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U.S. Bombing Libya Again

Date: 02 August 2016 - 21:44

News ID: ۲۹۴۹۷

By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

The War Party and its rogue partners in NATO are at it again. They have begun  a major new military campaign in Libya, this time they say against ISIL. The interventionists say the new war is open-ended and could last years.
The strikes represent a significant escalation in the U.S. war against ISIL, spreading the conflict thousands of miles from the war zones in Syria and Iraq. What’s more, the Pentagon officials say they want to strike at ISIL anywhere it raises its head, and that the airstrikes "would continue as long as the Libyan government is requesting - with no point to end at this particular moment.
We can still remember vividly how the previous "humanitarian” intervention plunged the country into years of anarchy and militia rule back in 2011. We can also remember how President Obama would later call his failure to plan for Gaddafi’s removal his "worst mistake,” after which thousands of ISIL fighters gained a significant foothold in the country.
The regime changers are free to claim their new military campaign has the backing of the Libyan government. But they are wrong to assume this time it will be a success. Even their own military experts agree.
In the past year, the U.S. has also conducted a handful of individual military strikes against ISIL targets in Libya. In February, the U.S. carried out an attack near the coastal city of Sabratha, aiming to take out ISIL operative Noureddine Chouchane. The Pentagon described the attack as "very successful,” but a day later, the Serbian government announced that two kidnapped members of the Serbian diplomatic staff had died in the bombing.
Moreover, the U.S.-led War on Terror was a disaster from day one. There is no reason to think this time it will be otherwise; that the regime changers will be able to bomb ISIL out of Libya, much less from the Middle East and North Africa.
Indeed, what Libya needs is not new escalation and more civilian casualties. The real war on ISIL needs a comprehensive, regionally-led strategy that addresses the underlying political, economic, humanitarian and diplomatic challenges. Only this way will it be possible to ultimately degrade and dismantle the terrorist group.
It is now an open secret that what the regime changers did on purpose back in 2011 was to leave Libya to its own devices. That was the real plan. They had no intention to police and rebuild Libya after achieving regime change. They deliberately helped throw the country into chaos and destabilise the surrounding region. There is no reason to think why this time it will be otherwise.