PinoyMonkeyPride, Yellow Magic and the both sides of the same peso

PinoyMonkeyPride, Yellow Magic and the both sides of the same peso

by Anton Dulce

freely translated by Katleah Ulrike

Here lies started a great fight in YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and the entire Filipino cyberspace.

The former, whose YouTube account is named "PinoyMonkeyPride" made Pro-Marcos propaganda viral, the latter, is a former professor of History in the University of the Philippines, who is also a well known supporter of Akbayan, a partylist of Noynoy Aquino.

Strong and realistic are the actions of the "PNP": the fraud made by the Cojuangco-Aquino family towards the farmers of Hacienda Luisita, the responsibility of former President Cory on the Mendiola Massacre, the worst human rights violations made by the military during Cory's term as Commander-in-Chied, and the responsibility of the Cojuangco-Aquino family over the Hacienda Luisita Massacre.

It is important to unveil those videoes, that the propaganda was fiercely invested upon to create the demi-god like reputation of the Aquinos being used by Noynoy in order to win during the last elections. Many were forgetting the fact that that Cory is the second who had worst human rights violations after Marcos. It was also during last elections that the Public Relations team of Noynoy called the Farmers of Hacienda Luisita as "bad", "Paid", "Communist", etc.

On the other hand, there are positive aspect of the counter-propaganda of the pro-Aquino: that the EDSA 1 is the sporadic revolt of the people against an unpopular individual in the history of the Philippines. That millions of Filipinos started the revolt in EDSA and other parts of the country. More people are even showed support in the means of not defending Marcos on that time.

But since they have good points, they also have lies and misfortunes!

The pro-Aquinos, they insulted the victims of Mendola and Haciena Luisita by insisting the militarist line of the Farmers as initiator of the said tragedies, while those who are pro-Marcos, they insulted the millions of victims of Martial law by saying that there's "Democracy" under the Dictatorship. Worse, they call for Economic liberalization as the answer to the rampan poverty due to the rule of the local elites in the country.

The question on Economic Liberalization should be given emphasis in order to know clearly this fight between pro-Marcos and pro-Aquino. They showed that the economy should be entirely opened to foreign investors in order to end the "reign of the oligarchs" (such as Ayala, Lopez, Sy, etc.). They even separate local capitalists to foreign ones.

And Economic Liberalization? That policy was insituted long in the country. That is why Php144.4 billion

gained from the mining companies last 2010, while Php13.7 million are the taxes being paid.

This is even a hell of a kind foolishnes: Look at MERALCO, we simply know it as an electric company owned by the Lopezes and Danding Cojuangco, but they didn't know that PLDT had its share of it, via Pangilinan, that 52% of it is being owned by a foreign corporation. The local and foreign Capitalist are long partners in exploiting the Filipino people.

And if you remember, even Noynoy himself advocated Economic Liberalization through the means of Charter Change. Surely, he's not agressive like those of pro-Marcos individuals and groups because they are already taking place, and yet they estimate the impact of people's anger and resistance.

So, what are watching in the Internet today? Nothing but a fight between the two different sides of the same peso. The Marcoses and the Aquinos belonged to the same class: they are Landlords, they used their powers to favor their cronies/relatives, they are human rights violators, they are coddlers of U.S. in expoliting the country in exchange for their support.

Their rumble today is part of an unfinished rumble between different factions of the ruling class like a game known as "Trip to Jerusalem: especially today that they know each other's weaknesses. And the showing of videoes of "PNP", Although helpful in exposing the blood and dirt under the name 'Aquino', is in the final analysis only an attempt to beautify the name of Marcos.

So it is important to know clearly, both we and others, that the real progress and democracy is not a multiple-choice exam that is limited to "A.) Aquino" or "B.) Marcos". The real struggle for Demcoracy and Freedom is an essay-type exam. And the People should write its own will different from what the ruling class wanted.

Regarding Qaddafi's death and the (succeeding) consequences of the Libyan situation

Regarding Qaddafi's death

and the (succeeding) consequences of the Libyan situation

"I’m not ashamed to admit I’m writing this with tears in my eyes."

These are the first words said in a writeup regarding Qaddafi by James P. of the American Front. It somehow pleases methat despite the "hatred", of being demonized by the media, there are still people around the world paid respect to a man who, despite his contributions to Libyan society end up lynched and shot by a mob.

Sad isn't it that despite wanting him to put on trial or what they end up putting him killed "for the sake of democracy", while at the same time thinking that despite trying-hard means to put things in order will rather end up contrary to it-as most people would clamor for free electricity, good roads, good education and social services rather than be ruled by a mob, sponsored by vested interests scrambling for oil in a once-proud African country.

And although I oppose some of his moves that seemed "anti-popular", Gaddafi somehow put forward what real self-determination was, and that was to make a "new" Libya willing to take the risk of getting intervened by outside powers such as England, France or the United States and its domestic puppets and turncoats-including taking a vow of sacrifice like himself, and his people end up as corpses blood flowing in Sirte or Misrata. And people would remember him much that they afford free electricity and a good literacy rate all despite the odds given especially as what we've seen lately.

In fact, I remember reading a copy of a his "Green Book" when I was a student; and what I had seen on that book is entirely a critique-assessment on what every society goes on and on-especially in regards to politics and culture. Especially that Qaddafi criticized "Democracy" and "Parliaments" as misrepresenting people and in favor of the elite. Yes, despite having different perspectives I agreed in his stance as I or we obviously sought elitists and not the masses who took decisions in it; worse having the fact that votes can be bought and falsified during elections and choices limited to the wishes of the few whilst letting the people choosing which is which.

And thus,

As we expect these things around us, of having Oligarchs, insufficient distribution of welfare in exchange for labour, is this "Democracy" preached by everyone? Having elections bought, sold, falsified? A "Democracy" ran by an elite and with vested interests whilst disregarding or reducing social justice into a mere sentiment? For sure most of us are greatly concerned or confused about this hell of a kind matter, especially to those who end up having a boycott out of it simply because of having a rotten system maintained with a hodge-podge of promises and pepper spray, of carrot and stick. After all, Qaddafi's writeup somehow showed an idea what Democracy should be and that is the rule of the people.

And with his and his people's deaths during the civil war, of the growing number of wounded casualties, bullets being spent, houses and buildings being bombed, of foreign intervention led by NATO, it all somehow justifies Mao Zedong's quote concerning war and peace, that:

"War is a continuation of politics, and there are at least two types: just (progressive) and unjust wars, which only serve bourgeois interests. While no one likes war, we must remain ready to wage just wars against imperialist agitations."

Weird to say so about it, but the fact is that the battle sponsored by the west was and is an example of an unjust wars only to serve someone else's interests. Iraq's people were killed for an obvious reason of pumping oil in it, and so is Libya's; "The freedom of a human being is lacking if his or her needs are controlled by others, for need may lead to the enslavement of one person by another. Furthermore, exploitation is caused by need. Need is an intrinsic problem and conflict is initiated by the control of one's needs by another." as what Qaddafi said in his book, and for sure entities willing to exploit Libyan oil are for sure realizing this quotation. NATO bombed houses as they need it in ousting Qaddafi, then oil companies go through exploiting oil in it-then selling it expensively for they need profits in it! So what's the essence of their "freedom" if they themselves not noticed that they are indirectly exploited by the west? I personally against atrocities made during Qaddafi's regime same as those being called "rats" but then to sum it all who's benefiting the conflict? Is it the people who kept on waving the flag of Idris? Will it inculcate plans and opportunities better than what Qaddafi did?

Anyway,

People someday will know that they will laugh at themselves and regret their actions. EDSA Revolution for instance, whose product is rampant poverty worse than the latter days of the Marcos regime and a system worsened by vested interests also made some people lay low and nearly regret what they've did to it;

But on the other hand more are willing to advance an idea greater than the man from Sirte did; and whether we like it or not, it will involve blood and iron as what Bismark said.

Condolences for the fallen, but Libya will never be the same, especially when people had:

free electricity,

free great medical care,

interest free loans,

govt. paid 50% for purchase of a car,

govt gave newly married couples $50,000 to buy a house...

Everything to say that "Qaddafi was worth remembering."

We will continue the fight, which is also our Fight.

To Victory or Death. Yours for the Resistance,

Paul S.

Gaddafi defeat 'a matter of time'

Gaddafi defeat 'a matter of time'*

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

Libyan ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces are cornered and his defeat is "only a matter of time", Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said today.

After chairing a meeting of the National Security Council, Mr Clegg insisted the reappearance in Tripoli of the dictator's son Saif Al-Islam was "not the sign of some great comeback for the Gaddafi regime".

But he acknowledged there would be "frustrations and setbacks" before the regime fell.

Mr Clegg said: "Our assessment is that Free Libya forces now control much, but not all, of Tripoli.

"Yes, there will be frustrations and setbacks but the remaining remnants of the Gaddafi regime are now cornered. It's only a matter of time before they are finally defeated and Libya is completely free."

Mr Clegg played down the significance of Gaddafi's son Saif turning up at Tripoli's Hotel Rixos, where a number of foreign journalists are staying.

"He is not roaming freely through Tripoli. He and the remaining pro-Gaddafi forces are now cornered, they are making their last stand, and it's only a matter of time before they are finally defeated. About that we are very confident indeed."

Colonel Gaddafi's whereabouts is still unknown, while Saif's elder brother Mohammed is also missing after reportedly breaking free from house arrest last night.

Mr Clegg's comments came as television images showed a jubilant and free Saif, regarded as his father's immediate successor, meeting supporters outside the loyalist-held Hotel Rixos before claiming that forces loyal to his father had "broken the backbone" of the rebel offensive.

He also indicated that Gaddafi remained in the violence-torn capital, stating that the weakening regime remained in control.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell blamed confusion over Saif's apparent arrest on the "fog of warfare" but acknowledged there would be a "bumpy ride" over the coming days.

"There was a lot of confusion, there are quite long lines of communication involved," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"It's inevitable in this situation, with the warfare going on as it is, that there will be some confusion."

On BBC1's Breakfast he added: "This will be a bumpy ride, as the Prime Minister made clear in his statement yesterday.

"But if you look at the events over the past week or so it is clear that the Free Libya forces are doing well and now occupy very large parts of Libya."

Prime Minister David Cameron, who resumed his family holiday in Cornwall today, and US President Barack Obama discussed the rapidly unfolding situation during a telephone conversation last night in which they called on Gaddafi to "relinquish power once and for all" and discussed plans for a "peaceful transition to democracy".

Forces loyal to Gaddafi continue to fight fierce battles with rebels surging into Tripoli from all sides and taking control of large areas of the city.

There were significant casualties after clashes around the dictator's heavily fortified compound.

The head of the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, warned that victory was not yet complete.

But he added: "The youth of Libya have written an epic heroic battle."

Nato spokesman Colonel Roland Lavoie told Today the alliance was not in "direct contact" with the rebels and had no plans to send in ground troops.

But he said the no-fly zone authorised by United Nations Security Resolution 1973 would continue to be enforced by Nato jets.

"We have enough to be busy with the current situation," said Col Lavoie. "This mission is not finished yet."

AP

* Url:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/gaddafi-defeat-a-matter-of-time-2342368.html

Libya: secret role played by Britain creating path to the fall of Tripoli

Libya: secret role played by Britain creating path to the fall of Tripoli*

Gordon Rayner, Thomas Harding and Duncan Gardham,

The Telegraph,

London, 22 August 2011

The key role played by Britain in equipping and advising Libya’s rebel fighters for their final push on Tripoli was becoming clear last night as Col Muammar Gaddafi’s remaining forces staged a last stand around his bunker.

For weeks, military and intelligence officers have been helping the rebels plan their co-ordinated attack on the capital, and Whitehall sources have disclosed that the RAF stepped up raids on Tripoli on Saturday morning in a pre-arranged plan to pave the way for the rebel advance.

MI6 officers based in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi had honed battle plans drawn up by Libya’s Transitional National Council (TNC) which were agreed 10 weeks ago.

The constantly-updated tactical advice provided by British experts to the rebel leaders centred on the need to spark a fresh uprising within Tripoli that could be used as the cue for fighters to advance on the city.

But when it finally came, the speed with which it achieved its goal took everyone, including the rebels, by surprise.

The Daily Telegraph has learnt that although the uprising in Tripoli began on Saturday night, the first phase of the battle for the capital had begun hours earlier, when RAF Tornado GR4 aircraft attacked a key communications facility in south-west Tripoli as part of the agreed battle plan.

On Saturday morning five precision-guided Paveway IV bombs were dropped on the Baroni Centre, a secret intelligence base headed by Gaddafi’s brother-in-law Abdullah Senussi.

The aircraft then struck at least one main battle tank belonging to Gaddafi’s troops, and in the afternoon another RAF patrol destroyed an artillery piece on the western edge of Tripoli and a nearby command and control facility.

On the ground, the rebels had spent weeks smuggling weapons, communications equipment and battle-hardened fighters into Tripoli, setting up secret arms dumps around the capital and waiting for a pre-arranged signal to trigger the uprising.

Mahmoud Shammam, a spokesman for the TNC, told the Daily Telegraph that the agreed signal was a televised speech by the TNC chairman, Mustafa Abd-al-Jalil, which was broadcast via the Qatar-based Libya TV on Saturday evening.

Mr Jalil told the citizens of Tripoli “you have to rise to the event”, and as dusk fell at around 8pm local time a group of rebels seized their chance and took control of the Ben Nabi Mosque close to the city centre.

Using loudspeakers which normally call people to prayer, they began anti-Gaddafi chants to confirm the start of what rebel leaders called Operation Mermaid Dawn – the battle for Tripoli, which is nicknamed Mermaid in Arabic.

Mr Shammam said: “The start of the uprising was pre-arranged. We used our TV station for Mr Jalil to give a speech calling for the uprising and soon most of the people of Tripoli were on the streets.”

The timing of the uprising caught Gaddafi completely by surprise; the rebels had spent that day flushing out that last of his forces from Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli, and the Brother Leader had clearly expected them to regroup, reorganise and re-arm - as they had done in the past after each major battle - before making an attempt on Tripoli.

Instead, the rebels who had been fighting in Zawiyah were making a dash for the capital, and in the skies overhead RAF Tornados and Typhoons were launching further surgical strikes on pre-planned targets.

The RAF and its alliance partners carried out 46 sorties on Sunday alone, relying heavily on the RAF’s Brimstone ground attack missile system that can pick out targets close to civilian areas with incredible accuracy, minimising the risk of civilian casualties.

Gaddafi’s bunker at Bab al-Aziziya was pounded throughout the night, and the Tornados’ advanced electronics also enabled aircraft already in the sky to hit Gaddafi targets as they were identified, using a system known as dynamic targeting.

Gaddafi’s command and control centres, set up in industrial buildings or even empty schools, were also attacked, crippling the Libyan despot’s ability to direct his troops.

On the ground, meanwhile, the rebels sent out mass text messages to regime opponents waiting in Tripoli for a signal to rise up, and as Gaddafi’s forces tried in vain to suppress the revolt it spread out across 13 suburbs.

By Sunday afternoon the rebels who had been fighting in Zawiyah were just miles away from the outskirts of Tripoli.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, confirmed yesterday that Britain had equipped the fighters with a range of “non-lethal” kit including advanced telecommunications equipment and 1,000 sets of body armour.

They had also been given night vision goggles, which proved crucial in picking out snipers who had been sent by Gaddafi to impede their progress towards the capital.

The battle plan also included a sea-borne assault on Tripoli launched from the port of Misrata to the east, which landed at dawn on Sunday.

Gaddafi took to the airwaves to make a series of increasingly desperate appeals for Libyans to defend Tripoli from the rebels as “a matter of life and death” but the crackling recordings of his voice – and a lack of any video footage – led to speculation that he had either fled the country or had gone into hiding in a 2,000-mile network of tunnels built in the 1980s.

His soldiers, sensing the battle was lost, had begun dumping their uniforms wherever they stood, and by midnight on Sunday the rebels had reached Green Square, the symbolic heart of Tripoli, with little resistance.

The speed of the rebel advance was such that Gaddafi’s intended heir, his son Saif al-Islam, had no time to reach his father’s compound, and was captured by rebels on Saturday night.

His brother, Mohammed, was giving a telephone interview to a broadcaster when a gunfight broke out inside his home. The line went dead and seconds later he too was captured.

Mr Shammam said: “The plan was very successful. Our assumption was that it would take a few days but the results were clear in a few hours.

“We were expecting more resistance from Gaddafi’s troops. We thought they were determined to fight to the last moment but it seems like they got tired or lost the cause.”

David Cameron, who was on a family holiday in Cornwall, also seemed to have been caught out by the rapid turn of events.

Although he had been kept up to date with the rebels’ plans, no-one had expected Tripoli to fall so quickly, and the Prime Minister scrambled to get back to Downing Street to chair a meeting of the National Security Council yesterday.

Speaking outside Number 10, he paid tribute to the “incredible bravery, professionalism and dedication” of the RAF pilots, adding: “This has not been our revolution, but we can be proud that we have played our part.”

As the fighting continued in Tripoli last night, the rebels had gained control of around 90 per cent of the city, with the bloodiest battle raging around Gaddafi’s compound at Bab al-Aziziya.

Another of Gaddafi’s sons, Khamis, was reported to have led his eponymous Khamis Brigade into battle from the compound, killing what one official described as “a big number” of rebels.

Tanks rolled out of the compound to begin shelling the city, and snipers fired from rooftops to prevent rebels joining the battle at Bab al-Aziziya.

Loyalist tanks were also deployed at the port, but the rebels continued to press on, and scored further victories.

By mid-afternoon yesterday they had reportedly captured a third son of Gaddafi, Saadi, and at 4pm Libya’s state broadcaster went off the air, removing one of the despot’s final and most important tools in his ability to maintain any form of resistance.

Across Tripoli, its citizens tore down every green flag of the Gaddafi regime they could find, chanting “freedom” in English. By last night, Green Square had been renamed Martyrs’ Square as 42 years of tyranny finally came to an end.

“We came out today to feel a bit of freedom,” said Ashraf Halaby, 30, as he joined the celebrations in the square. “We still don't believe that this is happening.”

* Url:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8716758/Libya-secret-role-played-by-Britain-creating-path-to-the-fall-of-Tripoli.html

Gadaffi son rallies loyalists

Gadaffi son rallies loyalists*

Tuesday, 23rd August, 2011

Free: Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam raises his hands to supporters in Tripoli. Reuters

A son of Muammar Gadaffi who rebels said they had captured made a surprise appearance with jubilant supporters in Tripoli overnight and issued a rallying cry to loyalists to fight off opponents who say they control most of the Libyan capital.

Saif al-Islam, who has been seen as his father's heir apparent, visited the Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists are staying to declare that the government was winning the battle against the rebels.

He took journalists to his father's Bab al-Aziziyah stronghold. Television footage showed Saif smiling, waving and shaking hands with supporters, as well as holding his arms aloft and making the V for victory sign.

"We broke the back of the rebels. It was a trap. We gave them a hard time, so we are winning," Saif said.

"Take up arms today, take up arms today," Saif told loyalists waiting to be given weapons. "Inshallah (God willing) we will attack the rats today," he said to cheers.

Saif's arrest had been reported both by rebels and the International Criminal Court in The Hague and his appearance before the foreign media raised questions as to the rebels' credibility.

He said Tripoli was under government control and that he did not care about the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court seeking him and his father for crimes against humanity.

Gadaffi himself has not been seen in public for several weeks before the rebels arrived in the capital at the weekend. But when asked if his father was safe and well in Tripoli, Saif told journalists: "Of course."

World leaders urged Gadaffi, 69, to surrender to prevent more bloodshed and appealed for an orderly transition of power, as the six-month-old battle for control of the oil-producing North African nation appeared to enter its final stages.

* Url:http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/763360

CIA Asset: We Have Just Handed Libya Back to Islamic Radicals

CIA Asset: We Have Just Handed Libya Back to Islamic Radicals

NATO SLAUGHTER IN TRIPOLI: "Operation Mermaid Dawn" Signals Assault by Rebels' Al Qaeda Death Squads

NATO SLAUGHTER IN TRIPOLI:

"Operation Mermaid Dawn" Signals Assault by Rebels' Al Qaeda Death Squads*

By Thierry Meyssan

Voltaire Network

Monday, Aug 22, 2011

Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 22, 2011, – On Saturday evening, at 8pm, when the hour of Iftar marked the breaking of the Ramadan fast, the NATO command launched its “Operation Mermaid Dawn” against Libya.

The Sirens were the loudspeakers of the mosques, which were used to launch Al Qaeda’s call to revolt against the Qaddafi government. Immediately the sleeper cells of the Benghazi rebels went into action. These were small groups with great mobility, which carried out multiple attacks. The overnight fighting caused 350 deaths and 3,000 wounded.

The situation calmed somewhat on Sunday during the course of the day.

Then, a NATO warship sailed up and anchored just off the shore at Tripoli, delivering heavy weapons and debarking Al Qaeda jihadi forces, which were led by NATO officers.

Fighting stared again during the night. There were intense firefights. NATO drones and aircraft kept bombing in all directions. NATO helicopters strafed civilians in the streets with machine guns to open the way for the jihadis.

In the evening, a motorcade of official cars carrying top government figures came under attack. The convoy fled to the Hotel Rixos, where the foreign press is based. NATO did not dare to bomb the hotel because they wanted to avoid killing the journalists. Nevertheless the hotel, which is where I am staying, is now under heavy fire.

At 11:30pm, the Health Minister had to announce that the hospitals were full to overflowing. On Sunday evening, there had been 1300 additional dead and 5,000 wounded.

NATO had been charged by the UN Security Council with protecting civilians in Libya. In reality, France and Great Britain have just re-started their colonial massacres.

At 1am, Khamis Qaddafi came to the Rixos Hotel personally to deliver weapons for the defense of the hotel. He then left. There is now heavy fighting all around the hotel.

*Url:http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_63610.shtml

Punish the perpetrators of the Plaza Miranda Bombing of 1971 and other fascist crimes -CPP (NDF)

Punish the perpetrators of the Plaza Miranda Bombing of 1971

and other fascist crimes*

Communist Party of the Philippines
August 20, 2011

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) joins the Filipino people in commemorating the Plaza Miranda Bombing of August 21, 1971. The dastardly bombing of the Liberal Party miting de avance was carried out by criminal henchmen of the US-Marcos dictatorship. Blaming the political opposition and the armed revolutionary movement for the bombing, Marcos ordered the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and declared martial law a year later.

For fifteen years after the Plaza Miranda Bombing, Marcos propped himself up as a military dictator, whipped up anti-communist hysteria, suppressed the people's mass movement, imprisoned mass activists as well as the political opposition and unleashed counterrevolutionary violence in the countryside in order to monopolize political power and enrich himself and his cronies. For fifteen years, Marcos was supported by the US imperialists by encouraging American investments, extending loans, supplying arms to the fascist military and providing counterinsurgency training and advise.

During the entire period of martial law, Marcos and his military henchmen surpassed the Plaza Miranda bombing with one fascist crime after another. Under martial law, tens of thousands of people were illegally arrested, tortured, summarily killed, abducted and forcibly disappeared. These fascist crimes were carried out by the AFP with utter impunity.

Forty years after the bombing of Plaza Miranda, none of the criminal perpetrators has been charged and punished. None of the past reactionary regimes after Marcos succeeded in having him face criminal responsibility for the Plaza Miranda bombing or any of the fascist crimes perpetrated during his rule. The failure of the past regimes to punish the perpetrators of the Plaza Miranda bombing and other fascist crimes reflects the state of justice of the ruling political system.

The ruling classes are lenient to their own kind. Like Marcos, past presidents and key officials charged with high crimes have never been put to justice, resulting in the perpetuation of the rotten and fascist ruling system. In particular, not a single officer of the AFP has been put to justice for the innumerable crimes perpetrated under martial law and under the past US-designed campaigns of suppression carried out since 1986. As a result, the military and other armed agents of the state continue to trample on human rights and carry out fascist crimes against the people without letup.

Forty years after the Plaza Miranda Bombing, the CPP joins the Filipino people in declaring: We will not forget! As long as the fascist criminals and plunderers continue to prevail, the aspiration for justice will continue to fire the Filipino people and drive them to wage revolution.

* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2011/08/punish-perpetrators-of-plaza-miranda.html

Resist US imperialist push for charter change! -CPP (NDF)

Resist US imperialist push for charter change!*

Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines
August 18, 2011

US imperialism is now vigorously pushing the local ruling reactionary classes to subject the 1987 Philippine constitution to amendments. Working with key economic and financial officials of the Aquino regime, US Ambassador Harry Thomas is now openly campaigning for charter change, completely disregarding Philippine sovereignty and in outright violation of the principle of non-interference between sovereign states.

The US imperialist ambassador has publicly espoused the position of the US government to amend the 1987 constitution to remove provisions prohibiting foreign entities from holding majority stakes in companies operating in the Philippines. He has also publicly expressed exhilaration over the fact that key officials of the Aquino government—including the Supreme Court Chief Justice, the House Speaker and Senate President—have already declared their openness to changing the economic provisions of the Philippine constitution.

The US government and officials of the Aquino regime are working hand in glove to have the Philippines included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership—a so-called "free trade" bloc that aims to eliminate tariffs by 2015 among participating countries which include Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the US. The US ambassador has outrightly declared that for the Philippines to join the TPP, the Aquino regime must amend the Philippine constitution.

The Filipino people must exert all effort to resist the US-instigated campaign for charter change ("cha-cha"). The amendments being pushed by the US aim to further diminish Philippine economic sovereignty which has already been significantly weakened in the past twenty-five years by the liberalization, deregulation, privatization and denationalization policies of successive puppet regimes. The amendments being pushed by the US will complete the economic recolonization of the Philippines and lead to ever deeper crisis.

In reality, though, the provisions of the 1987 constitution which are supposed to protect economic sovereignty have never really stopped the imperialists from ravishing the Philippines’ national patrimony. Since the late 1980s, a number of economic laws have been enacted in compliance with policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund which sought, among others, to further open up the economy to the operations of foreign monopoly capitalists. In line with these policies, numerous laws have been passed which have made a mockery of the Philippine constitution.

Right after the 1987 constitution was enacted, the Corazon Aquino regime pushed for the passage of the Omnibus Investments Code which exempted foreign entities from the 60% rule in operating local enterprises in so-called pioneer projects and priority areas of investment. Investment laws for foreign capitalists were further liberalized by the Foreign Investments Act of 1991. Through one amendment after another, these laws further relaxed regulations and provided incentives to foreign capitalist investors.

In subsequent years, more laws were passed favoring foreign capitalists. In 1995, the Special Economic Zone Act was passed. This was followed by related laws creating the special economic zones in Cagayan, Zamboanga City and in the Calabarzon area where foreign investors were given full freedom to operate. In 1994, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was ratified under which the all-out liberalization of trade and investment laws was further carried out. Further laws were enacted that liberalized foreign investments, among them the Bank Liberalization Law of 1994, the Build-Operate-Transfer Law of 1994, the Mining Act of 1995, the Oil Deregulation Law of 1997 and the Investment House Liberalization of 1997.

To create an environment "attractive" to foreign investors, laws were passed which further suppressed Filipino workers and pulled down the cost of Filipino labor. In 1989, the Wage Regionalization Act was enacted to counter demands for wage increases and abolish national minimum wage standards. In the same year, the Herrera Law was enacted which amended the Labor Law, allowed labor contractualization and imposed additional restrictions on the right to strike. This law was taken advantage of by capitalists to further push down wages and prevent workers from establishing labor unions. For more than twenty years, workers’ wages have been virtually at a standstill, falling way behind the rapid rise in the cost of living and condemning Filipino workers to ever worsening social conditions. Since then, the number of unions and unionized workers in the Philippines has dropped by more than 80%.

Successive IMF-approved Medium Term Philippine Development Plans (MTPDPs) were implemented by the Aquino, Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo regimes. All these were marked by efforts to bring in foreign investors to do business in the Philippines and fully exploit cheap labor power of Filipino workers. Foreign capital was invested in privatized and deregulated industries such as power generation, water and electricity distribution utilities, road infrastructure, transportation and in business process outsourcing to take advantage of the deregulated regime and generate assured profits for big foreign monopoly capitalists.

None of the past four foreign-investment oriented six-year programs was able to address the need to develop the local economy. There has been a continuous decline in manufacturing, which is generally considered as the engine of an economy that creates value. The number of manufacturing firms has fallen from 7,500 in 1999 to just 4,600 in 2008 with a concomitant drop in employment from 1.1 million to 860,000 or a decline of 4% percent in its share in total employment. Manufacturing contributes only around 23% of the total gross domestic product—the same level it was more than 50 years ago.

For several decades now, "attracting foreign investments" has been the key element in the economic programs designed by IMF-trained technocrats of all past puppet regimes. However, for sixty five years under the neocolonial republic, the Philippine economy has been in a constant state of crisis, unable to achieve self-reliance and always dependent on the foreign loans and capital infusion. The wealth being created by the Filipino peasantry and working class is constantly being siphoned out by big foreign capitalists and consumed by the parasitic local ruling classes.

Unemployment, landlessness, poverty, hunger, homelessness, disease and other social maladies worsen from one decade to another. As the ruling puppet states constantly serve the interests of big foreign capital, they are increasingly unable to address the people’s economic needs and have constantly shifted the burden of crisis on the working people. While foreign capitalists are provided with tax incentives and tax havens, the broad masses are fleeced with more and more taxes. While foreign capitalists are allowed full freedom to raise prices, workers’ wages are constantly held back. While more and more funds are allocated to partner with foreign big business, public spending on social services experience bigger and bigger budget slashes.

In pushing for amendments to the 1987 constitution, the US imperialists and their local political henchmen aim to do away with all pretensions to economic sovereignty. They seek to break down all barriers and allow foreign big capital to plunder the local economy with impunity.

The US imperialist push to amend the Philippine constitution is closely linked to the desperation of the US government in the face of one of its worst economic recession. By seeking to shatter the economic boundaries of the Philippines and other semicolonies, it aims to open up the Philippines’ remaining economic frontiers for American capitalists to expand their sourcing of raw materials and cheap labor. It seeks to subject the Filipino working class to ever disastrous working terms and conditions. It seeks to further drown the Filipino peasantry in debt and bankruptcy as a result of the unmitigated dumping of foreign agricultural products.

US imperialist spinmeisters are acutely aware of the political dangers of coming all-out for charter change. Under the past three regimes, attempts to push for charter change have been widely opposed by the people as these have been invariably linked to the political ambitions of the ruling clique. In pushing for charter change, the tacticians of the US Embassy in Manila are trying to generate a pro-"chacha" groundswell by gathering the support of key officials of the judiciary and legislature. A number of them, including the chief puppet baton holder Juan Ponce Enrile, have issued statements in favor of amending the 1987 constitution, carefully avoiding the issue of extending the terms of office of government officials.

However, if the US and its puppets decisively push "chacha", they will ultimately have to contend with the Filipino people’s determined resistance to further imperialist domination, oppression and exploitation. In resisting the US-instigated "chacha", the Filipino people sharply oppose the neoliberal framework of imperialist globalization that calls for the complete breakdown of protective national barriers of semicolonial countries while trade and investment walls continue to stand high in imperialist countries.

After almost three decades of worsening conditions resulting from the IMF-imposed policies of liberalization, deregulation, privatization and denationalization, the Filipino people clamor for national sovereignty and demand nationalist policies in the field of economics. They seek an end to foreign economic domination and a radical shift in economic policy that will put the interests of the Filipino people above all.

* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2011/08/information-bureau-communist-party-of.html

Presence of GPH military camps near schools and civilian population are blatant violations of IHL but AFP and CHR sees nothing wrong in militarizing

Presence of GPH military camps near schools and civilian population are blatant violations of IHL but AFP and CHR sees nothing wrong in militarizing communities*

Anvil Guinto
Crucifino Uballas Command,
NPA-Southern Mindanao
15 August 2011

The New People's Army (NPA) in Compostela Valley province today lambasted the 10th Infantry Division-Philippine Army-Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)-XI for blaming the NPA for the unintended wounding of a CAFGU’s kin during the August 9, 2011 attack on an army patrol base in Barangay Tagnanan, Mabini while conveniently skirting the fact that the presence of its army camps near schools and civilian population are continuing acts of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

In the recent tactical offensive by the Crucifino Uballas Command of Guerilla Front 2 that resulted in the seizure of seven high-powered rifles, the killing of three GPH combatants and the wounding of two other paramilitary CAFGUs, it was unfortunate that two family members of one of the CAFGU casualties were also hit in the course of the battle. While the CUC-NPA asserts that it only targeted the enemy combatants in a raid of a legitimate military target, it must be pointed out that the close proximity of the 72nd Infantry Battalion detachment to the civilian population is in fact the real culprit. While it was unintentional on the part of the NPA, it is deliberate on the part of the AFP to imperil the lives and properties of the civilian population.

Early last year, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Southern Mindanao has informed the public and the media that the 10th ID-PA-AFP is putting the lives of about 300,000 civilians in danger as its detachments and camps were established within civilian communities and close to civilian structures and facilities such as schools, barangay centers, health centers and places for public recreation like gyms and plazas. Apart from army patrol bases usually of the 72nd IB/Cafgus, the operating units of the 10th ID-PA-AFP regularly avail of these civilian structures and facilities as their quarters and as tactical command posts during combat operations by its maneuver battalions and special operations by its special operations teams or SOTs.

To argue that these are part of their “civili-military operations” is an acceptance that the AFP purposely use civilians as their unwitting shields.

It becomes more condemnable when a GPH agency such as the CHR condones this blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions and its Protocols and the GPH-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). When CHR-XI Regional Director Atty. Alberto Sipaco denounces the NPA for the wounding of the two civilians but turns a blind eye on the larger issue of the AFP militarizing the places of abode of the civilian population, we can only say that he is a coddler of an HR/IHL violator. And by failing to criticize this, the CHR is all the more exposed as an apologist for the AFP. Department of Education (DepEd)-XI spokesperson Mr. Jenelito “Dodong” Atillo fare better than him in that the former recently expressed serious concerns over confirmed reports about army camps situated near public schools which endanger the schoolchildren.

Hereunder is a partial list of elementary schools in the towns of Maragusan and Maco in Compostela Valley alone where there are 72nd IB-10th ID detachments in the vicinity. This is merely part of a long lost list which Atty. Sipaco and the CHR see as a non-issue and a perfectly acceptable set up. Definitely, more of the same set up can be seen in numerous army camps in Southern Mindanao and elsewhere.

1. Paloc Elementary School (Maragusan);

2. Tandik Elementary School (Maragusan);

3. Parasanon Elementary School (Maragusan);

4. Cambagang Elementary School (Maragusan);

5. New Leyte Elementary School (Maco); and

6. Sangab Elementary School (Maco).

Also, we provide an initial list of the numerous PA camps in Mabini, Maco and Pantukan located dangerously close to the civilian population. Their continuing existence directly violates Article 12, Part IV of the GRP (now GPH)-NDFP CARHRIHL which provides that "Civilian population shall have the right to be protected against the risks and dangers posed by the presence of military camps in urban centers and other populated areas".

1. 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion camp in Brgy. Pangibiran, Mabini;

2. 71st IB headquarters at the back of the municipal hall in Brgy. Poblacion, Pantukan;

3. 72nd IB patrol base in Brgy. Anitapan, Mabini;

4. 72nd IB patrol base in Brgy. Panamin, Mabini;

5. 72nd IB patrol base in Brgy. Cabuyuan, Mabini;

6. 72nd IB patrol base in Brgy. New Visayas, Maco;

7. 72nd IB patrol base in Brgy. New Asturias, Maco;

8. 72nd IB patrol base in Brgy. Libay-libay, Maco;

9. 72nd IB patrol base in Brgy. Kinuban, Maco;

10. 72nd IB patrol base in Brgy. Mapaang, Maco;

11. 72nd IB patrol base in Sitio Palo, Brgy. Napnapan, Pantukan;

12. 72nd IB patrol base in Sitio Bukobuko sa Anay, Brgy Napnapan, Pantukan; and

13. 72nd IB Patrol base in Sitio Gumayan, Brgy. Napnapan, Pantukan.

Dodging the issue would only further expose the 10th ID-PA-AFP and the CHR as state instruments of repression of the people’s rights and interests. All the necessary measures should immediately be undertaken to remove the conditions for such continuing acts of violations by the GPH armed forces. The AFP strategy of militarizing civilian communities must be exposed, denounced and opposed.

* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2011/08/presence-of-gph-military-camps-near.html

Double-dealing Aquino regime must release Eduardo Sarmiento and all NDFP peace consultants

Double-dealing Aquino regime must release Eduardo Sarmiento

and all NDFP peace consultants*

Fr. Santiago "Sanny" Salas
NDF - Eastern Visayas
August 14, 2011

The National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas today said the Aquino regime's seriousness for peace negotiations is under question as long as Eduardo Sarmiento and other NDFP peace consultants are not released. The NDF-EV spokesperson, Fr. Santiago Salas, also noted the regime talks of peace but has militarized the region with 11 army battalions. “The Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the NDFP signed this year the January 18 Joint Communique, with the Norwegian government as witness, where the GPH committed to immediately releasing the detained NDFP peace consultants and personnel covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees. But after many months, obviously, the Aquino regime has not released Eduardo Sarmiento, NDFP peace consultant for Eastern Visayas, and his fellow consultants.”

Fr. Salas added that, “As far as Eastern Visayas is concerned, the Aquino regime is on the warpath in militarizing the region with 11 army battalions under the euphemism of “peace and development.” In NDF-EV's view, the Aquino regime is double-dealing by deliberately stalling the peace talks and ordering the 8th Infantry Division to crush the NPA in the region under Oplan Bayanihan. If the Aquino regime is really for peace, it should have been working for the progress of the peace talks and restrained the search-and-destroy mission of the 8th ID masquerading as “peace and development” operations.”

The NDF-EV spokesperson called on the Aquino regime to release Eduardo Sarmiento and all NDFP peace consultants as well as other political prisoners, end the anti-people Oplan Bayanihan, and work on the peace talks to deliver socio-economic reforms. “Eduardo Sarmiento has been languishing in jail since February 2009 on trumped-up charges, like his fellow NDFP peace consultants and other political prisoners. His release is not only because of his role in the peace talks, but also a matter of justice. Eduardo Sarmiento and the people have all been victims of the GPH's wanton violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

“The people of Eastern Visayas are only suffering war and misery under the the contradiction in terms of Oplan Bayanihan's “peace and development” operations. The people are questioning why “peace and development” are not being discussed at the negotiating table by the GPH and the NDFP, but being mouthed by armed minions of the state who are violating human rights with impunity. If the Aquino regime persists in betraying the interests of the people, it will surely become isolated and vulnerable to the wrath of the people who desire a just and lasting peace.”

* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2011/08/double-dealing-aquino-regime-must.html

Israeli Army Arrests over 50 Palestinians in Hebron

Israeli Army Arrests over 50 Palestinians in Hebron

Ramallah, Aug 21 (Prensa Latina) Israeli forces arrested over 50 Palestinians in Hebron on Sunday, in the biggest raid carried out in the last eight years in the city, announced Palestinian sources.

Detained include various leaders and relatives linked to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), one of them legislator Mohamed Abu Dheishe and some children of the members of the organization, said deputy Samira Halaik, and Maan and Wafa news agencies.

The Israeli forces accompanied by more than 100 military vehicles invaded the city of Hebron, in the south of West Bank, Sunday at dawn, and in neighboring villages such as Dura, Surif, Beit Umma, Yatta, and Samua.

Official Wafa news agency of the Palestine National Authority reported 40 arrests, though the estimates are higher.

Libyan Government and Rebels Claim Control of Zones

Libyan Government and Rebels Claim Control of Zones

Trípoli, Aug 21 (prensa Latina) The Libyan leader Muamar el Qaddafi assured in a recorded speech to have eliminated rats, as he called his opponents backed by NATO; while his opponents assured they will soon control the city.

Rats want to destroy the country, said Gadaffi who added that he will stay in Libya while official sources announced the recapture of Brega city, under seige for days, and from where the self-styled National Transition Council (NTC) admitted that it had to retreat because of intense bombing.

Gadaffi's message also served to give the lie to versions previously spread by different sources saying that he ran away to South Africa or Bolivia seeking political asylum.

In another TV message Saif al-Islam, son of the Libyan leader and chief of the 32nd Brigade, the most powerful of the army, appeared on a TV broadcast reiterating his father's call to "withstand and win". although he ratified the readiness of the government to negotiate without pre-conditions.

The NTC demands removal from his post and the country of Gadaffi, who assured he would never leave the country.

Songun and Unity

Songun and Unity

article by ASSPUK and JISGE on occasion of 51st anniversary

of Songun revolutionary leadership

On the 25th of August it will be 51 years since the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il gave on-the spot guidance to the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su 105 Guards Tank Division of the Korean People's Army. This tank division was the tank divsion that liberated Seoul(thus earning the title of Guards division) in the Fatherland Liberation War, smashing the walls of division and liberating the oppressed people of south Korea. Their tanks were first to rush into Seoul. A shining example in the history of revolutionary wars. It can be said that the Seoul Ryu Su 105 tank division was steeled in the flames of anti-imperialist war and class struggle. Also that it is a vanguard unit on the anti-imperialist military front. Therefore visiting the unit took on a profound and special significance. This on-the spot guidance marked the start of the Songun revolutionary leadership of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il.

The five decades of Songun revolutionary leadership have produced great results and vast achievements. Of course the main one is the DPRK, a socialist state of Juche has been able to maintain solidly its independence and defy all imperialist attempts to encroach on its sovereignty. It has proudly held high the banner of socialism despite the frustration of socialism in a number of countries, it has rejected so called "reform" and "opening up" which are just a trick to destroy socialism from within.

Another durable achievement and one that effectively underpins everything is army-people unity. In the DPRK the people and army are united. The KPA is deeply respected by the people. This is a contrast to the imperialist countries. In imperialist countries soldiers are viewed with suspicion because of their role in imperialist wars and in oppressing the people or even contemptuously viewed as "thick squaddies" -people of low intelligence unable to do any other job. However in the DPRK service in the army is a matter of honour and every youth wants to join the army. The army is respected by the people and seen as their army , the army of the people.

The DPRK has established firm traditions of army-people unity. Their origins lay in the anti-Japanese armed struggle and the Fatherland Liberation War. During the anti-Japanese armed struggle the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung always emphasised that just as a fish could not live outside water the guerrillas could not live without the people. During the Fatherland Liberation war the KPA and Korean established firm bonds of fraternity. The army-people unity displayed in the Fatherland Liberation War was an important factor propelling the victory of the Korean people against the US imperialists.

Starting his Songun revolutionary leadership in 1960 the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il did everything to solidify and enhance the firm tradition of army-people unity declaring that the People's Army is the main pillar of the revolution, the core of society. Admirable traits of the people assisting the army and the army assisting the people have come into full bloom . The KPA participates vigorously in the work of economic construction and improving the people's living standards. Several "army-people" power stations have been built such as the Anbyon Power station. People feel that it is that duty to assist and help the army.

If the US imperialists attack Korea then the people and army will become one, an indestructible force under the command of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il which will wipe out the imperialists to the last soldier.

The DPRK is marching ahead under the Songun revolutionary leadership of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il in the spirit of Songun-based army-people unity. Indeed the DPRK is the most united society in the world ,this year many countries have been shaken by upheavals and disturbances owing to internal con traditions but the DPRK is united and racing towards the goal of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation under the Songun revolutionary leadership.

ASSPUK

JISGE

.

NATO discusses ground operation, Libya promises hell

NATO discusses ground operation, Libya promises hell*

by Marie Edwards

2011/05/04

The aerial bombardment of Libya has reached a dead end, which has intensified talk among NATO members about a possible land operation, a move that threatens to escalate massively the violence that already exists there.

The alliance's spokesman has admitted there is still little sign of progress for either side in the conflict, so there is a need for a new UN resolution to approve sending foreign troops in.In the meantime, civilian casualties from allied bombing continue to mount as fresh NATO air strikes have been heard in the Libyan capital overnight.

At a video conference with Russian students, a NATO spokesman revealed his organization’s proposed solution: send in ground troops.

“The UN Security Council should adopt a new resolution on Libya. Resolution 1973 does not envisage land operations. We need a new resolution,” professed James Appathurai.

Western forces planned that all along, says a leading US international law professor, Francis Boyle, of the University of Illinois.

“Clearly what we are seeing unfolding in Libya is a pre-existing war plan, by NATO, by the British, by the French, by the Americans to attack Libya,” Boyle claimed.

“And now everything is going according to plan, which is why I believe that since they have failed to depose Gaddafi with their steps so far, the next stage will be moving into a ground invasion.”

NATO powers have duped the international community into supporting war, notes author William Engdahl.

Protecting civilians was the claim, but grabbing the country’s resources is their real goal.

“This is one of the most brazen transgressions of rights of nation national sovereignty in international law we have seen in the post-WWII period,” he said.

“The West: the US, France and Britain have been covertly – according to the evidence that is leaking out – arming the opposition to Gaddafi in hopes of grabbing control of the oil and different parts of Libya,” William Engdahl insists.

The Libyan government promises “hell” for NATO if it sends in ground troops. Some agree such a war may be tougher, than expected.

“We will see increased military activity not only in the air but also on the ground and maybe this will solve the problem from the perspective of the NATO countries, but mayby we will simply get into a deeper imbroglio,” shared Professor Mark Almond of Bilkent University.

Bombing from 30,000 feet, coalition pilots feel fairly safe, but anti-war activists warn putting troops on the ground risks not just more civilian killing, but NATO deaths as well.

“The further they get from hi-tech, the nearer they get to low-tech – the greater the danger of casualties on both sides,” warns Jim Brann from the Stop The War Coalition.

Turkey, China and Russia have all criticized the bombardment of Libya. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov thinks NATO’s already gone far beyond the first UN resolution to maintain a no-fly zone. He hints a second resolution to move in ground troops may not come as easy, now several nations feel tricked.

"If anybody wants to ask for this mandate, welcome to the UN Security Council. We will discuss, try to understand what is planned, because the digressions from the mandate that we are seeing now are enough to learn lessons,” Sergey Lavrov railed.

With international opposition on the rise, NATO states face an uphill task to make the case for more war.

While Britain’s prime minister ruled out ground troops, now his Defense Secretary Dr Liam Fox tells Parliament they plan exactly that. But UN members are angered at the number of civilian deaths from NATO bombing, and are unlikely to welcome an escalation of the conflict.

* Url:http://pub.mathaba.net/2011/05/04/nato-discusses-ground-operation-libya-promises-hell/

Libya: "We want Muammar to come back! We want the green flag back!"

Libya: "We want Muammar to come back! We want the green flag back!"*

Benghazi Rebels Death Squad in full force

by Marie Edwards

2011/07/30

Abdel-Fattah Younis, the Libyan rebels' military commander, was killed by fellow rebels while in custody. Mohammed Agoury told the AP news agency on Friday that he was present when a group of rebels from a faction known as the February 17 Martyrs’ Brigade came to Younis’ operations room at Zoueitina, just east of the main front at Brega before dawn Wednesday demanding that Younis come with them for interrogation. Younis was summoned to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi because of alleged links among his family to the Libyan leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi. Agoury said he tried to accompany his commander, "but Younis trusted them and went alone. Instead, they betrayed us and killed him," he said.

The February 17 Martyrs Brigade is made up of civilians who took up arms to join the rebels. Their fighters participate in the front-line battles with government forces but also act as a semi-official internal security force for the rebels. Some of its leadership comes from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an Islamic militant group that waged a campaign of violence against the Libyan government in the 1990s.

The killing raises fear and uncertainty in Benghazi. Thousands marched behind Younis’ coffin, wrapped in the rebels' tricolor monarchist flag, to the graveyard for his burial, chanting that he was a martyr "beloved by God." Troops fired a military salute as the coffin arrived, and angry and grieving supporters fired wildly into the air with automatic weapons.

At the graveside, Younis' son, Ashraf, broke down, crying and screaming as they lowered the body into the ground and - in a startling and risky display in a city that was the first to shed Muammar Al-Qadhafi's leadership nearly six months ago - pleaded hysterically for the return of the Libyan leader to bring stability and a return to normalcy after months of chaos in the country.

"We want Muammar to come back! We want the green flag back!" he shouted at the crowd, referring to Muammar Al-Qadhafi's national banner.

Younis was Muammar Al-Qadhafi's interior minister until he defected to the rebels early in the uprising, which began in February. He was among the army officers who joined the 1969 revolution and remained the leader’s ally for more than 40 years. His move raised hopes among rebels and Western allies that the uprising could succeed in forcing out the country's leader of more than four decades. But some rebels remained deeply suspicious that he retained loyalties to Muammar Al-Qadhafi.

An officer with the rebels' internal security forces - the official security force of the National Council - told AP that the council ordered Younis' arrest after a letter appeared earlier this week connecting the commander to the Libyan Leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi. He said Younis was brought back to the Benghazi area Wednesday and held at a military compound until Thursday, when he was summoned to the Defense Ministry for questioning.

As they left the compound, two lieutenants from the security team escorting the detainees opened fire on Younis from their car with automatic weapons, said the officer, who was at the compound and saw the shooting. He said the two men were members of the February 17 Martyrs Brigade and shouted that Younis was a traitor who killed their father in Derna, an eastern town that was once a stronghold of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.

The attackers shot Younis, slit his throat, set fire to his body and dumped it outside Benghazi along with the bodies of two colonels who were his top aides, his nephew Hisham Al-Obaidi told The Associated Press.

A member of the Martyr's Brigade said his group had evidence that Younis was a "traitor." He told the AP "the evidence will come out in a few days." The brigade member spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals.

From Tripoli, Libya’s deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, said the government forces had no role in Younis' death. He called for a forensic investigation of Younis' remains, saying that even though he was a "traitor" to the government "he was still a Libyan citizen."

The city of Benghazi woke up to fierce shooting Friday, as the news of Younis' death spread confusion and suspicion. Among those firing were members of Younis' powerful Obeidat tribe.

The killing opens up the possibility of a tribal split within the rebel alliance. Rebel leader Abdul-Jalil was urgently trying to reassure the tribes that the killing of Younis was basically carried out by a rogue unit instead of being sanctioned by the leadership.

The rebel leadership offers an alternative claim--the killing was carried out by “The Abu Obeida Al-Jarah Brigade” a secretive brigade responsible for internal security. Members of the little-known Abu Obaida Al-Jarah Brigade had been sent to Mr. Younis's front-line headquarters near the oil city of Brega to summons Mr. Younis for questioning before a judicial committee. The soldiers killed Mr. Younis on the outskirts of Benghazi before he was brought in for questioning. Abu Obaida Al-Jarah Brigade doesn't answer to the normal Minister of Defense chain of command. No further details were provided about the brigade or who it does answer to.

In extensive inquiries on Friday, it was impossible to find anyone in Benghazi, among rebel officials, rebel fighters, rebel commanders, and ordinary citizens, who said they had heard of the brigade or knew anything about it.

Most of the rebels leadership account of the events leading up to Mr. Younis' death was corroborated earlier in the day by one of Mr. Younis' longtime body guards, Abdullah Baio.

Mr. Baio said in an interview that Mr. Younis returned to Benghazi after he was summoned by a rebel brigade in his own vehicle accompanied by his personal guard detail, which included five body guards as always.

At 10 a.m., Mr. Younis called his family in Benghazi to tell them he was on his way back, his nephew, Abdel Hakim, said at his funeral.

Mr. Younis and his guards stopped at a military base in Gammines, on Benghazi's outskirts, according to Mr. Baio. It isn't clear why Mr. Younis stopped at the base.

Inside the base, soldiers from the Abu Obaida Al-Jarah Brigade turned their weapons on Mr. Younis and his bodyguards, according to Mr. Baio's account.

Mr. Younis ordered his outnumbered guards to lower their weapons.

The rogue unit disarmed Mr. Younis' guards, stole their boots, and tied them up, before disappearing with Mr. Younis, Mr. Baio said.

At 2 a.m. the next morning, Mr. Younis' body and those of two of his subordinate officers, were found shot and burned not far from Mr. Younis's home.

Questions are being raised, if the Abu Obaida Al-Jarah Brigade actually exists or if it is just another deliberate untruth by the rebels’ leadership with the intent to deceive and hold their fragile group of Islamists, CIA operatives and traitors together.

* Url:http://pub.mathaba.net/2011/07/30/libya-we-want-muammar-to-come-back-we-want-the-green-flag-back/

Libya: Another Reason for the War on Libya.

Libya: Another Reason for the War on Libya.*

by Marie Edwards

2011/05/05

Some believe it is about protecting civilians, others say it is about oil, but some are convinced intervention in Libya is all about Gaddafi’s plan to introduce the gold dinar, a single African currency made from gold, a true sharing of the wealth.

“It’s one of these things that you have to plan almost in secret, because as soon as you say you’re going to change over from the dollar to something else, you’re going to be targeted,” says Ministry of Peace founder Dr James Thring. “There were two conferences on this, in 1986 and 2000, organized by Gaddafi. Everybody was interested, most countries in Africa were keen.”

Gaddafi did not give up. In the months leading up to the military intervention, he called on African and Muslim nations to join together to create this new currency that would rival the dollar and euro. They would sell oil and other resources around the world only for gold dinars.

It is an idea that would shift the economic balance of the world.

A country’s wealth would depend on how much gold it had and not how many dollars it traded. And Libya has 144 tons of gold. The UK, for example, has twice as much, but ten times the population.

“If Gaddafi had an intent to try to re-price his oil or whatever else the country was selling on the global market and accept something else as a currency or maybe launch a gold dinar currency, any move such as that would certainly not be welcomed by the power elite today, who are responsible for controlling the world’s central banks,” says Anthony Wile, founder and chief editor of the Daily Bell.

“So yes, that would certainly be something that would cause his immediate dismissal and the need for other reasons to be brought forward from moving him from power.”

And it has happened before.

In 2000, Saddam Hussein announced Iraqi oil would be traded in euros, not dollars. Some say sanctions and an invasion followed because the Americans were desperate to prevent OPEC from transferring oil trading in all its member countries to the euro.

A gold dinar would have had serious consequences for the world financial system, but may also have empowered the people of Africa, something black activists say the US wants to avoid at all costs.

“The US have denied self-determination to Africans inside the US, so we are not surprised by anything the US would do to hinder the self-determination of Africans on the continent,” says Cynthia Ann McKinney, a former US Congresswoman.

The UK’s gold is kept in a secure vault somewhere in the depths of the Bank of England. As in most developed countries, there is not enough to go around.

But that is not the case in countries like Libya and many of the Gulf States.

A gold dinar would have given oil-rich African and Middle Eastern countries the power to turn around to their energy-hungry customers and say: “Sorry, the price has gone up, and we want gold.”

Some say the US and its NATO allies literally could not afford to let that happen.

* Url:http://pub.mathaba.net/2011/05/05/libya-another-reason-for-the-war-on-libya/

US Intelligence contradicts US government's optimistic picture of Libyan rebels

US Intelligence contradicts US government's optimistic picture of Libyan rebels*

By Marie Edwards

2011/08/05

Despite the official claims of the US government in regards to their trust in the Libyan rebels, US intelligence channels paint another picture of the situation in Libya.

Brief from a US intelligence channel on August 4, 2011

Libyan loyalist forces, which are usually described as “demoralized” in Western media accounts based on rebel sources, consistently mount spirited counter-attacks to retake lost ground even though they lack any effective defense against punishing NATO airstrikes, actions not usually seen in dispirited or demoralized forces. Though the rebel line maintains that most of Qadhafi’s men are only waiting for an opportunity to defect, nearly five months have passed without any significant increase in defections from the rank-and-file, many of whom have had ample opportunity to cross the lines by now. Those eastern-based troops who defected early in the struggle continue to contribute little to the rebel effort, which is still dominated by poorly-trained amateurs who view orders as suggestions and follow only those commanders they like. Rivalries and distrust have made creating a single military leadership difficult enough – extending a centralized command and control system throughout the rebel ranks will be extremely difficult.

The violent dissension within the rebel movement has emboldened the Qadhafi regime, which has withdrawn an offer of a ceasefire if NATO stops its bombing campaign. The government is also now offering an amnesty for rebels returning to the fold, sweetened by offers of promotions and various other rewards (Reuters, August 3). The regime has also taken the opportunity of sowing further discord in the rebel ranks by announcing it is in contact with leading figures in the TNC, including former Qadhafi loyalists Mahmud Jibril and Ali Essawi, as well as Islamist leader Ali al-Salabi (AFP, July 30). In an August 3 interview with the New York Times, Sa’if al-Islam Qadhafi (son of the Libyan leader) said the government had formed an alliance with Ali al-Salabi against the rebels. Al-Salabi acknowledged having discussions with regime representatives, but denied forming a pact with them (AFP, August 4).

Psychologically at least, Qadhafi has the upper hand on the rebels, whose military leadership, cobbled together from ex-Qadhafi loyalists, CIA assets and radical Islamists, is in danger of being consumed by distrust, paranoia and internal disputes. If further rebel purges follow, the rebel movement stands at risk of complete collapse.

* Url:http://pub.mathaba.net/2011/08/05/us-intelligence-contradicts-us-government%E2%80%99s-optimistic-picture-of-libyan-rebels/

Benghazi: Terror in the Streets

Benghazi: Terror in the Streets*

By Marie Edwards

August 20, 2011

In Benghazi homes are raided, neighbors dragged off, suspects executed. Many people are unemployed. Large companies, including German construction firm Bilfinger Berger, have pulled out of the city. Young men race around town with tires screeching, others strut around in public buildings brandishing their knives. At night, the streets are reminiscent of Sao Paolo gang wars, the only difference being that the youths here wear flak jackets.

Many young academics who were about to complete their studies and to get a good job are starting to get frustrated. One, who only talks on the condition that he remains anonymous, studied economics at the Gharyounis University. He was offered a job as a manager at Bilfinger Berger and would have earned good money. Now he's unemployed. He says of the rebels: "They are under 30 and don't have wives. They are proud of the weapons they looted from barracks. They don't know how to control themselves. They quickly become aggressive. They've got these weapons and lose themselves."

Militias in Benghazi possess sophisticated weaponry, ranging from antitank missiles to rocket-propelled grenades and people here speak of tribes settling old accounts and power struggles emerging. Sporadic gunfire can be heard daily in the rebel capital, and hundreds of men walk around town armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles.

People's concern in Benghazi focus on gangs wearing the army fatigues favored by the rebels, terrorizing citizens and robbing them at gunpoint. "It is not safe anymore to travel in some parts of the city," says Dawud Salimi, 41. "Criminals are taking advantage of the instability for their own profit. Recently, they have targeted foreigners. A group of men wearing military outfits broke into the hotel room of a Western journalist, assaulted her and ran off with her electronic equipment”.

Across Benghazi city, armed squads are being dispatched to crack down on supporters of Libyan Leader Muammar al-Qadhafi. Thousands have been arrested in the night raids.

Under the cover of darkness, the Benghazi 'protection squad' gathered. Speaking in muted, tense tones, clutching loaded guns, the men began the hunt. In swift, silent convoy they drive across the city, targeting the homes of suspected loyalists.

The armed men drove to a farmhouse just outside Benghazi. The choice of target had been discussed back at their base, in an office strewn with handwritten papers, the intelligence on potential suspects.

Pulling up silently, muffling the closing of car doors, fingers on the triggers of the loaded guns, they set up their positions. Two men pointed their weapons, sniper like, through gaps in the outer walls. Faces covered with balaclavas, others snuck through the front gate and surrounded the farm. The only noise to be heard under the clear moonlit sky was the sound of guard dogs' barks.

Drivers waited, the engines running. "This is very, very dangerous. Often there are gun battles," muttered one driver.

The farm was empty. Disappointed, the squad returned to cars. Onto the next target. "They know we are looking for them. They cannot stay in one place. Often they bribe neighbors not to give us information," says the squad leader.

Qadhafi supporters drive around in cars firing at pedestrians in order to spread fear, say the rebels. "There are thousands of them here," said the gang leader of the night raid.

"We have many people - students, post-graduates, businessmen who still stand with Qadhafi. They are in hiding now, organizing themselves,” says lifelong Benghazi resident Sami Hassan, 37.

Rebels fear that "pro-Qadhafi" citizens in Benghazi are acting as spies for the Libyan government. "Don't trust anyone, we are in a psychological war," admits Council spokesperson Issam Giriani. "Even now, I know some are walking around us here, recording."

Perhaps the accusations are true. There are signs that Benghazi has not given itself to the rebel's cause. A table at an office in the court house is strewn with the weapons found on infiltrating attackers: Kalashnikovs, assault rifles, and dynamite. "There have been many attempts at attacking the court house," says Ibrahim Gheriani in charge of security.

Before being stopped in their tracks by NATO air strikes, Qadhafi's advance on Benghazi emboldened some of his supporters to show themselves. "In two days we will win, Muammar will be back," a man told a reporter before slipping quietly back into the crowd.

The incidences prompted the crackdown by the rebel leader who announced that Qadhafi sympathizers had 24 hours to hand over their weapons. If they didn't, they would be treated as murderers and enemies of the rebels. "Those with bloodstained hands will be punished," says Issam Giriani.

Fed by fear, war breeds suspicion and mistrust. Determining loyalties in this fluid environment can be an impossible task. Some of the targets are suspects on dangerously loose criteria.

The regime loyalty of a person's home town, a photograph of the Libyan leader in the wallet and family ties, are all considered 'evidence'.

"This man is from Sirte. Most people from there are Ligen Thauria. His family is from there too," says Hani in explanation of the midnight armed raid on the farmhouse.

The rebels have their own spying game. "Sometimes we use women; they go inside to the houses, perhaps pretending they are poor and need something. There they see if the person has guns, she tries to find them."

Captives are taken to a military base. In the closed cement quadrangle courtyard lined by cells sit rows of captives. On the right are the foreign prisoners, thought by the rebels to be "mercenaries". Lined on the left were dozens of black Libyans.

Their imprisonment is indefinite. "God knows when I will be allowed to go home," says a black Libyan who says he was captured at a bus stop as he tried to get home.

Often the raids are run by adrenaline-pumped youth. Before going out, in the secret base where they gathered, the squad of youths joked, jumped, shouted; pumped with for the night's hunt. "Most of these guys have been my friends since school," said the squad leader. "Let's go!" he said to the enthusiastic clacks of his gang loading their weapons.

Excited and power hungry the commander wielded his loaded Kalashnikov dangerously with a manic smile. His military training was cut short when he was kicked out from the college. "I had a fight with the colonel in college. He swore at me, kicked me out."

The raids can be violent. Some members of this gang have been killed. "On the first raid, we went to find Qadhafi’s people who were trading guns said Hani. There was a forty-minute gun battle in which the squad lost one of its men. "We captured four guys and I killed one," he said proudly. The night raids are growing in number and size. "We caught dozens last week," said a squad organizer who works at the Benghazi rebel's courthouse.

From the start of the conflict the rebels relied on its Western backers. The rebels have failed to broaden their appeal precisely because the key opposition leaders are perceived as exactly what they are: sellouts. The Libyan people know that the leading members of the rebels are imperial puppets.

Before the war social and economic rights were so widely developed that Libya hosted hundreds of thousands of foreign workers. And with all its wealth, Libya remained a socialist country. Muammar Al-Qathafi asked: “How can one not be a socialist and spreading the wealth of one’s country equally among its citizens?”

This was hard for Western capitalists to swallow and the opportunities for profit from a war with Libya were hard for Western capitalists to pass up. The objective of Washington and its allies consists in confiscating and managing Libya's vast wealth and controlling its resources. So they initiated a foreign-propelled civil war in Libya.

But the rebels are unable to use the tactical advantage that NATO air superiority provides to them. Had the rebel forces support among the Libyan masses they would have claimed more territory. Few analysts believe that the Libyan leader’s loyalists can be easily defeated, if at all. Reports from Libya indicate the rising tide of massive support for the Libyan leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi by his followers, who have attended rallies and demonstrated their preparedness to confront the rebels and their backers.

The rebels are not loved, given the speech of Muammar Al-Qadhafi as he addressed his supporters of more than a million people in the northwestern town of Al-Zawiya not far from Tripoli. The crowd reached a deafening crescendo when he spoke in a recorded message.

Meanwhile the Libyan government forces have regained control of most of Libyan territory and in over five months after the NATO aggression against Libya, key oil installations and, above all, the so far impregnable capital are firmly in the hands of the Libyan government.

The information war against Libya is gigantic. Oceans of lies and misinformation are poured on the heads of unsuspecting listeners and readers on a daily basis. Events in Libya are showing how monstrous Orwellian lies can be easily used to manipulate people’s minds in an age of information technologies. Frontrunners in manipulation are Qatar’s Al-Jazeera and the Western media outlets. The lies are so blatant, that one has to wonder why the paper is not rejecting the print.

The West's blame for where it now finds itself in Libya has a long pedigree. The aggression against Libya parallels the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. The latter is still reeling from the wounds of the sectarian strife unleashed by Washington's invasion and the former is the proverbial NATO failed state.

NATO is losing and they don't like it--they better wake up, for the US taxpayer will not fund another huge atrocity against humanity. The truth is coming out.

* Url:http://pub.mathaba.net/2011/08/20/benghazi-terror-in-the-streets/