1, It's a "no-fly zone."
It's an airborne assault which has targeted tanks, schools, hospitals, broadcast facilities. It is an air campaign like any other--savage.
2, The US is hardly involved. They've handed it over to NATO.
Like the UN , it is an extension of American power. The US is a belligerent, THE belligerent, in the war on Libya.
3, Gaddafi has WMD.
A familiar refrain! Marc Ginsburg told MSNBC's Contessa Brewer that Gaddafi still has WMD. Ginsburg was on the board of a think tank (sorry, can't remember which) that wrote an open letter to George Knucklewalker Bush within a week or two of 9/11 in which they claimed that it was indisputable that Saddam Hussein had WMD. Well it worked before...
4, Egyptian Army will participate in the war...er...no-fly zone in Libya.
Fat chance! They are too busy suppressing strikes and protests, and giving female demonstrators virginity tests.
5, CNN: It isn't necessary for Congress to declare war.
They did a piece in which they pooh-poohed the need for Congress to declare war. They cited past instances--Iraq, Grenada etc--when legislative consent was neither sought nor given. "So it isn't necessary," the host concluded.
6, The chief emergency room doctor of the central hospital in Misrata confirms Gaddafi is targeting civilians.
The fact that the army is under Gaddafi's control and the rebels are civilians seemed to be of no practical concern for CNN, but worse is the absurdity of protecting the identity of the doctor in question when you have announced that he is the "chief" of the "emergency room" at the "central hospital" in "Misrata." The network claimed the doctor insisted on anonymity for security reasons. Clearly this was staged as their could be no hope of keeping the physician's identity secret after releasing the information they did. This ruse was nothing short of insulting.
7, The Russians, Chinese, African Union, and Arab League have reversed themselves and now oppose the war...no-fly zone.
Russia is on the UN Security Counsel and could have vetoed the move. Call me cynical but perhaps the prospect of increased oil sales to Europe, and maybe a share of the Libyan loot, enticed the Russians to abstain. China is similarly interested. The Arab League is trying to perpetuate that they actually care more about the welfare of their fellow Arabs than oil revenues. The AU has the same image problem. None of these have been duped, they are complicit.
8, Coalition bombers are not killing civilians.
MSNBC's host told an American general that Gaddafi is claiming civilian losses. The soldier said "I'm not surprised he's making this claim. It's propaganda designed to win the sympathy of other Arab nations. We cannot be certain that we haven't killed a single civilian, but what we are doing is very focused." Please note that this was as close to confirmation as one could get.
9, MSNBC: We can't verify that hospitals have been hit by Coalition bombing
Given the disgraceful hucksterism in which they have engaged from the onset of this campaign, it is reasonable to assume if they knew no hospital had been destroyed they would have said so (and said so, and said so...).
10, It's a humanitarian intervention
Really? How about Kashmir, Palestine, Gabon...
11, The Libyan war is dividing NATO
Please refer to number two
12, Yemen's protesters are evenly split anti- and pro-government
This deception was uttered by a MSNBC "expert" correspondent from Australia. It is more likely that Gaddafi has WMD. Or that the Australian does.
13, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy whose royal is benign
This was uttered by the same Australian who insists Saleh has the support of half his population. One wonders if this "expert" is really as ignorant as the things he says.
14, Obama was reluctant to get involved in Libya fearing an adverse reaction from the American people, but was persuaded by three women: SoS Hillary Clinton, Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, and National Security Advisor Samantha Power.
I saved the best for last. First, the international oligarchy who made the decision to attack Libya don't care what anybody thinks. Power does what it wants! The elite bankers/petroleum oligopoly etc have a quarter trillion dollars invested in Libya. The Rothschild family alone has 50 billion in the pot. The Coalition is there to protect their profits. Their servant, Obama, has his orders and is obeying them conscientiously in the hope of being handsomely compensated after his term in office expires as Tony Blair was. His opinion on the subject doesn't matter.
Secondly, the (West-sponsored) mass murder of the Tutsis in Rwanda has been invoked by all three women. Clinton was First Lady when her husband allowed all those people to be killed. Rice was part of the administration too. Samantha Power made herself famous writing about genocide and has been shuffled forward by the Obama administration to justify the war. Power cut her teeth working for the absurdly rightist US News and World Report. She is married to neoliberal aparatchik Cass Sunstein. His book, On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done, is as bad as it sounds. It calls for the criminilization of some forms of dissent, and the infiltration of "conspiracy theory" groups (9/11 truth etc) because they impair the government's ability to function at maximum efficiency. Obama has made him head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. It too is as bad as it sounds. How America's favorite "bleeding-heart" liberal can marry America's dystopian top thought cop is a topic worth pondering. I have a theory, but no facts. In any event, these three have some traction on this issue and have been ushered forth to make us believe that the Rwandan trajedy would be repeated if America didn't act. There's not a word of truth in it, but is effective propaganda.
