In Libya, Da’esh and al-Qaeda are powerful forces that control lots of territory. Since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, Libya has become a new base for these terrorist groups.
In response, the US and European powers are attacking Libya for the second time in five years, this time invading with 6,000 troops. British special forces have reportedly been there for some time and now are being joined by Italian, French and US units.
NATO’s March 19, 2011 attack on Libya was dressed up as humanitarianism, a moral “responsibility to protect” the people of Benghazi from their own government. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Obama advisors Samantha Power and Susan Rice led the US campaign to justify the deployment of NATO’s air and naval power against Libya’s army.
Back then, the Obama Administration said only air power would be needed, no US “boots on the ground.” That’s because Libyan rebels armed and trained by NATO would force changes in Gaddafi’s government.
The consequences have been horrendous. Chaos and violence reigns in Libya and it is at the epicenter of the refugee crisis that has engulfed North Africa and Europe.
And the “rebels” that NATO worked with hand-in-glove in 2011 have turned out to be Da’esh and al-Qaeda.
This is the sort of royal screw-up often described by liberals as “tragic.” You know, people with the best of intentions cause more harm than good because the world is complicated and, well, “shit happens.”
You know, just like in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Even after Afghanistan and Iraq, the US Secretary of Defense in 2011, Robert Gates, reportedly said, “We were playing it by ear” about what would happen after the rebels in Libya won.
And already in March 2011, when the first invasion of Libya was just getting started, Secretary of State Clinton reportedly knew al-Qaeda was well represented among the “rebels” being armed and trained by NATO to take down Gaddafi (Da’esh wasn’t publicly discussed until 2013).
So what do you think? Is the chaos and violence in Libya “tragic”?
Or is it exactly what a reasonable person in 2011 would have expected to happen in Libya if you put al-Qaeda and its ilk in the driver’s seat? In which case, the chaos and violence in Libya is by design.
Tony Cartalucci puts it this way: “Up to 6,000 troops are being sent to invade and occupy Libya, seizing oilfields allegedly threatened by terrorists NATO armed and put into power in 2011.”
Cartaclucci goes on to explain: “Terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and their various rebrandings are far from being the West's true adversaries. Besides being funded, armed, and backed by the West's closest and oldest Middle Eastern allies—particularly the Saudis and Qataris—these terrorist organizations serve a two-fold purpose. First, they serve as a mercenary army with which the West fights targeted nations by proxy. Second, they serve as a pretext for direct Western military intervention when proxy war fails or is not an option.”
This is how the empire works, over and over again. It's an extremely effective formula for endless interventionism, endless war. Isn’t it time we caught on?
