The Libyan opposition

The so-called Libyan opposition itself is a hodge-podge mix of political opportunists, ex-CIA-trained Mujahideen guerillas such as Abdel Hakim al-Hasidi of the so-called Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, who openly admits to close ties to al-Qaeda going back to Afghanistan. That certainly raises the level of incredibility of Washington's most bizarre military crusade of recent times.
As well, the opposition includes former senior Gaddafi regime members who saw greener grass on the US, British and French-backed opposition side, and outright cutthroats who, encouraged by Washington, London or Paris smelled the chance to grab control of one of the richest lands on Earth.
Their "opposition," unlike in Tunisia or elsewhere, was never "non-violent." It was an armed revolt from the git-go, a war of tribe against tribe, not of surging aspirations for democracy. NATO member countries are being told by Washington to back one band of tyrants to oust another whose agenda does not comply with what the Pentagon calls Full Spectrum Dominance.
The Libyan "opposition" for most of the world is still a vague CNN or BBC image of stone-throwing youth crying out to the well-positioned cameras for "freedom, democracy." In reality it is far different. As George Friedman of Stratfor pointed out, the "Libyan uprising consisted of a cluster of tribes and personalities, some within the Libyan government, some within the army and many others longtime opponents of the regime." He adds, "it would be an enormous mistake to see what has happened in Libya as a mass, liberal democratic uprising. The narrative has to be strained to work in most countries, but in Libya, it breaks down completely."

It emerges that the main opposition to Gaddafi comes from two very curious organizations—the National Front for the Salvation of Libya and a bizarre group calling itself the Islamic Emirate of Barqa, the former name of the North-Western part of Libya. Its leadership claims the group is made up of former al-Qaeda fighters previously released from jail. Their record of bloodshed is impressive to date.

The main opposition group in Libya now is the National Front for the Salvation of Libya which is reported to be funded by Saudi Arabia, the CIA and French Intelligence. They joined with other opposition groups to become the National Conference for the Libyan Opposition. It was that organization that called for the "Day of Rage" that plunged Libya into chaos on February 17.
The key figure in the National Front for the Salvation of Libya is one Ibrahim Sahad who conveniently enough lives in Washington. According to the Library of Congress archives, Sahad is the same man the CIA used in their failed attempt at a Libyan coup of 1984. The Library of Congress confirms that the CIA trained and supported the NFSL both before and after the failed coup.
On March 11 the French government became the first nation to recognize the National Front for the Salvation (sic) of Libya, which is now operating under the amorphous cover of an umbrella group calling itself the Libyan National Transitional Council, which is little more than the old NFSL, a group financed for years by the Saudis, the French and the CIA.
The new Transitional Council umbrella group is little more reportedly than the old NFSL -- an unelected group of aged monarchist business exiles and now defectors from Gaddafi who smell opportunity to grab a giant piece of the oil pie, and have Saudi, French and CIA backing to drive their dreams of glory. These are the ones on whose behalf now NATO is fighting.
The National Transitional Council of the Libyan Republic, led by Mustafa Abdul Jalil, is based in Benghazi and controls most of the eastern half of the country. France and Portugal have so far officially recognized the Council as the sole "legitimate representative" of Libya.
The National Transitional Council also includes such former Gaddafi regime insiders as ex-Libyan Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil and former Interior Minister General Abdel Fattah Younis, who defected earlier from the Gaddafi regime. They lobbied Washington and other Western governments for support soon after their formation. They want to mount an armed offensive against the government-controlled areas in the west to overthrow Gaddafi. That is hardly an innocent spontaneous Twitter democracy revolt, though the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt and elsewhere have been far from spontaneous either.
In early March the Transitional Council sent their de facto foreign minister Ali al-Essawi and Abdel-Jalil crony Mahmoud Jebril to Paris where the French government, clearly smelling an opportunity to take the inside track of a future regime in Tripoli, gave the first recognition of the transitional council as the "legitimate representative" of the Libyan people. Immediately after, France became the leading advocate for a French-led (of course) military intervention on behalf of their new-found rebel friends in Bengazi.
While the French seem to have an inside track with the diplomatic wing of the rag-tag Bengazi rebels, the British seem to have focused their attention on the military wing, where former Gaddafi Interior Minister General Abdel Fattah Younis seems to be their man. Younis is now in command of a National Transitional Council “army.”

Hillary Clinton also moved to firm US ties to the insurgents. On March 13 she reportedly met in Cairo—now a place firmly in command of a Pentagon-dependent Egyptian military council after the Twitter youth had served their purpose of deposing Mubarak—with leaders of the opposition rebels. Announcing her meeting, she stated, “We are reaching out to the opposition inside and outside of Libya. I will be meeting with some of those figures both here in the United States and when I travel next week to discuss what more the United States and others can do,” she said.
In the western part of Libya, the contending opposition is led by the second group France has recognized, something calling itself ambitiously, the Islamic Emirate of Barqa, a former name for the northwestern part of the country. That group has been described as a group of "aged exiles and defectors from the former Gaddafi regime...waving the old King Idris monarchist flag." Not exactly a revolutionary youth Twitter movement of surging, demographically-driven aspirations.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23961

Фокусът с Либия от Мигел Мартинес:

Ако добре съм разбрал, нещата стоят така: Либия има правителство. Никога не съм гледал с особена симпатия на това правителство, защото зная некрасиви истории на имигранти, минали през тази страна, и защото при всички положения едно правителство след 40 години започва да се разваля. Като преводач, освен това, често ми се случва да се докосвам до хора, които работят в Либия, и съм събрал достатъчно оплаквания върху облика на тази капризна и непредвидима администрация.
Но тези мои емоционални съображения нямат нищо общо със законността. Правителството на Либия е безспорно легитимно в най-чистия смисъл. Може да издава паспорти, признати от другите държави, а най-яркият представител на страната – който по странен начин не заема никаква правителствена длъжност – се посреща с усмивки и ръкостискания от чуждите държавни глави. Сред които се нарежда не само Берлускони, но и Обама и Саркози…
…Не само аз нямам представа кои са бунтовниците: такава представа си нямат и всички журналисти, макар че ги изкарват герои. Въпреки всичко две предположения изглеждат доста приемливи: бунтовниците принадлежат на някои традиционни племена, недоволни от преразпределението на петролните печалби; и второ, явно изразяват силната неприязън на голяма част от населението срещу имигрантите от Черната Африка: факт е, че въстанието бе придружено от поредица кървави убийства на имигранти. Бунтът обаче срещна, поне така изглежда, враждебността на по-голямата част от страната и със сигурност нейните военни сили, и само за няколко дни претърпя няколко решителни поражения….
И точно тук, както ми се струва, се крие целият фокус.
В Либия всъщност противоречието не е – както е в Тунис, Йемен, Бахрейн или Египет – между въоръжените сили от една страна и маса от мирни манифестанти от друга. В Либия бунтовниците имат оръжия, танкове и даже един изтребител, който с гордост показаха веднага след налагането на Свободна от полети зона. Но тъй като не принадлежат към редовната войска, могат да бъдат определяни като „цивилни”, макар че са обучавани от чуждестранни войници (британски)…

(от форума на news.bg)
http://news.ibox.bg/news/id_620252830

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To be honest, other than a relative handful of leaders, we do not have much visibility into those who have risen against Gadhafi," said Gates. "But I think that in a way speaking of the quote unquote opposition is a misnomer. Because it is very disparate, it is very scattered and probably each element has its own agenda."
Gates said the lack of unity and coordination is one of the Libyan rebels' biggest problems in their fight against Gadhafi's forces. He said what the rebels need most right now is training, but made clear that should not be up to the United States.
"The truth is in terms of providing that training, in terms of providing assistance to them, frankly there are many countries that can do that, that is not a unique capability for the United States and as far as I am concerned somebody else should do that," Gates said.
Admiral Mike Mullen agreed with Gates, saying it would be best if a country that is not a member of NATO would provide arms to the rebels and to give them basic training on how to use them.
Gates and Mullen faced questions from lawmakers of both major parties about why President Barack Obama did not consult with Congress earlier during his decision-making process, instead of just informing them only hours before the military action began.
"We do not understand what he is doing still, and I do not think he has the support of this Congress, but that is my personal opinion. I yield back," Miller said.

http://sofiaecho.com/2011/04/01/1068808_gates-defends-action-in-libya?ref=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss2%2Fall-news+%28The+Sofia+Echo%29

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В Малта пристигнаха първите нелегални имигранти от Либия след началото на бунта срещу Муамар Кадафи в средата на февруари, предадоха информационните агенции. Около 550 души от Сомалия и Еритрея пристигнаха в островната държава в южната част на Средиземно море с две корабчета от Либия. Сред тях са петдесетина жени и деца. Това е първата вълна от незаконни имигранти от Северна Африка в Малта от началото на годината и от започването на бунта срещу режима на Муамар Кадафи.
Доскоро Либия предотвратяваше потока от незаконни имигранти за европейските страни, разположени на бреговете на Средиземно море. От началото на бунта срещу Кадафи и критиките на Запада, че либийският лидер използва сила срещу опозицията,
Триполи обяви, че отказва да сътрудничи на ЕС в борбата с потока от незаконни имигранти.

http://www.mediapool.bg/show/?storyid=177683