NATO is not AMERICA!
Nigerian illiterates always speaking without thinking.

You are all fools.

The white man will never be our problem We are our biggest problem and the sooner we realize this the stronger we will become as a PEOPLE.

Nigga are you CRAZY!!!!

unless you talking about Africans, then again you are STILL undereducated to make such a post.

White people oppress/ and have oppressed everybody.

white people are NOT going to look at Blacks as EQUALS!!!

they never have and NEVER WILL.

As a Blackman I've learned to TAKE what I want from this land. By my efforts/hardwork/education and the OPPORTUNITIES that present themselves.

OPPORTUNITIES ARE REMOVED from African nations, and given to a few.

Middleclass and uppity Blacks of all nations RARELY will do anything to give up their STATUS.

IT MUST BE TAKEN. If African countries or Black Americans want a better life, WE HAVE TO TAKE IT FROM THE WHITE OLIGARTHS and plutocrats,


YOU ONE DUMBA/S/S african Morpheus, You have become westernized and LAZY.

well Gaddafi started the war.He caused the whole thing if your pple say they dont want you again just go why suppress,kill,impoverish the very pple you say you are a president over.Of wht good is a king without a kingdom.lt is a very big shame for the brains behind Afircan Union to be doing this to his pple before the very eyes of Africa and the rest of the world.lf anybody is to blame it is Gaddafi.Imagine the resources being spent on suppressing opposition to his rule.Resources are being spent on a sensless and needless war to destroy what has been built and then after resources will be spent to rebuild what has been destroyed

MandingoII:

Nigga are you CRAZY!!!!

unless you talking about Africans, then again you are STILL undereducated to make such a post.

Stick to AA affairs. I am talking about Africans. You guys are a confused breed.

MandingoII:


White people oppress/ and have oppressed everybody.

white people are NOT going to look at Blacks as EQUALS!!!

they never have and NEVER WILL.

What bearing does that have on your sense of equality. Are you waiting for them to approve you. See that's you guys problem. You leave the definition of your self worth in their hands because you continue to use their lives as your yardstick. SICK

MandingoII:


As a Blackman I've learned to TAKE what I want from this land. By my efforts/hardwork/education and the OPPORTUNITIES that present themselves.

OPPORTUNITIES ARE REMOVED from African nations, and given to a few.

Middleclass and uppity Blacks of all nations RARELY will do anything to give up their STATUS.

IT MUST BE TAKEN. If African countries or Black Americans want a better life, WE HAVE TO TAKE IT FROM THE WHITE OLIGARTHS and plutocrats,


YOU ONE DUMBA/S/S african Morpheus, You have become westernized and LAZY.

Yo aint tkaing poo from anyone. What you gonna take that they don't control already. The change comes from within first you dummy.

You are under their proteciton and can only enjoy what they tell you to enjoy. Remove the hedge and you one dead N)#*#ga. cause the rest of the world will come after you . Especially those SAND N(#)*GA's.

MandingoII:

Nigga are you CRAZY!!!

unless you talking about Africans, then again you are STILL undereducated to make such a post.

White people oppress/ and have oppressed everybody.

white people are NOT going to look at Blacks as EQUALS!!!

they never have and NEVER WILL.

As a Blackman I've learned to TAKE what I want from this land.  By my efforts/hardwork/education and the OPPORTUNITIES that present themselves.

OPPORTUNITIES ARE REMOVED from African nations, and given to a few.

Middleclass and uppity Blacks of all nations RARELY will do anything to give up their STATUS.

IT MUST BE TAKEN.  If African countries or Black Americans want a better life, WE HAVE TO TAKE IT FROM THE WHITE OLIGARTHS and plutocrats,


YOU ONE DUMBA/S/S african Morpheus, You have become westernized and LAZY.

Mandingo II or whatever you call yourself

Please shut up. You sound stu.pid and d.runk.

Look to the asians. China and south korea and singapore. nobody held them down they simply developed by their own efforts.
In this world if you dont sit up others will overtake you. You do not need to take anything from the white people, simply sit down and develop your own.

Besides the body of literature and science that fuelled the industrial era is available for all to see. you already know the processes to build a car, a ship, a satellite, even a bomb. Its the ability to harness what is available before us to solve our problems that makes a difference.

Until we do that, sorry, we aint going anywhere.

You have nothing to take from the sol called white oligarchs. all you need is before you.

Mr Barzini:

[size=20pt]NATO is not AMERICA! [/size]

  Bolded and emphasized for posters who seem to be confusing single countries with organizations of countries.

igbogolo:

It took french intervention to end the crisis in Ivory Coast. where was the so called 'african leaders' and why was it they could not 'settle our leadership problems'?  so how have we 'come of age to cater for ourselves'?

Apart from making useless noise, what has African Union achieved in this Libyan crisis?

Sad. We can ask that question for almost every major crisis that has arisen in Africa. We sit down quiet, led by absentee leaders, incapable of getting our act together for our own good. Then when the western powers come in to do something (albeit selfishly and in their own interest) we will complain they want to re-colonize Africa. But nevermind that . . . lets just blame America, its by far easier.

---

That said, I hope its a publicity/sympathy stunt by Ghaddafi and that no innocent children were really killed by NATO.

This is the sign of things to come.

If the Europeans take North Africa, then the whole of Africa is doomed.

If you think the militarised powerful countries will stand idly by and let you control the resources they depend on and are vital to their own survival - then have your head examined.

The black man's days are numbered. If you dont know it hear it now!

He is powerless, clueless, cannot feed his women, his children (sons and daughters), cannot defend his territory. Steals all the wealth in his homeland to hide abroad where foreigner take the lot from him, controls it and pays him a paltry interest. He soaks himself in unneccesary materialism boasting of 'having' this and that - things he cannot even produce (cars, clothes, phones, houses, just name it). Throws away $100s Billions on consumer products every other day.

Begs and pays dearly for the most basic of human necessities - food!!! Violate the laws of his land, can hardly sit down and agree the way forward with his own kind, builds nothing, develops nothing, contributes nothing.

Destroying himself at every turn - deseases abound, illiteracy, ignorance, little foresight, no infrastructure, no light, no farms, no nothing, sleepy, lazy, slavish,.

Africa is free for all - a big, fat, juicy pssy waiting to be bleeped.

It wont happen tomorrow, not next year , but surely somewhere in the not too distant generational future. DAMN! Tell me I am mad please. Tell me!

How about all the ppl Gadhafi killed? How would you like a murdering dictator in your country ruling for 42yrs. Stupidly peddling conspiracy theories. This is a clear message to all dictators. I bet you all think Osama is a brave soldier too. You are just jealous cause you can't get Us visa


Nobody is taking anything but Gadhafi mumu (paranoid schizophrenic). I bet you think Abacha was a man of God too

I want the day of reckoning to come for america very soon because all these atrocities that they are committing around the world must be accounted for, these tornadoes hitting america are just the beginning, the coming economic collapse of their economy is jus the tip of the iceberg for them, i want them to feel the same pain that they have inflicted on libya and its people because it is run by a satanic cabal who have no regard for human life.

Barack Hussein Obama is an abomination and a complete disgrace to the black race, any black person who still thinks this man is worthy of respect or admiration needs their head examined, how would he feel if his wife and two daughters were killed by a group of murderous terrorists, Obama its not too late for you to do the right thing and refuse to carry on with this madness, dont forget that John and Robert Kennedy refused to bow to the american military industrial complex, they stood up for the truth, Obama now is the time for you to stop acting like a fu.king paid up political pros.titute and instrument of the murderous zionist murderers who control you and STOP THIS MADNESS IN LIBYA ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Some ppl are really paranoid I tell you.

The NATO commander is a Canadian and the strikes were done by FRENCH and UK.

Yet someone was able to weave around and blame America for it.

I am sure Cap28 can give us a theory on how the US is responsible for Almajiris killing Corpers in bauchi

G adafi as not seem any thing yet if all this happening to him do no theach him lesson then he will cry blood and all those crowd hailing him will not be there. For God sake whathas this man go to offer afret 42 yrs or is he claiming to be stronger that the ousted president of egypt or tunisia that steped aside for the good of the country .

All i c is just pride and that will ulitmately disgrace him, this just the begining. i thInk he underssatndS now what war is alL about when his sons are dead .so he knowS what otheRs are suffering just for his stubbornness .


African union is a disgrace they cannot even tell the dude to step aside, if not for Nato GADAFI WOULD HAVE SHELLED THE ENTIRE BENGAZI WITH TANKS ROLLING IN AND AFRICAN UNION WERE JUST WATCHING ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,THEY ARE A DISGRACE


I BELIEVE ITS BECAUSE MANY OF THEM, AU PRESIDENTS INTEND TO SIT TIGHT IN POWER THAT LONG THAT IS  Y THEY CANT TELL GADAFI TO STEP DOWN ITS CLEAR.

ibedun:

This is the sign of things to come.

If the Europeans take North Africa, then the whole of Africa is doomed.

If you think the militarised powerful countries will stand idly by and let you control the resources they depend on and are vital to their own survival - then have your head examined.

The black man's days are numbered. If you dont know it hear it now!

He is powerless, clueless, cannot feed his women, his children (sons and daughters), cannot defend his territory. Steals all the wealth in his homeland to hide abroad where foreigner take the lot from him, controls it and pays him a paltry interest. He soaks himself in unneccesary materialism boasting of 'having' this and that - things he cannot even produce (cars, clothes, phones, houses,  just name it). Throws away $100s Billions on consumer products every other day.

Begs and pays dearly for the most basic of human necessities - food!!! Violate the laws of his land, can hardly sit down and agree the way forward with his own kind, builds nothing, develops nothing, contributes nothing.

Destroying himself at every turn - deseases abound, illiteracy, ignorance, little foresight, no infrastructure, no light, no farms, no nothing, sleepy, lazy, slavish,.

Africa is free for all - a big, fat, juicy pssy waiting to be bleeped.

It wont happen tomorrow, not next year , but surely somewhere in the not too distant generational future. DAMN! Tell me I am mad please. Tell me!

Ibedun, LOL

Well, dont worry about the europeans taking over north africa, instead worry about Jonathan depleting our foreign reserves

In egypt its muslims vs muslims. Mubarak peacefuly stepped down. Bt in libya GADAFFI ordered govt jets to bomb peaceful protesters. instead of peacefuly stepping down when he saw that the people no longer wanted him after an unbelievable 42 years. the people then took up arms he decided to wipe them out with his supreme military power. bt NATO intervened. justice must rise. we dont want no peace, we want equal right and justice. @cap28 please u can hit ur head on an unplastered wall.

@igbogolo,

No I am not worried about the reserves. We are too stupid to know what to do with reserves anyway. If Jonathan doesnt deplete it another hopeless clueless Nigeria man or woman will. It takes very little to part a fool from his money and sadly both constituents of leadership & followership in my homeland are fools.

You dont own something you cant keep.

be nice in ur little place to make d world a safe place for all. U dat complain and judge these leaders, how do u treat people around u , people that work for u, people in ur family, those that live in ur house etc? The problem we africans have did not start today, d hunger for wealth n power has consumed our sense of reasoning otherwise no normal thinking human being will be comfortable to set another person on fire or shoot another person. I just wish that when d time comes for theses selfish leaders to get caught up in dialing evil that no innocents live be lost along side theirs.

adeyemik:

Well guys,

Don't let us be fooled by the antic of Gaddafi. Questions need to be answered to prove that the son and 3 grand children were killed -

1. Why was the face of the son killed not shown to the whole world when the corpse was displayed on the libyan state TV?

2. According to the spoke man, Gaddafi and his wife were both in the building when the bomb blasted and yet Gadaffi and the wife were not hurt. Is this possible?  Report from military analyst says, there is no way a bomb of such nature, destroying such a fortified mansion and Gaddafi and his wife will escape without a scratch.

Guys, from all the analysis I have listened and read, Gaddafi is only trying to get the sympathy of the world and has decided to employ such a lying tactics.

Absolutely! This is some cheap a.s.s propaganda

What a lost, The Rich also CRY, All this lost becuase he want to remain in power.

igbogolo:


You are a buffoon! NATO is an alliance of North America and Europe, with France, UK playing very prominent roles in this Libyan Nato alliance.
Yet, an uneducated you, blames America as if america single handedly bombed Ghadaffi and killed his sons.
Besides America did not want to get involved in this operation and has very little economic interests in Libya. America does not even depend on Libyan oil, Europe  (especially the UK) does.

Crackhead, when Ghadaffi was using mercenaries to kill nigerians, fools like you kept quiet. Apart from ranting on the internet, let me tell you there is nothing you can do. Your puerile words, and asinine comments, hastily typed on the internet does not carry any depth.

Go and find something useful to do, thats if you even can.

Ignorance personified.

How is it that someone as s.tupid as you is able to switch on a computer without blowing yourself up

Now listen very carefully while i drum this information into your porous brain - NATO is a US creation, from its inception in 1949 to date it has and remains under the control of the US, primarily becuse it was created in order to counter the military might of america's greatest threat - russia - from 1949 to date ALL NATO operations have to be authorised by america before they are implemented, but you wouldnt know any of this because you are a semi illiterate who is  unable to read  books unless they have words in them that are printed in capital letters accompanied by pictures.

Just the other day US senators john mc cain, joe lieberman and lindsey graham were openly calling for the assassination of gadaffi - perhaps if that mass of cotton wool in your head you call a brain was capable of intelligent thought you would have deciphered a link between those calls and the current action which has now taken place - but obviously im being too charitable because people like you are so dumb that unless someone actually sits you down and explains things to you very slowly it is hihgly unlikely that you will understand what is going on.

Dullard, you are very good at babbling like an i.diot but very low on intelligence, american oil companies in libya were until very recently making millions in oil profits from the lucrative oil and gas contracts with the gadaffi regime, that is until gadaffi started talking about nationalising  the entire libyan oil industry, i know your ignorant brain has no concept of what that would mean for an oil company but this would have meant millions of dollars in lost profits for these corporations, somethign they were not prepared to let happen - therefore in order to counter this huge threat to their finanacial interests they have resorted to military intervention - the end goal for america and europe if they defeat gadaffi is the takeover of the oil reserves and the  privatisation of the entire libyan oil industry .

Also  the oil reserves in libya are not the only reason that america is interested in annexing the country, libya also operates an independent banking system  which is not linked into the international banking cartel controlled by the US controlled IMF and world bank, as a result libya is able to finance vast infrastructure projects without ever having to borrow or owe a penny to these predatory western controlled banks with their draconian interest rates and repayment conditions - again somethign i wouldnt expect someone as stu.pid as you to know.

Do you have any proof that gadaffi used mercenaries to kill nigerians?  If you do i would like you to post it here on NL, by the way if you want to know who actually has been killing black africans i suggest you look towards benghazi, darna and the entire  eastern region of libya where the so called rebels continue to lynch black african migrant workers and falsely accuse them of being mercernaries.

I really get pissed when people keep saying Ghadaffi's wrong to be ruling Libya for more than 42 years. Every nation has a right to determine its form of government. America chose democracy, Saudi Arabia chose monarchy, North Korea chose communism, Iran chose Theocracy. Many of these government is not in the interest of the people but the people accept it anyways. Mine's that it is not right for another nation to determine the form of government of a nation by force. That's what the US with its allied NATO are trying to do. Could we read between the lines, Libya is not the only government murdering its people for protesting, it's going on in Syria even till now, it's been in Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, China but the world turns a blind eye on it. So why Libya?

Before you start praising NATO and America or criticising Ghadaffi, that's the question that needs to be asked.

cap28:

How is it that someone as s.tupid as you is able to switch on a computer without blowing yourself up

Now listen very carefully while i drum this information into your porous brain - NATO is a US creation, from its inception in 1949 to date it has and remains under the control of the US, primarily becuse it was created in order to counter the military might of america's greatest threat - russia - from 1949 to date ALL NATO operations have to be authorised by america before they are implemented, but you wouldnt know any of this because you are a semi illiterate who is  unable to read  books unless they have words in them that are printed in capital letters accompanied by pictures.

Just the other day US senators john mc cain, joe lieberman and lindsey graham were openly calling for the assassination of gadaffi - perhaps if that mass of cotton wool in your head you call a brain was capable of intelligent thought you would have deciphered a link between those calls and the current action which has now taken place - but obviously im being too charitable because people like you are so dumb that unless someone actually sits you down and explains things to you very slowly it is hihgly unlikely that you will understand what is going on.

Dullard, you are very good at babbling like an i.diot but very low on intelligence, american oil companies in libya were until very recently making millions in oil profits from the lucrative oil and gas contracts with the gadaffi regime, that is until gadaffi started talking about nationalising  the entire libyan oil industry, i know your ignorant brain has no concept of what that would mean for an oil company but this would have meant millions of dollars in lost profits for these corporations, somethign they were not prepared to let happen - therefore in order to counter this huge threat to their finanacial interests they have resorted to military intervention - the end goal for america and europe if they defeat gadaffi is the takeover of the oil reserves and the  privatisation of the entire libyan oil industry .

Also  the oil reserves in libya are not the only reason that america is interested in annexing the country, libya also operates an independent banking system  which is not linked into the international banking cartel controlled by the US controlled IMF and world bank, as a result libya is able to finance vast infrastructure projects without ever having to borrow or owe a penny to these predatory western controlled banks with their draconian interest rates and repayment conditions - again somethign i wouldnt expect someone as stu.pid as you to know.

Do you have any proof that gadaffi used mercenaries to kill nigerians?  If you do i would like you to post it here on NL, by the way if you want to know who actually has been killing black africans i suggest you look towards benghazi, darna and the entire  eastern region of libya where the so called rebels continue to lynch black african migrant workers and falsely accuse them of being mercernaries.

My friend, shu.t up.

NATO is not a child of the USA. USA was included in the organisation after the Europeans deemed it necessary for the USA to maintain military balance against the USSR. If NATO were American, how come the headquarters is in brussels belgium? Stop feeding your brains with chalk!

a lot of people are calling for Gadhaffis execution even in the UK, France and Germany. so how do you think because a few popular americans called for his death, that makes it solely an american led NATO imperative?

And what about the oil, IMF and the ability of libya to finance projects? What are you talking about? So china and russia with all the wads in their coolers are also ripe for military intervention?

You just manufacture conspiracy theories and pulsate in excitement because I gave you the opportunity to exchange words on cyber space.

You are indeed stu.pid.

gaddafi had also wasted so many innocent lives. Why pity him, let him feel the pain others felt.

[quoteThey view themselves as white or mixed and not full black][quote][/quote]

That's a d.a.m.n LIE!! Why would they elect to be called African American if they viewed themselves as white or mixed??

And to h.e.l.l. with Gaffafi, his offspring, his offsprings offspring and all the rest of his family!

They would have grown up to be mutts just like their grandfather!

Whatsoever a man sow, that shall he reap.

You think Libya send una? U think they consider you brothers? Potheads! Even the rebels were against any foreign help but when Gaddafi wanted to wipe all of them from Beghazi, they called for help and still calling.None from Africa or AU.Toothless and same-regime Africa! Haha.Let Ghadafi feel what people of Misrata and elsewhere (rebellions he sponsored in Africa) are suffering. I see him in the same boat with Bin La, Saddam and they will all die like rats they are.

This week we recognize the 8th
anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, an
illegal war of occupation that continues
to this day. The grounds on which the
Iraq war was based turned out to be a
batch of lies coaxed up by top officials in
the United States government. The U.S.
Secretary of State – General Colon Powell,
introduced these lies and manipulations
to the United Nations at the request of his
boss President George W. Bush. Eight
years later and under a new
administration, another U.S. Secretary of
State makes arguments supporting
military action against what would be the
fifth country currently under attack by
U.S. military forces. Libya can now be
added to the exclusive list of nations
being bombed by the United States and
her allies, which also includes Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan and the occasional
bombing of Yemen. (This list does not
count the dozen or more nations
currently being victimized by U.S. covert
actions and state sponsored terrorism.)
To better understand the complex and
dynamic circumstances involved in the
Libya situation requires an
understanding and analysis that goes far
beyond what is reported in the
mainstream media. This article will be
one of a three-part series that will
attempt to shed some light on the
situation and fill in some of the voids that
are a result of a well designed
misinformation campaign against the
Libyan government and perpetuated by
U.S. and European intelligence agencies.
“ Part 1” focuses on who the Libyan
“opposition” or “rebel” forces are. “Part 2”
talks about some of the confusing and
contradicting language that is being used
by Western media outlets, Al Jazeera, and
even many of the independent
progressive media sources here in the
United States. “Part 3″ focuses on the
question “why Libya?” as opposed to
Yemen, Bahrain, and other non-
democratic regimes facing domestic
opposition in the region.
The conclusions I make are not merely
speculative. Much of what I will be writing
draws on both my personal knowledge on
the subject, as well as correspondence
with Libyan friends who are currently in
Tripoli and Benghazi. My contact in
Benghazi is a University Professor who I
met while visiting Tripoli a year ago as
part of a delegation led by former
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. For
safety, I agreed to conceal this person ’s
identity and will not specify which
information came from this source,
although in some cases it may be
obvious.
Part 1: The Opposition Forces?
As I sit to write this article from the safety
of an American café in Anchorage,
Alaska, bombs rain down on cities and
towns all across the North African nation
of Libya. I can hear reports from one of
the corporate news stations on the
television here. As I look up at the screen I
see a close-up of Libyans cheering, while
in a small window on the upper right side
of the screen there are far off images of
bombs and missiles causing explosions
on what appear to be Libyan targets. I
suppose the message here is similar to
the visual messages that we were fed 8
years ago as we saw Iraqi ’s cheering their
new occupiers driving in on tanks and
heavily armored humvees.
One of the questions regarding the
Libyan unrest that has yet to be
answered by any of the news agencies is
– who exactly are these Libyan rebels?
The western media, with help from Al
Jazeera, has done a remarkable job
portraying the unrest in Libya as a
popular revolt. The anti-government or
opposition forces have been referred to
by various titles, including “pro-
democracy protestors” and “non-violent
demonstrators” to sell the image of them
as a continuation of the pro-democracy
movements that began in Tunisia then
spread to Egypt. However these terms,
while still being used by some media
outlets, fail to correctly identify the
extremely complex and diverse makeup
of the rebels. While some of the
protestors are calling for democracy in
Libya, that is not necessarily the
consensus among everyone in the
opposition.
For instance, we can begin to understand
who this opposition group is by first
looking at what flag they are flying. It
seems as though the flag of the
opposition has been widely accepted by
the rebels. What is not talked about in the
media, and even among progressives, is
what this red, black, and green flag with a
crescent in the center actually
represents. First of all, it is the former flag
of Libya that was introduced after
independence under the rule of King Idris.
Idris ruled the monarchy after
independence until 1969 when he was
overthrown by the military under the lead
of a young Colonel with a Pan-Arab/
Nassarite ideology. (A monarchy is far
from a democracy and monarchs are still
ruling in many parts of the Arab world.
Their rule is passed through hereditary
and sometimes marital relations.)
Following the overthrow of King Idris in
1969, the flag was changed from the red,
black, and green to a red, white, and black
flag with no religious symbols. In 1977
the revolutionary council led by Colonel
Gaddafi introduced a new flag. The
Libyan flag, which still flies today, is a
simple green flag. Libya is the only nation
represented by a single color flag with no
symbols.
The issue of what flag the opposition
forces are flying is of extreme importance
because it says a lot about who they are
and what they want. If you recall, during
the Tunisian and Egyptian uprising, the
protestors flew their national flags, which
suggested that although they wanted an
end to the dictatorial rule, they still
identified with the nation in its modern
form. At the beginning of the uprising in
Libya, there were green Libyan flags
being flown by some of the youth,
students and professionals who make up
what can be considered the
“ intelligencia” class. These were the very
first protestors who where clearly
inspired by the democratic movement
that hit North Africa, starting with
Tunisia and spreading to Egypt. I
remember the first image I saw regarding
a demonstration in Libya was online at Al
Jazeera English. The demonstrator, a
young man who looked like he was in his
mid-twenties, was on camera demanding
Libya live up to the country ’s official
name the “Great Socialist People’s Libyan
Arab Jamahiriya.” [The term Jamahiriya is
Arabic for “a state of the masses," which
is another term for the governing
structure known as a “direct democracy."
A direct democracy refers to a system
where the masses of the people are
involved in the decision making through a
process of councils starting from their
local community reaching up to their
national government. It differs from a
representative democracy where
individuals elect candidates to speak for
and represent them.]
Immediately following the first day of
protests in the capital city of Tripoli the
government clamped down hard and
things seemed quiet for about a week in
early February. By the middle of February
protests sprung up outside of the capital,
primarily in the second largest city of
Benghazi, which has since been the
focus area of the corporate media. The
protests in Benghazi differed from the
earlier non-violent protests that occurred
in Tripoli. The Benghazi protests included
the attacking of government institutions.
The burning of government buildings
quickly distinguished these protests from
what was happening in other parts of
North African and the Middle East. The
news media continued to call the
protestors “non-violent” and “pro-
democratic,” even as the protestors
themselves acted contrary to those
descriptions. The terminology is
important, as it is used strategically to
form public opinion. In “Part 2″ of this
series I will go further into the biased
news reports and terminology that was
used to shape the discourse and raise
sympathy for the opposition forces.
What should be understood about the
opposition forces in Libya is that they are
not made up of any one particular group.
In actuality, the opposition is made up of
a coalition of groups that only really have
one political view in common, ending the
40-year rule of Gaddafi. However, the
problem facing the opposition forces is
that there are differing beliefs on what
should come after to replace Gaddafi ’s
regime. Just because they all want
change does not mean that they all agree
on what that change should be. For
instance, the intelligencia class was
demanding democratic reform, not
necessarily the overthrow of the
government. They advocate living up to
the true meaning and mission of a direct
democracy. Ironically enough, this was
also part of a critique leveled against the
Libyan government by Gaddafi himself, in
2008 and again in 2009 when he called
for the reforming of the government due
to a failed bureaucracy and corruption.
(Another issue that will be talked about in
the second part of this series is the fact
that the media refuses to recognize the
actual government of Libya that is and
has been in place prior to the unrest. If
you only listen to the corporate media
they would have you believe this 70
something year old man was running
every government entity in the country.)
The next group that participates in the
opposition coalition is based on partial
tribal alliances that would like to see the
entire government of Libya overthrown
and possibly the re-instatement of the
monarchy. This group is rather powerful
and is not new to Libya. They are
strongest in the town of Benghazi and
they have a history of being in cahoots
with foreign intelligence agencies. This
element of the opposition has been
funded and armed by foreign intelligence
agencies in the past and even attempted
an uprising against the government after
a 1996 massacre in a local prison where
inmates took hostages and held a prison
revolt, but were ultimately killed by prison
guards. The exact number of killed
prisoners is unknown but some reports
claim to be as high as 1200.
Family members of the slain prisoners
have on several occasions protested the
massacre. Opportunistic anti-
government forces in Benghazi
attempted to exploit these protests with
the intent to start a popular uprising, by
rallying people around this prison
massacre. This brings us to the next
group and probably the best organized
prior to the current uprising. This group is
made up of educated professionals who
feel Libya should be modeled after
western capitalist nations like the United
States. Prior to the civil unrest these
power hungry opportunists where never
able to amass any considerable amount
of support from the Libyan masses. When
they tried to use the prison massacre
protests to ignite the people of Benghazi,
the Libyan government quickly
suppressed the protests. This segment of
the opposition continued to organize
both inside Benghazi and internationally
under the title the “Libyan National
Council”.
Mahmoud Jibril
The leader of the Libyan National Council
is a man named Mahmoud Jibril. Jibril has
close ties with the United States, Britain
and France. It was reported last week by
several news agencies that Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton had a brief meeting
with Jibril while she was in France. French
officials are also watching over Jibril and
protecting him from harm upon reports
that Colonel Gaddafi put up a reward of $
400,000 to kill Jibril. Jibril is believed by
some to have been on the CIA payroll
dating back to when he studied and then
later taught in the U.S. prior to working in
the Libyan government. Jibril is an ex-
patriot who worked high up in the Libyan
government. Some believe that his CIA
ties were discovered and the cause of his
quick exile to Europe. It must be noted
that Mahmoud Jibril and the Libyan
National Council does not represent all of
the anti-government forces in Libya.
There are many who will not follow him
because of his close ties with European
and U.S. Intelligence agencies.
The third group that contributes to the
opposition is the fundamentalist Muslims
or what the media calls Islamists. This is
the religious sector in Libya that would
like to see a government lead by Shari ’ a,
or the law of the Quran. This segment has
also made its objectives very clear over
the years, they wants to take over the
country. The most popular of the Islamist
groups is known as the “Fighting Islamist
Group in Libya”.
At the beginning of the unrest Gaddafi
came on television and accused al-Qaeda
of being responsible for the unrest. He
said that they drugged the youth in order
to gain their support. Many thought this
to be an absurd accusation and a
desperate attempt to demonize the
young protestors. It may have been a sign
of desperation, but it certainly was not
unfounded, at least the al-Qaeda part. As
for the drug accusation I can only assume
Gaddafi was confused as to why the
students would come out against him
after all he had done for them and the
country. Making the university system
open and free to everyone, or
government sponsorship of students to
study abroad in the US, Europe and in
parts of the Middle East was a product of
his (Gaddafi ’s) leadership. He knows the
Islamists did not have that big of an
influence on the youth and students, so
in his mind, they must have been
drugged. How he came up with the
charge of drugs is not quite clear to this
writer, but what is clear is that al-Qaeda
has been active in Libya and conspiring
against Gaddafi for over 15 years.
On November 10, 2002 an article
appeared in the Guardian, the U.K.’s
largest daily newspaper, exposing a plot
between the MI6 (British Intelligence)
and an active al-Qaeda cell in Libya. The
article charges MI6 with paying the al-
Qaeda cell to assassinate Colonel Gaddafi
in 1996. The al-Qaeda cell attempted to
carry out the assassination attempt, but
was obviously unsuccessful. The details
of the plot are not completely clear,
however al-Qaeda members attempted to
kill Gaddafi by throwing a grenade at him
while he was visiting the town of Sirte.
During an intense gunfight, the Islamists
and several civilians where killed.
There are multiple Muslim
fundamentalist organizations active in
Libya. It is not clear whether the Islamists
are al-Qaeda, or part of another group if
any, or if they are just fundamentalists
who want Shari ’ a law imposed. On
November 3, 2007 the BBC and other
press agencies reported that the
“ Fighting Islamist Group in Libya” merged
with al-Qaeda and this was substantiated
through a recorded message by Ayman
al-Zawahri a senior leader in al-Qaeda at
the time. But regardless of their particular
affiliation, what is important to note here
are that their ultimate objective conflicts
with the pro-democracy youth, the tribal
loyalists of the monarchy, and the
opportunistic Libyan National Council. I
have to assume that for the purpose of
working together against the Libyan
government, the Islamists put their
differences aside temporarily.
Finally, you have the masses of people
who, for the most part did not belong to
any of these groups but where caught up
in the excitement and the possibility of
change and freedom. I am told that this is
the largest portion of the opposition.
Many of these people have legitimate
dispute with and disdain for the
government. They just want to live in
peace free from fear and repression.
Some have even served in the Libyan
military and are applying their training to
what has turned into a civil war. This
group includes those in the police and
military forces that sided with the anti-
government forces.
I have also been told that some of the
former soldiers in Benghazi would rather
be loyal to the Government, but they fear
for their safety and therefore feel that
they must go along with the opposition.
This touches on another issue that I will
discuss in “Part 2″ of this series, that is,
the fact that a large portion of the Libyan
society is loyal to the government and
Gaddafi, whereas the western media
would have you believe the opposite.
I have pointed out roughly five
completely different groups that make up
the anti-government forces. I refuse to
call them “pro-democracy” forces
because they are not all for a democratic
society. I also cannot call them “non-
violent” protestors because the only non-
violent group among them is the actual
“ pro-democracy” youth. I was told that
some of the students and youth
protestors have been pushed out of the
opposition because they continually
argued for non-violent resistance and
opposed taking up arms against
government forces. They understood
clearly that they were no match against
the military and that foreign intervention
would be required to save their lives if
they turn the struggle into a civil war.
Other forces within the opposition,
mainly within the tribal monarchy
supporters along with the opportunists,
dominated the opposition politically and
forced the armed struggle on the masses
in Benghazi and other small towns. In
Benghazi many of the youth leaders and
activists have given up because many of
the internal conflicts have resulted in
fighting within the opposition and many
of them left the opposition and the
country in fear for their lives. This is not
fear of government forces, but rather of
violence perpetrated on them by
members of the opposition. In other
words, there was a segment that was
following the Tunisia/Egypt model, but
they were forced to abandon that model
or leave the anti-government ranks.
There where other conflicts between the
youth/students and the supporters of
the Libyan National Council, such as the
issue of the Council ’s leader, Mahmoud
Jibril. The youth do not trust him and
believe he is an opportunist who will
ultimately serve the interests of the
west. They compare him with Hamid
Karzai, the U.S. -installed President of
Afghanistan. As with the youth of
Tunisia and Egypt, Libyan youth are not
willing to settle for anything less than a
true democracy, free of dictators and
neo-colonial rulers.
The youth also oppose the request for
foreign intervention. They understand
what comes with that intervention and
how it is applied. However, the majority of
the opposition forces are very hopeful, if
not convinced, that support from the U.S.
and Europe will lead to a victory against
the Libyan military and ultimately the
end of the Gaddafi regime. The Libyan
National Council fully supports the
foreign intervention because they know
it is their ticket to power in the post-
Gaddafi Libya.
The question that will need to be asked in
the near future is what promises or deals
did Mahmoud Jibril make in return for
Western support? If the U.S., U.K., and
France achieve their goal of toppling the
Gaddafi regime, will they install their man
Jibril with mass Libyan support or will
they do it regardless of any Libyan
opposition to the Libyan National
Council? All of this is conditioned on how
far Western involvement in Libya
extends. The British Defense Secretary,
Liam Fox, recently suggested that
Gaddafi is a target, while U.S. President
Obama said that Gaddafi was not a target.
Either one of them is lying or they have
different objectives.
About the Author:
Troy Nkrumah is a Pan-Africanist with a
long history of social justice and anti-
imperialist activism. He began as a
student organizer in Los Angeles and San
Francisco. He is currently the President/
CEO of the Anchorage Urban League and
an outspoken advocate for Human
Rights. Troy has traveled extensively
throughout Africa and Latin America. He
traveled to Libya at the end of 2009 as
part of a delegation lead by former
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Troy
has studied, taught and written about
Africa and the anti-colonial struggle. He
holds a Bachelors and a Masters Degree
in International Relations. He also has a
Law Degree and has worked in Tanzania
for the United Nations at the Rwanda
Genocide Tribunal.

ghaddafi shd not b pitied.how he bluntly refuse to bow out.i am sory 4 d sons' death but it was ghadafi dat caused it.more onslaught on him!!!

quote from igbogolo:
LOL. ! Clearly seems you are a muslim, very angry that america has finally killed the urchin osama. LOL again.
Go and eat pork and tell me how nice it tastes, uncut pretentious naughty person.
So who are the zionist murderers? who are they? I wish I could just give you a well deserved back hand. !

You sound like a casualty of nigeria's collapsed educational system, have you ever tried using your brain to think at all or do you prefer CNN and fox do that for you instead?

You sound like some thug who managed to stow away on a ship in order to get out of nigeria (thats if you are actually outside nigeria), again im amazed that there are people on this planet as stup.id as you.

Try opening up your slave mind a little, try reading books, and above all try getting an education, you dumb thug!!!

Ghaddafi might be a bad man but NATO and the US have absolutely no right to invade a sovereign nation.

When they went for the [b]Oil [/b]in Iraq, they claim Saddam killed his people in the 80s and that he was developing WMDs. Almost a decade after they invaded iraq, they have killed over 100 times more innocent persons than they claimed saddam killed in a period of 30 yrs and they found no WMDs. Presently with their 'success' in iraq, they now comfortably control Iraqi oil

Just late last year, Ghaddafi raised an issue of "Nationalising Libyan oil" The US felt their oil supply could be threatened. In order to satisfy their insatiable lust for oil, they knew something had to be done to ghaddafi. Next thing we see is a group of rebels arising in Libya to topple the government and what we hear in the world media (which is controlled by the US) is "Ghaddafi is killing his own people".  Perfect opportunity to strike and replace the strong headed dictator with a US loyalist is born.

"We are going there only to protect the innocent civilians" but next thing we hear is a barage of bombs landing on Ghaddaffi's palace.

My advice to Ghaddafi, "give these people the oil they truly want and have your peace."

What a lost, The Rich also CRY, All this lost becuase he want to remain in power, Does power worth all this lost of life on both side

quote from drlawng:
Your posts shows how intellectually lazy you are. You need to get off those conspiracy websites you read. Better yet stop lifting their quotes verbatim. You sound half educated, use it.

Isnt it funny how you accuse me of being half educated and intellectually lazy and yet you can not even single out what it is you disagree with, only a fool, coward or both, levels abuse at someone without saying why, do you have the balls and intelligence to point out to me what it is about my post that you disagree with? if you dont i suggest you take a running jump.

[flash=350,200]http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/00X_PrSICCQ?fs=1&hl=en[/flash]

obailala:

Ghaddafi might be a bad man but NATO and the US have absolutely no right to invade a sovereign nation.

When they went for the [b]Oil [/b]in Iraq, they claim Saddam killed his people in the 80s and that he was developing WMDs. Almost a decade after they invaded iraq, they have killed over 100 times more innocent persons than they claimed saddam killed in a period of 30 yrs and they found no WMDs. Presently with their 'success' in iraq, they now comfortably control Iraqi oil

Just late last year, Ghaddafi raised an issue of "Nationalising Libyan oil" The US felt their oil supply could be threatened. In order to satisfy their insatiable lust for oil, they knew something had to be done to ghaddafi. Next thing we see is a group of rebels arising in Libya to topple the government and what we hear in the world media (which is controlled by the US) is "Ghaddafi is killing his own people".  Perfect opportunity to strike and replace the strong headed dictator with a US loyalist is born.

"We are going there only to protect the innocent civilians" but next thing we hear is a barage of bombs landing on Ghaddaffi's palace.

My advice to Ghaddafi, "give these people the oil they truly want and have your peace."

Please stop bundling the US with NATO! Cant you people leave the USA alone for once?

There was tremendous pressure for NATO to get involved in stemming the use of force on Libyans. But before NATO could get involved, weather militarily, there must be clear LEGAL backing and international support. In order words there must be clear and demonstrable need for NATO and a strong regional and legal basics.

NATO did not cause the uprising in Tunisia that spread to egypt, libya, syria, yemen, bahrain, saudi.
Ghadaffi has to leave before peace returns to libya, and leave he must either dead or alive.

Putin should be asking who gave Ghadaffi the right to kill is own people. If the west wanted to attack and Kill Ghadaffi directly, they could have don't it after lockerbie. Putin is trying to protect Russia's interest and Libya's investment in Russia just like Italian president did in the early days of the uprising. The people have spoken Ghadaffi needs to go! UN's laws on protection of citizens in crisis need to be changed, to include "seek and Kill" if they had attacked Ghadaffi directly and killed him in the first week they would have saved thousands of lives.