Lest we forget – the US-led invasion of Iraq, was an illegal war. It was not sanctioned by the United Nations, but they went ahead despite there being no weapons of mass destruction and now they have their sights set on Libya.
In September 2004 during an interview with the BBC World Service, referring to the invasion of Iraq, former United Nations secretary general, Kofi Anan said:
“I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view and from the charter point of view it was illegal.”
Estimates from the website Just Foreign Policy put the number of Iraqi deaths since the invasion at 1.4 million.
Neo-colonialism is a dangerous ideology. Former colonizing nations such as Britain and the US who wield enormous political and economic power globally, have a habit of trying to protect their interests by interfering in the politics, culture and economies of non-western nations, under the pretext of human rights.
And they are not averse to using force when they feel like flexing their colonial muscles, whether their actions are legal or not.
The duplicity and hypocrisy of western superpowers merit serious attention. After expelling western nations from Libyan soil in 1970, Libya was able to regain control of its oil refineries and subsequently came to have one of the highest production levels in the region. It now produces 1.6 million barrels of oil a day (2 per cent of world production) and it is oil that motivates western nations now, not human rights,
The bombing in 1998 of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie tragically claimed the lives of 270 people, and resulted in the prosecution of Libyan Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, whom Colonel Muammar Gaddafi surrendered to trial. Yet the British still continued to court commercial interests with Libya and we know that the former Labour government did their utmost to secure the release of cancer-stricken Al-Megrahi.
In a curious twist, some of the Scottish relatives of the Lockerbie victims did not believe that Al Megrahi was solely responsible for the bombing of Flight 103. And former Labour MP Tam Dalyell, said previously that Al Megrahi was sacrificed to smooth relations between Britain and Libya and pave the way for Britain to gain access to Libya’s oil, who in return received investment to capitalize on its vast oil reserves.
The recent political unrest across north Africa – Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, provides the perfect opportunity for Britain and the US to again start making overtones about invading sovereign nations as they scramble for control of Gaddafi’s money and oil.
However, this time the international voices of dissent are much louder.
Today (March 11) the African Union rejected military intervention in Libya, saying in a statement:
“The Council reaffirmed its respect for Libya’s territory and therefore rejects any form of foreign military intervention as the situation requires urgent African action.”
The Syrian Foreign Ministry has also rejected foreign intervention. A source is quoted by the Syrian News Agency as saying:
“…Syria stresses its rejection of all forms of foreign intervention in Libya’s affairs, dismissing such interventions as violation of Libya’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and incompatible with the Charter of the Arab League and the principles of the international law.”
A NATO-EU summit held earlier this week to discuss responses to the Libyan situation did not result in a consensus to intervene.
Whilst France, the United Kingdom, the US and Canada are firmly in favour of establishing a no-fly zone over Libya, Italy, Libya’s former colonial ruler is against any bombing of Libya and is seeking a UN resolution to prevent such action.
Russia, Turkey and Germany are all against a no-fly zone.
In South America, former Cuban President Fidel Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales have all spoken out against foreign intervention in Libya.
President Chavez is sending a delegation to Tripoli to try to mediate between rebel leaders and forces loyal to Gaddafi.
In the International Journal of Socialist Renewal, several countries have lined up to give their perspectives on the situation in Libya.
A statement by the Pakistan Labour Party reads:
“No one should be fooled about the aims of the NATO powers: they want to confiscate the revolutions in progress from the peoples of the region, and even to take advantage of the situation to occupy new positions, in particular concerning control of the oil regions. It is for this fundamental reason that it is necessary to reject any military intervention by American imperialism. It is up to the Libyan people, who have begun the job, to finish it…”
By contrast, a statement by the South African Workers Municipal Leaders said:
“Gaddafi is part of the problem, not the solution.”
That may be the case, but it is not up to Britain, the US or any other foreign nation to decide Gaddafi’s fate; it is up to the Libyan people.
Speaking at a press conference in Benghazi recently, one of the Libyan rebel leaders Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga is quoted in the Socialist Worker as saying:
“We are against any foreign intervention or military intervention in our internal affairs. This revolution will be completed by our people with the liberation of the rest of Libyan territory.”
I sincerely hope that will of the Libyan people is respected and honoured by the international community; otherwise we may just be heading for another illegal war.
Related Links
Peter Kellner commentary for YouGov – voters divided on military action
Coalition of crusaders join with al Qaeda to oust Qaddafi and roll back Libyan revolution
Libya getting it right: a revolutionary Pan African perspective
The innocence of the liberal hawk by Gary Younge
Reason for war? Gaddafi wanted to nationalise oil
African Union ignored over Libyan crisis
