Libya and the U.S. and OIL

Once upon a time the U.S. had legitimized Colonel Muammer al-Qadaffi's regime, which was guilty of political repression and had a long history of human rights violations, and today U.S. is backing force in Libya. 

But why is U.S. backing force in Libya but not in Bahrain??? It will be the topic of another post...

Once referred to as the "mad dog" of the Middle East by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Qadaffi has sought reconciliation with the U.S. and the West by abandoning weapons programs, denouncing terrorism, and providing reparations payments for the families of victims killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.  

Bush administration took the wrong step in normalizing diplomatic relations with Libya because there was no evidence of genuine progress in Libya toward a more democratic government!

Today, the U.S. and the West are all mad again at the revolutionary, idealistic at best, tyrannical, and delusional at worst, and the longest serving head of state in the Arab world: Qadaffi!

Since Libyan crisis began, oil prices have risen about 20$ a barrel and gas prices are up about 50 cents a gallon. 

Therefore, helping Libyans to get rid of their dictator is indeed now much more important than taking the time to help Ivorians to get rid of Gbagbo! The U.S. and the rest of the world are addicted to oil!

The left in the U.S. and France were chanting no blood for oil! This popular slogan says it all! The Libyan crisis occurred between the winter home heating oil and spring driving seasons.

Libya has Africa's largest crude oil reserves. Qadaffi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities in order to send his message to the U.S and the West: It's either me or chaos!

We want Freedom! not Civil War!

We have to save Libya! we have to save Libyans! We do not want Qaddafi and his sons to regain power!But we do not want civil war!

The freedom fighters are seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. They need help and guidance in order to follow forever the path of democracy! They want a Libya which will diversify its economy and encourage the private sector.

The freedom fighters are a little bit disorganised but they are determined to fight for democracy in Libya. The rebels did not even know how to operate rocket-propelled grenades when the fighting started but they did not get discouraged! 

Who are the rebels? They consist of defectors from the army as well as thousands of civilian volunteers. Moussa Koussa's defection represents a serious blow to Gaddafi's regime. The Libyan Foreign minister had decided to defect to UK today. 

I just hope that the risk of retaliatory massacres or even genocide will not happen in Libya. Let us not forget Bosnia's conflict! 3 years of war and 100,000dead!

Gaddafi once was a sponsor of terrorism. Nobody tried to stop him! After 2003, he converted to a U.S. ally, surrendering weapons of mass destruction, paying compensation for past attacks, and providing intelligence against radicals Islamists. 

I am really worried about Libyans. What began as a peaceful uprisings is set to degenerate into a civil war. For several weeks pro-democracy fighters and forces loyal to Gaddafi have been fighting across a strip of land between Ajdabiya and Bin Jawad.

And what about the fact that France and England are arming the Libyan pro-democracy fighters? I hope that these weapons would not fall on the hands of terrorists. 

Does NATO's plans for Libya means only one of two: Afghanistan's Karzai or Iraq's Chalabi???

What do you think?

Libya, LIbya, LIBYA....

Qaddafi, the irrational, the impulsive, the erratic, the unpredictable, the quixotic, the bizarre, the one who is saturated with insatiable ambition,....when are you going to stepdown!

Qaddafi has always thought that he is the custodian of Arab Nationalism. He thinks that he has the obligation to manage our affairs, resources and shape our fortunes! Well, he is certainly not managing my life!

Qaddafi should remember what he wrote in his Green Book!! or may be he is applying the saying which says that "happiness is nothing more than good health and bad memory".... He wrote...I know I had the misfortune of having nothing else to do one day...and I have read few sentences from his book ;)

He wrote some banalities about some pseudo-intellectualism thoughts...he wrote, " Freedom of expression is the right of every natural person, even if a person chooses to express his insanity." OH MY! I can only say that the Colonel Qaddafi has taken full advantage of that particular freedom!!

Qaddafi has pursued a policiy of confrontation, self-assertion, aggression, and competition but it did not seem to bother anyone in our small planet! Qaddafi always wanted his voice to be heard, only his voice, but he has always hidden his selfish intentions under a soit disant "I am fighting Western Imperialism!!!!" but in fact he was only trying to use this ideology in order to mask his lust for power.

Libya has maintained commercial relations with the United States and its European allies based on the export of oil! This precious liquid makes Presidents forget everything: lack of human rights, lack of Democracy, lack of ....shall I countinue??? OIL is indeed a source of power since the oil revenue allows Qaddafi to purchase $2 billion a year of arms!!

IN Africa, our African leaders need Qaddafi's money! African leaders warmly embraced Qaddafi and Mandela even acclaimed him as "one of the revolutionary icons of our time!!!" Our African leaders paid tribute to "Brother Muammar Al Qaddafi, leader of the great Al Fatah Revolution"... did they really think that Qaddafi really had believed in peace and security in our African continent...

From an Arab World, to an African Unity, to an Islamic Party, to an Islamic state,... I have never believed in Qaddafi's THEORY!!! He is a "blood thirsty megalomaniac" and his ideas lack all sense of perspective and reality!

Tunisia's Zine el Abidine Ben Ali left the country quietly, Egypt's noisy but quiet peaceful Mubarak had almost a perfect exit, but hey!!! Qaddafi, no, non, "Walou, La" (both words mean NO in Arabic), the tyrant has to go down with blood, belligerence, and bluster! Sacré Qaddafi, rich in oil and poor in friends!


His son Saif al Islam said in a diatribe, "I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered one bullet to be fired." Really, le fils du President!!! Vraiment??

Arab youth of Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, ne despérez pas, la Democracie viendra, Hasta la Victoria de la Democracy, ne desespérons pas, n'est ce pas?

Arab League, Bouteflika, Syria, and the no-fly zone

The Arab League, and its chief Amr Mussa, has officially called on the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. The League has also opened contact with the rebel Libyan National Council in Benghazi.

The United States has supported the Arab League for a United Nations no-fly zone over Libya, where government troops backed by fighter jets are battling rebels seeking to remove Muammar Gaddafi from power.

Algerians were schocked when they heard that their president has voted against the Arab League's decision for a no-fly zone over Libya. Algeria, Yemen, and Syria have voted against the Arab League initiative to impose a no-fly zone in Libya. The no-fly zone would have provided the regional support which NATO needs for any military action.