Warplanes to start airstrikes on Libya within hours

[The Man]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2011/03/airstrikes_on_libya_could_comm.html

I am told the first strikes will be unilateral ones by British and French aircraft. They could be in the air within hours. It is likely five Arab air forces will take part. Hillary Clinton has said it will mean bombing Libyan air defences. Nato will step up if asked but could take a while. - BBC

Oh, and look at this:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/17/uk-libya-idUKLDE71Q0MP20110317

[Rusty Shackleford]

Yugoslavia '11

[The Vegan Marxist]

France and Britain will join in:

http://news.antiwar.com/2011/03/17/france-britain-scramble-to-attack-libya/

And so will Qatar and the UAE:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110317/local/qatar-emirates-to-join-libya-air-strikes

[Artemis3]

Let me guess, more depleted uranium shells to help with Libyans health for thousands of years... Hope they don't go white phosphor clustering, Israel/US style... So much for a Revolution. Don't be surprised if they reinstate that king again.

[Gears]

It's sad to see how these rebels are so dependent on Western Imperialism.

[Princess Luna]

i don't think they would try to reinstate the king again , they know the libyian people would not stand for it, they simply hope the new government will be friendyer to western imperalism then gaddafi was , regardless of there reasons for doing it i support this decison VICTORY FOR THE LIBYAN PEOPLE!

[The Vegan Marxist]

i don't think they would try to reinstate the king again , they know the libyian people would not stand for it

You sure about that?



http://i55.tinypic.com/2dubep2.jpg

Let's also not forget who's within the rebels' "transitional council":


"Other national council members include a U.S.-educated political science professor, a well-known youth leader and a relative of Libya’s former monarch who spent 31 years in prison for allegedly participating in a coup attempt against Gaddafi.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rebel-council-seeks-to-transform-libya/2011/03/14/ABdDPtV_story.html

[Le Socialiste]

I don't know what to think...Gaddafi's closing in on the heart of the rebellion, with the potential for crushing the spirit and resolve of the uprisers. The Rebel National Council is made up of the old bourgeoisie and will most likely establish a government more in line with the Western powers; Europe and the U.S. are guided by the corporate hands that pull their strings, and most likely seeking to ensure that oil from the country continue to flow...of course, I stand with the Libyan people and their action to liberate themselves from dictatorial rule - I just see it all as one big muddled mess. :(

[Le Socialiste]

Let's also not forget who's within the rebels' "transitional council"


That's what I'm worried about. Clearly, Gaddafi must go. There is no other way around it; but those who take his place will be no better, I fear. And of course, no one should be fooled by all this "humanitarian" crap coming out of the U.S. and its Western allies: Libya has oil, and is not nearly as subservient to Western interests as they'd like it to be. Just look at Bahrain, Yemen, and Oman - three Middle-Eastern states undergoing intense demonstrations and peoples' revolts. Not a peep out of the West, aside from the typical calls for "restraint on both sides". The fact of the matter is that the "great powers" have a long history of being very selective about their "humanitarian" concerns.

The WSWS just added an article to their page that I think sums up the situation in Libya:

"UN vote clears way for US-NATO attack on Libya"
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/liby-m18.shtml



US Secretary of State Clinton set the new strident US tone towards Libya in a statement made in Tunisia denouncing Gaddafi as “a man who has no conscience and will threaten anyone in his way. … It’s just his nature. There are some creatures that are like that.”
As recently as April 2009, the same Hillary Clinton warmly welcomed Gaddafi’s son and minister of national security to the US State Department, declaring, “We deeply value the relationship between the United States and Libya. We have many opportunities to deepen and broaden our cooperation and I am very much looking forward to building on this relationship.”
Like her European counterparts, only months ago Clinton was currying favor with the Gaddafi regime in pursuit of oil profits and the collaboration of his secret police apparatus in prosecuting Washington’s “global war on terrorism.”
Now, under the cover of a crescendo of human rights propaganda, with sections of the media claiming that the repressive actions of the Gaddafi regime amount to “genocide”, Washington together with French and British imperialism are intervening in a civil war in Libya which they themselves had no small part in provoking.
No amount of rhetoric about “saving lives” can mask the fact that what is being carried out is an act of out and out imperialist banditry, comparable to the attempts to partition the Congo and Nigeria during the second half of the 20th century. In those cases, as in Libya, behind the interventions was the drive for control of strategic resources.


and:



And, while claiming that the intervention in Libya is needed to ensure the triumph of democracy in the Middle East, Washington continues to back the regimes in Bahrain and Yemen as they mow down protesters demanding democratic rights.
There is an element of extreme recklessness in the US-NATO intervention. What will it produce? One likely variant would be Libya’s partition and the resurrection of Cyrenaica, the colonial territory set up by Italy in Benghazi in the 1920s. Any elements coming to power under such a regime would be right-wing puppets of imperialism, comparable to Karzai in Afghanistan or Maliki in Iraq and would inevitably carry out an even bloodier slaughter of the Libyan people.

[manic expression]

I suspected this would be the case: the imperialists, if they were going to intervene, would do it at the last possible minute in order to exact further concessions from a desperate rebellion on the brink of defeat. But regardless, this is a terrible development.

[ckaihatsu]

I suspected this would be the case: the imperialists, if they were going to intervene, would do it at the last possible minute in order to exact further concessions from a desperate rebellion on the brink of defeat. But regardless, this is a terrible development.


Considering the relatively small size of the Libyan population, the existing and untapped proven oil reserves, and the internal political impasse now, this pan-imperialist intervention is a no-brainer for them -- it's the big bully grabbing the candy from two smaller kids who have been loudly bickering over it.





Oil reserves in Libya

Oil reserves in Libya are the largest in Africa and the ninth largest in the world with 41.5 billion barrels (6.60×109 m3) as of 2007. Oil production was 1.8 million barrels per day (290×103 m3/d) as of 2006, giving Libya 63 years of reserves at current production rates if no new reserves were to be found. Libya is considered a highly attractive oil area due to its low cost of oil production (as low as $1 per barrel at some fields), and proximity to European markets. Libya would like to increase production from 1.8 Mbbl/d (290×103 m3/d) in 2006 to 3 Mbbl/d (480×103 m3/d) by 2010–13 but with existing oil fields undergoing a 7–8% decline rate, Libya's challenge is maintaining production at mature fields, while finding and developing new oil fields. Most of Libya remains unexplored as a result of past sanctions and disagreements with foreign oil companies.[1]

Cumulative production through 2009 was 27 Gbbl.[2] Given the stated number, this would be 65% of reserves.

The drilling of oil wells in Libya was first authorised by the Petroleum Law of 1955.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves_in_Libya

[Rakhmetov]

I hope the airstrikes will unleash a backlash in the Arab world.

[empiredestoryer]

libya is sure to be taken over and their oil stolen by world biggest terrorist nations namely the usa and britain