AFTER months of bombing and killing civilians, the Libyan imperialist adventure is nearing its end after both the UK and French governments have stated that Colonel Gadaffi and his family can continue to live in the country. This is after feverishly trying night and day to murder both, or expel them to the Hague international war crimes tribunal.
From day one the war was an imperialist adventure to try and steal Libya’s oil, after years of doing business with Gadaffi.
In reality, the Libyan government was suckered into a deal with the imperialists by Tony Blair.
The country gave up its nuclear weaponry, leaving itself open to massive attack, and the big western monopolies were welcomed in along with right-wing forces that had left the country after failing in bids to overthrow the government. They were now allegedly ‘reconciled’.
The imperialists judged that the revolution that was sweeping North Africa provided an opportunity to overthrow Gadaffi that they could not resist.
Their Benghazi surrogates were organised for action, and their NATO air arm was mobilised to give them the closest possible support along with the SAS and other mercenary forces on the ground.
Every day they boasted that it was only a matter of time before Gadaffi was murdered by an air attack, or forced to quit the country and stand trial at the Hague. Every day the imperialist propaganda became more and more absurd.
What saved Gadaffi was definitely not his foresight, or his political outlook!
What saved him was the understanding of the Libyan masses that the Colonel was not the target of the operation, and that they were. They saw that the imperialists were determined toal their oil.
In fact, the deepening world capitalist crisis gave the imperialist drive to reconquer Libya a frantic, desperate and demented character.
However, the more bombs they dropped and the more civilians they killed – many more than the Norwegian fascist – the more determined the Libyan masses became to defend their land and their oil wealth. This was the source of the mass actions of recent weeks, the ‘million man marches’ and mobilisations that were anti-imperialist to the core.
The imperialists will not be able to steal Libya’s oil like thieves in the night with the masses looking on and with the Gadaffi family in internal exile.
The masses have glimpsed their power and will not give it up, and will now want to advance to political organisation to control and manage their country.
Their message to the Benghazi counter-revolutionaries will be ‘pack your bags and return to London, New York, Cairo and the Gulf states’.
The Libyan people must strengthen their grip on power and form workers and farmers councils to exercise that power.
They must declare their full support for the workers revolutions that have taken place and are continuing to erupt throughout North Africa, from Algiers to Cairo and from there to Palestine and the Gulf.
Their resistance to NATO is part of these revolutions. We urge the Libyan youth to form a section of the Fourth International to carry through the socialist revolution in Libya and spread it throughout North Africa and the Gulf.
For workers in Europe, especially France and the UK, the failing imperialist adventure of their ruling classes at the hands of the Libyan people will be a source of inspiration to them in their struggle against Cameron and Sarkozy.
The imperialist bandits are being driven back in Libya and now they must be driven back in the UK. The trade unions must defend their Welfare State as determinedly as the Libyan masses are defending their oil.
In fact, the trade unions must call a general strike to bring down the Cameron coalition and go forward to a workers government.
This is the way forward for the UK and the French workers, arm in arm with the Libyan masses!
