Obama Announces U.S. Led Assault Upon Libya

By Kenneth J. Theisen

On Friday, March 18 President Obama all but announced that the U.S. will soon engage in another unjust war in the Middle East. This in addition to the overt wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and several covert wars in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and other locations. This new war must be opposed.

Obama’s war announcement occurred one day after the U.N. Security Council voted for war by calling for a no-fly zone over Libya and authorizing "all necessary measures…to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack … including Benghazi, while excluding an occupation force." This vote in essence opens the way for a war led by Western Imperialist powers in Libya. 

The U.N. resolution was passed on a 10-0 vote,  with five abstentions.  The U.S. and its allies lobbied heavily for the vote and to prevent Russia and China from vetoing it.

On Friday Obama made it clear that the U.S. and its allies were ready to launch a military action against Libya. He threatened that if Moammar Qaddafi didn’t immediately halt all attacks on civilians in Libya and pull back his forces from Benghazi and other Libyan cities that the U.N. resolution would be "enforced through military action."

Obama declared that, "These terms are not subject to negotiations."  In order to quiet opposition to these war moves, Obama stated, "The U.S. is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya. We are not going to use force to go beyond a well-defined goal, specifically the protection of civilians in Libya."

But just because the U.S. does not use “ground troops” doesn’t mean that U.S. military forces will not be heavily involved in war, and in fact orchestrating this war. The Reuters newswire service reported that the U.S. military was preparing to deploy additional amphibious assault ships to the Mediterranean in the next few days. This is in addition to the numerous U.S. naval and air forces already deployed in the region.

No one should be surprised if the U.S. actually does deploy ground troops, despite Obama’s statements. Once war is launched it is hard to stop the momentum toward all out war.  Just look at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Hundreds of thousands of troops and war contractors are on the ground in those nations long after the U.S. political and military leadership declared they had accomplished their missions, only to face reality that these unjust wars, wars in which the overwhelming majority of deaths, casualties and suffering is inflicted on civilians, are not easily “won”..

Obama bragged that the action would be done in cooperation with France and Britain. That changes nothing about the nature of the war.  The U.S. has allies in occupying Iraq and Afghanistan as well.  More killers do not change anything except the number of victims.

Of course Obama is doing everything he can to obscure the imperialist nature of this war. Obama declares that his administration is concerned with the situation in Libya for humanitarian reasons. He maintains that Qaddafi would commit brutal repression against the Libyan people, and that his continued rule would destabilize the entire region to the detriment of U.S. allies and partners. He said, "The Democratic values we stand for would be overrun," and the "words of the international community would be rendered hollow."

In reality, the values of the U.S. ruling class are fully expressed in the murderous wars it is waging in the Middle East and central Asia, and are being reiterated in its attack upon Libya. For decades in the Middle East where the U.S. has supported various authoritarian and dictatorial governments.  It still does so in countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain.

Of course Qaddafi is brutal and does repress his people. But he has done so for years with the support of the U.S.  Until recently he cooperated with the imperialist powers.  But now that he can no longer efficiently do the bidding of the U.S. and its allies, they think he has to go.  The actions of the Libyan people, like those of the Egyptian, Tunisian, and other peoples of the region are destabilizing the entire region to the detriment of U.S. allies and partners. They are threatening U.S. domination of the region and worldwide hegemony.  The U.S. is now getting involved to prevent any further threats to its empire and not to protect democracy or the Libyan people. Real power in the hands of the people of the Middle East is one of the greatest threats to the imperialist stability needed by the U.S. Empire.

On March 19 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to go to Paris to engage in discussions regarding the enforcement of the U.N. resolution. Before the United Nations vote, Clinton stated a U.N. no-fly zone over Libya would require the bombing of targets to remove the threat posed by Qaddafi’s regime. The wording of this resolution allows a much larger war than a “no fly zone”..  “…All necessary measures” is very broad language.

And the past should be very instructive about the imposition of no-fly zones.  The most recent no-fly zones were in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq.  Both of those evolved into massive wars with much death and destruction of innocent people in those nations. What makes anyone think this will be any different?

People in Libya or anywhere else on this planet will achieve only domination and oppression by relying on the U.S. in their just struggles. The U.S. imperialists have fought many wars and they were generally disguised with words such as freedom and democracy. They always declare that their enemy consisted of tyrants, dictators, communists, terrorists, etc.  But each time we have been misled and never told the true motives of the people who rule the global American empire.  We can not afford to be lied to again.