Clarity on Libya: MI6 is not part of the United Front

(new-power.org)

As the Gaddafi regime is slowly dislodged in Tripoli, more and more information is being revealed about the the extensive NATO support for the so-called rebels. With all the bad press received about botched intelligence operations and the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the imperialists and their press are using this moment to revel in their apparent success in Libya. The imperialists are brazenly bragging in the press about their extensive involvement with the anti-Gaddafi operation from the beginning. Most of all, the imperialists are proud of their Tripoli operation.

Before the NATO intervention, Gaddafi was clearly winning. NATO changed that. As NATO bombers prevented any movement of Gaddafi’s forces in the vast desert between Libya’s cities, the NATO-backed forces were able to gather strength and slowly advance, taking one city at a time. The NATO-backed forces slowly gathered forces as Gaddafi was bogged down in Tripoli. NATO’s strategy created a problem: how to take Tripoli? After all, Gaddafi had massive support here. It was in Tripoli that a massive rally was held in support of the regime on July 8, 2011. According to the imperialist reports, the battle of Libya was planned by an “A Team,” an elite group of British diplomats, spies and special forces.

This team was headed up by Sir John Jenkins, the former British ambassador to Iraq and former director from the Middle East at the Foreign Office, a lifelong expert on the Middle East. It contained about twenty diplomats, military experts, and development experts. It worked with another group made up of experienced British military officers and longtime MI6 assets already operating in Libya.

According to the imperialist media, this group revamped and organized the NATO-backed Libyan National Transitional Council’s military organizational structures, communications and logistics. They advised the NATO-backed forces how to infiltrate Gaddafi territory to undermine the regime. This probably included the use of rooftop snipers by the NATO-backed forces, who reportedly fired randomly at people, to cause panic as the offensive began. According to the mainstream media:

“The rebels smuggled undercover forces into Tripoli, carrying communications equipment, including satellite phones which they used to identify key targets for the RAF to attack with laser-guided bombs.”

Thus the West was able to bomb a corridor into Tripoli from the West for the rebels to enter. And NATO bomb neighborhoods that refused to surrender. The bodies piled up from NATO bombs and death squads. Tha mainstram media reports that Tripoli has become littered with mass graves:

“In the Tajoura district of the capital, local people prepared a mass grave for the bodies of 22 African men who appeared to have been recruited to fight for Gaddafi. One of the dead had his hands tied behind his back.”

Another part of the operation was to personally threaten Gaddafi’s generals: defect or die. MI6 operatives personally contacted Gaddafi’s numerous commanders to personally deliver the warning. British intelligence bragged:

“That’s pressure. It worked in Iraq [too].”

As of today, it is being reported that the NATO-backed rebels are still unable to take all of Tripoli. They are also unable to take Sirte, the birthplace of Gaddafi. NATO is clearing the way with bombs once again. According to the mainstream press:

“NATO jets have flown nearly 20,000 sorties in the past month, including about 7,500 strike attacks.”

According to Al Jezeera, when this conflict started Gaddafi only had around 12,000 soldiers. This was before defections. Even with all this military might arrayed against the regime, it held onto power against overwhelming odds. It took NATO about a half a year to dislodge Gaddafi. And, the fight may not be fully over.

As the tide turned, Gaddafi increasingly reached out to Islamists amongst NATO’s rebels. He may be hoping that the more radical Islamists will be cut out of post-Gaddafi, NATO-backed regime. Gaddafi reportedly stated in a telephone interview:

“We will fight inch by inch. This is our land. We will arm the entire Libyan people. Anyone who co-operates with the crusaders is a traitor. We are not afraid of your rockets or your air raids. We do not fear you. You were defeated in Somalia, in Lebanon, in Iraq. You were beaten by bin Laden. We will defend our honor, our families, our homeland.”

The Islamists have played a most reactionary role in Libya up to this point. Will they remain in the West’s pocket? How the anti-imperialist struggle in Libya will develop at this stage is not clear.

What should be clear to all is how poorly much of the First Worldist “left” behaved in this crisis. There is a saying that you cannot be neutral on a moving train. Much of the First Worldist “left” revealed themselves as total lackeys of imperialism. They were so against Gaddafi that they became de facto shills for NATO. They, consciously or not, entered into a united front with MI6. Now, of course, they will say they were really acting out of solidarity with the Libyan people. However, the reality is that the vast majority of their readers are made up of Western activists. The role of these MI6 “leftists” in the First World was to legitimate the imperialist narrative and undermine the anti-interventionist and anti-imperialist movements.

This crisis has once again demonstrated the need for scientific leadership. The principal contradiction in the world is between the First World versus the Third World. NATO’s regime change was a blatant act of aggression. The correct line is one of critical support to those who resist imperialism. Support the broad united front against imperialism. Hold the red flag high.

Sources

1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8723490/Libya-British-A-team-that-laid-the-ground-for-battle-of-Tripoli.html
2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368264/Libya-MI6-puts-gun-Gaddafis-generals-heads-warn-defect-die.html
3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/aug/27/libya-hunt-gaddafi-live-blog
4. http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2011/08/22/nato__racing_to_wrap_up_campaign/
5. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368264/Libya-MI6-puts-gun-Gaddafis-generals-heads-warn-defect-die.html#ixzz1WGSZOPPb
6. http://news.yahoo.com/libyans-count-deadly-cost-battle-tripoli-015025675.html
7. http://markcurtis.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/britain-qadafi-and-the-libyan-islamic-fighting-group/
8. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24096
9.http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24311