Sunday, May 1, 2011

NATO War Crimes in Libya

Editor' NOTE:

The reported NATO bombing of Colonel Gadhafi's son's compound has apparently resulted in the deaths of his youngest son and several grandchildren. NATO insists that it had excellent reason to believe that the home was part of the Libyan dictator's military command and control system. This is the euphemistic phrase now being used to justify attacks on what are known to an extremely high degree of certainty to be civilian non-combatants.

Even if NATO had actionable intelligence (a morally bankrupt term) that only Colonel Gadhafi was present in the compound (not a rational assumption however), the UN resolution currently in force calls only for a "no-fly" zone and the protection of Libyan civilians. Clearly the bombing of the Gadhafi compound is the very opposite of what the UN Security Council intended when it passed UNSC resolution 1973. The latest NATO attack proves that the intention is clearly to kill Colonel Gadhafi no matter how many innocent non-combatant civilians are murdered in the process.

It is clear that the "no-fly" zone justification for NATO and other allied intervention represented a ruse by which the Western powers intended to initiate regime change in Libya and the removal of Colonel Gadhafi despite their protestations to the contrary.

--Dr. J. P. Hubert


Gadhafi’s youngest son killed but Libyan leader survives NATO missile strike, spokesman says


Associated Press, through the Washington Post World
Published: April 30

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi escaped a NATO missile strike in Tripoli on Saturday, but his youngest son and three grandchildren under the age of 12 were killed, a government spokesman said.
The strike, which came hours after Gadhafi called for a cease-fire and negotiations in what rebels called a publicity stunt, marked an escalation of international efforts to prevent the Libyan regime from regaining momentum.
Rebels honked horns and chanted “Allahu Akbar” or “God is great” while speeding through the western city of Misrata, which Gadhafi’s forces have besieged and subjected to random shelling for two months, killing hundreds. Fireworks were set off in front of the central Hikma hospital, causing a brief panic that the light would draw fire from Gadhafi’s forces.
The attack struck the house of Gadhafi’s youngest son, Seif al-Arab, when the Libyan leader and his wife were inside. White House spokesman Shin Inouye declined to comment on the developments in Libya, referring questions to NATO.
The alliance acknowledged that it had struck a “command and control building in the Bab al-Azizya neighborhood” Saturday evening, but it could not confirm the death of Gadhafi’s son and insisted all its targets are military in nature and linked to Gadhafi’s systematic attacks on the population.
The commander of the NATO operation, Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, said he was aware of unconfirmed reports that some Gadhafi family members may have been killed and he regretted “all loss of life, specially the innocent civilians being harmed as a result of the ongoing conflict.”
Seif al-Arab Gadhafi, 29, was the youngest son of Gadhafi and brother of the better known Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, who had been touted as a reformist before the uprising began in mid-February. The younger Gadhafi had spent much of his time in Germany in recent years.
Gadhafi’s children have been increasingly engaged in covering up scandals fit for a “Libyan soap opera,” including negative publicity from extravagant displays of wealth such as a million-dollar private concert by pop diva Beyonce, according to a batch of diplomatic cables released by the secret-spilling WikiLeaks website.
But Seif al-Arab remained largely in the shadows, although he had a penchant for fast cars and partying when outside Libya.
Moammar Gadhafi and his wife were in the Tripoli house of his 29-year-old son when it was hit by at least one bomb dropped from a NATO warplane, according to Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.
“The leader himself is in good health,” Ibrahim said. “He was not harmed. The wife is also in good health.”
Ibrahim would not give the names of the three children killed, except to say they were nieces and nephews of Seif al-Arab and that they were younger than 12. He said they are not releasing the names yet to protect the privacy of the family.
He said the compound that was hit was in the Garghour neighborhood.
“It seems there was intelligence that was leaked. They knew about something. They expected him for some reason. But the target was very clear, very, very clear. And the neighborhood, yes of course, because the leader family has a place there, you could expect of course it would be guarded, but it is a normal neighborhood. Normal Libyans live there,” he said.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am bemused as to how the UN and NATO allies should expect Gaddafi to sit back whilst armed civilians with NATO as their Air Force are attacking his country, without him Gaddafi standing up to defend and protect his country and citizens.