From the Gulf War to the war on North Africa: On the true meaning of democracy

by Cynthia McKinney, Global Research, 28 March 2011


In 2005 in the basement of the United States Capitol at a meeting convened by Congressman John Conyers on the subject of the "Downing Street Memo," Ray McGovern uttered the following truth: he testified that "the United States went to war in Iraq for oil, Israel, and military bases craved by administration neocons" so that "the United States and Israel could dominate that part of the world." McGovern went on to testify truthfully that " Israel is not allowed to be brought up in polite conversation. The last time I did this, the previous director of Central Intelligence called me anti-Semitic."

The routine condemnations of McGovern could be heard from all of the sources inside the U.S. political structure that has at its base finance from pro-Israel sources; that included from Dr. Howard Dean who was Chair of the Democratic National Committee at the time. This finance nexus has been thoroughly identified by Dr. James Petras, for those who want to do further reading.

Condemnations, however, do not disprove McGovern's statement, but point, instead, to the political untouchability of the topic. However, if one wants to truly understand the formulation of U.S. foreign and military policies, one must carefully consider McGovern's testimony.

On December 7, 1988 Mikhail Gorbachev described the need for a "universal human consensus" and he called that a new world order.

And on September 11, 1990, President George Herbert Walker Bush characterized the crisis that led to his intervention in the Persian Gulf in Operation Desert Storm as an opportunity to move toward "a new world order." Every President since Bush, including President Obama, has expressed some fealty in one way or another to the idea of a "New World Order" which represents the ultimate goal of internationalizing rule by a few oligarchs and the dissolution, by every means available, of dissent.

On March 19, 2011, exactly eight years after George W. Bush launched "Operation Iraqi Freedom," President Obama savagely bombed Libya .

One can begin to gain an understanding of exactly who these oligarchs are by investigating the financial winners in the oligarchization of the U.S. economy, in much the same way that the Russian oligarchs were created and eventually identified.

Israel was an important beneficiary of these economic operations and Israel has been an important beneficiary of certain U.S. military operations, exactly as McGovern testified.

The clear losers in this process are the people struggling globally for truth, justice, human rights, and peace. And there are clear and identifiable winners--if one dares to look.

Understanding who the winners are is necessary if one is to be able to decipher what they do and why. Therefore, it is necessary to understand that a new type of language has been adopted where war is peace, freedom is slavery, lies are truth, and ignorance is strength: we already know this as Orwell Speak. Our job is to pierce the intentional propagandistic obfuscations and expose the truth for those less aware of the modus operandus of the crafters of this new international order.

Nowhere should McGovern's testimony be weighed more than in the context of the US-led "Global War on Terror," the more recent "revolutions" of North Africa and West Asia, and more specifically for this paper, events unfolding in Libya.

Initially, the U.S. effort against Qaddafi's Administration in Libya was termed a "humanitarian intervention" to protect the people. But, when since September 11, 1990 have U.S. troops been mobilized to innocently rescue civilians in danger? In reality, the U.S. military has been selectively called into action to cause civilian pain, suffering, destruction, and death since September 11, 1990 and to further unstated objectives.

The U.S. military was not called into action after its ally, Paul Kagame, oversaw the murder of two democratically elected Presidents, when their plane was shot from the air by a U.S. missile left over from Operation Desert Storm that found its way to Uganda and from Uganda into Kagame's possession. The murder of the two sitting Presidents by way of shooting down their plane was an act of terror.

In the human conflagration that followed, the tragedy that has become known as the Rwandan Genocide, 100,000 innocent civilians were murdered every day for the next 100 days while the Clinton Administration, National Security Council Advisor Susan Rice, nor United Nations Ambassador Madeleine Albright did anything to provide humanitarian intervention because regime change was the accepted policy and if it meant the deaths of one million Africans, then so be it.

The Clinton Administration women who justified this non-intervention, later had an opportunity to stop the carnage in Sierra Leone, Ethiopia , Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast since 2000, Sudan and they did nothing because what was happening in those areas, despite the tremendous human toll, was consistent with unstated U.S. policy.

Today, the Obama Administration is responsible for its own war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the peace and defends in U.S. Courts those from the Bush Administration who bear responsibility for having approved or justified them in the past. Yet, this Administration will not even agree to investigate the violation of Mumia Abu Jamal's civil rights in his first trial rife with racial innuendo, judicial misconduct, and a lack of evidence. Or in the case of Troy Davis where seven of nine witnesses recanted their testimonies and cited prosecutorial misconduct. But it did go to court to defend military commissions and insulted Native Americans in the process!

In addition, what the United States is responsible for in Afghanistan and Pakistan just since President Obama came to office is unthinkable and is despicable. And U.S. taxpayers continue to foot the financial and moral bill for the continued subjugation of Palestine , especially the people of Gaza who are still being bombarded by Israeli warplanes, all made possible by every one of us that pays taxes. And let us not forget this Administration's efforts to quash the Goldstone Report (the United Nations Report on Israel 's Operation Cast Lead against Gaza ) and criticism of Israel after nine Turkish citizens attempting to take humanitarian supplies to Gaza were brazenly murdered by Israeli forces attacking the humanitarian aid ship, Mavi Marmara.

But, amazingly, when the Obama Administration puts the U.S. war machine in action in a new front in Africa and characterizes it as a "humanitarian intervention," the peace community seemingly accepts the obfuscation and forgets the facts.

But the peace community knows full well that the Obama Administration is continuing the longterm U.S. policies of dismemberment, Balkanization, carefully crafted chaos, and death and destruction to achieve its unstated objectives. Every possibility of dissent is being obliterated--for a reason.

The FBI raids in Minnesota , Wisconsin , and elsewhere targeting activists who support peace and the human rights of Palestinians is no accident. Politically-motivated prosecutions of politically active Palestinians came first, from Sami Al-Arian and his brother-in-law to the Holy Land Five. These raids, combined with the Administration's unstated military objectives, undergird the economic transformation to which this Administration is fully committed. That is why the average taxpayer pays more taxes than General Electric or Bank of America, but shouldn't expect any kind of bailout from this Administration.

Now, let's explore Libya with respect to McGovern's remark.

Oil: Well Libya 's got lots of it: the most on the African Continent.

Israel: Preparing Israel to make "a clean break" from the past and establish a new relationship with the U.S. based on "maturity," by "securing the realm" as written by the Project for a New American Century Study Group on "A New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000" with Richard Perle as its leader. This should be seen as the operative strategy defining events in the region: " Israel --proud, wealthy, solid, and strong" can "shape its strategic environment." France can be seen as an additional proxy for Israel in this action; France which announced that it was taking the lead in the anti-Qaddafi operation, is led by Nicholas Sarkozy whom the French media, Le Figaro newspaper, identified after his election as a Mossad asset. 99% of the population of Libya is Muslim. As long as Muslims are fighting each other they won't have time to focus on Israel or Palestine; And as for logistics, AFRICOM, the United States military's Africa Command, was not created for nothing: it was created to deepen the U.S. military presence and control over a Continent rich in land, water, strategic minerals, former preserve of U.S. allies and now facing aggressive penetration by China. Situated on the Mediterranean littoral, with oil money, and a revolutionary leader, I need not say much more about Libya and logistics useful for neocon objectives.

The reason Muammar Qaddafi is a target is because he has been a thorn in the side of anti-revolutionary forces since he took power in Libya, overthrowing the King and nationalizing the oil industry so that the people could benefit from their oil resources.

Libya 's Revolution brought free health care and education to the people and subsidized housing. In fact, students in Libya can study there or abroad and the government gives them a monthly stipend while they are in school and they pay no tuition. If a Libyan needs a surgery that must be done overseas, then the government will pay for that surgery. That is more than the soldiers of the United States military can say. While Libyans enjoy subsidized housing, members of the U.S. military risk foreclosure while they serve their country abroad. Money from oil is directly deposited into the accounts of every Libyan based on oil income. As one Libyan told me recently, the idea is that if people have what they need, then they don't have to deny rights to or harm others and the Revolution believes that it is the responsibility of the government to provide the basic needs of its citizens.

Now, as for democracy, a country that has never practiced it is a poor trumpet for it. From genocide of indigenous Americans to enslavement of stolen Africans to disfranchisement of women, ours has been a less than perfect union. Now, it has turned the administration of its elections over to private voting machine companies and the finance of those elections to individuals and organizations that can mobilize vast sums of money; thus the United States is not in the best best position to dictate the terms of another country's democracy. But, Libyans govern themselves by The Green Book, a form of direct democracy based on the African Constitution concept that the people are the first and final source of all power. Clearly, the U.S. move is counter-Revolution.

In addition, I remember watching the proceedings of the House of Commons on television about ten years ago and I was shocked by what I was hearing: a member of Parliament saying that the evidence was actually planted by the U.S. C.I.A.! So, I searched for the article and there it was. A Member of Parliament had done his own investigation and discovered to his satisfaction that "the [timing] device was a C.I.A. plant." Kind of like the investigation I did, myself, to conclude that the Bush Administration was not telling us the truth about September 11th.

There is so much more on this to write. But I will leave that for another article. Let me just add this: Earl Hilliard was kicked out of Congress in 2002 by the pro-Israel Lobby because he was getting close to Libya and would learn some of the secrets that have not yet been revealed. What business was it of Israel and their U.S. supporters that an African American Member of Congress was reaching out to an African leader who has always been supportive of Black liberation in the United States ?

Muammar Qaddafi's daughter was murdered by U.S. bombs targeting him. I have visited the compound. Unfortunately, it has since been revealed by Victor Ostrovsky, a Mossad defector living in Canada , that the bombing took place as a result of faked intelligence and that Qaddafi was set up by Israel in Operation Trojan, that wanted him targeted. According to Ostrovsky, Ronald Reagan was tricked into bombing Libya by means of a "radio transmitter smuggled into Tripoli by the Mossad, which broadcast messages designed to fool the United States into thinking Libya was about to launch a massive terror attack on the West. On the basis of this bogus evidence, the US bombed Libya , killing Gaddafi's daughter." I have met with former members of MI-5 who were tasked with assassinating Qaddafi and refused.

At any rate, I must put this on the record, too. Muammar Qaddafi has long been a friend to African people. Pan-Africanists have travelled to and from Libya since the beginning of Qaddafi’s role as Libya ’s leader, including Black Panther Party, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, All-African People's Revolutionary Party, and Nation of Islam members. I once defended Nation Of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in the House International Relations Committee when the late Tom Lantos--on behalf of Israel --challenged The Nation's relationship with Libya and wanted to dash Qaddafi's desire to give The Nation several billion dollars to help Black people.

Unfortunately, in an effort of goodwill, Mr. Gaddafi on at least one occasion, was also prepared to assist those who presented themselves as servants of the people but in fact were not: the Blackstone Rangers in Chicago . More importantly, hundreds of unnamed Black Americans have made the sojourn to Libya – all striving for the unification of Africans in Africa and the Diaspora. Black people who would have not otherwise ever connected with one another have been able to do so for more than forty years because of the educational and cultural conferences that Qaddafi has sponsored. The only requirement for participation was that they be willing to commit to work towards the ongoing development of Africa--all of Africa and wherever Africans are. Mr. Qaddafi to this day continues to assist Black political organizations in an effort to keep people of African descent able to exercise their right of self-determination.

Meanwhile, on the Continent, Africans not ready to kowtow to France , the United States , or other former colonial powers maintain their independence thanks to Qaddafi, the former head of the African Union. Qaddafi was named African Leader of the Year in 2009. Qaddafi provided the African National Congress and Nelson Mandela the wherewithal to defeat apartheid in South Africa . In short, if you want to stop Black people, then one key move is to stop Colonel Qaddafi.

Finally, I have led two delegations to Tripoli. Among those I took with me are KPFK's Dedon Kamathi, Black Agenda Report's Glen Ford, WBAIX.com's Don Debar, WayneMadsenReport.com's Wayne Madsen, National Hip Hop Political Caucus's Troy Nkrumah, Block Report's Minister of Information J.R. Valrey, Bob Fitrakis of FreePress.org, Keith Harmon Snow of allthingspass.com, and Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson of Malcolm X.

Chicago 's Pat Hill traveled with me twice and is in regular contact with people on the ground in Libya . You have heard them giving their impressions of what they saw and what they know on radio, television, and the internet. The information I have included in this article is public information. Therefore, I am amazed that activist "leaders" who ought to know better accept special interest propaganda as the truth and then knowingly or unwittingly become tools of the disinformation artists. Responsible news outlets will search for those who know. I ask the readers of this article to trust no one who is merely a talking head, search for those who have experience and a track record for telling not a part of the truth, bu the whole truth, and then finally do your own research and learn more about your government. And maybe, finally, then candidates who don't deserve our votes won't get them.

In conclusion, the United States, France, and Britain together have killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan and their collective wars elsewhere without any punishment or any action from the U.N. Their action in Libya is illegal and Libya should launch a legal action in the International Court of Justice to obtain an injunction against this military action and I know just the right team of unbought international lawyers to do it. The claim that military actions against Libya protect civilians is a mockery and Presidents Obama and Sarkozy and Prime Minister Cameron should be called on it.

Interestingly, the National Front for the Salvation of Libya held its most recent meeting in the United States in July 2007. However, Libyans should be able to solve their own problems without foreign interference.

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has put forward a mediation proposal which I have endorsed.

In addition, the Hugo Chavez International Foundation for Peace, Friendship and Solidarity released a communiqué stating that the "Arab League endorsements of Al-Qaida terrorism in Libya , [the U.S./NATO minus Germany and Turkey , plus the United Arab Emirates allies] is a racially-motivated hatred since the obnoxious slave trade centuries back." The communiqué continues that opening contacts with terrorists amounts to nothing less than promoting international terrorism and characterizes the Arab League move as both anti-African and anti-Black. The Hugo Chavez Foundation communiqué concludes: Long live Muammar Al-Qathafi! Long live the African Union! Long live Pan-Africanism! Solidarity with Blacks everywhere!