KMU condemns US and NATO imperialist war of aggression in Libya

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) vehemently condemns the war of aggression being launched by the US and NATO in Libya. Under the guise of so-called “international humanitarian intervention,” the aggression is meant to advance the US, UK and France’s imperialist geo-political and economic interests in the largest oil economy in the African continent – even if it means making Libya another slaughter field like Iraq.

Libya is among the world’s largest oil economies. Just like in the war in Iraq, the main objective of the US-led NATO military intervention in Libya is to take full control over the country’s oil reserves.

In the 1960s, when the monarchy was overthrown in Libya and Muammar Qaddafi became the country’s ruler, the Libyan oil industry was nationalized. Accusations of terrorism and economic sanctions over Libya by Western countries, however, have pressured Gaddafi into accepting the imposition of neoliberal policies on the country’s economy in the 1990s.

Since then, major US and European oil companies have stepped up exploration projects for oil and natural gas in Libya. The government however remains the dominant player in the country’s oil industry. Surely, the US and European oil monopolies wanted more – that is, to take full possession of Libya’s oil and natural gas industry.

The attack in Libya is also strategic in the military and political sense, with the intent of firming up US hegemony in North Africa and eventually Central Africa.

The US-led NATO military operation is taking advantage of the Gaddafi regime’s political crisis to justify its even more brutal warfare to advance US imperialist interests. The imperialists are very quick to launch military aggression in Libya but were unmoved by the violence used by US puppet regimes in Bahrain and Yemen and the ousted Hosni Mubarak regime in Egypt.

We should not forget the similar US aggression in oil-rich Iraq in 2003 which was launched under the pretext of taking hold of alleged weapons of mass destruction. The US war in Iraq has killed around 1 million people, majority of which are civilians.

We reiterate that this US-led NATO war of aggression will not in any way benefit the Libyan people. This so called “international humanitarian intervention” is an instrument of US imperialism to advance its profit-hungry and blood-thirsty interests.

We reiterate that only the Libyan people should decide their future. We support the Libyan people in their struggle for genuine democracy and freedom.