The hospital had served as a weapons storage area for loyalist soldiers, according to several patients. “Some soldiers roamed with weapons, and kept their arms here. We saw hand grenades in the intensive care unit,” Omar said.
The multi-story building has also been used by loyalist forces to fire on the transitional government fighters.
“We begged and negotiated with them not to attack from here,” Omar said. “Together with the doctors we overpowered them and raised the white surrender flag over the building.”
In storming the hospital, fighters said they captured 50 of Kadafi’s soldiers, many of them from the loyalist town of Tawarga that is now deserted. “They lay in the hospital beds pretending to be injured,” said Osama Swehli, a coordinator in the transitional government’s operations room.”

What really happened at the Sima hospital:
“A force of some 100 NTC vehicles, including anti-tank guns and multiple missile launchers, had pushed in towards the city centre around midday (1000 GMT) and laid siege to Kadhafi diehards in the conference centre, one of the largest complexes in Sirte.
“We are surrounding the Ouagadougou Centre,” fighter Osama Blao told AFP as he returned from the front line.
Several NTC fighters said the Red Crescent had asked them to stop firing because the ICRC team was in the nearby hospital.
After two hours of intense clashes, some fighters pulled back, they added.”

Amnesty. Terror as Rockets Fall on Benghazi
‎”At least two rockets, both packed with small metal balls, had landed nearby. One landed in the courtyard of the Souissi family home, where it destroyed several cars and damaged windows and walls. The other landed in the street, severing power cables.
Yet another rocket landed that morning in the car park of the hotel where I was staying; again, there were no casualties, only damage to some vehicles. These rockets were seemingly launched from some distance away to the south-west of Benghazi, where Colonel al-Gaddafi’s forces were present and advancing towards the city.
As Colonel al-Gaddafi’s forces penetrated into the south-west outskirts of Benghazi with tanks and heavy armour, other houses and buildings, including a hospital, were hit by other projectiles, including artillery/tank shells and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades).”

Gadaffi’s Extraducial Killings
“In April 1984, Sadiq Shwehdi along with many other university students were persecuted by one of the Gaddafi licensed revolutionary committees. Gaddafi formed these “revolutionary committees” in 1977 to monitor the population and repress political opposition. During this time, many students, teachers and professionals were accused of opposing the regime and were sentenced to death. Public hangings and executions were accompanied by live confessions on State TV. These were all tactics part of Gaddafi’s greater campaign of instilling fear in the people. These extrajudicial executions were meant to send a message to the people of Libya. They were meant to exhibit the consequences of challenging his authority. Shwehdi’s execution was filmed and the chilling footage was recently rediscovered at the start of the Libyan uprisings.”

Amnesty: Attacks against Misratah residents point to war crimes.
“The scale of the relentless attacks that we have seen by al-Gaddafi forces to intimidate the residents of Misratah for more than two months is truly horrifying,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s senior adviser currently in Libya. “It shows a total disregard for the lives of ordinary people and is in clear breach of international humanitarian law.”

Amnesty Report: Ghaddafi’s Forces Are Carrying Out Campaign of Disappearances Inside Libya to Crush Growing Opposition
“Disappearances began taking place even before protests against Gaddafi had turned into armed rebellion, according to the briefing, Libya: Detainees, Disappeared and Missing.
Atef ‘Abd al-Qader Al-Atrash, a prominent blogger and father of two, was last seen attending a gathering near Benghazi’s port on February 17, when he is believed to have been seized by forces loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi.
A relative of his told Amnesty International:
“We kept trying to call his phone but never got through, until some days later when a man who spoke with a western [western Libyan] accent answered and said: ‘This is what happens to those who throw stones at us.

Gunfire upon civilians in a funeral procession by GADAFFI forces 17/01/2011 (Al-Beida, Libya)

Libya: Security Forces Kill 84 Over Three Days | Human Rights Watch
“By 11 p.m. on February 18, Al Jalaa Hospital in Benghazi had received the bodies of 35 people killed that day, a senior hospital official told Human Rights Watch. He said the deaths had been caused by gunshot wounds to the chest, neck, and head. Two sources at the hospital confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the death toll for February 17 was 20, and that at least 45 people had been wounded by bullets.”

Gaddafi’s useful idiots: British Civilians for Peace in Libya

Stop Supporting Gaddafi: The Job of Revolutionaries is to Make Revolution

Gaddafi files show evidence of murderous intent

Amnesty Libya Report 1991 – 2011

Gaddafi threatened to wipe my hometown off the map – Jailed Libyan official
‎”Prominent Gaddafi aide, Major General Beshir al-Saghir Hawady, has revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that ousted Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi threatened to kill him, and wipe his hometown off the map, if he refused to participate in the Libyan operation to mobilize public support for the Gaddafi regime, in the face of the Libyan rebels advance.”

Libya Human Rights Watch Report 2009

Libya’s Human Rights Record in Spotlight
U.N. Commission Needs Membership Criteria
JANUARY 16, 2003

GADAFFI’S FELLOW TRAVELLERS.
“Doesn’t it ever bother you at all, Michael, to be working for a terrorist?”

Secret files: US officials aided Gaddafi

Gadaffi & CIA since 1971!
“Nicholas Hagger has indicated that Qaddafi was in contact and communicated with US intelligence since the beginning of the Libyan [Fateh] revolution, after US intelligence agents noticed that he exhibited a tendency to criticizing Soviet interference in the Arab world. Since 1971, it is clear that Qaddafi operated in parallel to what the CIA wanted from him, namely for him to emerge as a nationalist leader hostile to the Soviet Union. This may perhaps explain Qaddafi sending airplanes and financial assistance to Pakistan during its war with India – which was backed by the Soviet Union – as well as his objection to an airplane carrying Sudanese citizens accused of being Shiites seeking to overthrow the [Gaafar] Nimeiri regime in Sudan [from landing in Libya].”

Orwell Christ and Marx.
“It could be claimed, for example, that the most important part of Marx’s theory is contained in the saying: ‘Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ But before Marx developed it, what force had that saying had? Who had paid any attention to it? Who had inferred from it — what it certainly implies — that laws, religions and moral codes are all a superstructure built over existing property relations? It was Christ, according to the Gospel, who uttered the text, but it was Marx who brought it to life. And ever since he did so the motives of politicians, priests, judges, moralists and millionaires have been under the deepest suspicion — which, of course, is why they hate him so much.”

“The main solidarity Libyans need is ideas”
Lucinda Lavelle from the British Libyan Solidarity Campaign spoke to Sacha Ismail and Chris Marks.

The nature of the Gaddafi regime – historical background notes
Written by Fred Weston. Wednesday, 06 April 2011
“A leaked cable from the US embassy in Tripoli from August 2009, described how “Libya has acted as a critical ally in US counter-terrorism efforts, and is considered one of our primary partners in combating the flow of foreign fighters”. The cable emphasised that the US-Libya “strategic partnership in this field has been highly… beneficial to both nations”. It is therefore clear that Gaddafi is not an anti-imperialist. He had become a useful collaborator of the imperialists in the recent period.”

5 March 2011. New forms of democracy spring up in Benghazi
by Simon Assaf
Benghazi, Libya’s second city and birthplace of the revolution, has made official the revolutionary council that emerged during the uprising. This council is composed of the leaders of the uprising, trusted notables and judges, representatives of the rebellious tribes and rebel army units. The council has put all the functions of the state under popular control—including prisons, armed forces, the police and courts. It is organising the distribution of food according to need and has taken charge for the welfare of the thousands of migrant workers abandoned by firms.
It runs a TV station, radio station and has issued its first revolutionary newspaper.
Workers’ committees are running key installations such as electricity stations, the port and airport.”

Maoist Rebel News
And those who see something radical or “anti-imperialist” about a Gaddafi have (however sincere they might be) sadly lowered sights and heightened powers of self-deception.

David Wearing’s interview with Gilbert Achcar in NLP:

Gaddafi and CIA once worked hand in glove
Philadelphia Independent Media Center
phillyimc.org
“Gadaffi’s intelligence files were uncovered by the rebels and have an amazing amount of information in them and the CIA didn’t get close enough to edit them before the public got to see them..”

“Al Jazeera uncovers evidence that influential Americans tried to help the now-deposed Libyan leader cling to power.”

Volunteer Libya

Libyan Youth Movement

Libyan Free Press – Jamahiriya News. So you HAVE to believe it, OK?
“Muhammar Gaddafi’s Death is a Fake, He is alive”