Libya: the manufacture of consent | Life on Wheels

23.8.11

Libya: the manufacture of consent | Life on Wheels: Almost 1300 people have been killed in Libya in the past 24 hours; almost equal to the death toll of the brutal, three-week Israeli Operation Cast Lead massacre in Gaza. In the case of Gaza, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across the world to demonstrate, but now, we celebrate for Tripoli.



What is it that we are celebrating? Are we celebrating the NATO bombs that carved out a path for the rebels we have trained? Are we celebrating the blood-soaked routes that they took into the capital? Are we wishing for further blood to be spilt in Tripoli, as armed anti-Gaddafi forces clash with an armed and civilian population?



This is not a revolution; it is a western-backed, NATO-sanctioned, colonialist regime change in a sovereign African nation. As political analyst and eyewitness Mahdi Nazemroaya, whilst being interviewed on Russia Today, so aptly surmised:



“This is a NATO war. They bombed this entire city and landed insurgents on the coast. NATO has bombed mercilessly in this country and massacred innocent civilians.”