Superpower interests at stake in Libyan conflict

Nick G.               28 April 2019

The recent outbreak of violence in Libya is continuing testimony to the US imperialism’s inability to put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Good at pushing regimes from their place on the wall, invariably the result has been utter chaos and instability.  Libya is a classic example of this.

Having succeeded in fomenting opposition to former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, US imperialism and NATO member states provided air power and direct military aid to opposition groups, resulting in al-Qaddafi’s overthrow and murder.  However, rivalries among the rebel groups prevented any stable, nation-wide state institutions from being established. A transitional government based in Tripoli was so insecure that for a time it had to meet on warships out in the Mediterranean. Eventually it ceded authority to a General National Congress elected in a limited part of western Libya whilst ISIS kept control of areas around Sirte and CIA asset General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army retained control of much of the east were a separate government entity, the House of Representatives, ruled.

The current round of fighting broke out on April 4 when Haftar's Libyan National Army advanced on Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognized and UN-backed government, striking the outskirts of the capital city.

US imperialism seeks to exploit uncertainty

As Haftar’s forces advanced rapidly on Tripoli, the US hastily withdrew troops based in Tripoli that were ostensibly employed to counter ISIS-Libya.  The real reason, suggested by several observers, was that Trump did not want to defend the UN-backed Tripoli government against the man who was poised to take over the country – Haftar had lived for many years within ten minutes of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia and is regarded as Washington’s man in Libya. His forces also control most of Libya’s oil reserves although negotiations about sale and export of Libyan oil is meant to be conducted through the Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation (NOC).

When Haftar first advanced on Tripoli, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “We have made clear we oppose the military offensive by Khalifa Haftar’s forces and urge the immediate halt to these military operations against the Libyan capital.” That was on April 7. Eight days later, on April 15, Trump intervened, reversing Pompeo’s policy. A statement by the White House said ““President Donald J. Trump spoke on April 15, 2019, with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar to discuss ongoing counterterrorism efforts and the need to achieve peace and stability in Libya.

“The President recognized Field Marshal Haftar’s significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya’s oil resources, and the two discussed a shared vision for Libya’s transition to a stable, democratic political system. “

So, in US imperialism’s view, Haftar is the man to restore Humpty Dumpty to stability, meaning control under US imperialist domination.

What does China want?

China also wants stability in Libya and has mainly pursued its interests through the Tripoli authorities although it has also kept in touch with the eastern government.  In the chaos surrounding Gadaffi’s overthrow and murder, China evacuated its citizens and Chinese business in Libya was suspended. It took some time for Chinese operations to resume in Libya, but they had been making spectacular progress in recent times, much to the chagrin of the US.

In July 2018, Libya and China signed a memorandum of understanding by which Libya would join the Belt and Road Initiative. This came during a meeting in Beijing where the two sides discussed the return of Chinese companies to resume their stalled projects in Libya, as well as the Chinese role in finding a peaceful solution to the Libyan crisis and its contribution to the reconstruction of Libya.

Last September, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj announced that Chinese companies were welcome to resume operations in Libya. "Chinese companies in the past played an important role in Libya's development and construction process and gained a good reputation," he said, adding that Libya "offers opportunities to invest in multiple areas."

Like US imperialism. Chinese social-imperialism (socialism in words, imperialism in deeds) is after Libyan oil.  China resumed purchases of Libyan oil in 2017. Exports of Libyan oil to China doubled in 2018. PetroChina has an annual contract with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) to buy Libyan crude oil. The only problem is that much of it is controlled by the US-backed Haftar, hence China’s continuing dialogue with the eastern government backed by Haftar.

But it is not just oil that is motivating China.  It also sees Libya as a market for its telecommunications giants, Huawei and ZTE. Adel Ehmedat, a director of Libya’s General Authority of Communication and Informatics, has said that that “Huawei and ZTE provide a great service to the Libyan telecommunications sector, in terms of the development of telephone networks, mobile and fixed-line billing systems, as well as technical support for training and provision of spare parts.”

Who else is playing in this game?

Russia, France, Britain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are also trying to get what they can out of Libya’s deteriorating situation. Russia is now a major regional player given its assistance to Syria, and tends to cooperate with China militarily and diplomatically. France and Britain both have oil companies seeking to get back into Libya.  France in particular has good relations with Haftar.  Egypt wants Haftar in control and sees him as a political counter to the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence throughout the region.  The Saudi’s and the UAE also support Haftar. But each of them also has its own interests and these contradictions make a united pro-Haftar front quite unstable.

The whole situation is a tragedy for the people of Libya.  Libya’s future should be decided by the Libyan people themselves, free of the rivalries and self-interest of superpowers and regional despots.

The independence, territorial integrity and national sovereignty once enjoyed by Libya was destroyed by imperialism.  Imperialism can not have any role to play in restoring it.

Oppose imperialist war on Libya!

Vanguard April 2011 p. 1
Statement by the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)

US, British and French imperialism have launched a war of aggression to tighten their control over the rich oil reserves of Libya and the region.

The imperialist war has nothing to do with defending the Libyan people. The internal conflict is for the Libyan people alone to resolve, without foreign interference and without foreign military intervention.

The US-led imperialist war will bring much death and suffering, and is also aimed at stemming the anti-imperialist revolutionary strivings of the people in the region for genuine democracy, national sovereignty and freedom.

Weapons of mass deception
As the frenzied smokescreen of misinformation breaks down, there can be no doubt that this new imperialist war will be opposed by the people of North Africa and the Middle East, especially by the people of Libya, who will not be shaken from defending their national independence and sovereignty. They will receive strong support from all peace-loving people of the world.

To justify its war of aggression against Libya, imperialism is now demonising Gaddafi. Yet, for the past decade, the imperialists have been happy to do business with his regime.

There is little difference to the US invasion of Iraq. Under the pretexts of eliminating “weapons of mass destruction” and “regime change”, the US has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, reducing a modern country to rubble. Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction have proven to be an imperialist concocted lie.

US hypocrisy
The transparent US hypocrisy of protecting rebel forces from Gaddafi’s violence is astounding. For more than 30 years, US imperialism oversaw and supported militarily, politically and economically Egypt’s murderous and oppressive Mubarak regime that tortured and murdered workers and unionists, civil libertarians and anyone who dared to criticise Mubarak’s dictatorship.

Today it is backing the brutal slaughter of Bahraini protestors by the invading Saudi and Emirates armies, two of its most loyal puppet regimes in the region. It underwrites and bankrolls the violent Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people.

We condemn the shameful actions by the Australian government in doing its utmost to assist US imperialism in its aggression plans, first with Rudd vigorously selling the “no fly zone” internationally, followed by Gillard enthusiastically extolling the virtues of invasion.

A brief history
The modern history of Libya is complex, but is a necessary background to the current crisis.

Gaddafi came to power in 1969, after a nationalist military coup against the autocratic King Idris. After expelling US and British military bases, and nationalising the oil fields and refineries, Gaddafi expelled the remnants of Italian colonialism, improved health, housing, and education services for the people, extended the rights of women, and supported various national liberation struggles across the continent. For this he earned the respect of progressive people the world over, but incurred the hatred of imperialism and the reactionaries.

In 1986, US imperialism attacked Tripoli and Benghazi, killing Gaddafi’s daughter by way of ‘collateral damage’, as they like to say. By 2003, in the wake of the Lockerbie Pan Am incident in 1988 and severe UN sanctions, Gaddafi agreed to a process that involved the trial of two Libyan suspects and surrendering Libya’s Soviet-era long range missiles and nuclear weapons program.

IMF dictates
Imperialism forced Libya to make further concessions, with Exxon Mobil, Texaco and Conoco Philips setting up joint ventures inside Libya in 2004. The International Monetary Fund has been imposing privatisation policies on Libya’s state-owned companies and opening up the country to foreign investment from the US, Britain, France, Italy and Germany, among others. More recently, China has also joined in, with 36,000 guest workers in the construction and oil industries. Extending and securing US and European imperialism’s domination of Libya’s oil industry is driving this war.

Taking advantage of instability
Not surprisingly, the conditions of life for the Libyan people deteriorated. In part, this explains the dissatisfaction with Gaddafi among sections of the population. The imperialist forces inside and outside Libya seized on this dissatisfaction to create instability and division amongst the people. Conditions were laid for greater interference and control by imperialist powers.

All about oil
As rebellion broke out in bordering countries, imperialism was quick to incite and stoke feelings of dissatisfaction in the Libyan population. Tribal divisions were exploited. The flag of the old monarchy suddenly reappeared in the western media and was heavily promoted as a symbol of the anti-Gaddafi forces. Their English speaking, western-educated leaders were soon organising armed rebellion against the government in Tripoli.

Their initial success was welcomed by the western media and imperialist governments. No calls for restraint and “peaceful protest” in Libya – contrast this to Bahrain and Yemen, where unarmed protesters are still being murdered by the puppet regimes of imperialism.

It all stinks of US imperialism moving to tighten its grip on the oil resources of North Africa and the Middle East, at the same time disrupting Chinese influence and supplies of oil. But there are several problems for the imperialists.

Problems for imperialism
Firstly, there was no quick and easy victory. In fact, the Gaddafi forces were able to win back territory and threaten to wipe out the rebellion. Gaddafi will not go quietly, nor will Libya be easily conquered.

Secondly, there is conflict and division among the imperialist powers about how best to achieve their aims. US imperialism, who calls the shots here, has been gearing up for possible conflict with Iran and is wary that war over Libya may trigger further unrest in the region, particularly in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, where the US has large military forces. Nor do the people of the European countries want to get bogged down in another “Iraq” situation.

Finally, among the people of the world, including the people of the United States, there is a strong and growing chorus opposed to military intervention and imperialist war. In Iraq and Afghanistan, countries also having oil and gas reserves, the people of the world have seen hundreds of thousands slaughtered by imperialism in the name of ‘freedom’, ‘democracy’, and ‘humanitarian assistance’ along with the legitimatisation of corrupt and subservient dictators. Aggression in Libya will only further expose imperialism as the main enemy of humanity and the main threat to the peace of the world.

We oppose the aggressive war and foreign intervention in the affairs of Libya, and support all forces and struggles for anti-imperialist Libyan independence.