NATO Action in Libya

Air strikes by NATO forces in Libya have been continuing. These strikes are being used to target president Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his family members. The very rebels are also being targeted in whose sympathy North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been claiming to launch air strikes. Dozens of rebels have so far been killed in NATO action. Now, NATO has killed Gadaffi's son and three grandsons. These attacks were made with the aim of targeting a building near Bab-Al Azizia compound. It is not known where Gaddafi was at the time of these attacks. His 29-year-old son and three grandsons have been killed in these attacks. The Libyan Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said Gaddafi and his wife were safe. As a result of the attack, the three-storied building was partially destroyed. According to Libyan officials, three missiles were launched. This is not the first time that Gaddafi has been targeted. He was attacked earlier also, but survived.
Removing Gaddafi
The United States and its European allies, who are part NATO, have been supporting rebels in Libya. Now, the United States has announced $25 million aid to rebels. France and Italy have been arranging training of rebels. This shows that the objective is to unseat Gaddafi's regime. The United States and its allies have been claiming that they want to benefit Libyan people by removing Gaddafi.
The way attempts are being made on the lives of Gaddafi's family members is reprehensible. Even in war, targeting civilians is violation of law. The United States and NATO have thereby been breaking the law.
Violation of International Law
The United States and its allies have set their eyes on Libya's oil wealth. The United States wants to control these resources. It is said that there is no one to stop this violation of international law. US barbarism should be stopped immediately. Targeting any individual or a particular family is unjustified, and should not be allowed.
The United States can well be taken to the International Court of Justice on this issue. The United States and NATO should not be allowed to have their way in pursuit of their objective of destroying a particular family. The United States should give up such action and adoption of double standards. No law permits waging war to destroy one family.

Deteriorating Situation in Libya

It appears as if North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces are gradually succeeding in achieving their goal. Libya maintains that the Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son, Saif-al Arab, has been killed in a NATO-led operation but Gaddafi is safe. Moussa Ibrahim, the official spokesman of the Libyan Government, said that in the attack on the residence of Gaddafi's son, three of his grandsons were also killed. According to him, though Gaddafi along with his wife, relatives, and friends was very much present there, he is safe.
No Interest in Restoration of Peace
Confirming the incident, Moussa Ibrahim said the attack carried out with full might was aimed to kill Gaddafi. This makes it clear that Western powers have no interest in restoration of peace in Libya. Instead, they want to devastate and destroy Libya, he said. At the same time, NATO has refuted the allegation that its forces had attacked with the aim to kill Gaddafi.
Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, the Canadian military officer who is commanding NATO forces in Libya, maintains that all attacks and targets of NATO forces have remained confined to military targets only, and the aim was to prevent the Libyan military from carrying out attacks on thickly populated areas and cities.
Loss of Human Lives and Property
Some observers, however, are of the view that even if the death of Gaddafi's three grandsons is confirmed, it may create further doubts and apprehensions about the purpose of NATO bombings being carried out for the last six weeks in Libya. NATO may have to face strong criticism from countries like Russia that it is going beyond the brief provided to it by the UN Security Council. A Russian legislator, Konstantin Kosachev, who usually expresses his views on foreign affairs, has condemned the attack on Tripoli in which of Gaddafi's three grandsons were killed. He said the situation is now indicating that the only purpose of the anti-Libya alliance is to kill Gaddafi.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said in Caracas that there is no option left in believing that the attack was ordered with the sole purpose to kill Gaddafi. It is a different issue that [instead of Gaddafi], some other people got killed. Chavez said this is nothing but cold-blooded murder. British Prime Minister David Cameron has said in an interview to BBC that the NATO policy in this regard is absolutely clear and is in accordance with the 1973 UN Resolution. The only purpose is to target Gaddafi's war machinery to prevent loss of human lives and property there.
NATO said the building where the attack was carried out, and which is now claimed to be a residential complex, is in fact better known as a command and control building, from where the Gaddafi Army was busy in chalking out comprehensive military actions against rebels. It may be recalled that there are huge differences within NATO on the action against Libya. Of the 28 countries that form the NATO, only one-fourth are supervising and implementing the ban on arms, and the No Fly Zone affairs.
Aftermath of Killing of Gaddafi's Son
The enthusiasm of rebels in Benghazi turned cold when they came to know that the death of Saif-al Arab could be nothing more than propaganda by the Libyan Government. They maintained that Saif-al Arab's reported death could not be taken as true because Libyan TV had broadcast it. If the report is true, chances of the war coming to an end soon are remote. This is because Gaddafi is such an arrogant and adamant person that even if all members of his family get killed, he would not accept defeat until he dies.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the killing of Gaddafi's son and three grandsons, protesters against these killings attacked foreign missions and embassies in Libya, which forced the UN to recall its foreign staff posted in Tripoli. The United Kingdom has ordered the Libyan ambassador posted in London to leave the country within 24 hours. The decision was made after an attack on the British Embassy in Tripoli. Britain, like many other countries, has already recalled its diplomatic staff from Libya. Meanwhile, Italy has also condemned the attack on its embassy in Tripoli.

Revolutionary Typhoon Reaches Libya

After the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain, Libya is in the grip of a wave of 'People's Revolution.' After 41 years Colonel Gaddafi's rule, Libyan people are desirous of removing him. But it is a matter of pity that in the antithesis of Egypt, leaders of Bahrain, Yemen, and Libya are clinging on to power and making all efforts to crush the revolution against them, in their greed for power. In this, the most aggressive and harsh attempts are being adopted by Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, where the army is firing live bullets upon unarmed protesters.

Background
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is no ordinary leader. He is famous for his irrational and erratic behavior. Whenever he goes on a foreign tour, he takes along with him a tent and stays in that only. He says he wants to be close to the roots of his tribe, and this is the reason for his erratic behavior. In 2007, when he was in Paris, a tent was put up for him in the Presidential palace. Next year, he adopted the same practice in Rome. This is the reason that he does not make many foreign tours because problems arise because of his penchant of sleeping in tents. In some countries, there were objections to this behavior. Another problem is that he is constantly surrounded by female bodyguards.

After the defeat of Arabs in the 1976 war at the hands of Israelis, there was wave of military coups in Arab countries. During this period, on 1 September 1969, Gaddafi took over reins of power in Libya. He considered himself to be the true legatee of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser, and started issuing statements of his intention to destroy Israel and defeating the United States. But with time, his attitude began to change and the reality of the Arab predicament started dawning on him, and he started feeling helpless between Israel and the United States.

Public Determination
The people's protest in Libya has entered its sixth day. Fifty religious leaders have appealed to the army not to kill its own people so mercilessly. Only time will tell how much effect this appeal has had on the army, but the public determination seems to have grown with the army attacks. There is one trait that seems to be common between Colonel Gaddafi and former Egyptian President Honsi Mubarak that both of them have clung on to power for a long time, and both wanted to make their sons their descendents. Hosni Mubarak had a dream of seeing his son Gamal Mubarak succeeding him, and Gaddafi dreamed of handing over power to his son Saif-al Islam (The sword of Islam).

The wave of revolution has spread to Bahrain and Yemen where people want a change in administration. People of these countries are facing army bullets, which has made leaders of all other countries very afraid indeed. But these bullets have not been able to stop the people's march. The casualties in Bahrain have crossed the 100 mark. In Yemen, the agitation against President Ali Abdullah Saleh has gained speed. Like Colonel Gaddafi, Saleh is adamant to cling on to power. He says he will not leave the country, and breathe his last there, but will not surrender power. Keep in mind that the Egyptian president was also adamant not to surrender power, but he finally had to bend his knees in front of 'people's power.'

US Losing Hegemony
The country that is most worried by this wave of revolution sweeping West Asia and Libya is the United States. Although European countries are also worried by this wave, their worry is confined to supply of oil only. The United States is worried about losing its hegemony in West Asian politics.

If all revolutions brewing in this area succeed, then the area's map will change beyond all recognition. That is the reason that the United States will make all efforts to replace one stooge with another so that it can protect its protégé, Israel. The real purpose of this revolution will be achieved only when true democracy is established there, and these US puppets are removed.