CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS: Article 2
'The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in
Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.
1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of
all its Members.
4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the
threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the
Purposes of the United Nations'.
U.S., Canada & Europe's interference in Syria runs contrary to the U.N. Charter. Nowhere in the Charter, members are permitted 'regime changes' in other countries. President Assad's brutal regime is not the business of United States or its allies. It is a problem for the Syrian people.
President Putin's actions by default may offer a way out to the U.S. from the mess it created in Syria. Instead of protesting, it may be better to let him destroy ISIS and and anti Assad rebels, so this unholy civil war comes to an end. Ultimately, it is for the Syrian people not the United States to decide if a regime change is required.
This is not the first time U.S. has violated the U.N. charter. It invaded Iraq illegally, overthrew Qaddafi in Libya under the guise of 'no fly zone' and helped overthrow an elected Government in Egypt. Some say U.S. did all this on Israel's behest. True or not, the outcome of these actions have been disastrous. The entire Middle East has been destabilized. Iraq is fractured probably beyond repair, Egypt has a draconian dictator who has sent thousands of protesters to the gallows, Libya is run by a bunch of terrorists and Syria is in turmoil.
Over ten years since U.S. started its actions in the Middle East, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in Iraq, Syria & Libya, many times more than the tyrants rulers of those countries killed over forty years. Iraq alone caused five million refugees and a third of Syrian population is refugee now.
U.S. accomplishments to date are: A fractured Iraq:
Picture courtesy aljazeera.com
A Libya controlled by a bunch of terrorists:
Picture courtesy morrocotomorrow.org A Syria destroyed causing massive refugee crisis.
picture courtesy vocfm.co.za A splintered Afghanistan after 12 year occupation & tragedies like the Kunduz Hospital bombing. picture courtesy denverpost.com
Surely, this is not the outcome U.S. had in mind before launching these
wars. Still it begs the question, why have they learned no lessons and
why do they keep making the same mistakes over and over?
Under the guise of UN 'No Fly Resolution', the western powers bombed Libya, a totally illegal action, deposing and killing dictator Qaddafi on the streets of Tripoli, leaving the country fractured and in complete disarray. Libya has since fallen in the hands of a variety of terrorists.
This is a prime example of a thoughtless, ill planned, ill executed foreign policy that not only destroyed Libya but also took the life of an American Ambassador.
For his part, Qaddafi had ruled Libya for over 40 years, he should have seen the clouds of change in the Middle East and called fair and free general elections and handed over power to an elected government. Had he done so, he may still be alive today. But then, regardless of what history shows us, dictators think they will rule forever.
The following article on the current state of affairs is taken from Al Jazeera English:
Libya: 'We're fed up with fighting'
Civilians are the first casualty in a conflict over power and resources.
Libyans in Tripoli's old city are worried about keeping financially afloat [Rebecca Murray/Al Jazeera]Tripoli, Libya -
Amal, a mother of five children, crouches over a sewing machine within
the maze of whitewashed alleys in Tripoli's dilapidated old city, its
ancient walls abutting the Corinthia Hotel compound.
The light in her dingy tailor shop has been on for most of the day, a
rarity for the impoverished neighbourhood, which has been plagued with
hours-long electricity cuts, skyrocketing food prices and crime.
"We hear gun shots everyday and we are tired," said Amal, nostalgic
for the security she says she had before Muammar Gaddafi's overthrow in
2011.
While Libya's two competing governments continue to battle over
power, territory and the country's oil wealth, against the backdrop of
controversial United Nations-brokered peace negotiations in Geneva, it's the ordinary Libyans across the country that are paying the highest price.
"Of course I'd be happy if the two governments were unified. But they
want the power, money and the country, so I think this will be [only]
resolved by fighting."
About 600 people have been killed in three months of heavy fighting
between Libyan pro-government forces and Islamist groups in Libya's
second-largest city, Benghazi, medical staff have said.
The high-profileattack on the luxury Corinthia Hotel
in downtown Tripoli on Tuesday, which has been mostly empty in recent
months except for a handful of guests and businessmen, is the latest
ominous sign of Libya's slide into violence and economic chaos.
Fighters allied with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL) have claimed responsibility for the attack. The Tripoli-based
"Libya Dawn" coalition, however, blamed Gaddafi loyalists instead, which
essentially means former General Khalifa Haftar's forces, commonly
known as "Operation Dignity", in the east of the country.
The country's two main forces realised they were in a stalemate, and
that the fighting wasn't allowing either to gain a decisive upper hand
without going after oil infrastructure.
Richard Mallinson, analyst, Energy Aspects
Libya has been sliding deeper into conflict since the 2011 uprising,
with rival governments and powerful militias battling for control of its
main cities and oil wealth.
Recent calls for a ceasefire have failed. Fighting continues to
rage between Libya Dawn, affiliated with Prime Minister Omar al-Hassi
and the General National Congress (GNC), and Operation Dignity forces
led by Haftar, and allied with exiled Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni
and the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk and Beida.
Battles in Benghazi and the east, in the west, around the oil-rich
Gulf of al-Sidra, and in the southern town of Ubari, have forced an
estimated 400,000 people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
In Libya's southern desert, at the vast Sharara oil field,
capable of generating up to 300,000 barrels of oil a day, all production
has grounded to a halt.
On November 5, when Libya Dawn forces from Misrata teamed up
with local Tuareg fighters to wrest the facility from its Zintan and
Tebu security guards, the Zintan forces blocked the oil pipeline to the
Zawiyah refinery on the coast.
Last summer, Misrata militia seized Tripoli's international
airport from the Zintan, and battles between them continue in the west,
and between Libya Dawn and Operation Dignity forces around al-Sidra oil
terminal to the east.
"The country's two main forces realised they were in a
stalemate, and that the fighting wasn't allowing either to gain a
decisive upper hand without going after oil infrastructure," said
Richard Mallinson, an analyst with the UK consultancy Energy Aspects.
"That can only point to escalation once you've opened the door
to assets and infrastructure. But what is unclear is whether each side
has the military ability or international legitimacy to assert itself
across the whole country," he said.
"That creates space for small and more extremist groups to thrive, which is a concern for regional stability."
Snipers in nearby Ubari have blocked the road into Sharara, and
all supplies for the facility's skeleton crew have to be flown in.
Gasoline is scarce and expensive, and can only be trucked to the oil
field and Libya's southwestern towns across desert dunes.
Heavily subsidised by the government, gasoline officially costs
0.15 Libyan dinars ($0.11) per litre at the pump. But many petrol
stations are rarely open, and black market gasoline prices in remote
desert towns like Murzuq and Ghat run about seven times the cost,
boosting the price on transport and goods.
"There is no gasoline here," said Abdullah Othman, a Tuareg
community leader in the town of Ghat near the Algerian border. "So there
is no electricity, no healthcare or town services."
After the revolution, Libya's oil production peaked at 1.6
million bpd. Now it hovers around 330,000 bpd, Mustafa Sanalla, the
National Oil Corporation chairman, told Al Jazeera.
He estimates that around 70 percent of gasoline for domestic use is now imported.
Can talks bring peace to Libya?
The Central Bank of Libya has warned that total revenues last
year were $15.5bn against $34.1bn in spending, leaving a $18.6bn
deficit. The government has vowed to cut subsidies on petrol and food,
and enact austerity measures on a population heavily dependent on
government pay.
Many salaries remain unpaid, crowds shove each other at banks
for cash withdrawals, and in some cases, money has to be flown across
the desert to reach certain communities.
In the shadow of the historic Central Bank building on
Tripoli's harbour is a collection of trading shops for gold and
currency. The Libyan dinar has lost nearly half its value, plummeting to
less than half a US dollar, while the cost of chunky gold bars has
increased.
"To tell you the truth, nowadays I'm nervous about putting
money in the bank," said Mustafa Badr, a currency trader. "But if people
start to withdraw a lot, they could be robbed. Then this would become
normal."
Down the block, Ali Nefatti, a 22-year-old student, works at a
gold jewellery shop when he's not at the Tripoli University. He says
business has been bad because the traditional jewellery, mostly worn at
weddings, is not essential for people now.
"Each side needs the power, and so they will finish it by
fighting," he sighed. "I'm going to work, get money and go abroad. Most
of my friends want to go abroad. We are fed up with all the fighting.
Everything is wrong here. We need security and we need peace."
Only a few months ago some American politicians were singing 'Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran' and now the same politicians are likely to be singing Iran's praises.
The capture of second largest Iraqi city, Mosul by ISIS, Saddam Husain's home town - Tikrit and some smaller cities has not only alarmed the U.S. and the inept Al-Maliki regime in Iraq, but also sent collective shivers down the spines of Iranian Ayatollahs and Jordanian & Saudi Kings. The avowed aim of ISIS or ISIL is to establish an Islamic State in all of the region including Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Kerry met with the Iranian Foreign Minister June 16 to discuss cooperation against ISIS. Only a few months ago U.S. was issuing all kinds of threats against Iran and now they are asking their help. War makes strange bedfellows indeed. The saying 'my enemy's enemy is my friend' seems to be operative here.
Iran has offered help to the Iraqi regime, they would not like to see their puppet regime crumble at the hands of ISIS. They already have some presence in Iraq through the revolutionary guards serving as Al-Maliki's security guards. But if Iran sends in soldiers, the bloodshed will only multiply and ISIS will be able to recruit many more volunteers. Their coffers are full, according to some reports, they have close to $2 billion in assets, especially after robbing Mosul Central Bank Branch, .
Apart from causing a blast here and there, ISIS will probably not be able to cause much damage to Iran. An attack on Iran could prove fatal for ISIS as it did for Saddam in the 80s. If ISIS captures Baghdad, it will be emboldened to move on to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, where they are likely to find support from a portion of the population unhappy with their rulers.
The situation is beyond dangerous and it could set fire to the entire Middle East. All this has been caused by George W. Bush and Co. for setting off events in motion with Iraq's invasion.
After the riots and overthrow of dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, Col. Gaddafi should have seen the writing on the wall. He should have realized that forty year rule is long enough and instead of trying to install his sons in his place, he should called free and fair elections and offered to step down and handed over power to an elected Government. But dictators never learn, do they?
As the riots started and Ben Ghazi fell to opposing tribes, Gaddafi and his sons thought they could suppress the people by branding them thugs and drug dealers and by using brute force against them. The reality was quite different, after 40 years of rule, people wanted freedom of speech and a right to choose their own Government. After all a country is not one man's or one family's fiefdom.
To stop the killing of civilians in Libya, United Nations passed a timely resolution to prevent further bloodshed. However, the West took that as a License to Regime Change. This is blatant misuse of a UN resolution. NATO's bombing of civilians in Tripoli and elsewhere has by now probably killed as many if not more civilians than Gaddafi's brute attacks.
The main culprit in all this the French President Sarkozy, followed closely by Cameron, Obama and Berlusconi. Berlusconi seems to have seen the error of his ways of late and is trying to halt bombing by his NATO partners, but they are not listening to him as regime change is their real agenda and they say so openly. Berlusconi's enlightenment may also have something to do with huge economic losses staring Italy in the face by stoppage of uniterrupted oil flow from Libya. Also possibility of relicensing ENI's Libyan oil concessions to China and Russia may also be a factor.
NATO is in violation UN Resolution 1973. Perhaps this time the International Criminal Court (which took no action against Bush & Blair for causing death of over 100,000 Iraqi civilians) will show some courage and add the names of NATO leaders for crimes against humanity in addition to Gaddafi's! However, that may be too much to ask of ICC as up to now they have only found courage to charge minor African and Serbian leaders.
The UN Secretary General, Ban ki Moon's job is to bring peace to this world. He should have tried to bring all sides together in Libya and found a peaceful solution for a transition. Instead, he has failed to make any efforts to stop the carnage. He should resign and go home instead of seeking another term.
Gaddafi is a dictator and has been cruel to his people of late, but over the years, he has been a benevolent dictator. Food, Education (including higher education), Housing and Healthcare is substantially subsidized by the Libyan Government. This is something neither Obama, nor Sarkozy have been able to accomplish for their people. No wonder, Gaddafi still has support from a segment of Libyan population. The main opposition to him comes from larger tribes that Gaddafi has sidelined from power for a very long time. The West did not take all this into account before their gung-ho bombing of Tripoli.
Instead of removing Gaddafi, NATO's action have only served to strengthen him as it is beginning to appear that he may have outwitted the West. This is great shame, for it is time for him to step down and let Libyans elect a democratic Government.
Hillary Clinton has been in the lead for Democratic nominee for President. She has four years of Senatorial experience, but more importantly has that formidable machine behind her called Bill Clinton. He is not only experienced, shrewed and Soave but he also relates to people in a very positive way. But he is not running for President, Hillary is and at the end of the day she will have to prove that she can win the Presidential race. Also her initial support for the Iraq war and subsequent silence may come back to haunt her. Republican long knives are already out for her. So they will malign her every which way that only Republicans know how to.
Barrack Obama has thrown his hat in the ring. He is fresh, is a terrific orator and brings excitement to the race. He is also very bright and intelligent, has not voted for the war (as he was not a Senator then) so unlike Clinton he does not have to defend his position. He is already generating tremendous excitement and could create a new wave of voters who are fed up with more of the same hypocritical Washington politics. But it is too soon to say if he will conquer the deep seated prejudices that exist in some states to this day. It will all depend on how the South views him and if they are buying then he will be a formiddable candidate.
But what about John Edwards, the Vice Presidential candidate in the 2004 He is young, smart, experienced and has that captivating boyish smile. He could have been more effective in the 2004 race had Kerry's handlers not pushed him into the background for fear of overshadowing their candidate. Edwards has that Kennedyesque charm, friendly demeanor and an approachable personality. He is already setting the agenda for the campaign which may force other candidates to respond to. He charms the North while he is from the South and that is a valuable combination. So while Clinton and Obama may slug it out with each other, will the man with boyish smile steal the candidacy?
Then there is also Jo Biden. He may not be making much noise right now, but he will get a lot of TV time in the next few months in his capacity as Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The committee will shortly start hearings on Iraq war and many an Administration officials are likely to be on the mat. Joe Biden is a class act on his own and may not wish to run a gruelling race. But he is likely to play an important role in a Democratic Administration. He will make an excellent Secretary of State.
Whoever wins the nomination (and barring any unforeseen circumstances - skeletons in the closet etc.) it seems that at least two of the first three names are likely to be on the Democratic ticket in 2008.
picture courtesy denverpost.com
![Libyans in Tripoli's old city are worried about keeping financially afloat [Rebecca Murray/Al Jazeera]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2015/1/28/d20be420491f4477a640f958790ae4ad_18.jpg "Libya: 'We're fed up with fighting'")
