AFTER initial hesitation, and no doubt after a talking to by President Obama, and after President Sarkozy jumped the gun with his announcement, the Tory coalition leader Cameron has said that the UK is to commit British helicopter gunships for close-quarter engagements against the Libyan armed forces. These will no doubt include attempts to assassinate the Libyan leadership including Colonel Gadaffi.
That this is in breach of the agreed UN security council resolution is obvious, as is the fact that Britain is openly joining the ground war, in alliance with the Benghazi counter-revolutionaries, without the agreement of the UK parliament.
The commitment of attack helicopters comes after an increase in the number and weight of bombing raids on Tripoli – without managing to murder the Libyan leader.
The Anglo-French, US-backed escalation of the war is an expression of the desperation of the imperialist powers after their expectation of an easy victory over Gadaffi has been shattered, and been shown to have been the ravings of fools.
What was to have been a stroll in the Libyan sun, is now turning into a full-scale war, whose every tightening of the screw will be paid for in further cuts and closures of hospitals and universities in the UK itself.
It will not be long before we learn that more ground forces have to be committed to defend the additional assets that the UK is about to commit to the fight.
Tuesday’s speech by the Libyan Prime Minister (featured on these centre pages) reveals just how committed Libya was to its agreements with Italy, Turkey, the UK and the US. It is even pathetically touching to learn that the shocked Libyan leadership is still prepared to be the best friend of US imperialism.
Libya, with its close relations with the NATO powers, was treacherously and opportunistically attacked because those that it thought were its friends saw an even quicker way to get their hands on Libya’s oil, especially since Libya had given up its wmds.
This treacherous attack has only two recent parallels: one, the Japanese imperialist surprise attack on Pearl Harbour; and two, the Nazi surprise attack on the USSR.
Nevertheless, the Libyan leadership remains defiant and is now being raised up on the shoulders of the Libyan masses whose proud history means that they will never give way to imperialism, no matter what!
There is no doubt that the Libyan people will be supported by the peoples of Africa and the Middle East.
They must also have the full support of the working class in the west, especially the working class of the UK.
The British working class must not forget that the Cameron government is engaging in the same treacherous type of attack to demolish the entire Welfare State and the NHS.
Our enemy is at home, not in Libya or anywhere else.
A victory for the Libyan people over the UK-French forces will be our victory.
The trade unions must take strike action to stop the war and to bring down the coalition.
To the troops we say, refuse to fight. They are already cutting your jobs, wages and allowances. Do not act as cannon fodder for imperialists, who will try and use you next as strike-breakers against the British workers.
All over the world the class struggle is sharpening between the bankers and the bosses against the working class and the poor.
The Libyan people are in the front line. But the workers of the UK, Greece, Ireland and Spain are not too far behind, as far as the attacks that they are facing from the bankers and bosses are concerned.
The only solution to the world crisis is to organise the victory of the world socialist revolution by building sections of the Fourth International in every country to provide the necessary leadership.
