Libya’s La Terreur Metastizes by Franklin Lamb

France’s early September 1793 to late July 1794 Reign of Terror, the period of violence following the initial “success” of the French Revolution was incited by conflict between rival political factions and was marked by mass executions including “disappearances” of perceived enemies of the revolution. Libya has entered its own La Terreur which is spreading inexorably and is aided by NATO member states including American, French and British SAS units known locally as “disappearance squads”. This is one of the rapidly developing consequences of the UN’s rush to “protect Libya’s civilian population” last spring. And it is why human rights investigators are arriving in Benghazi Libya this week. “Approximately 600 miles from Cairo to Benghazi”is what the lovely travel agent who works off Tahir Sq reported, as she cajoled this observer to take a fancy, double decker luxury bus to Benghazi, where I was headed from Cairo. In the end I settled for a dump truck at one-third the cost across the Egyptian and Libyan desert to Benghazi. It didn’t seem such a bad idea following meetings in nearby countries especially considering alternative routes which would have involved flying to Tunis, then another flight to Jerba and then the six hours jammed service ride to Tripoli. I needed to leave right away to meet some prisoners being held in one of Beghazi’s teeming jails. Until the NTC announced changes yesterday, anyone bearing an American passport did not need a visa to enter Libya so grateful has been the NTC for all the financial help that American taxpayers, largely unknowingliy, have supplied to NTC officials in addition to presenting them with a country with vastoil reserves and zero national debt. One of the fortunate language usages in this part of the World is the liberal transliteration applied to Arabic, which helps those challenged by the language. But one has to listen carefully in Libya these days to grasp the important distinction between certain English words when referring to the fate of increasing numbers of supporters of the Gadhafi regime. In the current atmosphere one often hears that someone “has disappeared.” Depending on one’s political views, that is usually good news. It means the person is in hiding or left the area or fled the country to safety. Alternatively, it might be said that a person “is disappeared” meaning that she or he was caught by the new regime and is gone, probably forever, without a trace for loved ones to pursue. Based on meetings with Libyan evacuees (disappeared) from NATO’s nine months of bombing who are now refugees in nearby countries, as well as meetings inside Libya with incarcerated former officials and family members, and fugitive opponents of the new “government,” it is clear that the current period is cascading into paroxysmal revenge attacks and political cleansing. Those increasingly being targeted by “disappearance squads” are family members and even former domestic employees such as gardeners, handymen, and household staff of former regime affiliates. Homes, cars, furniture, of former regime affiliates are being systematically confiscated (looted). Torture has become the normal means to elicit information regarding the whereabouts of individuals thought to still be supporting the former regime.The reason, according to one former Libyan official who barely escaped one of the French squads and who now resides in Egypt, “is the same reason drones are so popular with your US military, torture works. Not 100% but it’s better than the other options.”

Libyans Resist NATO’s Killing Machine

By Stephen Lendman

For over six and a half months, Libyans tied down the world’s mightiest military force despite overwhelming odds against them and enormous loss of life and human suffering.

Established in 1949, NATO was never a “military alliance for peace and security.” It was for offense, not defense. Cold War hysteria was contrived to incite fear and assure an arms race for corporate dominance and enrichment.

Twenty years after Soviet Russia dissolved, NATO interventions under US control threaten world peace and humanity, lurching from one war to another.

Interdicting for corporate predators, it’s a rogue killing machine. Its mission isn’t liberation. It’s slaughtering, ravaging and pillaging for power and profit.

Using a proxy cutthroat mercenary army, Libya was pounded by relentless land and air assaults. A wasteland replaced a once peaceful country. Daily attacks ravage it further.

Corpses pile up on other ones. Human misery is incalculable. Death, disease and starvation haunt the living. Tens of thousands of Sirte residents face ferocious daily terror bombing.

Food, water, medical supplies and fuel were cut off. Indiscriminate mass killing targets civilians. Schools, hospitals, homes and other nonmilitary sites have been destroyed.

NATO’s war on Libya is one of history’s great crimes. Sirte is ground zero, facing genocidal slaughter and mass destruction.