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General News    H3'ed 6/1/24

The US-Russian stand-off in Libya

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Steven Sahiounie
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Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator

Libya has not recovered from the US-NATO attack in 2011, the so-called 'Arab Spring', which burnt throughout the Middle East and North Africa like a wildfire having been lit in Washington, DC under the US President Obama administration.

There is a ceasefire between the two sides headquartered in Tripoli and Benghazi, but a permanent peace with economic prosperity remains elusive. Russia and the US are both in Libya, but have very different goals and methods of operation.

On one side, there is a UN brokered Government of National Unity (GNU), and on the other side there is the Libyan National Army (LNA) commanded by Khalifa Haftar.

The GNU are western supported, but the members of this group are followers of Radical Islam, specifically the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). This was the same political ideology used by Obama when he crafted the 'Arab Spring'. The MB are based across the US and Europe, and have an identical platform as ISIS or Al Qaeda. They believe that Islamic Law is the best governance system on earth.

US Senator Ted Cruz has authored legislation to outlaw the MB in the US, but has been unsuccessful while both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have resisted, which demonstrates the level of power the MB exert in the US.E

gypt, Syria, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all outlawed the MB.

Haftar's LNA is secular, and opposed to creating a political system in Libya based on Islam. This would seem to be the perfect partner for the US and Europe; however, it is the MB which has been supported and weaponized by the US, UK, and France during the Arab Spring, as the MB were used as 'boots on the ground'.

Libya has an abundance of energy resources, and yet the government and people are not benefitting. Foreign meddling in Libya was started by Obama and French President Sarkozy who used NATO airstrikes to overthrow the government and destroy vital infrastructure. Since then, Turkey, Egypt, and Russia have all stepped into Libya after the door was left ajar by the US-NATO attack.

America is still very much present in Libya, as they have oil and security interests there. However, Washington has never invested in Libyan economic recovery, and without a plan to rebuild and restore the country, the US is seen as just a greedy super-power looking for their own benefit.

During the American occupation of Libya, tons of gold in the central bank of Libya went missing, as well as the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton absconded with the Libyan government's weapons stockpiles, which were shipped from Benghazi to Turkey to be trucked across the border to Idlib, for the use by Al Qaeda terrorists as they attacked Syrian civilians and Syrian soldiers.

US has not paid Libya back for the theft of national resources while under occupation.

Now, many in Libya want foreign meddlers to go home, and an economic recovery which can support the rule of law and elections.

The dictator Gaddafi had ruled with an iron fist, but the country was united and prosperous. Syrian workers had been in Libya for decades, making a decent living wage, while working as doctors, teachers, and engineers. Libyans hired foreign workers to perform menial jobs, like trash collection and restaurant work. The Libyan citizens lived a lifestyle above and beyond that of most Middle Eastern citizens. They might not have had 'freedom and democracy' but they generally owned their own home and could afford to send their children to school.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the former ousted leader, has expressed an interest in running for office, but the US is intent to deliver him to the International Criminal Court on charges against him stemming from the time of the 'Arab Spring".

When the terrorists began attacking civilians and government institutions in 2011 in Libya, Muamar Gaddafi correctly identified the terrorists as members of Al Qaeda, but the western media, instructed by their governments, spun the story as 'freedom fighters' and a 'grass-roots' uprising to oust the dictator Gaddafi.

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I am Steven Sahiounie Syrian American award winning journalist and political commentator Living in Lattakia Syria and I am the chief editor of MidEastDiscours I have been reporting about Syria and the Middle East for about 8 years

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