Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Africa China Review staff writer
In March 2011, the United Kingdom and France, with the support of the United States, led the international community to support an intervention in Libya allegedly to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. A UK parliament report details how NATO’s 2011 war in Libya was based on lies.
Based on such lies, on 17 March 2011, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1973 authorizing the use of force in Libya. While Germany, Brazil, China, India, and Russia abstained, the resolution drafted by France and the United Kingdom and cosponsored by Lebanon and the United States received ten favourable votes out of fifteen (South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, France, Gabon, Lebanon, Nigeria, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States).
The result was political and economic collapse, inter-militia and inter-tribal warfare, humanitarian and migrant crises, widespread human rights violations, the spread of Gaddafi regime weapons across the region and the growth of ISIL in North Africa.
Gaddafi was not planning to massacre civilians. This myth was exaggerated by rebels and western governments, which based their intervention on little intelligence the UK parliament report released in Sept. 2016 says. The threat of Islamist extremists, which had a large influence in the uprising was ignored.
The NATO bombing made the terrorists threat worse giving ISIS a base in North Africa. France which initiated the military intervention is said to have been motivated by economic and political interests, and not humanitarian concerns. Foreign media outlets particularly Al Jazeera, BBC and many others spread unsubstantiated rumors about Gaddafi and the Libyan government. The NATO bombing plunged Libya into a humanitarian disaster, killing thousands of people.
Before NATO bombing and the death of Gaddafi, Libya was the wealthiest nation in Africa, with the highest life expectancy and GDP per capita. Again, Libya had less of its population in poverty than the Netherlands. Libyans had free access to free healthcare, education, electricity and interest free loans.
The death of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and the destruction of Libya lies on the shoulders of western countries under NATO forces supported by their American allies. The excuses of fighting to remove Gaddafi and bring better life and democracy to the Libyan people was diversionary. Libya will never been the same. Today it is in the league of failed states caused by western conspiracy.
The UK parliament report blames former UK Prime Minister David Cameron for Libya tragedy. “Through his decision making in the National Security Council, former Prime Minister David Cameron was ultimately responsible for the failure to develop a coherent Libya strategy.” NATO and its allies have never apologized for the destruction of Libya and killing thousands, where the ordinary people lacked nothing but today they lack everything.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has not indicated NATO and its allies for the destruction of Libya, the killing of Gaddafi and thousands of Libyans, neither has the UN Security Council apologized for its sanctioning of the use of force in Libya based on false intelligence. Libyans and Africa at large need justice done for the restoration of normalcy in Libya.
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