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Gaddafi's Son's Killing Puts NATO in Line of Fire
Russia and Venezuela join Libyan regime in accusing NATOof attempting to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi
The Libyan regime's claims that NATO is attempting to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi have intensified following the apparent death of one of the leader's sons and three of his grandchildren in an air strike on Tripoli.
Libyan officials accuse NATO of attacking Saif al-Arab Gaddafi's house in hopes of killing Muammar Gaddafi. (Photograph: Reuters) Gaddafi was at the one-story house in a residential area of Tripoli when the missile struck late on Saturday, according to the government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.
In a rare acknowledgment that security around Gaddafi may not be watertight, Ibrahim told reporters that intelligence about Gaddafi's whereabouts or plans must have been leaked to NATO.
The missile struck the house of Saif al-Arab, 29, the youngest and least well-known of Gaddafi's seven sons, just after 8pm on Saturday during a family gathering. The three grandchildren who were killed were under the age of 12, said Ibrahim.
David Cameron insisted that NATO was acting within the remit of the UN security council resolution, which authorized military actions to protect civilians.
But officials in Russia and Venezuela criticised the attack. "More and more facts indicate that the purpose of the anti-Libyan coalition is to physically destroy Gaddafi," said Konstantin Kosachev, a Russian legislator.
NATO said it had carried out a precision strike against a known command and control building. "All NATO's targets are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the Gaddafi regime's systematic attacks on the Libyan population and populated areas. We do not target individuals," said Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO's Operation Unified Protector.
"I am aware of unconfirmed media reports that some of Gaddafi's family members may have been killed," he said. "We regret all loss of life, especially the innocent civilians being harmed as a result of the ongoing conflict. NATO is fulfilling its UN mandate to stop and prevent attacks against civilians with precision and care – unlike Gaddafi's forces, which are causing so much suffering."
The strike came hours after Gaddafi called for a ceasefire in the two-and-a-half-month civil war in a speech delivered live on Libyan state television. The Libyan government has repeatedly said it is ready for a political resolution to the conflict and a ceasefire, while continuing to launch military assaults on opposition forces, particularly in Misrata and the western mountains region.
"We renew our call for peace and negotiations," said Ibrahim following the air strike. "What we have now is the law of the jungle. How is this helping in the protection of civilians?"
Cameron declined to comment on the "unconfirmed report", but told the BBC: "The targeting policy of NATO and the alliance is absolutely clear. It is in line with UN resolution 1973 and it is about preventing a loss of civilian life by targeting Gaddafi's war-making machine. That is obviously tanks and guns and rocket launchers, but also command and control as well."
The Libyan regime will use the apparent death of close members of Gaddafi's family to reinforce its claims that Nato is acting illegitimately and that Libya is a victim of a western plot to topple Gaddafi.
UN resolution 1973 permits military action to protect Libyan civilians, which has been interpreted as covering Libyan military facilities, such as command and control centers, as well as military equipment in the field. It does not permit the specific targeting of individuals.
However some politicians in the west have urged NATO to target Gaddafi. "We must cut the head of the snake off," US senator Lindsey Graham said a week ago after the bombing of a building within Gaddafi's Tripoli compound.
Journalists taken to the scene of Saif al-Arab's house in a smart neighborhood of the capital reported seeing an unexploded missile lying amid shattered concrete and twisted metal. A large crater exposed what appeared to be an underground bunker.
In his 80-minute speech on Libyan state TV in the early hours of Saturday morning, Gaddafi said: "I'm not leaving my country. No one can force me to leave my country, and no one can tell me not to fight for my country."
He described NATO's military intervention in Libya as "a massacre".
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Show AllSo, when will someone free us from our oppressors in Washington? (Being that we can't seem to dislodge them by voting or protesting.)
Nato said it had carried out a precision strike against a known command and control building
well, they can call it what they like, can't they..........................
After seeing NATO (US dominated) target Gaddafi, next, I expect the interpretation of the UN Mandate (to protect civilians, excluding Gaddafi family members [sarcasm]) to allow NATO to expand the war to other countries and the US to cut the Social Security benefits for Americans.
Ha! Agreed
"Humanitarian mission" is, at this point, tattered lace curtains on the grim edifice of oil imperialism and zio-atrocity enabling.
The same can be said for "austerity" as an excuse for domestic class warfare - a naked power grab by the capitalist elite for the remaining flesh on the hollowed out American nation!
Oh, so Nato was acting within the remit of the UN security council resolution? Does it say that NATO can murder children? And civilians? I thought that's what Saint Obama invaded Libya to prevent? NATO=state terrorism.
"NATO said it had carried out a precision strike against a known command and control building. 'All NATO targets are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the Gadaffi regime's systematic attacks on the Libyan population and populated areas. We do not target individuals', said Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO's Operation Unified Protector."
How can targeting the family residence of Mummar's youngest son in an upscale Tripoli neighborhood at 8:00 pm on a Saturday night, killing Gadaffi's son and three grandchildren under the age of twelve, coherently be labeled a UN-authorized air strike upon a "command and control center" of the military regime that was "clearly linked" to "systematic attacks" upon the Libyan civilian population? This most recent dark and perverse misuse of the English language is simply surreal.
Even if NSA surveillance and a CIA informant or two could pinpoint this residence as a place where Gadaffi occasionally or routinely plotted military strategy in hushed, whispered tones with members of his innermost circle, does that make the whole household fair game for Hellfire from the skies? How does this shoe horn into the concept of enforcing something called a "no fly zone"?
Oh sure, we don't target individuals, we don't target family gatherings. We only target structures military in nature. And for certain the timing of this particular attack - shortly after a nationwide speech by Gadaffi calling for a ceasefire in the civil war - is purely coincidental, with no symbolic message intended.
Historically, cutting heads off of enemy snakes in time of war is a legitimate military tactic. In World War II, the United States successfully assassinated Admiral Yamamoto, and Allied intelligence tried their damndest to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
But nobody has declared war on Libya. Therefore, whopping lies must be told, and repeatedly retold officially.
This is what happens when you obliterate the distinction between warfare and murder, the difference between being a soldier versus acting out James Bond fantasies.
Bill from Saginaw
Try though they might, the US propaganda machine can't hide the barbaric nature of US foreign policy. ... WHAT KIND OF MADMEN IN ATTEMPTING TO KILL ONE MAN BOMB AN ENTIRE AREA LOOKING FOR THAT ONE MAN?
If a jealous husband were to storm into a bar looking for a man who slept with his wife and started to indiscriminately kill people with a machine gun or a flame thrower -- looking for that *one man* -- what would the judge say if the husband's defense was: "I wasn't targeting innocent people; they just got in the way is all. ... Sorry, next time I'll try to be more careful."
This is nothing new for the US government. They've been killing innocent people for decades. AND BY THE MILLIONS! ...
The Encyclopedia Britannica estimates that 2.25 million Vietnamese were killed during the Vietnam War, at least 900,000 of whom were civilians. Other sources put the numbers much higher.
As for Iraq Two, the death toll is now well over one million -- see the 2008 article entitled "Over one million Iraqis dead since 2003 invasion" --
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008/02/01/story_1-2-2008_pg4_6
Over one million dead -- and that was as of 2008.
Then there are the Clinton-Gore-led economic sanctions against Iraq that resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians -- many of them children.
Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq ...
"We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?"
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ...
"I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it."
--60 Minutes (5/12/96)
That was as of 1996 -- the sanctions lasted for several years after that.
See the following article entitled "'We Think the Price Is Worth It' -- Media Uncurious About Iraq Policy's Effects--There or Here."
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1084
Please Note Well: This is the same Bill Clinton and Al Gore who -- along with Common Dreams.org, The Nation magazine and the rest of the "soft-left" -- supported former, short-lived "peace candidate" Barack Obama.
But it'll all be forgotten in the US in a few days, a few weeks -- just give the US public more to scruff up as regards the Royal Wedding, the latest Hollywood divorce, Lady GaGa's next outing.
All will be forgotten, except by, at a minimum, a few million Arabs.
In his documentary "Breaking the Silence" John Pilger interviews William Kristol, president of “The Project for The New American Century”. Kristol asserts that the US is too slow to get involved in foreign countries. And that, besides, the U.S. would not intervene in any "decent" country.
Whereupon Pilger points out to Kristol that since World War II there have been 72 interventions conducted by the United States' -- to which Kristol replies 'That is ludicrous.'
Pilger then goes on to document those interventions.
Elsewhere, John Pilger points out that Afghanistan is the 20th country bombed by the US since the end of World War II. All are countries whose military is dwarfed by the US war machine. Most have little or no air defense; and some, for example, Iraq, don't even have a standing army.
That the policies William Kristol defends -- the murderous results of which he conveniently *denies* -- that these policies are insane, barbaric and unspeakable seems to have eluded the sensibilities of the network executives who unfailingly book him, ad ludicrum, for their talking-heads "shows," i.e., entertainment fests. (Compared the number of times William Kristol has appeared on network teevee versus the number of times John Pilger has appeared on network teevee.)
In any event, for something other than propaganda -- be it establishment propaganda or "soft-left acquiescence" progaganda -- try
www.wsws.org
Thanks for the link :)
Great Site!
Where is the voice for reason, decency, cvilization, and humanity in British and Candian politics? Where is the Right Honorable Ed "the man" Miliband and what is the party leader for British Labor in opposition going to do? Where also is the party leader for the Canadian Liberals as a federal election is coming up for Canada? Why should the great Canadian people trust the Stephen Harper Liberals as Jack Layton referred to them less aptly in 2006 when today that's just what they are or even worse? They sure as hell aren't the party of Lester Pearson and even less that Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
What would Trudeau or Pearson do or say today? Can any Canadian doubt that they would both sound off for what's right here?
Then again even as recently as when John Smith was party leader for British Labor in opposition in 1994 before his death, what would (Mr one member one vote in the party selection of leader") Smith do? Can any Briton doubt that he would easily find his voice as Neil Kinnock party leader for Labor in opposition did when it turned out that British troops, perhaps even elite Special Air Serivce Commandos had executed IRA prisoners on the spot in Gibraltar in the late 1980s? Kinnock called Maggie Thatcher on the carpet at question time about that slimy act. Where is a voice for real British Labor today to do the same? Where do you stand on all this Ed "the man" Miliband? Where does your party stand or will you allow it to stand? Will this be a whipped vote for the Tory and Lib Dem appeasers of US imperialism if a vote comes as a free vote might allow party members to assert their consciences rather than roll over to be "pet seals" as Trudeau might refer to them?
This reminds me of the time when the US put a couple of smart bombs very precisely into a bomb shelter full of women and children at Al-Amariyeh, Iraq. (I spell the place name from memory, but I am confident that that's how it was spelled at the time; being transliterated from Arabic, it may appear differently elsewhere.)
It also reminds me of the frequent Anglo-Saxon bombing of my mother's home town, Emden, during the Germano-Anglic War (2nd Military Phase). Somehow the bombs never fell on the harbour and the barracks. People soon noticed, and whenever the bombers came the kinfolk of the soldiers in the barracks took advantage of their right to visit them.
On the current occasion, the Anglic Empire prefers to use its local collaborator forces, just as it did against another excessively sovereign ruler, Ortega.
There are racist "leaders" not only in the USA but in Europe too. Europe must keep Africa down. Europe must preserve its gargantuan export business with the mad USan consumer. These are the basic motivations for Europe joining the USan imperialist campaign via NATO. You can see how the USA's influence appeals to, much more than anything else, the evil side of human nature. The whole planet sees this now - it's a world-uniting phenomenon.
"USan"
I suggest: USer.
Oh why not just go whole hog with UShole?
innocent until proven collateral.
Revisionist warning!
Nah, Uncle Sammy hung Sadam Hussein a few years back.
The west couldn't allow an independent arab state that was using oil revenues for social and economic develpment. Also Hussein was threatening to sell oil denominated in a currency other than the US dollar.
His opposition to Isreali Apartheid also was held against him by the right wing zionist racists of the world, like for instance most of the Isreali First neocons in the US.
Assisination attempts by any other name is but assination attempt. Assination of heads of state is a slippery slope. What does our law or international law say about killing foreign leaders?
Smart bombs seem to kill everybody but the one they should be targeting.
But targeting Qadaffi, should be a deterent, not a death sentence. In other words call a cease fire. If he doesn't; nail him.
Kill as few people as possible!
So, if one was to give credence to the horesh*t official story of 9/11, the US really shouldn't have been able to vengefully attack ANYONE as the "terrorists" were just trying to kill the ones responsible for their oppression and the innocents who were killed just got in the way, right NATO?
Oh well.
They were just enforcing the no-fly zone...Gaddafi's house was about to take off!
This is really just poorly disguised Western Imperialism in action. Why not bomb Bahrain instead, where they are currently murdering unarmed protesters.?
Can it become any more profusely bleeding obvious that predatory authoritarian, imperialist governments, singly or through collective enterprises like NATO, offer increasingly slipshod, preposterous, mendacious, hypocritical, and altogether incredible official rationalizations and accounts of their actions?
It suggests that they are confident that their scurrilous propaganda will appease and satisfy the complacent, unreflective majority-- including naïve idealists who are compelled to believe that said governments are still occasionally capable of acting out of moral, altruistic convictions, and are trustworthy.
And that the rest of us can take or leave their straight-faced official pronouncements, since they will continue to act with impunity and there's nothing much we can do about it.
Killing kids from a million miles away seems less personal than shooting them in the head from two feet away.
I have a dream - that some day the USA will respect the rule of law. What a wonderful world this could be if the world's most brutal and deceptive bully would quit killing people! Thank goodness for Russia and Venezuela and everyone else who dares to speak the truth.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/opinion1/42367.html
>>rotecting Libya's civilians from Muammar Gaddafi's forces is only a cover for a campaign aimed at regime change and the plunder of the resources not only of Libya but also of the whole of Africa.
>>According to a shocking article posted on OpEdNews.com, the Libyan war has its roots in oil and Lockerbie. The author, Susan Lindauer, a CIA 'asset' turned anti-war
activist, says Libya was made a fall guy in the Lockerbie bombing that was carried out by the CIA's drug mafia. {For a compilation of the CIA's drug operations, visit
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_drug_trafficking.}
Read the entire article it goes into how Ghaddafi was using oil revenues to help other African countries stand on their own two feet so as to allow them to develope their own resources with the need of the IMF or foreign corporations.
As GwNorth mentions notable facts, the only typos were:
Ghaddafi was using HIS OWN countries oil revenues to rebuild Libya's aging infrastructure AND to help other African countries stand on their own two feet so as to allow them to develop their own resources withOUT the need of the IMF or foreign BANKS. When Dubai went bankrupt from overbuilding fancy hotels, the developers and foreign workers (architects, engineers, contractors, labor) shifted their operations to LIBYA ( as it was declared SAFE by our STATE DEPT, ETC). but suddenly it's become the target of US funded hellfire from above, with Constitutional scholar Obomber's blessings....seems like Libya's large oil reserve of better quality oil than the Saudi's have is another resource that the USA led bullies cant keep their eye's and bombs off Libya, INVADE/BOMB/PLUNDER AND MURDER - its THE AMERICAN WAY!! Get used to it - Darth Vader was only in the movies, but our USA's evil actions are alive in living color, and the rest of the world is taking notes, while our citizens watch (or keep watching reality TV and non-news) with powerlessness, and we keep slipping into Third World status cuz our ELECTED officials (paid for by corporate interests with the thugs on the Supreme Court busy violating the laws of decency and the Constitution, in collective "F" the citizens) have their private priorities, who is going to come to our rescue to stop these madmen from destroying what's left of the once "leader of the free world", now the biggest debtor nation of the world? no one can, alas.
History repeating itself, once again.
Another war that's illegal, once again.
Another leader targeted for assassination, once again.
Since the IMF/WB thugs have turned up the austerity/neoliberalism heat in the US/Europe/Canada/Australia these past decades, does anyone doubt that ANY leader isn't in the target crosshairs should they defy said thugs said wishes?
BTW--the spinning of this war in Libya is getting ridiculous. Bachmann is the anti-war candidate? WTF?!
It certainly is gratifying to see how justified the Nobel Committee was in awarding their Peace Prize to a United States president who is so eager to drop 500 lb. bombs and unmanned drone missiles on innocent children. Over forty years ago the antiwar movement asked LBJ how many children he had killed. One has to wonder if the moribund antiwar movement will ever do the same thing today by shouting out to the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate:
Hey Obama, what do you say,
How many kids did you kill today?
As SkDoTo correctly implies, in all likelihood the Democrats will not see fit to challenge Obama by having an antiwar candidate run against him in 2012. If only there were a rock group today to ask:
Where have you gone Eugene McCarthy?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes toward you.
Nice chant.
I like:
Who Bombs?
Obama Bombs!
No Bombs!
Nobama!
No Bombs!
Nobama!
"We must cut the head of the snake off," -- Lindsey Graham
I am REALLY REALLY tired of these fat-ass, holier than thou politicians calling their tough-guy shots about assassinating people while not giving a damn about any consequences of these actions (like the deaths of innocents.) And when they say "we must..." they really mean someone's son or daughter must. Why don't you do it Lindsey Graham?! Why don't you go to Libya and assassinate Gaddafi, or otherwise just SHUT THE HELL UP.
"'We must cut the head of the snake off,' -- Lindsey Graham"
___________________
Be careful what you hiss for, Lindsey!
NATO murdered Saif al-Arab, 29, and three of his infant sons. None of these dead had anything to do with flying. NATO, as I recall, is controlled by the USA - and the USA is controlled by Israel.
Memo to: POTUS
Subject: Follow Bush’s Example
“Each individual carries the legacy of the award and each one is entrusted with its good name. It is for these reasons that I have made the difficult decision to forfeit (this award)”. Reggie BUSH Heisman winner of 2005.
Obama send the Peace Prize back to Oslo. Bin Laden’s head is prize enuf. You don’t need Ghaddafi’s..
Qadaffi may be odious; NATO however is insidious. While the former can be lived with, the latter must be eradicated.
I just got back from France and Germany. The people there seemed perplexed by the US and the tactics used against its own people as well as the warmongering abroad. They didn't seem to realize that this is all part of a plan, of which their own governments are in close alliance. The ones I spoke with were being fed the same pro-imperialist propaganda through their local MSM outlets. Still they seemed less belligerent and more able to accord conflicting opinions than in the US. Whether that will last or amount to more than a hill of beans, is still TBD. Unfortunately, in the midst of brilliant art and performance arts, the younger generation seemed disconnected to anything that wasn't connected to the latest electronic gadget.
RENOMINATION
Of course Obama will be re-nominated. Liberal/progressives will continue
the (purposeful) self-deception that Obama is on "our" side.
Incidentally, there was very little reporting on the agreement with
Fatah,HAMAS and Cairo about their own elections. Instead (as usual)
we got news ENTERTAINMENT. A Royal Wedding (did you see her
dress?).
email:peterloeb@yahoo.com
I got in trouble last time I watched her dress...
The US and NATO. The more blook they drink, the thirstier they get. Just can't get enough blood. Can't kill enough. "They" hate "our freedoms" you know. Must. Kill. More. Must. Kill. Killing. Blood. More blood is the only possible solutiion. The first solution. The only solution. Kill, baby, Kill.