The invasion of Libya and murder of Gaddafi has been touted by many as the future of warfare. Why use expensive invasions and occupations when you can just drop bombs from the safety of the sky?
Well, the war may be fought by-proxy with jets and remote controlled drones, but the same atrocities remain, even if they happen to be further out of sight. There is no such thing as a clean war.
Confirming this is an in-depth report released by several Middle East Human Rights groups, presenting extensive evidence of war crimes carried out in Libya by the United States and NATO. The coalition stands accused of targeting civilian sites, including schools, government buildings, food warehouses, and private homes.
The report also shows evidence of systematic murder, torture, expulsion and abuse of suspected Gaddafi loyalists by the NATO-backed “rebel” forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC). It describes the forced expulsion of the mostly black-skinned peoples and the ongoing persecution of sub-Saharan migrant workers by forces allied to the NTC and its transitional government.
Investigators also discovered evidence of savage and repeated beatings of prisoners held without trial or charges, the summary execution of pro-Gaddafi fighters, along with witness reports of “indiscriminate and retaliatory murders, including the ‘slaughter’ (i.e., throat slitting) of former combatants.”
What’s that you say? America and NATO shouldn’t be held liable for what the rebels were doing? Of course they should! US-NATO gave the rebels carte blanche, and are therefore just as culpable for the heinous acts committed under their wing.
The lie we were sold, and what the UN mandated, was an operation to protect civilians. But, as estimated by the NTC themselves, the war took 50,000 lives and injured another 50,000 people. And now, with escalating infighting between rival NTC factions, the door is open for full-scale civil war across Libya.
So much for improving security. The only thing US and NATO secured in Libya is control over its natural resources, which were divvied up long before Gaddafi was dragged out of a hole and shot.
Don’t be fooled again. The next time the United States or NATO want to ‘help’ some other nation for whatever cockamamie reason they come up with, rest assured that unspeakable atrocities will be committed for the true motive behind war – furthering corporate interests around the globe.