Anyone who believes that the imperialist assault on Libya has anything to do with a justified sense of anger at Col. Ghadaffi’s murder and terrorisation of the opposition needs their head examined. It hasn’t escaped notice that the same ‘supporters’ of the Libyan Revolution have also supported the use of Saudi and Quatarian troops to bloodily put down demonstrations in Bahrain.

Ghadaffi, despite being a merciless thug and madman and despite his recent cuddling up to the same imperialist exploiters he is now denouncing, remember his embrace of Tony Blair, has not been forgiven for his earlier bouts of independence such as supplying the IRA with weaponry.

The ‘no fly zone’ is another of those military misnomers such as ‘collateral damage’. It means bombing cities, military installations, civilians and other ordinance. The idea that there is a ‘clean war’ should have been laid to rest with Iraq. Instead what is happening in Libya cannot but lead either to partition and more bloody sectarianism of imperialist troops on the ground. Given that there is little appetite for the latter then Libya is destined, in its own way, to emulate Iraq.

Because wherever imperialism goes, sectarianism and religious/racial strife follow it.

There is only one answer. The rebels have to capture power for themselves. If the West is so keen to support them then they should have supplied them with weaponry. It is no accident that the Arab League, full of all the worst dictators the Arab world and the USA can provide, has played a key part in the attack on Libya. These collaborators and cowards know loyalty to only one thing – their purse. It will be interesting to see whether that other collaborator, Mahmoud Abbas, allows his people to demonstrate against the imperialist attack on Libya.

It is interesting to note the hypocrisy of the West. Where were the no-fly zones when Gaza was being mercilessly bombarded in 2008/9? 400 children were murdered and more burnt by phosphorous or otherwise injured. Not only was there no no-fly zone but the United States rushed to replenish Israel’s stock of missiles and weapons, something dockers in Greece put a block on.

There is only one thing Obummah, Cameron and co. are interested in and it’s not freedom for Libyans but the oil they possess.

And the attack on Libya is less popular than any similar war I can remember. People have begun to see through the lies of Cameron even earlier than they did with Blair. In the YouGov poll 45% support military action in Libya (45%) compared to 53% who supported the invasion of Iraq after the war had started.

33% think that little or no effort is being made to minimise civilian casualties compared to just 8% who thought the same about Iraq. 43% trust Cameron to tell the truth, compared to 62% who trusted Tony Blair (before his lies caught him out). And only 21% back sending ground troops into Libya, with 69% opposed.

A separate poll for ComRes found that only 35% supported the bombing, with 43% opposed.

Tony Greenstein