It’ll be another 50 years before we know the degree to which the CIA and other intelligence services were involved in the destruction of Libya. There are fingerprints all over the scene, but for now many people are still pretending it was entirely self-inflicted, like Syria.
Just writing the word “Benghazi” brings images to my mind’s eye of were-ferret Trey Gowdy and his stupid endless investigation into the wrong crime – the US militarist wing was unhappy that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had not provided adequate protection for some CIA and State Department agents who were killed in a “blowback” incident. Many eyes were on that side-show, while the real questions went unasked, let alone answered.
Back when the uprising first started I noticed pictures of bearded white guys in “operator” gear: ball caps, high-end molle, earbud communicators, expensive sunglasses; either US CIA/special forces or perhaps British or Canadian “consultants.” These guys’ uniforms read “US ARMY” which might be a give-away.
Remember when the uprising was a thousand or so armed people who Ghaddafi said he’d fight to the death, before his forceful attempt to suppress them sparked a full on rebellion? That’s a standard play-book, and it worked in Syria, too. It nearly worked in Iran; I’m sure there are stories waiting to be told about that. Yeah: we came, we saw, he died.
Ghaddafi was shit pressed in the same mold as the shit sculptures in Washington, DC. He probably doesn’t have a lot of mourners.
We should, however, mourn the people who have been “liberated” from stability into chaos, whose towns and lives have been turned into rubble, twisted rebar, and refugee camps. Rather than picturing Trey Gowdy, this is what I’m going to try to remember when I think of Benghazi. This is what the city looks like now:
source [nyt]
source [usnews]
source [nyt]
Just like a Jenga game: the last person who touches it when it collapses, is the loser.
source [jamahiriya]
[hatimg]
[nyt] chart showing where weapons from the Libya revolution are propagating to elsewhere. This is what they call “blowback”
And drone attacks on all and sundry in Yemen, Afghanistan and particularly Pakistan is likely to inspire a great love of the USA.
I can hear the stories now. It was a great wedding, hundreds of guests, fantastic food, great dancing and 5 drone attacks. The bride and groom got out with their lives. Pity about the wedding presents, oh and the bride’s uncle Ali.
jrkrideau@#1:
They hate us because we share our high explosives so freely.
You forgot to criticize the role of France and Britain.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/france-pleads-for-military-intervention-as-gaddafi-forces-attack-libyan-rebels/2011/03/16/ABSX3we_story.html?utm_term=.3380c05bcca9
mnb0@#3:
It’s true, I didn’t focus on them as much. Britain’s involvement was particularly perfidious, given that they had just sold the Libyan government a huge supply of small-arms ammunition, which they proceeded to use on protestors, so the British participated in the bombing:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1373444/Libya-The-dirty-secret-UK-arms-sales-Gaddafi.html
Marcus @4:
Perfidious, yes. Particularly? Not so much. In 2008-2009, after the sales embargo was lifted, the EU sold 559 million Euros worth of arms to Libya, of which UK accounted for less than 10% (53M). Italy (205M) and France (143M) far outstripped them. Malta sold them 80M worth of small arms and munitions. See here.
Rob Grigjanis@#5:
Malta didn’t turn around and start bombing them 3 months after selling them ammo to shoot at them with.
Marcus @6:
Neither did the UK. Did you read the article you linked to?