UK, Defender Of --What??

       The UK establishment always spout how they are the defenders of freedom and human rights, but words are cheap, and actions always speak louder than words. So I suppose we should look at how the UK interacts with other countries, who it chooses as its friends, and who it chooses as its enemies. One of our dear friends and staunch allies is that citadel to medieval barbarism, Saudi Arabia. A country that still carries out pubic be-headings, public floggings, and stoning to death, where women are denied all accepted 21st. century rights, the right to drive, to go into mixed company unaccompanied, where if she is raped and reports it, she will in all probability, be charged with having sex outside marriage, and is likely to have a public flogging. At the head of this barbaric blot on the face of humanity, is a cabal of unbelievably rich religious fundamentalist fanatics, blind to compassion and anything resembling human rights, but an eye for making money and gathering power around themselves.  So the UK in its defence of human rights sells this cesspool of religious extremists, billions of pounds worth of military hardware, sends in special military advisers to assist them in retaining and expanding their power. I think you have to admit, it kind of blots the UK's human rights mantra.

       Now let's look at one of the UK's enemies, one that the UK played a major part in destroying, Libya. I am not, and never have been, a cheer leader for Gaddafi, but he did carry out a program of social benefits that would shock must people who read about them. Libya was a country of free health care, free electricity,  and interest free loans. Mothers received the equivalent of $5,000 for every child born, on getting married each couple were give the equivalent of $ 50,000 to find a home. Naturally, the UK as one of the world's defenders of human rights and of freedom, saw this abomination, and in a welling up of good will to all men, had to step in and destroy such a misuse of wealth. Now that Libya is a land of tribal feuds, blood letting, religious extremism, and dire poverty, the UK pumps up its chest with pride and points to Libya as a success story.

     As I keep saying, don't listen to their words, look at their actions.
Photos courtesy of arrezafe. 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

  

FROM BLOODLESS COUP, TO BLOODY DEATH.

         As the various groups give their views on the outcome of the NATO forced regime change in Libya, the opinions switch from Shangrila in Libya, and a peaceful world, to chaos with ethnic and religious battles, and Western oil companies working the miracle of changing Libyan oil into money in Western corporate shareholders' bank accounts. Who knows, but I think we can take it that the first is out of the question. The country's infrastructure has been decimated by NATO and marauding well armed militia, hell bent on firing off as much armaments as possible. It seemed as if the were on a bonus scheme from the Western arms producers. In most of the scenes from that poor unfortunate country, there hardly seems to a building that hasn't been multi-potholed. What homes are left to go home to? Such Western vengeance directed at a man who was responsible 42 years ago, for the bloodless overthrow of the Western puppet, King Idris, and for the nationalisation of Libyan oil. At that time Libya was a very poor country, as far as the people were concerned but no as far as the oil compnaies and their cronies were concerned. Gadaffi used that oil revenue to give Libya, food security by irrigation, free clean water pumped from under the Sahara, free education, free health care, and he kept a lid on the religious fundamentalists, who will now come to the fore. Probably his biggest crime in the eyes of the Western corporate world was the nationalising of the oil. Had he just taken power and left the oil in the hands of the Western corporate greed machine, perhaps he would still be in power and would still be feted by the West. Ah, that's capitalism for you.

ann arky's home.

NATO SAVED A MASSACRE!!!!

       So the West's white knight in shining armour that goes by the name of NATO rushed in to save the Libyan people from a massacre. Six months later the Libyan people are looking at 50,000 dead and 200,000 wounded, the destruction of their water supply, electricity and their hospitals. Meanwhile friends of the white knight are queueing up to get the contracts to rebuild the destruction, of course the Libyan people will have the privilege of paying the bill. Considering that the Libyan people had the best education system and health service in the area and free clean water to everybody, some of them will be asking, could we have done a better job ourselves? Also would the white knight have rushed in to their rescue had their main export been turnips? Don't turnip growers deserve protection as much as oil producers??



     It is sad, for at this moment in time so many Libyans will be filled with hope for the future of their country, only later will they find out that they have lost their country's assets to the Western corporate world, who are not a benevolent bunch. If and when the reconstruction of their country starts, they will see their debt pile up but their assets will not be theirs to pay the bills. They will become just another nation in debt to the corporate world. How much of the oil money will now go towards giving them some of the basics they had before the white knight rushed in to save them, free education, free health care, free clean water and cheap fuel?

ann arky's home.

VICTORY ON NATO'S COAT-TAILS!!

       

           So it loooks like the "rebels" have won in Libya? The so called "rebels" seem to be a very fundamentalist group. There has been talk of them clearing some of the towns of black Libyans, those that settled there after the slave trade, that went through that area. Also what is never mentioned is the fact that Gaddaffi spent a lot of the oil revenue on free education, free health care and bring clean water to all the towns and villages. I wonder where the oil revenue will go after he’s gone? Any ideas?? When you hear them make comments like “I have a bullet here for Gaddaffi, and I can’t wait to use it on him” doesn’t sound much like a democrat to me. I believe that Libya will end up in chaos like Iraq, with the people suffering and violent faction and tribal conflict, but the oil will be secure in Western hands, just like Iraq. It can never be said that it was the Libyan people that over threw the Gaddaffi regime, it will have been some of the most powerful military nations in the world, it was achieved by massive air power from NATO, plus NATO helicopter gunships, and military advice with NATO advisers on the ground, costing the NATO powers hundred of millions of pounds of taxpayers money, and if you believe the nations of NATO done it all for the benefit of the Libyan people, then you’ll believe anything. Every uprising is not a move to democracy, as history has told us. In this corporate capitaist world, it is usually a move by the corporate world to control resources. 

ann arky's home.

PROTECTING PEOPLE BY BOMBING THEIR CITY!!!

          
     Cameron's Libyan war crashes on with the anticipated escalation and so another night of heavy bombing in Tripoli, this blows wide open the sham about NATO protecting civilians. The West wants Gaddafi's oil and wants him out of the picture, protecting civilians is just the attempted slim badge of legitimacy. So Gaddafi goes, the West rushes in to support the "rebels" in Benghazi and a long civil war ensues. The West sends in a peace-keeping force and starts to take control of the oil as in Iraq, and as in Iraq, not giving a shit about what state the country of Libya ends up in, just as in Iraq. The people can fight and kill each other while the Western corporate world gets on with the business of milking the people and the country of its oil. When Gaddifi goes it will be interesting to see if the new regime spends as much of the oil revenue on free health care and free education as the Gaddafi regime, time will tell.

ann arky's home.