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Libya: War Without End - by Stephen Lendman
Expect protracted conflict for years.
Libya will long be remembered as one of history's great crimes. For over eight months, NATO's killing machine ravaged the country, killing tens of thousands.
Years of protracted conflict lie ahead. Libyans will keep struggling until they're free from NATO's scourge.
UN Resolution 1973 authorized a no-fly zone. In fact, it lawlessly declared war. A prosperous, peaceful, nonbelligerent country and its way of life was destroyed.
Civilians and non-military sites were deliberately targeted. Cold-blooded murder and mass destruction were planned.
Sirte, a city once home to 100,000, symbolizes NATO's depravity. Terror bombing destroyed it. Thousands were massacred.
Under international law, it's a war crime.
Under the 1907 Hague Regulations, Fourth Geneva, Geneva's Common Article III, and various other international laws, civilians are protected persons. So is civilian property. Attacking them is prohibited. War crimes are clearly defined. The principles of distinction and proportionality also apply:
- distinction between combatants and military targets v. civilians and non-military ones; attacking latter ones are war crimes except when civilians take direct part in hostilities; and
- proportionality prohibits disproportionate, indiscriminate force likely to cause damage to or loss of lives and objects.
In addition, precautions must be taken to avoid and minimize incidental loss of civilian lives, injuries to them, and damage to non-military sites. Under Fourth Geneva, they must be given "effective advance warning" and "neutralized zones" where they can be as protected as possible.
Fourth Geneva also prohibits collective punishment; the use of human shields; private property destruction; torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; denying the population adequate amounts of food and medical supplies; and assuring free passage of all "consignments" intended for civilian purposes.
Nonetheless, in all US/NATO wars, including Libya (besides earlier American ones), these provisions are systematically and willfully violated.
Civilians and nonmilitary sites are considered legitimate targets. Western powers spuriously claim every effort to spare them. Media scoundrels ignore their crimes.
The UN Charter's Article 2(7) states:
