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I am sure that the conventional wisdom on the Marxism List, where I am sort of based, is that latest threats by the US government are just more talk. It seems to me that the US is reaching the playing with fire stage, especially if they are just kidding about getting rid of Gadhafi, as many comrades insist. They are convinced that the day after the rebels are finally defeated, the imperialist governments and Gadhafi will fall into each other's arms, sobbing mutual forgiveness. Well, maybe. But I think this process -- if it occurs at all -- will be more complex. Well the conventional wisdom people may be right, I can't guarantee that they aren't, though I have always thought that their assurance that nothing could possibly happen contained a touch of complacency. I feel strongly that the latest threats to Libya (not just the demonic super-villain and mad dog Gadhafi) contain a big risk -- that is, that US power will be considered irrelevant, and that Obama himself is a genuine wimp. There is perhaps a trace of hope that anything -- anything at all -- that helped to overthrow Gadhafi would be progressive. After all, the coming to power, allegedly, of the democratic movement would be unquestionable progressive, they seem to argue, even if they did so based on a US military overthrow of the Libyan government. Of course, I think that the overthrow of tbe Libyan government by such means How could "counter-revolutionaries" dare to suggest otherwise on this or any other list? That, it would appear, is fetishizing the national sovereignty of oppressed nations in their relations with the imperialists and, yes, sometimes with each other. I opposed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, for instance, while supporting the Vietnamese (with strong support from Cambodians) operation in Cambodia which was a progressive, but nonetheless deeply defensive measure Well, I am not certain that Russia and China on the UN Security Council can be counted on to veto this measure, especially if the US is genuinely committed to it. Nor should we rule out unilateral action with England and France. Gadhafi's victories may actually put the US in a better position to intervene, by lessening the need to control the base of the rebel movement. My good comrade and friend suggested this to me in a post several days ago. Tbe titular, but not powerless or irrelevant, leaders have betrayed the ranks by slavish reliance on imperialism and by, as far as I can tell, educating them in this spirit. I have said hardly a single word in defense of Gadhafi in the course of this discussion aside from pointing out some of the progressive measures in the first ten years of his regime, and stating that I would defend him -- yea, even him or Saddam Hussein -- against an imperialist attack. For now I am content with demanding that comrades to proceed on the assumption that an imperialist attack is under serious consideration. Fred Feldman http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/africa/18libya.html March 17, 2011 Qaddafi Warns of Assault on Benghazi as U.N. Vote Nears By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and KAREEM FAHIM TRIPOLI, Libya Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi warned Benghazi residents on Thursday that an attack was imminent, as the United Nations Security Council seemed headed for a vote Thursday on a resolution authorizing not just a no-flight zone but additional steps to halt the movement of Colonel Qaddafis forces. We are coming tonight, Colonel Qaddafi said. You will come out from inside. Prepare yourselves from tonight. We will find you in your closets. Speaking on a call-in radio show, he promised amnesty for those who throw their weapons away but no mercy or compassion for those who fight. Rebel leaders doubted that the loyalist forces could mount an assault tonight, in that they were still fighting for control of Ajdabiya, 100 miles to the south of Benghazi, Thursday morning. But witnesses said there were skirmishes on the road to Benghazi in the afternoon, about 30 miles from Ajdabiya. The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan E. Rice, said she has been working furiously on language for the resolution and hoped to bring the measure to a vote by Thursday afternoon. With the advances made by the loyalist militia in the east, there is growing consensus in the Obama administration that imposing a no-flight zone would no longer make much of a difference, and that it should consider more aggressive airstrikes, which would make targets of Colonel Qaddafis tanks and heavy artillery an option sometimes referred to as a no-drive zone. The United States or its allies could also send military personnel to advise and train the rebels, an official said. In the most strident verbal attack on Colonel Qaddafi to date by an American official, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the Western powers had little choice but to provide critical military backing for the rebels. We want to support the opposition who are standing against the dictator, she told an applauding audience in Tunisia on Thursday. This is a man who has no conscience and will threaten anyone in his way. She added that Colonel Qaddafi would do terrible things to Libya and its neighbors. Its just in his nature. There are some creatures that are like that. The Qaddafi government responded to the potential United Nations action with threats. Any foreign military act against Libya will expose all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean Sea to danger and civilian and military facilities will become targets of Libyas counter-attack, it said in a statement carried on Libyan television and the official news agency, JANA, Reuters reported. The Mediterranean basin will face danger not just in the short-term, but also in the long-term. There were reports on Thursday that warplanes were already bombarding the outskirts of Benghazi for a second day, opening shots, perhaps, in the battle. And after days of batterings at the hands of Qaddafi loyalists, the opposition forces welcomed the promise of Western assistance. Mohamed, a rebel spokesman in the embattled, rebel held city of Misurata the last major rebel foothold in the west welcomed the new American tone. We are very heartened yesterday by the moves in the United Nations Security Council and the urgency of the American stand, he said, speaking over a satellite phone. Forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi massed outside Misurata on Thursday apparently in preparation for an attack. Musa Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Qaddafi government, confirmed that its forces were preparing to take Misurata just as they did Zawiya, another western town that had been held by the rebels. It starts in the beginning by surrounding the city, he said, then moving slowly to avoid casualties. Rebels in Zawiyah described heavy casualties at least dozens during the Qaddafi forces siege of that city. It should be finished up tomorrow if not today, Mr. Ibrahim added. Rebels in Misurata said that Qaddafi forces had so far appeared to hold back, though electricity, water and telecommunications remained severed a day after fighters held the town against an onslaught of tank and artillery fire. Loyalist military units surrounded the strategically located town of Ajdabiya in the east, and were massing for a push up the road to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, 100 miles distant, rebel officials said. On Wednesday the rebels had seemed to make some gains in Ajdabiya, the gateway to Benghazi and the Egyptian border. The Qaddafi forces, which had appeared to capture the city with ease on Tuesday afternoon, had withdrawn to the perimeter by Tuesday night, residents said, as rebel fighters patrolled the city streets and the battle flared at surrounding checkpoints. The Qaddafi forces delivered an airstrike, followed by shelling by tanks and mortars on Wednesday, residents and rebel leaders said. Doctors said at least two were killed Wednesday in addition to 26 deaths the day before. By days end, it appeared that the rebels held control within the city, but that the loyalist forces had the city surrounded and could penetrate their opponents feeble defenses at will. Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, however, the explosions in Ajdabiya had given way to the sound of sporadic gunfights. The quiet is uncomfortable, said Dr. Ahmed al-Jnashi, a doctor at the hospital there. Its abnormal. The streets are empty. People are afraid. He said 38 people had died in two days of fighting, including two children in a car hit by a mortar round. Dr. Jnashi said witnesses who came to the hospital on Wednesday night said government troops controlled the citys eastern gate, on the approach to Benghazi, securing it with four tanks. There is no media in the city, he said. No photographers. Rebel leaders boasted about their broader arsenal of weaponry some aged warplanes and a helicopter as well as their putative gains n Ajdabiya. But there were signs that the Qaddafi forces were simply massing for a renewed assault. The Associated Press, brought to Ajdabiya by the Qaddafi government to document its progress against the rebels, reported hundreds of pro-Qaddafi troops with tanks and artillery waiting outside Ajdabiyas western gates. Truckloads of ammunition and equipment were reported to be arriving as well. In Tripoli, the Qaddafi family sounded increasingly confident of victory. In an interview with a French television channel, Colonel Qaddafis son Seif al-Islam told the rebels: We dont want to kill, we dont want revenge. But you, traitors, mercenaries, you have committed crimes against the Libyan people: leave, go in peace to Egypt. He added: Military operations are over. Within 48 hours everything will be finished. Our forces are almost in Benghazi. Whatever the decision, it will be too late. Colonel Qaddafi commands wide support in Tripoli, the capital and government stronoghold, but perhaps not so deep. It seems divided between the manic celebration of those who liked to shouted their allegiance and the shrugging resignation of those who admitted that they did not. Asked how many Tripoli residents opposed Qaddafi, one shopkeeper said 100 percent. But he was fatalistic. Qaddafi is very strong. He killed many people. What can we do? He is the president, even though Colonel Qaddafi holds no official title of office. At a café in the neighborhood of Tajura an anti-Qaddafi hotbed patrons initially insisted with unmistakable sarcasm that everything in Tripoli was just fine. One man beckoned a friend to come talk to the foreign reporter, and his friend declined with a gesture signaling police handcuffs and a finger drawn across his neck. Then, in whispers, the patrons acknowledged the protests staged there after midday prayers on recent Fridays, and said not to expect any more this week. Would the West launch air strikes, they asked? Despite the bluster by rebel leaders, some in the rebel strongholds were growing fatalistic about their hopes without international help. People here are terrified, said Ahmed al-Hasi, a former diplomat who left Benghazi Wednesday for Bayda. People are saying, We fight until we die, or we surrender and we are humiliated and then we are killed, he said. It will be a very, very bloody fight, and I know I will fight to the end. David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Tripoli, Libya, Kareem Fahim from Tobruk, Steven Lee Myers from Tunis, Tunisia, and Dan Bilefsky in the United Nations. ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
