NATO in Libya, two weeks on

After   almost  two  weeks  of  air  strikes  against Colonel Qadaffi  military  forces  and  assets,  there  is   no  sign  of  the   end game. Despite   the  NATO  air   cover   under   the   fake    pretext   of    "protecting civilians",  and  despite   the  CIA/MI6  joint   covert   operations,  the   Rebels  have   been  unable   to   make   any   significant   advance   against Colonel  Qaddafi`s  forces. In   fact,   to   evade  NATO, Qaddafi   forces   have   adopted   an   obvious  tactic  in  the  front lines,  which   is   to   get   rid    of   their   regular   army   uniforms    and    deploy   similar  vehicles   used   by   the  Rebels.Which   makes   it   very   difficult  for  NATO   to  distinguish   who  is  who  from  the  air ! Just   this   morning   there   are    reports   of   a  NATO   air  strike   against  a  Rebel  convoy.
 Now   given   that   there   is   no  sign   of   Qaddafi   leaving   anytime  soon,   questions   are  now  being    asked   about   what  next. To   a  certain  degree,  the  Western  coalition  has  definitely  underestimated  Qaddafi`s   ability   to  stay   in  power.One   of   the   reasons   for   this,  is  in  my  view, the  Western   reliance  on   dissident  Libyans   living  abroad !   Few   weeks   ago,   a  lot    of  dissidents  here  in  the  UK,  claimed   that   Qadaffi`s   regime   would  fall  within  days  because    of   mass  defections.Clearly, this  has  not  happened   so  far,  despite   the  recent   defections  ( or  kidnapping ? )   of   people   like  Moussa  Koussa, there   is   no  sign   that  regime   will  collapse  anytime  soon. Indeed,  having  realized  this, the  Western  coalition   is   now   considering   arming   and   training   the  Rebels, which    at   first  glance  seems   to   go  against   the  current    U.N   resolution. However, it  seems   there  is  a  way  around,   as   the  British  prime   argued,  the  resolution   allows   " all  necessary  measures   to  protect  civilians", even  though  one  may  argue  whether    the  Rebels   are   really  ordinary  civilians  or  whether  the  measures   also   apply    to   pro - Qaddafi   civilians !

Muammar Qaddafi and the Western hypocrisy

There  is  no  doubt  that,   the  Arab  regimes, specially  those   regimes  backed  by   the  west,   are  losing   grip  on  power. From  the  semi - fallen  regimes  of  Tunisia  and  Egypt,    to   the   shaken  Saudi/ Bahraini  regimes.  Now   in   recent   weeks,  Libya   has   been   under   a   huge    attention   by   the   big   western   governments ,  who   apparently   are  worried   about   the  brutality   of  Qaddafi`s   regime   on  protesters ,  even   though    a   lot   of   these  protesters   are   armed   with  powerfull   rockets   and   machine  guns.  But  wait,    how   come    protesters    are  able    to   convert  themselves   from  " peacefull "   and  unarmed   protesters   to  well  armed   anti  -  Qaddafi   rebels   in    space   of   three  days ? !!  The  only    logical   answer   I  can   think   of ,  is    that  ,  the   West   has   orchestrated   the  armed   resistance  against  Qaddafi !   Let   me   be  clear,  I   am  not  saying   the  West   orchestrated   the  anti  -  Qaddafi   protests,    clearly   the  Libyan  people   are  unhappy   with    the   Qaddafi   regime,    and    so   they   took   to   the  streets   demanding  change. However,  if    we   consider    the   way    things   have  unfolded ,  first   in   the  U.N  with   the  resignation   of   the  entire   Libyan   deplomatic  mission  (  some  even  calling  for  Western  military  intervention ),  then  the   immediate   recognition   of   the   Rebel  Council   in  Bengahzi   as   the  " legimate "  representative   of   the  Lybyan   people  by   France,  it   becomes  clear   that   the  West   is   fully   behind   the   armed  rebellion. In  fact,   government   officials   in  the   West    are    now   publicly  calling   for    a   no  fly   zone   and   the   supply   of   weapons   to   the  rebels.  The   following    is   the   key   reason,    why   I   think    the  West     is    picking   on   Qaddafi  :

-   To   take   the  attention   away   from    the   shaken   pro  -  Western    regimes ,   such    as   the   Bahraini  and   the   Saudi   regimes.  Having    lost   Mubarak ,  and   having    failed    to   use   Iran  (  and  possibly   Syria )   as    a   distraction,   Libya    was    always    the    next    logical   choise   by    the  West,  given  that  Qaddafi   is   not    pro -  West  (  despite   multi - billion   oil  deals   with   some   Western  powers  such   as  Britain ).


 Now,   with   Russia   and  China  rightly    opposed    to   another   Western   imperial   intervention   in   arab  world,  the  Western  powers   are    ironically   seeking   support    from    their   shaken    puppet    arab  regimes    to    back   a  possible  UN   resolution. In  meantime,     while   Qaddafi   forces   are  gaining   momentum,   the   so -  called   rebels   are  losing  momentum,  possibly  because    their    Western   weapons   supply   is   running   low.

Are we witnessing a domino effect Arab revolution ?

First Tunisia, now Egypt ?!! After the fall of the Tunisian president Ben Ali, there is definitely a growing concern amongst the unelected Arab rulers about who will be the next one.This is certainly the case of the unelected 82 years old dictator, Hosni Mubarak, who the U.S and other western goverment label as a good allie in maintening the Midle East stable. In recent days, thousands of people have gone to the streets demanding the end of Mubarak`s regime. In  responce, Mubarak`s  regime  started  a violent  crackdown on  protesters, which  resulted in hundreds  of  arrests  and  at  least  10  protesters killed.
 The  key  questions  for  me  are  :
a) Will  the  protesters ( youth  in particular)  let  themselves be intimidated  by  the regimes  violent  crackdown ?

b) Will  the  army  support  the  regime ? Or  will  the  army  support  the  people  of  Egypt?

c) Will  the opposition political  movements  such  as  the  Muslim Brotherhood  take  this  life  time opportunity  to bring  down  the  Mubarak regime.

I  personally  hope  the  protesters  will  prevail, and Muslim Brotherhood  will  help  end  Mubarak`s  30  years  rule.

How serious is Obama on Middle East peace process ?

 In  recent  months  Obama  has  shown ( at  least  in  rhetoric )  signs  of  willingness  to  start  " real "  peace  process, however  the  signs  have  been  always  overshadowed  by  the  unwillingness  of  the  Zionist  regime  to  stop  the  illegal  settlements, in  fact  the  regime  humiliated U.S  vice president  Joe  Biden  by  announcing  the  construction  of  1600  illegal  houses  in  East  Jerusalem  during  Biden`s  recent  visit. President  Obama  is  said  to  be  " furious "  about  the  announcement  of  the  constructions  to  which  prime  minister  Netanyahu  said  he  didn`t  know  about  and  offered  his  apologies  to  Washington ! Now  few  weeks  later  in  his  AIPAC  speech , Netanyahu  said  " Jerusalem  is  not  a  settlement. It  is  our  capital ". In  other  words , Israel  considers  the  illegal  settlements  as  " legal ".
Interestingly  at  the  same  AIPAC stage , sec. of  state  Hillary  Clinton  said  that  the status quo between Israelis and Palestinians was “unsustainable” and that building over  East Jerusalem hurt efforts to advance the peace process.

Personal  answer  to  the  posting. Obama  is  serious  enough  for  hard talk , but  not  serious  enough  for  concrete  actions  to  force  the  Zionist  regime  stop  its  violations  of  international  law ! In  fact  Obama  seems  now  to  be  more  focused  on  Iran`s  nuclear  program  than  on  Palestinian  issue !