Hillary Clinton Testifies on Benghazi

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies on Benghazi – the attacks and the lessons learned before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, D.C. on January 23, 2013.

The War in Syria: Foreign Fighters and Sectarian Divisions

Over the past months, I have oftentimes spoken about the numerous foreign fighters active in Syria. Now, Jason Ditz details on the website AntiWar that a “report by the UN says that rebel fighters have come from 29 countries, and are overwhelmingly Sunnis flocking to the nation to fight against the Alawite President Bashar Assad”.[1]  The Turco-U.S. and Saudi-Qatari axis has been providing support for activists bent on turning the conflict into sectarian battle between Sunni Muslim opposed to the Alawite rulers of the Syrian Republic. Ditz, in turn, relies on Reuter’s appropriately titled piece ‘Foreign fighters fuel the sectarian flames in Syria’. The authors, Justyna Pawlak and Stephanie Nebehay state that the “deepened sectarian divisions in Syria may diminish prospects for post-conflict reconciliation even if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled. And the influx of foreign fighters raises the risk of the war spilling into neighbouring countries”.[2]  Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon now do really appear to be in the firing line. Turkey’s long-standing conflict with the PKK could get a shot in the arm by the Kurdish fighters in Syria and the stance taken by the neighbouring KRG. Iraq, on the other hand, is experiencing its own tensions between Shi’ite and Sunni elements, Arab and Kurdish leaders against the backdrop of the unevenly divided oil wealth underground. Lebanon has been a powder keg for years and any spark could trigger a new civil war or power struggle. And then there is Israel and the Palestinians who are also being sucked into the fight.

UN human rights investigators led by Brazilian expert Paulo Pinheiro have now stated that the “battles between government forces and anti-government armed groups [now] approach the end of their second year, [and currently, ] the conflict has become overtly sectarian in nature”.[3]  According to some, such as the outspoken critic Sibel Edmonds and the investigative Voltaire Network‘s Thierry Meyssan, the whole struggle against Assad has been an orchestrated affair from the very beginning with outside players, like the Sunni states Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey overtly and/or covertly supporting a U.S.-led agenda to effect regime change in Syria. After two years of a primarily undecided armed confrontation, the true colours of the “foreign” forces at work against secular and Alawite-led Baath regime in Syria are beginning to shine through. Karen Abuzayd, a member of the group of UN human rights investigators, characterises the anti-Assad foreign fighters in the following way: “They come from all over, Europe and America, and especially the neighbouring countries”.[4]  Conversely, the Baath regime is also able to count on some supporters: the report notes that ‘the Lebanese Shia group, Hezbollah . . . confirmed that group members were in Syria fighting on behalf of Assad’, while ‘reports of Iraqi Shia coming to fight [in Syria have also been heard, while] . . . Iran, a close ally of Assad, confirmed in September [2012] that its Revolutionary Guards were in Syria providing assistance’.[5]

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[1] Jason Ditz, “UN: Syria’s Rebels Come From 29 Countries” AntiWar (20 Dec 2012). http://news.antiwar.com/2012/12/20/un-syrias-rebels-come-from-29-countries/.

[2] Justyna Pawlak and Stephanie Nebehay, “Foreign fighters fuel the sectarian flames in Syria” The Independent (20 September 2012). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/foreign-fighters-fuel-the-sectarian-flames-in-syria-8427986.html.

[3] Justyna Pawlak and Stephanie Nebehay, “Foreign fighters fuel the sectarian flames in Syria”.

[4] Justyna Pawlak and Stephanie Nebehay, “Foreign fighters fuel the sectarian flames in Syria”.

[5] Justyna Pawlak and Stephanie Nebehay, “Foreign fighters fuel the sectarian flames in Syria”.

The Syrian Opposition: Oil and Other Special Interests or the Rise of Moaz al-Khatib

The new head of the Syrian opposition, Moaz al-Khatib is no stranger to the wicked ways of the West, in spite of his position as the imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. The Guardian’s Luke Harding and Martin Chulov declare that “his moderation lends him credibility”.[1]  But there is more than meets the eye, Harding and Chulov describe him as “religious moderate, with impeccable revolutionary credentials, and a geologist as well”, but al-Khatib also “studied geophysics [and] spent six years working as an engineer. He is also a member of the Syrian Geological Society and the Syrian Society for Psychological Science, and was president of the Islamic Society of Urbanisation”.[2]  And where did he work as an engineer???  The investigative Voltaire Network‘s Thierry Meyssan explains that Moaz al-Khatib “worked for six years for the al-Furat Petroleum Company (1985-91), a joint-venture between the national company and other foreign enterprises, including the Anglo-Dutch Shell, with whom he has maintained contact”.[3]

What a surprise . . . and oil man is to lead the Syrian opposition, hell-bent on ousting Assad and turning over Syria’s oil proceeds to the highest bidder. Meyssan continues his biographic sketch of al-Khatib as follows: in “1992, he inherited the prestigious charge of preacher at the [Umayyad] mosque [in Damascus] from his father, Sheikh Mohammed Abu al-Faraj al-Khatib. He was rapidly relieved of his functions and forbidden to preach anywhere in Syria. However, this episode did not occur in 2012, and has nothing to do with the present contestation – it happened twenty years ago, under Hafez el-Assad. At that time, Syria was supporting the international intervention to liberate Kuwait, in respect of international law, in order to get rid of their Iraqi rival, and also to forge closer ties with the West. As for the Sheikh, he was opposed to “Desert Storm” for the same religious motives which were proclaimed by [Usamah bin] Laden – with whom he aligned himself – notably the refusal of Western presence on Arab lands, which they consider sacrilegious. This position led him to deliver a number of anti-semitic and anti-Western diatribes. Following that, the Sheikh continued his activity as a religious teacher, notably at the Dutch Institute in Damascus. He made numerous trips abroad, mainly to Holland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Finally, he settled in Qatar. In 2003-04, during the attribution of oil and gas concessions, he returned to Syria as a lobbyist for the Shell group”.[4]

Meyssan concludes his picture of the new Syrian opposition leader thus: Moaz al-Khatib “is a member of the Muslim brotherhood, and declared this quite clearly at the end of his speech of investiture at Doha. According to the usual technique of the Brotherhood, he adapts not only the form, but also the content of his speeches to his audience. Sometimes leaning towards a multi-religious society, sometimes towards the restoration of sharia law. In his writings, he qualifies Jewish people as “enemies of God”, and Shiite Muslims as “rejectionist heretics”, epithets which are the equivalent of a death sentence”.[5]

How this bode for the future of Syria???  What do these facts indicate about the direction of a post-Assad Damascus???  Upon the urging of Washington, the Syrian opposition convened in Doha recently, where the umbrella organisation called the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces was proclaimed and then, the U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Stephen Ford prevailed upon the assembled “revolutionaries” to appoint the supposedly moderate and quite camera-friendly Moaz al-Khatib to head those who to end Assad’s life and rule, in a fashion similar to Qaddafi in Libya.[6]  Robert Ford’s appointment dates back to April 2011,[7] at the very start of the current unrest. The Obama administration judged the appointment prudent at the time, as the position had been left vacant during the Bush years, leaving the U.S. without any way to influence the situation on the ground. And once more, the law of unintended consequences seems to come into play now, in a way somewhat reminiscent of the blowback caused Brzezinski’s actions during the Carter administration.[8]

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[1] Luke Harding and Martin Chulov, “Moaz al-Khatib: ex-imam charged with uniting Syria’s opposition” The Guardian (13 November 2012). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/12/moaz-al-khatib-syria-opposition.

[2] Luke Harding and Martin Chulov, “Moaz al-Khatib: ex-imam charged with uniting Syria’s opposition”.

[3] Thierry Meyssan, “The many faces of Sheikh Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib” VoltaireNet (23 November 2012). http://www.voltairenet.org/article176707.html.

[4] Thierry Meyssan, “The many faces of Sheikh Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib”.

[5] Thierry Meyssan, “The many faces of Sheikh Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib”.

[6] Cfr. Thierry Meyssan, “The many faces of Sheikh Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib”.

[7] Abby Philips, “Ford in spotlight amid Syria revolt” Politico (25 April 2011). http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0411/a_useful_guy_528d2a43-3845-42b3-a9d1-c07b41fbf2fb.html.

[8] Cfr. C. Erimtan, “The War in Afghanistan: The legacy of Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Volatile Situation in Pakistan” Today’s Zaman (07 October 2010). http://tiny.cc/7gsi2.

Libya: One Year Later

Libyans celebrated the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule a year ago but its transition to democracy has been far from easy. The country is now facing profound challenges, most notably the threat from armed militias. Guests: Abdel Moneim al-Yasser, Jason Pack, Faraj Najem (23 Oct 2012).

Alleged Killers of US Envoy Apprehended???

On Thursday, 4 October 2012, the Turkish English-language daily Hürriyet Daily News reports that two ‘Tunisian citizens accused of being behind the recent murder of the U.S. ambassador to Libya in Benghazi were apprehended last night by police at Istanbul Atatürk Airport while trying to enter Turkey with fake passports, according to private channel Kanal D. The suspects, who were not identified, were detained by members of Turkey’s anti-terrorism squad and subsequently taken to the Istanbul Police Department in the city’s Fatih district for questioning, hurriyet.com.tr reported. Envoy Chris Stevens, as well as three other American diplomatic staff, were killed on Sept. 11 by suspected militants in the middle of a protest in Benghazi over The Innocence of Muslims, a U.S.-made film that mocks Islam’.[1]

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[1] “Alleged killers of US envoy apprehended in Istanbul: Claim” Hürriyet Daily News (04 Oct 2012). http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/alleged-killers-of-us-envoy-apprehended-in-istanbul-claim.aspx?pageID=238&nID=31723&NewsCatID=359.

Death of an Ambassador: Chris Stevens’ Story

The worldwide protests in connection with the atrocious video clip posted on YouTube have also managed to bury the brutal revenge killing of the American Ambassador in Libya. In The Independent Kim Sengupta reveals that the “killings of the US ambassador to Libya and three of his staff were likely to have been the result of a serious and continuing security breach, The Independent can reveal. American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential”.[1]

Rather than the accidental outcome of popular outrage over an admittedly atrocious video clip, the brutal murder of Stevens seems to have been a pre-planned revenge killing. Turns out that Stevens had been more than just pleased with the murder of Colonel Gadhafi, instead giving an emphatic thumbs up looking at the erstwhile Libyan strongman’s abused dead body. And now, the Ambassador has suffered a similar fate. Coincidence or poetic justice or simply revenge eventually executed???  Sengupta continues that the “US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the “safe house” in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed “safe”. Some of the missing papers from the consulate are said to list names of Libyans who are working with Americans, putting them potentially at risk from extremist groups, while some of the other documents are said to relate to oil contracts. According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and “lockdown”, under which movement is severely restricted. Mr Stevens had been on a visit to Germany, Austria and Sweden and had just returned to Libya when the Benghazi trip took place with the US embassy’s security staff deciding that the trip could be undertaken safely”.[2]  This sounds eerily like what happened in 2001, when the White House had been warned of an imminent attack involving hijacked planes but nothing was done and no precautions were taken. Does this point to a certain amount of hybris on the part of U.S. officials or is this just another case of opportunities missed???

Sengupta then reveals the kicker: “There is growing belief that the attack was in revenge for the killing in a drone strike in Pakistan of Mohammed Hassan Qaed, an al-Qa’ida operative who was, as his nom-de-guerre Abu Yahya al-Libi suggests, from Libya, and timed for the anniversary of the 11 September attacks”.[3]  And the anti-Muslim video protests just happened to take place at the same time.

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[1] Kim Sengupta, “Revealed: inside story of US envoy’s assassination” The Independent (14 September 2012). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/revealed-inside-story-of-us-envoys-assassination-8135797.html.

[2] Kim Sengupta, “Revealed: inside story of US envoy’s assassination”.

[3] Kim Sengupta, “Revealed: inside story of US envoy’s assassination”.

Another Muhammad Controversy: The Innocence of Muslims

A look at the conflicting reports about who’s behind the 14-minute anti-Prophet Muhammad trailer that’s sparked violent protests in the Middle East (13 Sep 2012).

Meanwhile, the rage goes on and on and on . . . so, here is the trailer causing all these diverse Muslims in the Middle East and beyond to shout and protest.

The atrocious clip has led to a lot of mayhem, as recounted by Anne Sewell in the Digital Journal: ‘Protests and outrage are now spreading to Lebanon and Iran, and continue in Yemen and Egypt, over the film “Innocence of Muslims”, released on YouTube, which insults the Prophet Mohammed’.[i]  Going into detail, as follows: ‘Lebanon: On Thursday [,13 September), in the Lebanese city of Tripoli, several hundred people have rallied, and are burning both American and Israeli flags, in outrage over the American-made film mocking Islam's prophet Mohammed. In Sidon, on Lebanon's Mediterranean coast men and women carried banners containing slogans like "freedom does not mean insults to religion” and “who are you, you lowlifes, to insult what is good for people.” Meanwhile the Pope visited Lebanon, amidst all the protests. Yemen: In Yemen on Thursday, at least 4 protesters have reportedly been killed, after hundreds of demonstrators stormed the U.S. embassy. According to witnesses, plumes of smoke were seen rising outside the embassy, while protesters chanted "Death to America". Local media reported that two cars exploded after two bombs were thrown into the embassy compound. Heavy gunfire has also been heard in the area. Libya: As at 08:53 GMT on Friday [, 14 September), a 48-hour no-fly zone has been imposed in Benghazi, Libya, following the attacks on the city’s U.S. consulate that killed the American ambassador and three embassy staffers. All flights to and from the city have been suspended. Egypt: In Egypt this morning, Cairo police are erecting a wall of concrete blocks around the U.S. embassy in an attempt to prevent protesters from entering the compound, as outrage continues in the city’.[2]

Crowds are gathering in the Egyptian capital for a third day of protests against an anti-Muslim movie filmed by a US director (14 Sept 2012).

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[1] Anne Sewell, “’Innocence of Muslims’ protests spread further in Middle East” Digital Journal (14 Sep 2012). http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/332793#ixzz26RbrAQhg.

[2] Anne Sewell, “’Innocence of Muslims’ protests spread further in Middle East”.

Assad Regime Enemy of God

Former Syrian prime minister Riad Hijab made his first public appearance since his defection, saying the government of Bashar al-Assad is collapsing (14 August 2012).

Meanwhile, on top of Mister Hijab speaking pious words, now even Reuters admits that foreign elements are infiltrating Syria: from Beirut Mariam Karouny reports that “[v]eteran fighters of last year’s civil war in Libya have come to the front-line in Syria, helping to train and organize rebels under conditions far more dire than those in the battle against Muammar Gaddafi, a Libyan-Irish fighter has told Reuters. Hussam Najjar hails from Dublin, has a Libyan father and Irish mother and goes by the name of Sam. A trained sniper, he was part of the rebel unit that stormed Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli a year ago, led by Mahdi al-Harati, a powerful militia chief from Libya’s western mountains. Harati now leads a unit in Syria, made up mainly of Syrians but also including some foreign fighters, including 20 senior members of his own Libyan rebel unit. He asked Najjar to join him from Dublin a few months ago, Najjar said”.[1]

In fact, Al-Harati is also an Irish citizen and he leads the Liwa al-Ummah: in Foreign Policy, Mary Fitzgerald writes that “[t]hey look different from your average Syrian rebel fighter, typically dressed in a scruffy mismatch of military fatigues and civilian clothes. Most of these men are decked out in identical fatigues, boots, and khaki-colored T-shirts. A handful sport dazzling white T-shirts emblazoned with the Liwa al-Ummah crest: a raised fist set against the tri-starred green, white, and black flag adopted by the Syrian rebels. “Revolutionaries of Sham,” it reads, using the Arabic term for historical greater Syria, above the name Liwa al-Ummah”.[2]

According to the good folks of Wikipedia, Mahdi al-‘Harati decided to form the group following discussions with supporters of the Syrian opposition during a fact-finding mission to Syria in early 2012. The group does not actively try to recruit Libyans, and about 90% of its 6,000+ members are Syrians, with the remaining 10% a mixture of Libyans and other Arabs. Most of the Libyans are former members of the Tripoli Brigade, which received training from Qatari Special Forces in the town of Nalut during the Libyan civil war. Most of the Syrian fighters are former members of other rebel groups who decided to join Liwaa al-Umma, whilst others have joined as individuals. Compared to most other rebel groups in Syria, Liwaa Al-Umma is seen as better organized and more disciplined. Although most of its members are Syrian, foreign volunteers play a key role in the leadership of the group. The main reason behind the formation of the group was so that Al-Harati and other foreign volunteers could share with the Syrian opposition their expertise and experiences fighting elsewhere. Although Liwaa Al-Umma and the Free Syrian Army share a common enemy, the Syrian government, the two groups are separate. The group also reportedly has plans to set up a political wing to represent it in post-war Syria . . . According to Thomas Pierret, a lecturer in contemporary Syrian Islam at the University of Edinburgh, Al-Harati is a Libyan revolutionary who wishes to help the Syrian revolution, and is not a jihadist. Members of the group have described the Syrian civil war as a “people’s revolution” and not an “al-Qaeda jihad”. Other members of the group, however, have described the group as having an “Islamic frame of reference,” with the group’s Facebook page listing goals such as defending the ummah and liberating it from dictatorship and aggression; co-operating to establish Islamic governance, and working to unite the ummah and bring about its “renaissance’.[3] Fitzgerald goes on that the “Facebook page for Liwa al-Ummah is a mix of battle updates, photographs of training sessions, and grainy footage of operations (one of which was dubbed “the Libyan ambassador,” a reference to the brigade’s Libyan contingent). It also includes a video clip of the late Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian religious scholar who provided the theological underpinning for the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s, outlining when jihad becomes fard ayn, meaning an individual duty. A message bylined by Harati contains an invitation to “join the jihad in the land of al-Sham.” The Facebook page also includes a mission statement of sorts, outlining the brigade’s principles and goals. The goals include defending the ummah and liberating it from dictatorship and aggression; cooperating to establish Islamic governance (though no detail is given as to what this might entail); and working to unite the ummah and bring about its “renaissance” (the Arabic word they use is ennahda, the name of the Islamist ruling party in Tunisia). It was these objectives that appealed to Mohammed al-Sukni, a 28-year-old engineer who serves as Liwa al-Ummah’s commander in Homs, the restive city in central Syria. “I joined because I liked the central idea of the ummah and raising the banner of Islam,” he says. “I would like to see Syria with a moderate Islamic government — something like Tunisia or Turkey. Liwa al-Ummah is different from the other brigades in that it is not just fighting the regime, but it is also preparing for after the war. I think it will play a pivotal role now and in the future.” This is echoed by Hassan Barakat, who recently brought his group of 150 rebel fighters in Maaret al-Numan, a town on the Damascus-Aleppo highway, under the auspices of Liwa al-Ummah. “The idea of the ummah, of Muslims cooperating together, is uplifting,” he says. “It gives us a sense of dignity””.[4]

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[1]Mariam Karouny, “Exclusive: Libyan fighters join Syrian revolt” Reuters (14 August 2012). http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/14/us-syria-crisis-rebels-idUSBRE87D06G20120814.

[2 Mary Fitzgerald, “The Syrian Rebels' Libyan Weapon” Foreign Policy (09 August 2012). http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/09/the_syrian_rebels_libyan_weapon.

[3]“Liwaa Al-Umma” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwaa_Al-Umma.

[4 Mary Fitzgerald, “The Syrian Rebels’ Libyan Weapon-2”. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/09/the_syrian_rebels_libyan_weapon?page=0,1.

Libya, Mali, and the Spectre of Al Qaeda

At the beginning of this month, I posted an entry on Mali and the recent misdeeds of the Islamist group Ansar Dine.[1]  Now the insightful historian and journalist Stephen Kinzer has written an op-ed that connects the dots between the Assisted Rebellion in Libya and the current Islamist reign of terror in northern Mali: “This catastrophe did not “just happen.” It is the direct result of an episode that may at first seem unrelated: the US-led intervention in Libya last year. Rarely in recent times has there been a more vivid example of how such interventions can produce devastating unexpected results. Under the regime of Moammar Khadafy, who was killed during the Libyan war, a portion of the army was made up of Tuaregs. They are a nomadic people whose traditional homeland is centered in northern Mali. After Khadafy was deposed, they went home — armed with potent weaponry they brought from Libya. Seeking to press their case for a homeland in Mali, they quickly overran the lightly armed Malian army. Into this upheaval stepped another group, shaped not by ethnicity but by devotion to an extreme form of Islam. It has attracted Al Qaeda militants from many countries, including Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, and Algeria. They seek to create a pure Muslim state — and are destroying mosques and Islamic monuments that they believe represent the wrong kind of Islam”.[2]

It think that it is very telling that Kinzer actually talks about “Al Qaeda militants from many countries” to describe the people that make up Ansar Dine, the Islamist group that has hijacked the Tuareg incursion against the Mali central government in Bamoko. In other words, even serious writers have no qualms about appropriating U.S.foreign policy talking points, insinuating that the West is really at war with extremist Islam. Kinzer continues in this vein, indicating that this “is an emerging crisis that could engage the world for years. A vast region has fallen out of the control of central government and into the hands of violent radicals. They may cause far more death and suffering than Khadafy ever did. Four officials in Washingtonpressed hard for intervention in Libyalast year and managed to persuade President Obama that it was necessary to avoid a humanitarian disaster. When the four of them — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ambassador to the United Nation Susan Rice, and two staff members at the National Security Council, Samantha Power and Gayle Smith — decided to lobby for this intervention, did they consider the possible consequences?”.[3]  The population of northern Mali seems destined to go through a rough period in the foreseeable future. Recently, the African Union (AU) has called upon Ansar Dine to renege their ties with the “catch-all ghost entity” that seems to secure media coverage and global notoriety. The news agency Reuters reports that ‘Malian Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine can be part of a negotiated political solution to reunite the divided West African country if it breaks with al Qaeda and its allies, a senior African Union official said on Monday [, 16 July]’.[4]

In Addis Ababa, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra declared that “We have not yet exhausted all the possibilities to reach a peaceful solution to this situation . . . We do encourage Ansar Dine to distance itself from al Qaeda and come to the table as a Malian national group”.[5]  Writing before this latest AU initiative, that seems doomed to fail, Kinzer rhetorically muses: “By building a jihadist army in Afghanistan, the United States helped create a transnational terrorist force that has plunged an entire region into war. The invasion and occupation of Iraq set off a shattering civil conflict. Now Mali can be added to the list of countries that have been pushed into instability by American-led military action”.[6]  Kinzer seems to have forgotten the countries ofYemen andSyria as examples of areas that have been destabilised as a result of American interventionism and fear-mongering.

On a purely technical note, one cannot but wonder who or what constitutes the link with “al Qaeda” that Ansar Dine is now supposed to renounce. The world has been reshaped into another bi-polar opposition in the aftermath of the Cold War. On the one hand, there is the USAand its allies and facing them is the new, unseen enemy known only as the “catch-all ghost entity” “al Qaeda”. The fact that U.S.military interventionism leads to numerous unintended consequences, instability and bloodshed seems incontrovertible. However, inserting the name “al Qaeda” into the equation seems nothing more than a narrative device employed to compose a readily digestible plot that can be sold by the world’s media outlets and other talking heads. The founder and leader of Ansar Dine, Iyad Ag Ghaly is a Malian Tuareg who has been fighting the good fight against the central government in Bamoko since the 1990s. As an Islamist fighter, he has “rumoured ties to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb”, as expressed on his dedicated Wiki page.[7]  The only references cited in connection with this rumour are some recent AFP articles dealing with the current events inMali. In other words, who or what is Ansar Dine’s connection with this perfidious enemy of the West???  What is Al Qaeda???  The name of a “catch-all ghost entity” that has no counterpart in the real world??

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[1] “What is happening in Mali and where is Timbuktu???” A Pseudo-Ottoman Blog (July 2012). http://sitanbul.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/what-is-happening-in-mali-and-where-is-timbuktu/.

[2] Stephen Kinzer, “US inadvertently creates a terrorist haven in Mali” The Boston Globe (15 July 2012). http://articles.boston.com/2012-07-15/opinion/32661023_1_tuaregs-malian-army-timbuktu.

[3] Stephen Kinzer, “US inadvertently creates a terrorist haven inMali”.

[4] “AU urges Mali Ansar Dine rebels to break with Qaeda” Reuters (16 July 2012). http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-07-16/news/sns-rt-us-au-mali-ansardinebre86f11u-20120716_1_mnla-tuaregs-iyad-ag-ghali.

[5] “AU urges Mali Ansar Dine rebels to break with Qaeda”.

[6] Stephen Kinzer, “US inadvertently creates a terrorist haven inMali”.

[7] “Iyad Ag Ghaly” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyad_Ag_Ghaly.

Libya Elections 2012

The apparently orchestrated Arab Awakening and Libya’s violent Assisted Rebellion, which ended in Colonel Gadhafi’s violent death, have now finally born their first tangible fruits, as related by AP’s Maggie Michael: ‘Jubilant Libyans chose a new parliament Saturday [, 7 July] in their first nationwide vote in decades, but violence and protests in the restive east underscored the challenges ahead as the oil-rich North African nation struggles to restore stability after the ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. One person was killed and two wounded in a gunbattle between security forces and anti-election protesters in the eastern city of Ajdabiya, according to the head of the election commission. Nouri al-Abari said the polling centre targeted by the protesters was later reopened and voting commenced normally. The shooting followed a attacks on polling centres in the eastern half of the country, which was the cradle of the revolution against Gadhafi but is angry about the perceived domination of power by rivals in Tripoli. The vote capped a transition that has exposed major fault lines ranging from the east-west divide to efforts by Islamists to assert power’.[1]

In other words, the transition to democracy in Libyahas apparently not been a complete success. Now, “major fault lines ranging from the east-west” are beginning to expose the power-struggle between Islamist forces and so-called proponents of democracy, arguably backed by major international oil and gas companies desirous of big shares in the North African country’s underground wealth. Still, the BBC optimistically reports that now ‘[p]artial results are expected later in the week, with some unofficial exit polls suggesting a liberal alliance was leading Islamist parties. Officials said turnout on Saturday was about 60%. Voting continued in some areas where technical difficulties caused delays’.[2]  Libyans have not been able to cast votes since 1964 . . . a dentist Adam Thabet said “I have a strange but beautiful feeling today”.[3]

The UN and the Libyan Electoral High Commission (HNEC) provide these statistical data: Libyahas ‘2.8 million registered voters from around 3-3.5 million eligible (45% women). 2,639 individual candidates (competing for 120 seats in 69 constituencies). 374 party lists from more than 100 political entities (competing for 80 party seats in 20 constituencies). 559 women registered for party seats (44%). 88 women registered for individual seats (3%)’.[4]  In contrast, last year the Obama Administration declared that the costs of the war in Libya amounted to $550 million.[5]  Additionally, Canada spent about $110 million CAD, France $813 million USD, Italy $1.24 billion USD, the UK $333 million USD, and the U.S. in total $1.3 billion USD.[6]  In other words, a grand total of about $3.5 billion USD were spent as subsidies for the oil and gas industry, or for the benefit of 2,8 million registered Libyan voters casting ballots on who should take responsibility for selling offLibya’s natural assets . . . France, Italy, and the UK are now going through difficult times as the Euro crisis widens and austerity measures cut deep and deeper. As the map reproduced below indicates, other states also contributed: namely, the EU members Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Sweden as well as the UAE, Qatar, and the North Sea Oil-rich tiny nation of Norway.

At the beginning of July, the Libyan Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Prof. Fathi Al Akkari said that “Libyaneeds everything. There is huge demand for goods, services and know-how from all sectors of the economy and Libyawelcomes all to support its rebuilding efforts”.[7]  At the end of June, over 150 delegates from Canada, China, Germany, Egypt, Italy, UAE, UK, GCC, Middle East, USA and other countries participated in the Future Libya Development Forum event, held in Dubai. These individuals were there to “demonstrate and reassure their commitment to the Libyan market and create and strengthen their trading links with Libya’s public and private sector business communities”.[8]  In the meantime, hapless Libyan voters were given the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights in an effort to convince them and the world that Libya is moving forward . . .

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[2] Maggie Michael, “Violence mars Libyan election  ” AP (08 July 2012). http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/114867-violence-mars-libyan-election.

[2] “Libya election: Count under way after historic vote” BBC News (08 July 2012). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18758389.

[3] Maggie Michael, “Violence mars Libyan election  ”.

[4] “Libya election: Count under way after historic vote”.

[5] “Libyan war cost $550 million so far, lawmaker says” Reuters (30 March 2011). http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/us-libya-usa-cost-idUSTRE72T6XZ20110330.

[6] “Funds spent by Foreign Powers on War in Libya. – 2011 military intervention in Libya” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_military_intervention_in_Libya.

[7] “Libya open to doing business with international partners, Minister.” BI-ME (04 July 2012). http://www.libyaninvestment.com/libya-business-news/65313.html.

[8] “Dubai Chamber endorses Libya Infrastructure and Rebuild Conference” UAE (08 February 2012). http://www.ameinfo.com/289465.html.