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BlackCommentator.com: Just A Bump In the Road - The Other Side of the Tracks - By Perry Redd - BlackCommentator.com Columnist

   
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This should end the war in Libya, a war reported as �civil� because it was between the rebels opposing and the infamous, longtime leader of Libya, the now-deceased Moammar Gadhafi. Gadhafi was brutally killed last week by those pursuing him on behalf of the U.S.-sanctioned National Transitional Council (NTC), the new interim government of Libya. BC Question: What will it take to bring Obama home?America�s involvement - however shady - should end our combat operations in the region, right? I mean, President Obama announced the troops in Iraq will be home for Christmas and all we have left is Afghanistan�yet like a late-night TV infomercial, �but wait, there�s more!�

Even though the American people are tiring of Middle East wars, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that military action to protect civilians in Syria might be considered now that NATO�s air campaign in Libya is ending. Success is addicting�

McCain spoke at the World Economic Forum in Jordan, saying �Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed focus on what practical military operations might be considered to protect civilian lives in Syria.� That was the story sold to us by our government in Libya: protecting civilian lives. If that was the case, then why, days after Gadhafi was captured and executed (by the peace-loving rebels), were 53 Gadhafi loyalists found dead in a hotel just after Gadhafi�s corpse was put on public display?

What I know is, the thought of teaching American ideals to those we want as allies is a scary proposition. You see, we claim to bring democracy to regions where we make cameo appearances, and for whatever reason, we fail to bring democracy. Hell, we wanted immunity in exchange for staying on in Iraq. Isn�t due process a part of democracy? If you do something illicit - say, kill someone - aren�t you supposed to own up to it, accept responsibility? Gadhafi was sodomized and tortured when captured by the U.S.-sanctioned rebels. We�re teaching everything other than democratic values.

�The Assad regime should not consider that it can get away with mass murder. Gadhafi made that mistake and it cost him everything,� McCain also said. Didn�t we provide the resources to NATO so that they could bomb Libya? Isn�t killing large numbers of people the definition of �mass murder?� This is his precursor to knocking down another domino in the Middle Eastern theater.

It appears that the United States is indeed on a mission, a mission to imperialize (and I don�t use that term often) the entire Middle East on behalf of Israel. Each �enemy� happens to be a nation with a majority Islamic population. It�s really hard for any reasonably breathing person not to think it�s about religion, but of course, its not. It�s purportedly all about democracy, peace and a better way of life (i.e., capitalism).

Speaking of capitalism, isn�t it strange that the only countries America devotes resources to topple are countries with something to give (or be taken) in return? We went to get Sadaam; he had oil and Gadhafi? Well, he had oil and he also had 143.8 tons of gold�the real reason for the invasion. Wherever there are resources, there the United States will be. Can�t you see that you are facilitating evil, murder and greed? Not to mention a Russian article titled, �Bombing of Libya: Punishment for Gadhafi for His Attempt to Refuse US Dollar�, where Gadhafi did as deposed Iraq leader Sadaam Hussein tried to do: he initiated a movement to refuse the dollar and the euro, and called on Arab and African nations to use a new currency instead, the gold dinar. Gadhafi suggested establishing a united African continent, with its 200 million people using this single currency.

General Wesley Clark, who commanded the NATO bombing campaign in the Kosovo war, recounted in Winning Modern Wars, his 2003 book, being told in November 2001 by a friend at the Pentagon, that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld�s and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz�s take-down list included Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Sudan and Somalia.

Though I�m an Arab Spring conspiracy theorist, let�s look at those countries for the sake of argument. There�s Tunisia (which just had elections yesterday), Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco and Oman�strategic stones in the pond of conquest. Syria is a geographical and political keystone in the heart of the Middle East, bordering five countries with which it shares religious and ethnic minorities and, in Israel�s case, a fragile truce. Its web of alliances extends to Lebanon�s powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran�s Shiite theocracy. There are worries that a destabilized Syria could send unsettling ripples through the region.

McCain has also threatened Iran. Will it be so easy to tip that domino? The elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran�s most powerful military force, has warned that there would be a strong Iranian response if the U.S. military were to take action against them. The only way to get that domino is to put feet on the ground�like more in Africa. President Obama announced Friday he is sending roughly 100 �combat-equipped� troops to Uganda as part of an effort to capture rebel leader Joseph Kony. Kony sits on mineral resources by the way.

Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes charges because of his role as the head of the Lord�s Resistance Army, a rebel group that has waged a 20-year war against government forces in northern Uganda.

I have to ask, when is enough, enough? Iran is the end game, but next on tap, Syria. Stay tuned because, though you may not have asked for it, you get more for your money. This infomercial will run all night long if you let it. Libya was just a bump in the road.

BlackCommentator.com Columnist, Perry Redd, is the former Executive Director of the workers rights advocacy, Sincere Seven, and author of the on-line commentary, �The Other Side of the Tracks.� He is the host of the internet-based talk radio show, Socially Speaking in Washington, DC. Click here to contact Mr. Redd.

 
 
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Nov 3, 2011 - Issue 447
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Est. April 5, 2002
Executive Editor:
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