Nice one Andy...
Here's my Submission for the day about the subsurface motivations behind the Libya "No Fly zone"...yet another war where the American people are being deceived...This was published on 3/9, over a week ago:
Source:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23548The US and NATO are supporting an armed insurrection in Eastern Libya, with a view to justifying a "humanitarian intervention".
This is not a non-violent protest movement as in Egypt and Tunisia. Conditions in Libya are fundamentally different. The armed insurgency in Eastern Libya is directly supported by foreign powers. The insurrection in Benghazi immediately hoisted the red, black and green banner with the crescent and star: the flag of the monarchy of King Idris, which symbolized the rule of the former colonial powers. (See Manlio Dinucci, Libya-When historical memory is erased, Global Research, Febraury 28, 2011)
US and NATO military advisers and special forces are already on the ground. The operation was planned to coincide with the protest movement in neighbouring Arab countries. Public opinion was led to believe that the protest movement had spread spontaneously from Tunisia and Egypt to Libya.
The Obama administration in consultation with its allies is assisting an armed rebellion, namely an attempted coup d'Etat:
"The Obama administration stands ready to offer "any type of assistance" to Libyans seeking to oust Moammar Gadhafi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said [February 27] "we've been reaching out to many different Libyans who are attempting to organize in the east and as the revolution moves westward there as well," Clinton said. "I think it's way too soon to tell how this is going to play out, but we're going to be ready and prepared to offer any kind of assistance that anyone wishes to have from the United States." Efforts are under way to form a provisional government in the eastern part of the country where the rebellion began at midmonth.
The U.S., Clinton said, is threatening more measures against Gadhafi's government, but did not say what they were or when they might be announced.
The U.S. should "recognize some provisional government that they are trying to set already up..." [McCain]
Lieberman spoke in similar terms, urging "tangible support, (a) no-fly zone, recognition of the revolutionary government, the citizens' government and support for them with both humanitarian assistance and I would provide them with arms."
(Clinton: US ready to aid to Libyan opposition - Associated, Press, February 27, 2011, emphasis added)
The Planned Invasion
A military intervention is now contemplated by US NATO forces under a "humanitarian mandate".
--"The United States is moving naval and air forces in the region" to "prepare the full range of options" in the confrontation with Libya: Pentagon spokesperson Col. Dave Lapan of the Marines made this announcement [March 1]. He then said that "It was President Obama who asked the military to prepare for these options," because the situation in Libya is getting worse." ( Manlio Dinucci, Preparing for "Operation Libya": The Pentagon is "Repositioning" its Naval and Air Forces..., Global Research, March 3, 2011, emphasis added)
The real objective of "Operation Libya" is not to establish democracy but to take possession of Libya's oil reserves, destabilize the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and eventually privatize the country's oil industry, namely transfer the control and ownership of Libya's oil wealth into foreign hands. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) is ranked 25 among the world’s Top 100 Oil Companies. (The Energy Intelligence ranks NOC 25 among the world’s Top 100 companies. - Libyaonline.com)
Libya is among the World's largest oil economies with approximately 3.5% of global oil reserves, more than twice those of the US. (for further details see Part II of this article, "Operation Libya" and the Battle for Oil)
The planned invasion of Libya, which is already underway is part of the broader "Battle for Oil". Close to 80 percent of Libya’s oil reserves are located in the Sirte Gulf basin of Eastern Libya. (See map below)
The strategic assumptions behind "Operation Libya" are reminiscent of previous US-NATO military undertakings in Yugoslavia and Iraq.
In Yugoslavia, US-NATO forces triggered a civil war. The objective was to create political and ethnic divisions, which eventually led to the break up of an entire country. This objective was achieved through the covert funding and training of armed paramilitary armies, first in Bosnia (Bosnian Muslim Army, 1991-95) and subsequently in Kosovo (Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), 1998-1999). In both Kosovo and Bosnia, media disinformation (including outright lies and fabrications) were used to support US-EU claims that the Belgrade government had committed atrocities, thereby justifying a military intervention on humanitarian grounds.
Ironically, "Operation Yugoslavia" is now on the lips of US foreign policy makers: Senator Lieberman has "likened the situation in Libya to the events in the Balkans in the 1990s when he said the U.S. "intervened to stop a genocide against Bosnians. And the first we did was to provide them the arms to defend themselves. That's what I think we ought to do in Libya." (Clinton: US ready to aid to Libyan opposition - Associated, Press, February 27, 2011, emphasis added
The strategic scenario would be to push towards the formation and recognition of an interim government of the secessionist province, with a view to eventually breaking up the country.
This option is already underway. The invasion of Libya has already commenced.
"Hundreds of US, British and French military advisers have arrived in Cyrenaica, Libya's eastern breakaway province,... The advisers, including intelligence officers, were dropped from warships and missile boats at the coastal towns of Benghazi and Tobruk" (DEBKAfile, US military advisers in Cyrenaica, February 25, 2011)
US and allied special forces are on the ground in Eastern Libya, providing covert support to the rebels This was recognized when British SAS Special Forces commandos were arrested in the Benghazi region. They were acting as military advisers to opposition forces:
" Eight British special forces commandos, on a secret mission to put British diplomats in touch with leading opponents of Col Muammar Gadaffi in Libya, ended in humiliation after they were held by rebel forces in eastern Libya, The Sunday Times reported today.
The men, armed but in plain clothes, claimed they were there to check the opposition's needs and offer help." (Top UK commandos captured by rebel forces in Libya: Report, Indian Express, March 6, 2011, emphasis added)
The SAS forces were arrested while escorting a British "diplomatic mission" which entered the country illegally (no doubt from a British warship) for discussions with leaders of the rebellion. The British foreign office has acknowledged that "a small British diplomatic team [had been] sent to eastern Libya to initiate contacts with the rebel-backed opposition". U.K. diplomatic team leaves Libya - World - CBC News, March 6, 2011).
Ironically, the reports not only confirm Western military intervention (including several hundred special forces), they also acknowledge that the rebellion was firmly opposed to the illegal presence of foreign troops on Libyan soil:
"The SAS's intervention angered Libyan opposition figures who ordered the soldiers to be locked up on a military base. Gadaffi's opponents fear he could use any evidence of western military interference to rally patriotic support for his regime." (Reuters, March 6, 2011)
The captured British "diplomat" with seven special forces soldiers was a member of British Intelligence, an MI6 agent on a "secret mission". (The Sun, March 7, 2011)
Confirmed by US NATO statements, weapons are being supplied to opposition forces. There are indications although no clear evidence so far that weapons were delivered to the insurgents prior to the onslaught of the rebellion. In all likelihood, US NATO military and intelligence advisers were also on the ground prior to the insurgency. This was the pattern applied in Kosovo: special forces supporting and training the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the months prior to the 1999 bombing campaign and invasion of Yugoslavia.
As events unfold, however, Libyan government forces have regained control over rebel positions:
"The big offensive pro-Qaddafi forces launched [March 4] to wrest from rebel hands control of Libya's most important towns and oil centers resulted [March 5] in the recapture of the key town of Zawiya and most of the oil towns around the Gulf of Sirte. In Washington and London, talk of military intervention on the side of the Libyan opposition was muted by the realization that field intelligence on both sides of the Libyan conflict was too sketchy to serve as a basis for decision-making." (Debkafile, Qaddafi pushes rebels back. Obama names Libya intel panel, March 5, 2011, emphasis added)
The opposition movement is firmly divided regarding the issue of foreign intervention.
The division is between the grassroots movement on the one hand and the US supported "leaders" of the armed insurrection who favor foreign military intervention on "humanitarian grounds".
The majority of the Libyan population, both the supporters and opponents of the regime, are firmly opposed to any form of outside intervention.
Media Disinformation
The broad strategic objectives underlying the proposed invasion are not mentioned by the media. Following a deceitful media campaign, where news was literally fabricated without reporting on what was actually happening on the ground, a large sector of international public opinion has granted its unbending support to foreign intervention, on humanitarian grounds.
The invasion is on the Pentagon's drawing board. It is slated to be carried out irrespective of the demands of the people of Libya including the opponents of the regime, who have voiced their aversion to foreign military intervention in derogation of the nation's sovereignty.
Naval and Air Force Deployment
Were this military intervention to be carried out it would result in an all out war, a blitzkrieg, implying the bombing of military as well as civilian targets.
In this regard, General James Mattis, Commander of U.S. Central Command, (USCENTCOM), has intimated that the establishment of a "no fly zone" would de facto involve an all out bombing campaign, targeting inter alia Libya's air defense system:
‘It would be a military operation – it wouldn’t be just telling people not to fly airplanes. 'You would have to remove air defence capability in order to establish a no-fly zone, so no illusions here.' (U.S. general warns no-fly zone could lead to all-out war in Libya, Mail Online, March 5, 2011, emphasis added).
A massive US and allied naval power has been deployed along the Libyan coastline.
The Pentagon is moving its warships to the Mediterranean. Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise had transited through the Suez Canal within a few days following the insurrection. (
http://www.enterprise.navy.mil )
U.S. amphibious warships, USS Ponce and USS Kearsarge, have also been deployed in the Mediterranean.
USS Enterprise transits the Suez Canal in Egypt, February 15, 2011, handout photo, U.S. N
400 US Marines have been dispatched to the Greek Island of Crete "ahead of their deployment on warships off Libya" ( "Operation Libya": US Marines on Crete for Libyan deployment, times of Malta, March 3, 2011).
Meanwhile Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy are in the process of deploying war vessels along the Libyan coast.
Germany has deployed three war ships using the pretext of assisting in the evacuation of refugees on the Libya-Tunisia border. "France has decided to send the Mistral, its helicopter-carrier, which, according to the Defense Ministry will contribute to evacuation of thousands of Egyptians." (Towards the Coasts of Libya: US, French and British Warships Enter the Mediterranean, Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, March 3, 2011) Canada has dispatch (March 2) Navy Frigate HMCS Charlottetown.
Meanwhile, US 17th Air Force, named US Air Force Africa based at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany is assisting in evacuation of refugees. US-NATO air force facilities in Britain, Italy, France and the Middle East are on standby.
And further reading:
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23605The establishment of a no fly zone is on the drawing board of the Pentagon. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, supported by the Arab League and the Organization for African Unity (OUA) have labelled Libya as “An Unfriendly Nation”.
The scenario envisaged by Washington is to involve Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states in aerial attacks directed against Libya.
They have also called on Saudi Arabia to supply opposition forces with weapons.
Reports confirm that NATO special forces and military advisers to the rebellion are on the ground in Eastern Libya.
The geopolitical and economic implications of a US-NATO led military intervention directed against Libya are far-reaching.
Libya is among the World’s largest oil economies with approximately 3.5% of global oil reserves, more than twice those of the US.
A war on Libya would have an immediate impact on the price of crude oil. The latter has risen by 18 percent since the beginning of the insurrection in Libya.
It currently stands at $104.42 a barrel for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest level since the financial crash of September 2008. Since August 2010, the price of crude oil has risen from 75.93 a barrel to 104.42 (March 2011), a hefty increase of 37.5 percent. (See Table below)
Crude Oil (petroleum) – Monthly Price – Commodity Prices
Month Value
Aug-10 75.93
Sep-10 76.14
Oct-10 81.72
Nov-10 84.56
Dec-10 90.1
Jan-11 92.66
March 2011 Price for April Delivery 104. 42
Source indexmundi.com. Crude Oil (petroleum) – Monthly Price – Commodity Prices
A war directed against Libya would push the price of crude oil up to abysmally high levels, potentially triggering a global inflationary spiral, which would result in the impoverishment of large sectors of the World population.
A sizeable increase in the price of oil over a prolonged period would wreck economic havoc: production and transportation costs would increase dramatically. Hikes in the costs of fuel and energy would trigger a renewed string of bankruptcies in major sectors of economic activity. They would also contribute to a sizeable increase in the external debt of developing countries.
These price hikes, which are already ongoing, would occur despite the abysmally low costs of Middle East oil.
What this means is that powerful institutional speculators on Wall Street with links to the US military and intelligence establishment will cash in on billions of dollars in speculative gains not only in the oil market but also in the commodity and foreign exchange markets.
This money is appropriated from households which must now pay a higher price for fuel.
A “humanitarian war” would be “good for business”. It serves the interests of the institutional speculators, it contributes to a further process of appropriation of money wealth.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
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Financial institutions which had prior knowledge or intelligence of events in Egypt and Libya have already made billions of dollars in speculative gains in the futures and options markets for crude oil.
These global financial and banking institutions, which “placed their bets” several months ago, have “a vested interest in war”. The greater the turmoil and disruption of the crude oil market, the greater the speculative gains. Short term speculative gains due to market volatility are also part of this process. Foreknowledge of the sequence of political or military events and how they affect markets as well as control and/or manipulation of financial news pertaining to these events are an essential part of the betting process.
In this regard we are dealing the with workings of the World’s commodity exchanges, the most important of which is the powerful CME Group created following the merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
Political Rumors and Fake Information
The spreading of rumors and fake information is also a profitable undertaking particularly in relation to short-term movements of commodity markets:
…a rumor that Libya’s long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi had been shot tore across the commodities market, sending U.S. crude oil futures down more than two percent. Other rumors have had similar immediate and sweeping effects, even without real changes in actual oil production or reserves. The cause is oil speculators, such as hedge funds, who buy and sell commodities, profiting by betting on short-term price changes.
These traders are making money on quick movement, wagering on rumors and market blips. They are buying and quickly re-selling commodities they have no intention of actually holding or using. Their opportunism is once again hitting working-class families across the country, increasing the burden on small business owners and farmers,…. (Rep. Joe Courtney: Market Speculators and the Real Cost of Oil, Huffington Post, March 16, 2011)
Read Chossudovsky’s analysis on War and the Economic Crisis
Economic Sanctions
Economic sanctions have been imposed by the US on Libya thereby creating havoc in the supply of Libyan oil to the European Union. These sanctions are indirectly targeted at the European Union. They contribute to weakening Italy and France, which are heavily dependent on Libyan oil.
Libyan oil trade has virtually been paralysed as banks decline to clear payments in dollars due to U.S. sanctions (Reuters, February 8, 2011) “The move follows a decision by major U.S. oil firms to halt trade with Libya and makes it almost impossible for European firms to buy Libyan oil and supply refineries in countries such as France and Italy.
Banks have been instructed [by Wall Street and Washington] to freeze financial transactions: “Banks don’t want to finance the system in Libya, so for the moment no one is getting money for oil. There are big problems for payments,” said a senior trader with a European oil company.
“It’s not a matter of choice, there is an embargo on U.S. dollars coming in and out of Libya,” said a trader with one of the firms, referring to banks’ resistance to clear payments in the U.S. currency.
“All U.S. dollar transactions are being blocked,” the trader said, adding it was not clear at this stage if payments were possible in other currencies and whether any Swiss or European banks were willing to conclude transactions. (Libyan oil trade paralysed, deals in dollars blocked | Energy & Oil | Reuters, 8 February 2011)
Economic Impacts of a US-NATO Military Operation
If this military operation is carried out, oil prices will spiral, contributing to further exacerbating the economic crisis with devastating social consequences, particularly in the Europe Union, which is heavily dependent on Libyan oil.
The hikes in oil prices contribute to increased poverty, they also contribute to a concurrent increase in global food prices (which are also the object of speculative activity on the commodity exchanges) and more generally in the cost of living Worldwide. i.e the consumer price index.
Wheat – Monthly Price – Commodity Prices
Month Value
Aug-10 246.25
Sep-10 271.69
Oct-10 270.29
Nov-10 274.37
Dec-10 306.99
Jan-11 326.54
US$ per metric ton
Maize (corn) – Monthly Price – Commodity Prices
Month Value
Aug-10 175.6
Sep-10 205.84
Oct-10 235.7
Nov-10 236.44
Dec-10 251.02
Jan-11 265.29
US$ per metric ton
Maize (corn), U.S. No. 2 Yellow, FOB Gulf of Mexico, U.S. price, US$ per metric ton
Wheat, No.1 Hard Red Winter, ordinary protein, FOB Gulf of Mexico, US$ per metric ton
Maize (corn) – Monthly Price – Commodity Prices
Wheat – Monthly Price – Commodity Prices
Source indexmundi.com.
The fuel price hikes will in turn have a significant impact on the costs of transportation, international freight and air travel. At the height of a global economic crisis, it will further undermine both domestic and international trade.
All this is known and understood by the major economic actors including the politicians and the speculators. The politicians follow the guidelines set by Wall Street, which largely call the shots on government financial policy.
Regulation of the price of food staples or the retail price of gasoline is considered to be an encroachment on the workings of the “free market”.
What we are dealing with is a corrupt economic system which feeds on war and destruction.
The average price of gasoline at the pump in the US is of the order of 3.80 a gallon, in excess of $4 a gallon in California.
The speculators applaud! The media casually blames the price hikes on Gaddafi… “Households are cutting back on travel, cinema visits and groceries in the UK, where prices jumped to 130.68 pence a liter ($8.06 a gallon) on March 3.
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