According to the UN resolution there is to be an immediate ceasefire. Is Operation Odyssey or whatever it is called trying to facilitate that?
The UN calls for a negotiated solution. Is the U.S. Britain etc. trying to achieve that? The African Union has called for immediate cessation of hostilities. Is the allied operation trying to do that?
The UN calls for the protection of civilians from attack by destroying forces that are gathering to attack cities. So will the allied forces attack any anti-Gadaffi forces as they gather to attack and retake cities?
The UN job is to serve as a fig leaf for the actions of the big powers. It is doing that you are correct. Many commentators even make it transparent that it is a fig leaf by saying that the aim of the mission is to get rid of Gadaffi that seems to be your interpretation of the motion too. There is nothing in the clauses about that, that I have seen. This is why from time to time some of the more careful commentators will say that it is about protecting civilians. But that of course is a lie.The countries that have provided weapons and now support the mission are mostly powers that have had colonial relations with Libya;
They include Britain which also trained Gadaffi's elite forces, France, which provided jets among other things, Italy which provided militarised helicopters shipped in first from the U.S. and the US which has provided transport planes and jeeps etc. Gadaffi has insisted that LIbya keep 70 per cent interest in oil developments. A new administration would provide an opportunity to start to change that.
Cheers, ken hanly
----- Original Message ---- From: Dennis Redmond <metalslorg at gmail.com> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Sun, March 20, 2011 1:00:16 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Left Forum
On Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 8:49 AM, Peter Fay <peterrfay at gmail.com> wrote:
> expect that means the Democrats) are for peace. All this while 110
Tomahawks rained down on the
> coast of Libya from a Democratic administration. This conference is in an
alternate universe.
I'm sorry, but the UN operation is necessary, legal (the Security Council signed off on it, the pro-democracy movement comprises the vast majority of Libyans), and the right thing to do. In fact, this may be the only US foreign intervention since 1945 which is completely and totally justified -- the others have been horrible neocolonial wars. But this situation is the rare exception. There's a massive pro-democracy movement in Libya, and they're being slaughtered with weapons sold to a mad dictator by Europe, Russia and the former Soviet Union.
The UN is, for once, doing its job.
-- DRR ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk