The arrest warrants issued on June 27, 2011 by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Muammar
Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, and Libya intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi,
however pleasing to the "rebels" and NATO, probably won't have much effect on
negotiating a settlement between the two camps and certainly the warrants will
not facilitate a voluntary regime change. Quite likely, the warrants
effects will tend toward the obverse, with the Libyan government not only ignoring, but
ridiculing the much criticized ICC and pointing out its historical pattern of
targeting African leaders.
At Tripoli's Rixos Nasser Hotel, just a few hours after the arrest warrants were announced, Libya's Justice Minister and a high-ranking Foreign Affairs official did just that and then refused to take any questions from the large gathering of western journalists of whom Libya is distrustful, given a spate of recent false main stream media reports that have been exposed as hoaxes.
Colonel Qaddafi and his supporters, in a series of what this observer refers to as "Hezbollah styl, free give-and-take dialogue sessions" are making it very plain that they will prevail in re-unifying Libya and probably before Ramadan, which begins this year in early August. They argue that the "rebels" are increasingly fighting among themselves and are losing popular support. It's an argument similar to the one the "rebels" are using to explain how their victory is all but assured, also by the end of Ramadan.
A subsequent report will also detail NATO terrorism and crimes against the civilian population that have included the February 17-June 27 2011 bombing of 294 civilian targets, killing and wounding a total of 6,232 according to the Libyan Red Crescent Society statistics. These civilian targets include the Libyan Down's Syndrome Society, a school that provided speech therapy, handicrafts and sports sessions for disabled children, as well as Tripoli's Nassar University, homes, schools, medical facilities and food-storage warehouses. Bombing these sites are all outlawed by the Geneva Conventions and constitute NATO war crimes. An additional massive documentation project by international organizations is expected to be completed by July 30, 2011.
Once
entering Libya from Tunisia, the roughly 115-mile drive to Tripoli currently
provides a fascinating if unsettling introduction to the current situation in
Tripoli. By the time I arrived at the hotel, my mouth tasted like I had
sipped kerosene and my clothes reeked of the same. The reason is that the
acute petroleum products shortage has meant that Tunisians and others are
transporting -- for quick cash -- whatever they can get to Tripoli to supply
thousands of cars that are stranded along the roadside without fuel in their
tanks.
Just about every opened car trunk I observed being inspected randomly at more than 50 check points between Jerba, Tunisia, and Tripoli, Libya, were jammed with full plastic fuel containers. Many apparently leak, and over the past three months have left a heavy pall and stench for nearly 100 miles. Some trucks, loaded with perhaps close to 1,000 55-gallon drums of gasoline seemed quite ready to topple over from being seriously top-heavy, with the center of gravity being at tire level. Bread, children's toys as well as dry and canned goods also fill many cars.
The main attitude one encounters on the streets of the old city such as Avenue Omar Muktar, and along the cornice is defiance and strong nationalist support for Libya's Revolution.
"It's our country. What choice do we have but to defend it?" is a commonly expressed sentiment. One woman asked me, "Shall I take off my white Hijab and wave it to surrender when the NATO troops come to my neighborhood or shall I wear my green scarf and fire my weapons. For sure, my choice is the second!"
A Libyan businessman, who admits he has lots of free time these days, and who was educated at George Washington University, commented: "UN Security Council Resolution 1973 authorized the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya to supposedly protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi. The reality is that we need NATO to just declare 'mission accomplished' and then stop slaughtering our 'protected' people."
This morning during a long and exhilarating discussion with an official at the Libya People's Congress HQ in Tripoli, the General-Secretary told me that more than 2 million of the 3.5 million Libyans over 18 years have been armed and are training to fight NATO when/if they arrive on the ground.
Virtually everyone who is asked gives assurances that "Baba (Father) Qaddafi" will not flee but will, if necessary, die defending his country. They believe he will survive even more NATO assassination attempts. More than once, officials confidently stated that Qaddafi will be here after US President Obama is rejected by the American people in the 2012 election.
Support
for this idea is found in the seemingly widespread support Qaddafi appears to
enjoy and also certain "benefits" resulting from a certain Libyan pride in 5
million citizens still full of resistance after 100 days of facing 27 countries.
The bombs have united the people, forced the sometimes too comfortable
population to face the future, even one without Baba Gaddafi. They learned that the
media strikes with false stories is stronger than the military assault in some
respects; the exposure of several in the government who were ready to quickly
sell out, that 1 million young people injected new blood into the 42-year-old
revolution; that relearning that the "Arab system," i.e. Arab League, is worthless,
and that it's the poor people of Libya who truly believe in the Revolution and are
remaining loyal to it -- not to those with foreign bank accounts
whom NATO and the US were able to quickly threaten and pressure to defect.
The
confidence with which the people arm themselves and their growing self-confidence will ultimately win
this attempted occupation. The "rebels" have exposed the Muslim Brotherhood as
a US partner and also have shown the true nature of the Jihadists, Al
Qaeda and NATO itself. The African Union has a key function to
perform, that Libya is not divisible because of its social and economic interdependency;
the realization that Libya must reform and reject the IMF system and learn from
its mistakes in trusting the US and certain countries in 2002 when it
gave up certain weapons systems and placed billions of dollars in American banks;
a return to peoples capitalism, not government capitalism, and the need to
become more self-reliant.
In addition, due to the crisis, women
have stepped forward and are surprising many by "taking charge" of many
governmental functions and encouraging the population to defend their
country. The youth of the country are following many much like themselves
across the Middle East and are getting involved, not just in defending their
country but also in working on reforms, including the drafting of a
Constitution in a convention being held in Tripoli next week.
Libyans are saying that they have to rejuvenate their revolution and rely on themselves. Nearly everyone is claiming that Libya was deceived in the 2004 negotiations and agreement with the US and Western countries. They admit that they have paid a big price in terms of lives lost and infrastructure damage.
Libya also intends to continue its gold-based currency project and continue improving relations with African countries. Libya's squeezing the former French colonial power out of most of Africa is one motive of that country to seek regime change.
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