Voice of Revolution

Reject the Lie of Protecting Human Rights

Oppose U.S. Intervention in Libya!

The U.S. Marxist-Leninist Organization vehemently opposes U.S. plans for military intervention against the people of Libya. U.S. use of force against the Libyan people is a crime of aggression. The open plans promoted for intervention, including a “no-fly zone” are crimes against the peace. We say no to U.S. aggression! We urge the workers and people of the U.S. to stand against U.S. intervention in Libya. We call on the anti-war movement to remain united in opposing all U.S. aggression and demanding All U.S. Troops Home NOW! This is our contribution to peace worldwide.

The U.S. is already positioning its warships and Marines near Libya and stepping up efforts to justify its intervention, with or without authorization from the United Nations. As President Barack Obama stated March 3, he has ordered plans giving the U.S. military “full capacity to act, potentially rapidly.” He said, “I don’t want us hamstrung,” adding that a “humanitarian crisis” or a “situation in which defenseless civilians were finding themselves trapped and in great danger,” would justify intervention by the U.S. In an earlier statement Obama made clear the U.S. could act unilaterally saying, “I’ve asked my administration to prepare the full range of options that we have to respond to this crisis. This includes actions we may take and those we will coordinate with our allies and partners, or those that we’ll carry out through multilateral institutions,” like NATO.

As one of its first actions, the U.S. imposed sanctions, freezing $30 billion in assets. The sanctions include “the property and interests in property of the Government of Libya,” including those of Libya’s central bank — meaning funds belonging to the people of Libya. As the Treasury Department said, “This is the largest blocking under any sanctions program ever.”

Obama justified them saying they will prevent “extreme measures against the people of Libya.” In fact it is U.S. sanctions and use of force that are the measures that will gravely harm the people of Libya, as they have the Iraqis. It is well known that sanctions imposed against Iraq were responsible for killing more than one million Iraqi children and damaging the economy.

In the name of defending human rights, the Pentagon has also dispatched what it calls “aid teams” to Libya’s borders. As Secretary of State Clinton emphasized, “We do believe that there will be a need for support for humanitarian intervention.” These “aid teams” are military forces already on the ground, positioned for rapid deployment into Libya whenever Obama gives the word. These forces are currently positioned in Egypt and Tunisia. This means they could also be used against the strivings of the peoples there to put in place regimes that favor them, including ones that reject foreign interference in their countries and the region.

Most recently, the U.S. is talking of establishing a “no-fly zone.” This too is supposed to protect the people of Libya by “neutralizing” the Libyan Air Force. Secretary of Defense Gates emphasized that the first act in establishing a “no-fly zone” would be massive bombing of Libya, targeting her substantial air defenses. Once again, Americans are expected to forget the experience of the Iraq “no-fly zones,” which like the sanctions are weapons of U.S. aggression and genocide against the peoples.

USMLO calls on all to stand against these crimes and reject U.S. claims that aggression can be justified in the name of defending human rights and “stopping the killings” in Libya. U.S. imperialism does not have the interests of the people at heart, abroad or at home. It acts to safeguard its own narrow interests of empire and world domination. We see massive war funding and the robbery of trillions of the public treasury for war and repression abroad, while the human rights of workers, immigrants and youth are trampled in the mud with massive cuts and anti-worker and anti-immigrant laws at home. It is not the human rights of workers abroad or at home that are being protected, it is U.S. imperialism and its drive for world empire. Let all unite to insist, All U.S. Troops Home Now! No to Intervention in Libya! Defend the Rights of All Abroad and at Home!

U.S. Intervention Increases Danger of World War

U.S. plans for and use of force can only mean more crimes against the peoples while also increasing the danger of world war. Libya is a main supplier of oil to Europe. The U.S attempt now to grab control of the Libyan oil spigot of the European Union, a major competitor of the U.S. monopolies in world markets, is a seriously destabilizing factor in world politics. It increases the danger of world war as the big powers all strive for control over sources of raw materials and spheres of influence. And because of the inter-imperialist contradictions between the U.S. and European interests over control of Libyan oil, the Europeans will not want to play second fiddle to U.S. decisions. NATO will go all out to play a central role and the European Union will want more control over NATO actions.

Within this situation, no one should doubt the possibility that the U.S. or NATO or both together will instigate a “situation in which defenseless civilians were finding themselves trapped and in great danger.” Their sanctions and threats of a “no-fly zone” have already brought great uncertainty. U.S. and European officials themselves keep saying they doubt a decision to intervene militarily will occur absent a dramatic, highly visible event such as widespread massacres or bombing of civilians. “It’s got to be graphic, it’s got to be real,” a NATO official said.

The promotion of the need for such an event is prelude to an actual event, where the U.S. commits the crime and blames it on the Libyan government. The U.S. is notorious worldwide for just such actions, such as those used to justify war against Spain in 1898, aggression against Korea and Vietnam and numerous other examples. Let no one be fooled by U.S. claims of protecting human rights or claims about any such “event” occurring in the coming weeks. Remember the threat of a “mushroom cloud” and photos of the killing of babies in incubators — all “proven” and fabricated by the U.S. to justify invasion and the now 10-year occupation of Iraq.

The firm stand required is:

No to U.S. Intervention in Libya!
No to Use of Force in Settling Conflicts Among Nations!
All U.S. Troops Home Now!

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No to U.S. Intervention

U.S Sends Warships to Libya

Pentagon spokesperson Colonel Dave Lapan of the Marines announced March 1 that the U.S. is moving naval and air forces into the region to "prepare the full range of options" for intervention against Libya. He said that President Obama “asked the military to prepare for these options," saying the situation in Libya is getting worse. Pentagon planners are working on several specific plans so as to have maximum flexibility to implement any option, including “no-fly zones,” and invasion by the Marines. The SS Kearsarge, an amphibious landing craft carrying a crew of 2,000 marines and attack helicopters is being positioned off the Libyan coast. The nuclear aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, with its bombers and fighter jets, is also being positioned there.

If a "no-fly zone" is imposed, it would begin with massive bombing of Libyan air defenses and surrounding areas. Based on similar experience with no-fly zones against Iraq, this will mean killings of many civilians. Enforcement of the no-fly zone would mean U.S. fighter jets and jets from other NATO countries would prevent any aircraft, military or commercial, from taking off from Libyan soil —shooting them down if they did. The measure would also include efforts to specifically isolate Tripoli, the capital, from the rest of the country, while ensuring control of the oil-rich areas in the eastern part of the country. Another measure that could be implemented simultaneously would be to stop all communications between the capital and the rest of the country. Such an action also serves a third option: the landing of forces in Libya, in the name of opening “humanitarian corridors.” Such “aid” forces have already been sent to Libya’s borders in Egypt and Tunisia. U.S. Special Forces are also reportedly on the borders or possibly in Libya. An unconfirmed report by the Pakistan Observer says, “The United States, Britain and France have sent several hundred ‘defense advisors’ to train and support the anti-Qaddafi forces in oil-rich Eastern Libya where ‘armed rebel groups’ have apparently taken over.

“According to an exclusive report confirmed by a Libyan diplomat in the region the three Western states have landed their ‘special forces troops in Cyrinacia and are now setting up their bases and training centers’ to reinforce the rebel forces who are resisting pro-Qaddafi forces in several adjoining areas,” the Pakistan Observer says. The item continues: “A Libyan official who requested not to be identified said that the U.S. and British military gurus were sent on February 23 and 24 night through American and French warships and small naval boats off Libyan ports of Benghazi and Tobruk.

“The Western forces are reportedly preparing to set-up training bases for local militias set-up by the rebel forces for an effective control of the oil-rich region and counter any push by pro-Qaddafi forces from Tripoli.”

The U.S. naval aviation operations are directed by the of the United States Naval Forces Command, in Naples, Italy where the headquarters of the naval forces of Africa Command and the Allied Joint Force are located. All three commands are in the hands of U.S. Admiral Sam J. Locklear III. Also playing an important role is the naval base in Sigonella (Sicily), where U.S. Special Forces teams for covert missions in Africa have been in operation for some time. The entire network of U.S.-NATO bases in Italy, which includes the Sixth Fleet, has been alerted to be ready to carry out “the full range of options.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a speech March 1 at Andrews Air Force Base said the U.S. is making “contact with many Libyans who are organizing in the eastern part of the country, while the revolution is moving toward the west,” that is, towards Tripoli. She then declared that, "We are ready and prepared to offer any assistance to anyone wishing to receive it from the United States." The green light for imposing a “no-fly zone” and landing of U.S.-NATO forces in Libya will likely come at the request, or reported request, of someone among the rebels themselves. A number of “spokesmen” quoted by the monopoly media have reportedly already called for such intervention. For example, Mohammed Ali Abdallah, deputy secretary general of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya. (NFSL) sent out a desperate appeal in the first days: "We are expecting a massacre." "We are sending an SOS to the international community to step in." Without international efforts to restrain Qaddafi, "there will be a bloodbath in Libya in the next 48 hours."

It is also known that some of the “armed rebel forces” have long worked with the CIA, the NFSL among them. The NFSL was founded in 1981 and has offices in Washington, D.C. It has maintained a military force, called the Libyan National Army, in Egypt near the Libyan border. A Google search of National Front for the Salvation of Libya and CIA will quickly confirm hundreds of references.

The National Conference for the Libyan Opposition is another source quoted. This is a coalition formed by the NFSL that also includes the Libyan Constitutional Union, led by Muhammad as-Senussi. The web site of the LCU calls on the Libyan people to return to rule by a king and pledge allegiance to King Idris El-Senussi. The flag used by the coalition is the flag of the king and his former Kingdom of Libya.

According to a New York Times article, February 25, the military wing of the NFSL, using smuggled arms, quickly seized police and military posts in the Mediterranean port city of Benghazi and nearby areas that are north of Libya's richest oil fields and are where most of its oil and gas pipelines, refineries and its liquefied natural gas port are located. The Times and other Western media claim that this area, now under "opposition control," includes 80 percent of Libya's oil facilities.

Given U.S. and NATO military plans and preparations and their conflict over who is to control Libyan oil, one option likely being considered is to divide Libya, much as Yugoslavia was divided. The imperialist would act together to split the oil-rich areas off from the rest of the country in the name of a “humanitarian crisis,” and “saving the people” from Qaddafi. The intervention would not defend human rights but exacerbate them. It would not prevent civil war, but would instead further inflame it so as to make occupation and division of the country that much easier. The situation poses serious dangers for the people of Libya, the region and the world. The conflicts between Europe and the U.S. over control of Libyan oil and natural gas means each will be contending for spheres of influence and control. Dividing the country is one means to potentially resolve conflicts in the interests of the contending imperialist powers. But the conflicts can also readily develop it a regional or world conflict.

The stand for people of the U.S. must be:
No to U.S. Intervention in Libya!
No to NATO Intervention in Libya!
No to Use of Force to Settle Conflicts Among Nations!

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