NATO has assassinated Gaddafi. Now the puppets can dance. This is not about democracy, as the “new” leaders are a combination of his ex-cabinet officials and ex-Mujahideen who took out the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan in the 80s and installed the Taliban for the CIA.
Pro-Gaddafi protests in Tripoli have been met with “rebel” gunfire — even mainstream media reports this. Not about democracy. Not about what the people wanted.
Under Gaddafi, at least they had a 2,000-people General People’s Congress and 468 local Basic People’s Congresses. Hundreds of thousands participating in decision making in a country of 6 million. The people voted Gaddafi’s proposals down constantly over the years. It was not a dictatorship. It was not a revolutionary people’s state, but much better than what we have here.
Women were part of his government, and women were encouraged to get degrees and jobs of their own. Equal rights for women was part of the discussion that was constantly on the table. The ex-Mujahideen folks are not down for any of this.
The Libyan people had the highest standard of living in Africa and of most Arab nations. Libyans were the most well-traveled people in all of Africa, because of the wealth. This is even though there were sanctions against Libya for years! They had free health care and free education. 1/5 of the workforce were intellectuals due to this.
Wikileaks documents show that the U.S. knew that Gaddafi lived a meager lifestyle, especially compared with most other leaders in oil-producing nations, but his sons misused funds on their trips for frivolous things. If you look at pictures of his home, there are a gang of houses in the Oakland hills that are way more luxurious and much bigger. This was all covered up in order to gain support for this NATO action.
This was not about stopping a “massacre,” that has been debunked — it didn’t happen and wasn’t gonna happen — it’s a rumor repeated by the media with no back-up.
However, the “rebels” have disappeared 10,000 Black Libyans from the town of Tawergha. Men, women, and children. They’re not in jail, they can’t be found. And the city of Sirte is obliterated by NATO bombs and NTC surface-to-air missiles used on apartment buildings, with at least tens of thousands of men, women, and children dying there.
All signs point to the fact that more people supported Gaddafi than the NTC. They will now have to rule with even more draconian measures to stay in power. These are your massacres. Libya was not perfect, but this is a retrograde step.
Boots Riley is the front man and producer of The Coup as well as the front man for Street Sweeper Social Club. This article was first published on his Facebook page on 20 October 2011; it is copyedited and reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.
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