David Rovics – Tunisia 2011 – see Big Red Sessions
British Lockheed Martins, French Mirages and US Tomahawks have done their savage work, during the UK riots last week, the British and the French bombed Tripoli into submission, killing thousands. NATO backed rebels are on their way and the old regime is crumbling. Reports such as this came in on Sunday night (21 Aug 2011):
The “no-fly” ban that morphed into a Euro-American blitzkrieg was justified to prevent a non-existent “massacre” in Benghazi – a city where human rights workers later concluded that only 110 people died prior to the intervention, many of them pro-government. Now, 30 miles from Tripoli, almost as many civilians have been wiped out by NATO in one night, and no one will ever know how many black Libyans were lynched in the fall of Tawurgha. — Black Agenda Report
Millennia earlier, prior to the Battle of Zama there was one last chance for Carthage to be saved when Scipio (Roman General) and Hannibal (Carthaginian General) met. Scipio had the better infantry and his trumpets would later stampede Hannibal’s war elephants to turn back the Carthaginians.
Hours before, one last chance to negotiate a settlement. Historians suggest that Scipio mistrusted Hannibal because his opponent had a reputation for trickery and ambush. Even though some Senators in Rome were opposed to Scipio’s campaign against Carthage, Scipio could make no settlement with Hannibal. Carthage was destroyed with huge loss of life.
Tripoli – modern day Carthage – was destroyed by the Romans . Libya was influenced by the Greeks, the Arabs, the Berbers, Bedouins. Alexander (‘the Great’) waged campaigns in the region — hence the name Alexandria, the most cosmopolitan of cities in north Africa.
Only a few months ago Obama warned the world of impending massacre in Benghazi at the hands of Gaddafi’s troops. Obama excused US bombing on these grounds. But what of the massacre in Tripoli at the hands of NATO? What excuse will he use there … or will it pass unheeded as did the massacres in Iraq.
Libya is a small country and is now likely turn out like Iraq post Shock & Awe — unstable; only in this case without causing so much impact because of its smaller size. But, as before, lives will be destroyed. It is not possible to sympathise with Qaddafi, he became corrupt, it is the Libyan people who will suffer as NATO tries to set up puppets (sic) to help them extract the oil. The puppets will have little control, as with Iraq, but the question is how will the Libyan people react to the way the US and NATO took away their sovereignty to the land and its resources? Fear might prevail again.
There are many uncertainties now – American debt, European crises, insurrection in London, global economic stagnation, Israel – greater (based on Jewish state) or lesser (two state solution), China’s social dislocation … winds of change, but whither?
Ian Curr
Aug 2011
See Libyan fighting reaches streets of Tripoli – Africa – Al Jazeera English.
See Signum Fidei — no sign of faith from the imperialists