|
|
Recent articles by anarcho2libya
Atomic Weapons Eradication Talk Jun 17 13 Free Bradley Manning. Free Bradley Manning's banners Jun 14 13 PALESTINE EMBASSY to open in Bristol Jun 07 13 Bristol to Libya: Travels around Benghazi bristol |
peace |
news report
 Thursday June 16, 2011 13:32 by anarcho2libya
 alls well over here im putting in a fuse box for the red cross/crescent at a clinic tomorrow , have made contact with the eng support group they are the local non military techs in this town they were responsible for the truck and containers full of sand used to block and divide gadafis troops and lots more and they are still busy 3 mine groups showed up to start clearing the battle litter. ill talk to them next
Ive had a few job interviews in my time but never one at midnight. The technician , unlike most rebels was in Gadafis army right up until the war broke out. I often wondered about this guy because he lived in Benghazi with his his wife and 5 kids but worked in in a base in the west, if it had have been the other way around which side would have he been on? I had my doubts about joining in at this level of the rebellion, this place was clearly a military base albeit a small one (One and a half acre disused phone company building) But the more they explained who they were and how they came to be there the more comfortable i felt. Although situated in Benghazi they were a support unit from Ajdabia , the guys i talked to were new to all things military and joined up for a variety of reasons , an overall dislike/hate of Gadaffi got them started in Feb but when their friends and relatives started getting killed (either in street demos or fighting) they realized there was no going back,they are too afraid. Some stories for joining were more personal like the middle class well dressed , consultant engineer who calmly moentioned in conversation that he had spent 7 years in prison in Tripoli for being an anti Gadafi activist and the 22 year old whose father was in Abu Salim prison in 1996 but didnt find out for 15 years that his father had been killed (along with 1100+ other prisoners). During this time his family were still sending him money , clothes and food. he wasnt bitter just sad at the loss and looking forward to the future. The reason they set up their own base was that they wanted thier own supply chain for their defence of Aldabia .All the equipment was secure and they had somwhere to go if Ajdabia fell , which it had done 5 or 6 times already. Some of them expressed a distinct lack of enthusiasim for rebel command /TNC in Benghazi , it was a sentiment i was going to hear a bit more of in my travels in Libya On my days off i went around Benghazi looking at the "sights" , the courthouse is in the centre its walls adorned with pictures not only of all the people who have died in the last 30 or so years, like the 1100+ people who were massacred at the Abu Salim prison in 1996 ,victims of the airliner that people reckon was downed by Gadafi and mixed in with these pictures are 10s of photos of people who have disappeared in the last three decades some with phone numbers printed on to contact if anyone has any information.The rest of the wall is covered in anti Gadafi graffiti something which before the revolution would have got you into serious trouble. Beside the courthouse is Freedom Square and its main stage where the hold rallies every other day of the week but almost as a reality check the square is split in half with one section screened off for women and kids only, this country as far as i could see is 100% Islamic, not radical but deeply entrenched , i found it depressing although the media centre is completely controlled and run by women. Behind the square there are about 30 large tents and marquees set up each one for a different organisation some of them are newly formed workers unions, Peoples Engineering Committee,groups to remember the dead/martyrs and lots of islamic groups On my round town travels i visited as many bases as i could find to see what was going on and hoping to find someone else like me doing the same thing.Closest i came was a pair of born in England Libyan lads who were working in a pizza place in Manchester and legged it as soon as they could get the money for a ticket to Cairo. All the bases i visited were partly or wholly trashed (looking like a tescos on stokes croft) and burnt out which must have been great fun at the time but now almost two months later they must be feeling the pinch, the weapons they need to attack or just defend themselves ly burnt out by there own hand. I ve visited a yard that looked like an oil slick hit it , what they were doing was taking burnt out anti aircraft guns soaking them for two days in baths of petrol then stripping with their bare hands sorting them into spare parts and sending them off to other workshops. This was the only place i didnt ask for work. The biggest former army base in Benghazi is known as the Katiba, 20 acres big right at the edge of the city centre it was the focus of the Feb. uprising. Its easy to find and get into because someone got a JCB and knocked down the entire mile long outside wall, all of its buildings (except the mosque) burnt black and vehicles too, at anytime in daylight theres always people nicking stuff from there , all the copper is gone including the mains incoming cable from 6 feet underground , the entire telephone system,door and window frames,the blastdoors off the bunkers, every metal roofing sheet off all the warehouses, a ton of marble capstones off the steps to the officers quarters and most of the plumbing. There was so many small groups of people working there each with a full kit of tools and a vehicle it looked like a giant reverse building site. Its all good natured people happily showing you what they are thieving, sharing lunch. (i got some Libyan army tunic buttons) At this point im going to cut the narrative a bit short,. I was planning on writing one more article about Benghazi but some things are starting to wear on my mind like the consistent comments coming in asking me to be more investigative and analytical about whats gone and going on out here and after spending a few weeks welding weapons and weapon systems together, it started to get to me . I decided to switch to a more constructive/ civilian role i attempted to join in with th Peoples Eng. Committee, a group who's focus is on refurbishing burnt out buildings and handing them over for use by the government , media, hospital or refugee use but as my luck would have it the only work they were doing was on trashed/burnt buildings on army bases , which no non Libyans are allowed work on. With little option left in Benghazi, the place wasnt damaged much at all so theres nothing to fix . I (reluctantly) got a press pass and put my name down for a place on the boat to Misrata. Since it was heavily bombed (by Nato,rebels and Gadafi) and still under siege with only small fishing boats and a ferry to supply it, it seems like the best place to be just not the safest. I leave in 4 days
|
printable version
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (19 of 19)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19Remember the gay girl in damascus who wasn't really, gay, a girl, or in damascus?
Where is the proof that this account is anything but fiction?
No photographs from any of your travels. No interviews. No video. Nothing to corroborate that you are actually there.
This reads like british state propaganda. Military bases looking like tesco in stokes croft? Purlease! You were not even there when it kicked off (in your first article, you claim u left for cairo 20days before the publish date of the article, which puts you firmly not in bristol).
We know the cops have been on indymedia before: (http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/472618.html?c=on), do you really think they have stopped. Do you really think that the one of the main activist news sites in the country is not heavily monitored and interfered with?
How can we take seriously these accounts which are designed to get british activists to side with the fascist NATO war machine in their savage bombardment of a 3rd world nation and its people?
If you are not a work of pure fiction provide some real proof that you are actually where you say and doing what you claim.
did u get to see the racist cartoons in Benghazi?
http://www.ruthfullyyours.com/2011/05/01/protesters-in-...oons/
both antisemitic and anti black african. The Insurgents are known for their virulent racism. and have masascred many black libyans and black african workers, whom they label 'african' mercenaries. They call them 'african' because the insurgents despise africa and treat Libya as not african.
"A fascist war machine", Do you even understand what the word means? Is this the extent of your understanding of political philosophy? Next you'll be saying it's Zionist or Tory!
What has happened to Left.
the author of these posts is a local activist who has known several bimvols for years. he's not an undercover cop, or other agent of the state.
sorry to have to piss on your conspiracy theories but they just aint true.
If you are really there, why not give us the voices of Libyan's, instead of just your white western viewpoint of what's going on? To be honest, I'm more interested in what Libyan's have to say on the war that is taking place in their country, than a guy from Bristol.
These people from Global Civilians for Peace in Libya went and made many interesting and eye opening interviews with LIbyan citizens from in Tripoli, including refugees from Misrata (video can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/user/LizziesLiberation and here: http://www.youtube.com/user/sonsofmalcolmtv)
beatings and lynchings of Blacks by the so called 'rebels' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayHqZfbYqlY
After the first Gulf war, Iraqi's rebelled against Saddam. The US at first did nothing, then fearing what a post Saddam power vacuum would unleash, allowed Saddam to use some of his air force to move troops and put down the rebellion. His secret police then moved in to finish the job. Sitting back and letting a dictator wage war of his people was rightly condemned then as putting politics before people.
Now the people of Libya have risen against a dictator - something a few posters here seem to blythly ignore - Gaddafi is a dictator who tortures and murders those who oppose him. I would have expected the users of the site to understand that desire for freedom and to overthrow a tyranny. Yes NATO are involved, and yes I have no doubt that they have an eye on the bottom line (the oil) what what if they hadn't? We'd be hearing of futile protests outside the Libyan Embassy asking them to stop the detention and murder of civilians. It would be post-Gulf War 1 all over.
So I'd rather the Libyan people were able to free themselves without NATO, but thanks to the weapons we in part sold Gaddafi, they can't. They needed help and I for one am glad we finally gave them support. Are there war crimes going on on both sides and will civilian's get killed? Sadly yes. War is messy and civilians always bear the brunt of the damage. War is a shit solution, but what other choice did the people have? They tired protest and were shot.
I looked at the Sons of Malcolm links and frankly its bonkers propaganda. I don't buy it. Given the artillery attacks by government forces on civilian areas, it does seem that Gaddafi is happy to sacrifice 'his' people for power:
One document shows the commanding general of government forces instructing his units to starve Misrata's population during the four-month siege. The order, from Youssef Ahmed Basheer Abu Hajar, states bluntly: "It is absolutely forbidden for supply cars, fuel and other services to enter the city of Misrata from all gates and checkpoints." Another document instructs army units to hunt down wounded rebel fighters, in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Plans to bombard the city are also in the archive, say investigators, who also claim they have a message from Gaddafi relayed to the troops ordering that Misrata be obliterated and the "blue sea turned red" with the blood of the inhabitants. The documents are expected to form a crucial element of any trial against Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and his intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi if, as is expected, ICC judges confirm indictments for war crimes and crimes against humanity that are demanded by its chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo.
So well done to the author of these articles - a normal person trying to help a brave people free themselves. Shame on those too blinded by anti-NATO rhetoric to see the wood for the trees.
@Goya:
Freedom does not come on the back of Caesar's chariot. Or to update it; freedom does not come on the back of F16s and Apace helicopters.
You site Saddam and Iraq - we know what NATO meant to Iraq, over 1 million dead. That's the same as the number of people who marched against war in Britain in 2003.
Don't be fooled by the western propaganda machine to believe that the "Libyan people" rose up. No, a small amount of people aligned with the old western puppet monarchy, who lost out when the colonialists were booted out, started an *armed* rebellion against the Libyan people (along with al qaeda who have been battling against the Libyan regime for over a decade). The rest of Libya is firmly against NATO and with the regime.
NATO are not just 'involved', they have been running the bloody thing from the outset, planning it, executing and now bombing the fuck out of Libya. Don't be fooled into thinking that the largest military block in the world goes to war on a whim with just a few days of planning. No, they plan strategically for months and years in advance.
I have also seen the Sons of Malcolm videos. You think they're 'bonkers propaganda'. Looked to me like they were real and heartfelt interviews with Libyans on the ground talking about their resistance to the NATO aggression. Obviously you prefer the likes of the BBC and guardian than listening to actual Libyan voices.
You say the Libyan people asked for help, and that you are 'glad we finally gave them support'. Firstly I never refer to the sick British state with myself as 'we'. Secondly, depleted urainium, over 4000 bombing raids and the most advanced death machine in the world is not my idea of 'support'.
You then site the documents miraculously discovered by the guardian journalist. We've seen these sort of dossiers released before, and we know what war propaganda looks like when it shows it's ugly face. I think people need to watch Pilger's recent documentary on Iraq again, "The War We Don't See". Or are you going to wait for 10 years to pass and millions dead before you can admit you were duped?
@free your minds
But for your version of events to be true the bulk of the people are happy with Gaddafi? Right. So why does he need a secret police? Torture chambers? Laws that stop the formation of groups with opposing views? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_Gaddafi#Human_rights
I was one who protested against the Iraq was - a war conceived of in the west and fought for the reasons of the west. This is not the same thing. Yes NATO are opportunists, but I don't buy for one moment the view the Sons of Malcolm are spinning. Face it, he's a despot and the people of Libya are stuck between a rock (Gaddafi) and a hard-place (NATO) and its their call what to do and many have chosen to throw of dictatorship. We should support them now and when they need to stop NATO countires trying to move in after Gaddafi falls.
You state the sons of malcolm as some kind of authority on anything! An 'organisation' that praises tyrants and believe in the jewish conspiracy! Libya as a "black power nation"! An 'organisation that denies the links between the muslim brotherhood and national socialism. Jesus how messed up can this world get, when people who claim to be progressive and care about the oppressed talk nonsense whilst siding with oppressors. Galloway would be proud.
Thinking back, how shameful the anti war march of 2003 was, well intentioned people (like myself) marching next to dim witted fascists holding pro Hezbollah placards and copies of the guardian.
Now pro-Gaddafi supporters are using facebook to 'out' people who don't agree with the regime and incite physical and sexual violence against them.
Just waiting for the Sons of Malcolm video on this issue...
http://web3lab.blogspot.com/2011/06/libya-facebook-page....html
May I say how much I agree with the points you make.
The Bimvols have vouched for this individuals authenticity. I wish him well and a safe return. I wish I had a fraction of his "guts".
He is out there doing something rather than pontificating about how awful NATO and the West is about actually doing something to get rid of a vicious dictator.
I have said before - there is none so blind as those who will not see.
And what they don't see or comprehend is exactly what the Arab Spring is all about.
I do think a lot of the commenters are being unfair to the author. It's not the struggle I'd have chosen to rush off to, but there you are - and BIM can vouch for him. But why these depressing exhortations from both 'pro' and 'anti' Gaddafi factions to jump on one side or the other?
Gaddafi of course is a dictator, and up to his ears in crimes and corruption of one sort or another. But in some sense at least it's undeniable that he has been very generous to the poor of many African nations, and when not partying with Beyonce or Mariah Carey or buying western arms, he has resolutely promoted the cause of African independence. While the prison massacre definitely happened, and he certainly made things intolerable for a large section of Libya's population particularly from the 1990s on, and it's also likely that a French airliner was probably shot down by Gaddafi's forces in the 1980s, SOME of the accusations against him (Lockerbie et al) are probably not true - he's been scapegoated. So he's not an easy character to just 'condemn out of hand'.
The accusations against Gaddafi's forces for 'genocide and massacre' (ie. more war crimes than the other participants) in the current civil war are entirely a manoeuvre of the ICC. Amnesty and HRW have both been unable to substantiate the claims, despite intensive investigations by both organisations (see Patrick Cockburn's latest report in The Independent).
As far as I see it, initially the people of (mostly) eastern Libya rose up and were met by savage repression, then achieved an unexpected though temporary victory. Then the opportunists crawled out of the sewer, the divergence within the rebel factions became more apparent and by and large the western Libyans didn't buy the 'liberation' or the rebel use of old monarchist flags. Now it's basically a stalemate civil war with two militias of youths who are tragically almost identical blasting away at each other, with NATO blasting away as well at anyone who gets in their sights, loyalist and rebel alike.
It's a bit too much like Bosnia or Kosovo. Not something I'd want to be mixed up in.
The main problem with pro and anti Gadaffi supporters spinning the truth is that the pro Gadaffi supporters in particular are looking at the issue in isolation. The Arab Spring is a mass uprising against totalitarian regimes that usually run the country by a family nepotism.
Control of the population has been brutal and violent.
But like all despotic regimes of whatever “colour” – they implode from within.
And what an interesting exercise to review how some peoples hatred of the West is such that it enables them to mentally jump into bed with the likes of a despot like Gadaffi!
Oooops – credibility crisis for some!
Your totally right. The problem is the old saying of "my enemy's enemy is my friend". It is possible to intellectually, morally and physically oppose and despise something like the current Libyan regime, Castro, Hamas etc and still be highly critical of Western foreign policy. The problem is this stance makes for some difficult moral questions, how ever I would rather have to wrestle those than be morally dishonest.
watch this documentary. see how the rebels have brought lynching back. it sickens me to the core:
http://vimeo.com/24828255
Shock horror! the claims that Libyans were using mass rape as a weapon against the rebels was unfounded. There has been no evidence of mercenaries (apart from NATO!), and there were no helicopter gunships used by Gaddafi against demonstrators. Don't tell me that this was more pro war propaganda!?!
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/amnesty-....html
Its a shame that al you pro-rebels out there have to wait for Amnesty to tell you the truth, although those against the war have been crying out about the western propaganda for months.
Three Little Words: WikiLeaks, Libya, Oil.
Can you imagine which of the three NATO is interested in?
'Bill Richardson, the former US energy secretary who served as US ambassador to the UN, is probably right when he says: "There's another interest, and that's energy... Libya is among the 10 top oil producers in the world. You can almost say that the gas prices in the US going up have probably happened because of a stoppage of Libyan oil production... So this is not an insignificant country, and I think our involvement is justified".
http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=8304