PRESS RELEASE Nro. 5

ENGLISH   VERSION

There are usually three reasons for the murder of a political leader:
- The sheer desire for revenge,
- Stopping him from talking,
- Decapitating and taking control of his organization.

It seems too early to give a final account of all the contradictory information circulating on the circumstances of the murder of Muammar el Gaddafi.  Only results from them the impression that his murderers had received orders to kill him on the spot, while the usurpers of power in Tripoli asked the governments of Niger and Algeria for the delivery of the members of the Rais’ family, including his wife and young children, while NATO special forces and aircraft sought to kill his son Seif el-Islam.

We do not exclude pure sadism of this bloodthirsty bunch of bandits.  Already in the early days of the civil war, had Human Rights Watch denounced the mistreatment of civilians by the men of the CNT. Since then, accumulated accounts of their cruelty to prisoners, to blacks, to Libyan citizens suspected of "gaddafism", of atrocities committed not only in Libya but also in other countries where they operate, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, in the Xinjiang for example.

However, it appears that orders were given, to exterminate the family of the Rais, obviously to prevent them from revealing secrets, as expected for example on past business with the government of Sarkozy (the CBDAE has a few interesting things to publish).

The third reason is linked to the CIA plan to take control of the last Loyalist troops in order to constitute a force, as expected and forecasted in the Press Release N#3, not strong enough to retake power, yet enough to continue fighting the divided forces of the CNT.  Thus would Libya sink into a civil war without end, as it is the case of Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, Saif el Islam el Gaddafi survived the attempts of NATO criminals and their auxiliaries.  The news came that American lawyers are poised to defend him by requiring the benefit of a fair trial in the International Criminal Court.  According to the Daily Mail of October 27, British SAS units with air support are looking for him as far as in the desert of the sub-saharian area.  According to some sources, he would be in Sudan, welcome and supported by the Movement ‘Justice and Equality’ opposing the government of Omar el-Bashir;  the same who betrayed and delivered Commander Ilitch Ramirez to the secret services we are ashamed to call "French".  On 26 October, in a televised speech, Omar el-Bashir acknowledged that his troops had distributed weapons and ammunition to the CNT, thus competing in felony with the King of Qatar (not to mention, of course, Obama’s European lackeys).

While there were talks about the circumstances of the death of Muammar el Gaddafi, we received a video document in which Benazir Bhutto, before falling in 2007 under the gunfire of murderers, mentioned the killing of Bin Laden, therefore previous to her own.  It confirms what we suspected all along: the liquidation of Bin Laden was not the real aim of the raid on Abbottabad.  The statements and accounts of the operation are contradictory, particularly concerning the true number of helicopters involved.  Officially there was only two of them and one was shot down or destroyed for an obscure reason, and left behind on the site.  Actually, it seems there was a much larger number of ‘choppers’, if we pay attention to the words of John Brennan, an associate of president Barack Obama, to his concern that 'all helicopters should have left Pakistani territory before the Pakistanis realize what happened." There are also reports of one soldier deserting  during the operation, of a Pakistani family killed, of a ferocious exchange of gunfire... check that in the next issue of the bulletin of the CBDAE.

We expect the CIA to try the same scenario with the last Gaddafist troops.  We spoke of the integration of the Taliban into the Libyan, NATO supported "rebel troops", an operation implying the previous liquidation of the myth of Bin Laden by announcing his murder, either actual or fictional.  However, we suspect that the raid of Abbottabad could be merely a maneuver to test the responsiveness of Pakistanis armed forces in anticipation of a larger operation, as we have mentioned in the foregoing statement; an operation that would be directed to the Pakistani nuclear arsenal.

Indeed, the situation is worsening very rapidly between Pakistan and the U.S.A..  Hilary Clinton's visit to Pakistan was the occasion of anti-Yankee demonstrations across the country. In recent days, the sympathetic Pakistani cricket champion Imran Khan, founded his own political party, the Tehrik-e-Insaf ', whose program seems to best meet the aspirations of the Pakistani people, notably its desire to break with the dominance of Washington.  Imran Khan's visit in Beijing takes place within the framework of the excellent relations between China and Pakistan.

Out of the blue came the surprise caused by the statement of Hamid KERZAI, president of Afghanistan under U.S. protection, that in case of conflict, his country would back Pakistan. For its part, Iran has reinforced its cooperation with Pakistan which therefore enjoys the active solidarity of the major regional powers.

It seems desirable that countries of ALBA, in particular the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, should be actively present in that part of the world where the decisive conflict of the century will be initiated.

The forecasted escalation in naval warfare got confirmed when the Iranian Navy rescued two tankers threatened by pirates.  Let this optimistic prevision particularly include a growing collaboration between the Iranian and Venezuelan Naval Armed Forces in their common task of protecting the delivery lanes of their oil production.

In Paris, Commander Ilyich Ramirez Sanchez has stopped his hunger strike.  His trial begins on November 7 in Paris and his lawyer, Me Damien Viguier, invites all friends of the Commander to meet in front of the tribunal, the famous "Palais de Justice", on that day at 8 am.

Ilich Ramirez Sanchez

known as Commander CARLOS
Support Committee

November 7 at 8.00 am
Meeting in front of the

Palais de Justice de Paris

(4 Bd du Palais, M ° Cité)

On November 7, 2011, starts a new show trial against Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, known as Commander CARLOS, before a  "special" Cour d Assises (without jurors). The trial will last until December 16.  It happens, that Ilich Ramírez CARLOS is already serving a sentence of life imprisonment, including ten years in solitary confinement in French prisons.  Today he is accused of acts older than a quarter of a century in which he denies responsibility.
- Who is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, Commander CARLOS?

Ilich Ramírez is a prisoner of war.  A revolutionary, heroic fighter for the Palestinian cause, he is the man who led the kidnapping of eleven ministers of OPEC countries in 1975 in Vienna, Austria. He was an opponent of Charles Pasqua´s French special services and was kidnapped by them in Sudan in 1994.  

The son of Venezuelan Communist, commander CARLOS says: "At the head of the Fedayeen units, I led more operations of the Palestinian resistance that any one else, not to mention other operations, many that I had planned and coordinated. "

-  Which right has the French government to enrage this way against Commander CARLOS?
International Law is based on the strict prohibition to treat an enemy prisoner as a criminal.  it prohibits, in particular, to mistreat the prisoners of war, to judge and punish him. By its decision to condemn and punish Ilich Ramirez, the French government is guilty of violating the laws of war.
- Which reasons has the French government to fear Commander CARLOS, a POW imprisoned for 17 years?

 CARLOS honours Muammar Gaddafi´s heroic death in combat, at the hands of NATO mercenaries.  He recalls that the French State has committed a genocide outside its borders while violating its own laws and its own people in domestic affairs.  It has been making a full use of the media to manipulate the inner consciousness of the people. The French government fears that the judicial farce turns against its own agents and to be reminded of its ongoing aggressive military involvment abroad.

- What forms of State terrorism is the French goverment using against Commander CARLOS?

• The campaign of intimidation began when Commander CARLOS was beaten by men of the Republican Guard on  February 1^st, 2011, when transferred from the house arrest of Poissy to the courthouse in Paris.
• After that, he was submited to pressure, in order to make him accept that witnesses involved in his trial would be heard at a distance, by videoconference, ostensibly to "avoid incidents."
• On October 15, he was placed in solitary confinement, that is to say, in the "dungeon", without access to his computer and files to prepare his defense.  Placed in a cold cell, he lacked basic clothing and toiletries.  The aim is obviously to weaken him psychologically.  This sort of deprivation are dishonorable for a country that claims to be the "homeland of human rights" and abiding legality.
• The scenery has already been set up, in violation of the law, by the state TV channel Arte when it rescheduled the defaming film produced by Olivier Assayas and depicting Commander CARLOS as a lawless murderer.

- How does Commander CARLOS react to the organization of this purely political trial?

Commander CARLOS went on a hunger strike on October 18 in protest against the punishment which is illegally inflicted to him.  After 10 days, he is no longer in solitary confinement.  He requires a physical, face to face confrontation with the witnesses against him.  He filed a complaint against Charles Pasqua for his abduction from Sudan in 1994.
- - - - -
We consider Commander CARLOS as a reference in the global anti-imperialist struggle.  He has been turned into an emblem of terrorism by a State who in recent months was involved in a war of terror and extortion against a sovereign country, Libya, in the direct or indirect killing of tens of thousands of people together with terrible destruction.  This should provoke a deep moral, ethical and political reflection.  The basic rights of a prisoner of war must be respected.

LET  US  GATHER   AT  THE  COURTHOUSE  ON  NOVEMBER  7  AT  8 AM

TO  DEMAND

COMMANDER  CARLOS´ IMMEDIATE  RAPATRIATION  

TO

VENEZUELA!



Comité de soutien au commandant CARLOS, 15 passage de la Main d'Or, 75011, e-mail: commandantcarlos@yahoo.fr

Dear Readers,

A cyber attack has wiped out the newsletters of the  CENTRO BOLIVARIANO  DE  DOCUMENTACION  Y ANALISIS  ESTRATEGICOS. 

This is an opportunity to reconstitute them !

This has been done with the newsletter of July.  We are doing the same with the double issue of august and september, while preparing the October one.

Best regards,

VENCEREMOS !

PRESS RELEASE N° 4

BOLIVARIAN  CENTER  OF  STRATEGIC  DOCUMENTATION  &  ANALYSIS

PRESS  RELEASE  N° 4

I

HONOR  TO  THE  CHINESE,  RUSSIAN AND  TURKISH  PEOPLES.

The veto of China and Russia to the resolution of sanctions against Syria proposed by France, Britain, Germany and Portugal in the framework of the Security Council of the UN, shows the desire of their leaders not to allow NATO and its vassals to resume against this country the criminal imperialistic policy led against Libya, and this while both China and Russia are subject to double attempts of seduction and blackmail to destabilization by Israel, as we mentioned in our Press Release No. 3, threatened of strategic encirclement by Washington, its NATO vassals and the various systems of subjection of the nations of Eurasia.

Turkey, for its part, is undergoing a very positive strategic evolution, despite the error of allowing NATO to build a new base of aggression against Eurasia on Turkish territory.  Iran rightly denounced it as a betrayal, although it simply belongs to the logic of NATO membership.  Despite this, Turkey is progressively joining the family of the free nations, distancing itself from the Zionist persuasion.  A significant sign of this process, was the Israeli warning of Sept. 4 to Ankara, after the Turkish command had announced its decision of strengthening its naval presence in the Mediterranean. 

In doing so, Turkey's leaders respond to the country’s popular sentiment, strongly revived by the last year aggression against the 'Freedom Flotilla'.

The three major powers are pursuing programs of upgrading weapons and modernization of their armed forces; an arms race in which the United States and its vassals are left out of breath and far behind.  Less and less able to launch expensive conventional operations, the senile Uncle Sam and his Zionist offspring resort to the strategy of separatist destabilization, especially against China.  Quite recently, a few days after Muslim Xinkiang, Tibet experienced a new wave of disorders.

We call on the Turkish people and its leaders to remember that those who butchered the Ottoman Empire into pieces in order to tear Palestine away, were neither Iranian nor Chinese but the 'Western democracies', their Zionist protégés and their Arab Wahabite lackeys.

The CBDAE denounces any attempt of destabilizing, violating the territorial integrity of any of these three countries.  As far as their Islamic specificity is respected, Muslim citizens of China and Russia are Chinese and Russian citizens, just as much as the Kurds of Turkey are Turkish citizens, in the same respect for their ethnic and cultural entity.  Tibet and Taiwan are integral parts of the People’s Republic of China.

To those who would put forward the pretext of religion, the CBDAE recalls that Islam is the way of Diversity in Unity (Tawhid), not of separatist dispersion, especially when this is part of US–Zionist strategy.

China, Turkey and Russia are bound to strengthening ties of friendship and cooperation leading to a strategic alliance. This is the real basis of Eurasia as well as the sole security system capable of confronting the obviously increasingly hegemonic and aggressive conduct of NATO and its vassals, of which, we hope, Turkey will soon depart.

II

FROM  WAZIRISTAN  DOWN  TO  THE  INDIAN  OCEAN

It is in this climate of 'agony of an empire' that we must place the current concentration of U.S. forces on the Pakistani border. It is part of the climate of hostility officially born from the Abbottabad operation and the equally official liquidation of Bin Laden (the CBDAE will soon deliver its thoughts and analysis of this event and its possible link with the destruction of the CH-47, August 6), in fact from the relation between the ‘strong’ and the ‘weak’, between the racketeer and the victim, as such were indeed the relations imposed by Washington to Islamabad, already to Ali Bhutto. Thanks to the fraternal support of old ally China, Pakistan can finally break the shackles of Washington and undertake to get rid of that gangrene constituted by the presence on its soil of thousands of CIA agents, dozens of thousands if you count the Taliban and other terrorist Wahabi, the miserable crowd of patsies, delinquents and fanatics, the usual manpower for 'false flag' attacks and various acts of provocation against India and China.

Since the United States can no longer afford to fund their weapons upgrading programs or even to ensure the balance of their troops in Afghanistan, they are forced to focus increasingly on 'low intensity warfare' at the expense of conventional, in turn to play the card of asymmetric strategy and tactics, much less demanding in resources, especially when one places the burden and cost of the operations on the shoulders of those officially designated as the enemy. This is indeed the ultimate concept of 'false flag': officially declare your enemy that has been built, however, out of your own forces or created from scratch by yourself, arming and feeding him while holding him on the leash like a dog which is allowed to bark and bite, neither to kill nor to run away with a mouthful of meat.

Thus we just witnessed in Libya how tons of explosives, hundreds of anti-aircraft missiles have been entrusted by NATO to the Taliban, actually the creation of a Taliban army at the intersection of the axes of Eurasia and Eurafrica, the Strait of Gibraltar being the gateway to the projection of the device to the Caribbean. US propaganda is even talking of 10,000 anti-aircraft missiles: an exaggeration which we assess as intended to increase the psychological pressure on countries 'threatened by terrorism', to make them accept, as so often in the past, the protection of NATO against an enemy yet created by NATO.

Thus we are now about to witness the attempt by the US either to destroy or rather capture Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. The CBDAE has already reported this project, the conception of which is running between Washington and Langley, the materialization of which would be a surprise attack – we suspect the Abbottabad operation was also a maneuver designed to test the responsiveness of Pakistan - intended to destroy or, more likely, to seize Pakistan's nuclear arsenal under the pretext of excluding it from the scope of the Taliban, in fact, specifically, to put it, such as explosives and missiles in Libya, in the hands of Taliban.  Thus the Taliban would become an army fully equipped with both conventional and nuclear means, as well as fully suitable for an asymmetric war of terrorist destabilization; an army that would be both able to replace on the field and at much lower costs the debilitated US Forces, while justifying the US invasion of any country, under the pretext of fighting 'terrorism'.

This strategy has now spread over the Indian Ocean and over the shipping lanes, including those used by oil tankers, as demonstrated by the recent attack on a Japanese oil tanker (see details in our newsletter) by pirates armed with missiles. Presumably with missiles of Libyan origin and from Taliban delivery.  It is therefore expected that the CIA develops a strategy of racketeering oil countries 'rebels to the US Empire' through a missile-armed piracy.  Finally, thanks to NATO, the Taliban will have their own navy!

III

GUANTANAMO  SUR  SEINE

Paris prepares for the opening, on November 7, of the trial of Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, publically known as Carlos, an emblematic figure of 'international terrorism'.

The CBDAE will transmit daily information provided by Me VIGUIER, his lawyer. 

From him came the information that, since October 18, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez was placed in isolation, as a 'punishment' for an interview he gave the newspaper Libération and for comments on Palestine issued by his lawyer. He began a hunger strike.

During a recent transfer, he suffered physical abuse. While handcuffed, a guard hit him, punching his head against the wall while shouting "Obama! Obama!”... as if still necessary to identify the puppet and the power who impose their will on their vassal in Paris. On his arrival at the hearing, the marks of the injuries inflicted on Ilich Ramirez Sanchez were medically reported.

The CBDAE will also publish news releases, interviews and other documents from Me VIGUIER, so that everyone knows about the process underway in the country of Human Rights.
              
IV

HONOR TO THE PEOPLE OF LIBYA AND  THEIR  NOBLE  RAIS.
HONOR  TO  OUR  BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC,  TO  HER  ARMED  FORCES   AND  TO  HER  SUPREME  COMMANDER.

"And say not of those slain in the way of Allah they are dead.  Rather they are alive, but you are unconscious of this. "
Qur'an, Sura Baqarah, verse 154

May the Unique welcome our Brother Muammar el Gaddafi into His gardens and castigate his killers and their accomplices. In his will we just received, the Raïs clearly expressed the wish to be buried according to the rituals due to a Chahid (‘fallen in the way of Allah’), as if forecasting the form of his departure from this world.

This is the beginning of the ordeal of the Libyan people. It will go through the trials of foreign occupation, of the dismantling of the social system that made of this country a haven of prosperity, of an ongoing civil war and destabilization process under the terrorist dictatorship of Wahabite obscurantism, yet described as "pure Islam".  A calvary that will end as a triumphal march on the day when the Libyan People take revenge of their assassins, invaders and looters.

Our Commander Hugo Chavez is not one whose loyalty varies to the wind of success or setback. Alike his Libyan friend, he belongs to the specie of Lions, for the courage and strength he displayed when overwhelming the sickness which resulted from his restless task at the service of his People, of the ‘Patria socialista’; sharing with Muammar el Gaddafi the hatred from the Rats which Uncle Sam has been raising, to let them transmit worlwide the  ‘pitiyanqui’ pestilence.

The Bolivarian Government reports: "The crime committed on this day, October 20, 2011, on the Libyan leader Muammar el Gaddafi, is emblematic of the crimes perpetrated against the Libyan Nation by the colonial powers over the last few months, and demonstrates that that African nation has been submitted to a violent political change of regime in violation of the most basic principles of international law. The unilateral and illegal military aggression of NATO against a country that did not make any act of war, constitutes a sad precedent that may be used at the convenience of the empire against any nation in the South that gets in the way of its policy of domination. »

According to the great metaphysician and poet, also a militant against usurocratic tyranny, Ezra Pound:  When a man is not ready to die for the cause he defends, it means, this cause is worth nothing, or he is worth nothing.  Our cause is that of human freedom and dignity.  If we then admit the undisputed value of our cause, we only get to set our own.

That's why the words are more valid than ever:

Socialist Fatherland or Death!
With our Commander Hugo CHAVEZ, we shall live to achieve

VICTORY !

DEAR READER

Dear Reader,

Due to an exceptionnal amount of infomation to process, traduce and analyse, etc., due, also, to a vigourous strike by viruses, you will receive a double issue of our monthly newsletter at the end of september.

In particular, you will be provided with:

-        Breaking news and analysis of the world strategic issues,

-        A documentation about what really happened in Abbottabad,

-        Facts and Documents on international terrorism,

-        Breaking news from Syria and Libya, including the last press-release from Muammar el Gaddafi. 

The invaders are facing trouble in Libya

BOLIVARIAN CENTRE OF STRATEGIC DOCUMENTATION AND ANALYSIS.

PRESS RELEASE No. 1

August 9, 2011 2011-08-09

In Libya, things go wrong for NATO and its protégés of the alleged 'opposition'. And as the so-called 'opposition' is a bunch of opportunists, criminals, foreign agents and Wahhabi fanatics, when things go wrong they fight each other, so that things will only get worse.

 Thus for several weeks now, their stronghold of Benghazi was the scene of street battles between rival gangs, within the terrorized population. This deterioration of the situation was reflected in the assassination of General Abdel Fatah Yunis, July 28, in his headquarters in Brega, with two of his colonels. Their bodies were found partially burned near Benghazi. It is likely that the general, a former interior minister responsible for the repression of the Wahabi activists, was the object of their vengeance. Abdeljelil Mustafa, the leader of the rebels, gave only vague explanations that do not meet the 400,000 members of the tribe of Al-Obeidi who have sworn to avenge Abdel Fatah Yunis, a son of the tribe. Another member of this tribe, General Mahmud Sulayman al-Obeidi, was appointed successor of General Yunis, at the expense of General Hifter Khalifa, the CIA man, another suspect of the murder.
But on August 3, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the ‘Rais’, told the New York Times he had struck a deal with Ali al-Salabi, billed as the "real leader" of Islamic rebels and decided to free Libya from any Western influence.

Unable to win militarily despite the support of NATO, the so-called 'opposition' drops its mask politically. Therefore, on the side of NATO, one does begin to quietly disengage militarily. The main units of the British and French navies, including the aircraft carrier C. de Gaulle, were recalled. Already on July 10 the French government recognized that the air strikes were conterproductive and that only a negotiated solution was possible.
Today, one speaks of a secret negotiation meeting which could be held in Algiers ... while there are talks of the preparation of an attempted attack against Algeria at the same time, including an uprising of the Berbers against the central government of Algiers, just as the Berbers of Libya, living in the Nefoosa Mountains, had already been recruited by the CIA.

  
However, according to Dimitri Rogozine, Russia’s representative to NATO, it is to Syria that are turning those who just experienced a bitter defeat in Libya.  U.S. nationals have just received orders to leave the country.  Syria, mostly the other door to Iran, remains the main target of imperialist attempts, especially since the Shanghai Conference of June 15, when the links between Iran and China were strengthened, as they were between China and Pakistan.

 
We anticipated that the appointment of Mark Grossman in Kabul and Islamabad would immediately spread unrest in the Xinkiang Province of China. Early July, a brawl occurred, insignificant had it not been followed by riots causing a dozen deaths.  As anticipated, the terrorists were Taliban trained in Pakistan, as confessed by a captured member of the group.

Congratulations for the opening of the website of the Chinese Armed Forces (www.mod.gov.cn) and the launching of their first aircraft-carrier. The People's Republic and other countries who resist the Mafia´s Empire may however be soon facing a war implying very different sorts of weapons. A serious warning to Cuba and our Bolivarian Republic.

THE INVADERS ARE FACING TROUBLE IN LIBIA

BOLIVARIAN CENTRE OF STRATEGIC DOCUMENTATION AND ANALYSIS.

PRESS RELEASE No. 1

August 9, 2011 2011-08-09

In Libya, things go wrong for NATO and its protégés of the alleged 'opposition'. And as the so-called 'opposition' is a bunch of opportunists, criminals, foreign agents and Wahhabi fanatics, when things go wrong they fight each other, so that things will only get worse.

 Thus for several weeks now, their stronghold of Benghazi was the scene of street battles between rival gangs, within the terrorized population. This deterioration of the situation was reflected in the assassination of General Abdel Fatah Yunis, July 28, in his headquarters in Brega, with two of his colonels. Their bodies were found partially burned near Benghazi. It is likely that the general, a former interior minister responsible for the repression of the Wahabi activists, was the object of their vengeance. Abdeljelil Mustafa, the leader of the rebels, gave only vague explanations that do not meet the 400,000 members of the tribe of Al-Obeidi who have sworn to avenge Abdel Fatah Yunis, a son of the tribe. Another member of this tribe, General Mahmud Sulayman al-Obeidi, was appointed successor of General Yunis, at the expense of General Hifter Khalifa, the CIA man, another suspect of the murder.
But on August 3, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the ‘Rais’, told the New York Times he had struck a deal with Ali al-Salabi, billed as the "real leader" of Islamic rebels and decided to free Libya from any Western influence.

Unable to win militarily despite the support of NATO, the so-called 'opposition' drops its mask politically. Therefore, on the side of NATO, one does begin to quietly disengage militarily. The main units of the British and French navies, including the aircraft carrier C. de Gaulle, were recalled. Already on July 10 the French government recognized that the air strikes were conterproductive and that only a negotiated solution was possible.
Today, one speaks of a secret negotiation meeting which could be held in Algiers ... while there are talks of the preparation of an attempted attack against Algeria at the same time, including an uprising of the Berbers against the central government of Algiers, just as the Berbers of Libya, living in the Nefoosa Mountains, had already been recruited by the CIA.

  
However, according to Dimitri Rogozine, Russia’s representative to NATO, it is to Syria that are turning those who just experienced a bitter defeat in Libya.  U.S. nationals have just received orders to leave the country.  Syria, mostly the other door to Iran, remains the main target of imperialist attempts, especially since the Shanghai Conference of June 15, when the links between Iran and China were strengthened, as they were between China and Pakistan.

 
We anticipated that the appointment of Mark Grossman in Kabul and Islamabad would immediately spread unrest in the Xinkiang Province of China. Early July, a brawl occurred, insignificant had it not been followed by riots causing a dozen deaths.  As anticipated, the terrorists were Taliban trained in Pakistan, as confessed by a captured member of the group.

Congratulations for the opening of the website of the Chinese Armed Forces (www.mod.gov.cn) and the launching of their first aircraft-carrier. The People's Republic and other countries who resist the Mafia´s Empire may however be soon facing a war implying very different sorts of weapons. A serious warning to Cuba and our Bolivarian Republic.

BREAKING NEWS

(From 10. 7. 2011 to 15. 7. 2011)

Circumstances made that the ‘Grand Opening’ of the BOLIVARIAN CENTER OF STRATEGIC DOCUMENTATION AND ANALYSIS fell on the Bastille Day, on the French National Day which is celebrated on July 14^th of each year.  It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July! 4th, 1789. 

It is a day of both popular festivities and patriotic fever, with public balls and gorgeous fireworks on the eve of the largest military parade in Europe, as troops march from the Arc de Triomphe, at the top of the Champs Elysées, to the Place de la Concorde, passing by the French government and its special guests.

The stones of the Arc de Triomphe are engraved with the names of the victories and of the great military commanders of the French Armies of the Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, one of these names uniting the histories of both France and Venezuela in their most glorious era: that of general Miranda.

Today however a cloud of blood and tears darkens the reflection of the summer sun on the golden letters which traditionally glitter on the flags of the French regiments: ‘Honneur et Patrie’.  The reason is the death in Afghanistan of five French soldiers, fallen for interests foreign to those of France, on fields which cannot be called ‘of Honor´, indeed under US supreme command and within a US conduct of war, for US strategic objectives only.

They fell on the 13th, just a day after President N. Sarkozy, wearing a bullet proof jacket, visited French troops in Afghanistan, announcing that he would keep a French military presence there, however reduced by a quarter, which means, by a thousand servicemen and women.

On the same day, Nicolas Sarkozy’s friend, George W. Bush, was the target of Human Rights Watch, who asked for a criminal enquiry against the former US president ; a disgrace which, hopefully, will be shared by the President of the French Republic for the war crimes committed in Libya, on the Ivory Coast and other places, as well as for the death of French servicemen, fallen as cheap mercenaries for US interests.

 

13.7.2011 / 5 French soldiers were killed, 4 other seriously injured by a suicide-attack in the district of Kapisa, in eastern Afghanistan.

Left to right : Caporal-Chef Sébastien VERMEILLE (SIRPA Terre), Adjudant Emmanuel TECHER (17e RGP), Adjudant Laurent MARSOL, Lieutenant Thomas GAUVIN (1er RCP). The fifth soldier’s family objected the publishing of his picture.

Human Rights Watch calls for investigation of Bush for torture

July 14th, 2011 | by Bureau Reporter |

It is imperative to launch criminal investigations into former US president Bush due to ”overwhelming evidence of torture by the Bush administration,” a Human Rights Watch report has said.

According to the campaign group, its 107-page study entitled ”Getting Away with Torture: The Bush Administration and Mistreatment of Detainees,” includes “substantial information” on the ordering of practices such as waterboarding, secret CIA prisons, and rendition of detainees to countries where they were tortured.

Human Rights Watch says its findings warrant the criminal investigations not only of Bush, but also his senior administration officials, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and CIA Director George Tenet.

The group said by not conducting a thorough investigation, President Obama had failed to meet US obligations under the Convention against Torture.

They added: “If the US government does not pursue credible criminal investigations, other countries should prosecute US officials involved in crimes against detainees in accordance with international law.”

Other Human Rights Watch report:

Libyan rebels abused civilians: Human Rights Watch

Territory north of the Nafusa Mountains is currently an active sector of the front line

The campaign group, Human Rights Watch, has accused rebels in Libya of looting, arson and the abuse of civilians.

Observers from the New York-based group say they have witnessed some incidents themselves, and have interviewed witnesses to others in territory recently seized by rebels.

A rebel spokesman talking to reporters in Brussels has denied the allegations.

Accusations of abuse by both sides have circulated since the rebellion against Col Muammar Gaddafi began in February.

The latest allegations focus on four towns seized by rebels in the west of the country in the last month: al-Awaniya, Rayayinah, Zawiyat al-Bagul and al-Qawalish.

"The rebel conduct was disturbing," said Fred Abrahams, a special adviser to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"We documented fairly widespread looting of homes and shops, the burning of some homes of suspected Gaddafi supporters and - most disturbingly - the vandalisation of three medical clinics [and] local small hospitals, including the theft of some of the medical equipment."

He said the Libyan government had committed more serious crimes, but that did not excuse the behaviour of the rebels.

"Our aim is to hold all combatants, all militaries - whether they're organised and states and governments or rebels groups - to the same standards, and it's very much also a warning shot across the bow, because of these other areas they are approaching. We're deeply worried about how they might behave and treat civilians in those areas."

A senior rebel leader has rejected the Human Rights Watch claims.

"This is not the case in the liberated areas," rebel spokesman Mahmoud Jibril told reporters in Brussels.

In the latest development from this sector of the frontline, rebel fighters have said they have retaken al-Qawalish, a village about 100km (60 miles) south of Tripoli.

The BBC's Paul Wood: "The rebel frontline is collapsing"

Earlier, forces loyal to Col Gaddafi seized control after the rebels took to their vehicles and fled without a fight, reversing weeks of steady advances, BBC World Affairs editor John Simpson reports.

Our correspondent says this shows how feeble the rebel forces can be.

Even though they are only an hour's drive from Tripoli, Wednesday's fighting will presumably encourage Col Gaddafi to keep up his resistance for a while longer, he adds.

The retreat came after rebel spies reported a build-up of military vehicles in Garyan, the last major pro-Gaddafi military base before the capital.

But by the evening, the rebels had staged a successful counterattack, spokesman Abdurahman Alzintani told Reuters news agency.

 

The Bureau Recommends: ‘Secret CIA prisons in Somalia’

July 13th, 2011 | by Bureau Reporter | Published in All Stories, Bureau Recommends  |  1 Comment

The CIA is conducting extra-judicial interrogations at secret prisons in Somalia, an investigation by The Nation magazine reports.

Suspected Islamic militants are seized from parts of east Africa and taken to underground cells in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, where they are held without charge and interrogated by the CIA and Somali agents who are in their pay, the US weekly reports.

The article says: “Former prisoners described the cells as windowless and the air thick, moist and disgusting. Prisoners, they said, are not allowed outside.

“Some have been detained for a year or more. According to one former prisoner, inmates who had been there for long periods would pace around constantly, while others leaned against walls rocking.”

The Nation reports that the prisons are part of an “expanding counterterrorism programme in Somalia” which includes a training intended to develop an indigenous force to combat Islamic militants in the region.

The article comes just weeks after the Bureau reported that seven people were killed in the first confirmed hostile US drone attack in Somalia.

A follow-up story by CNN featured an unnamed CIA official who said detainees were held by Somali forces and the CIA only supported interrogations in recent months.

“He described the number of times the CIA was present as ‘very small,’ adding that he would only say it was ‘one or two times’,” CNN reports.

The Bureau Recommends: ‘Secret CIA prisons in Somalia’

July 13th, 2011 | by Bureau Reporter | Published in All Stories, Bureau Recommends  |  1 Comment

The CIA is conducting extra-judicial interrogations at secret prisons in Somalia, an investigation by The Nation magazine reports.

Suspected Islamic militants are seized from parts of east Africa and taken to underground cells in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, where they are held without charge and interrogated by the CIA and Somali agents who are in their pay, the US weekly reports.

The article says: “Former prisoners described the cells as windowless and the air thick, moist and disgusting. Prisoners, they said, are not allowed outside.

“Some have been detained for a year or more. According to one former prisoner, inmates who had been there for long periods would pace around constantly, while others leaned against walls rocking.”

The Nation reports that the prisons are part of an “expanding counterterrorism programme in Somalia” which includes a training intended to develop an indigenous force to combat Islamic militants in the region.

The article comes just weeks after the Bureau reported that seven people were killed in the first confirmed hostile US drone attack in Somalia.

Obviously, the executers are Somalis, those who pay and order them are CIA agents.

A follow-up story by CNN featured an unnamed CIA official who said detainees were held by Somali forces and the CIA only supported interrogations in recent months.

“He described the number of times the CIA was present as ‘very small,’ adding that he would only say it was ‘one or two times’,” CNN reports.

Two weeks ago,

Gave following reports about SOMALIA :

Somalia targeted in US ‘drone war’

June 30th, 2011 | by Chris Woods |

US Special Forces can call on Navy assets in the region. Photo, US Department of Defense

A military drone operated by elite US Special Forces has targeted al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia, killing several people. The attack marks the first confirmed hostile use of drones in the east African country.

Bureau research suggests unmanned surveillance craft have been used over Somalia for some time as part of a broader military campaign. In October 2009 a US drone was reportedly shot down over the south of the country. On previous occasions the US has allegedly flown combat missions against Somali targets from a base in eastern Ethiopia.

According to the Washington Post a drone has struck at two leaders of the al-Shabab militant group, declared a terrorist organisation by the US and others. The 23 June attack in Kismayo, southern Somalia – originally reported as a helicopter strike – also killed ‘many’ foreign fighters.

The unnamed leaders are said to have ‘direct ties’ to US-born militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Now based in Yemen, Awlaki has been linked to that country’s al Qaeda movement and to a number of terrorist plots against the US and its allies.

Recent US military actions in Somalia*

January 7 2007 – US gunship attacks militant convoy killing 10

January 22 2007 – Reported JSOC airstrike against militants

June 1 2007 – US cruise missile strike kills up to 10 alleged militants, including reportedly from Eritrea, Yemen, UK, Sweden and US

March 3 2008 - Cruise missile attack from US ships. Six die, though not apparent target.

May 2008 – US naval-launched cruise missiles kill Aden Hashi Ayro, head of Al Shabab

September 14 2009 - US Special Forces launch helicopter raid into Somalia, killing Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, wanted in connection with Mombassa attacks

October 19 2009 – US drone reported shot down over southern Somalia

April 6 2011 – Airstrike kills an al-Shabab commander

June 23 2011 – Drone strike kills “many”, wounds two al-Shabab leaders

* The Bureau’s analysis is based on credible reports. However, given the covert nature of US operations this should be viewed as a partial list.

JSOC campaign extends to Somalia
As in Yemen, US military operations against al-Shabab and other militant groups in Somalia are carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command. JSOC is made up of ultra-elite, so-called Tier One Special Forces units that were also responsible for the recent killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

JSOC has its own helicopter and drone fleets. It also has access to US Navy assets in the region. Analysis by the Bureau shows that in recent years JSOC has employed cruise missiles, AC-130 gunships and helicopter assaults in Somalia against al-Qaeda linked targets.

In September 2009, for example, a helicopter-borne JSOC raid reportedly killed a senior militant. After a lull of 18 months JSOC activity appears again to be on the rise. In April an airstrike reportedly killed a local al-Shabab commander.

Last week’s strike is further indicator of a significant escalation in US actions in the region. The Bureau recently reported on a major surge in JSOC drone strikes against militants in Yemen. Somalia becomes the sixth recorded nation to be at the receiving end of US drone strikes – after Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan and Libya.

Hezbollah Warns Israel against Attacks on Iran, Lebanon The Lebanese Hezbollah Movement on Tuesday warned the Zionist regime of Israel against launching attacks on Iran or Lebanon, vowing that it would give Tel Aviv a crushing response if Israel commits such a big mistake.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Lebanese Hezbollah Movement on Tuesday warned the Zionist regime of Israel against launching attacks on Iran or Lebanon, vowing that it would give Tel Aviv a crushing response if Israel commits such a big mistake.    

"The Zionist regime knows very well that if it decides to pose a threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran and embarks on committing such a grave mistake, it won't be able to escape (the retaliation of) the Lebanese Hezbollah," Hezbollah's envoy to Tehran Abdullah Safieddin said in a meeting here in Tehran on Tuesday.

With regard to Lebanon, Safieddin said, "We will definitely smash Israel if this occupying and corrupt regime wants to commit another mistake and wage another attack (on Lebanon)."

Meantime, Safieddin predicted an imminent end to the Zionist regime of Israel whether or not a new war erupts in the region.

Political observers believe that Israel's failure in its war on the Lebanese Hezbollah has discouraged the Zionist regime from waging an attack on Iran.

They believe that the Zionist regime of Israel has already tested its military power in its attack on Lebanon and Hezbollah, and it lacks the necessary power and courage to attack Iran.

Iran has warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack by the Tel Aviv.

Meantime, US military leaders have warned that strikes could be catastrophic to US national security interests and could engulf the Middle-East in a "calamitous" regional war.

July 13^th, 2011 / Inde : Three deadly explosions rocked different locations in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai Wednesday evening. According to news reports, at least 21 people died and 141 more were injured in the three near simultaneous blasts, which struck the busy commercial areas of Dadar, Opera House and Zaveri Bazaar.

This was the most murderous attack since the 60 hours siege of ten heavily armed gunmen which caused the death of 166 people in November 2008, including Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg and four of their guests at the Chabad House.

"It is a new attack on the heart of India", commented Prithviraj Chavan, governor of the State of Maharashtra, having Mumbay as a capitale, commentant, "a challenge to the sovereignty of India".

So far, Indian leaders seem to observe a wise moderate stance, although accusing, as expected, ‘islamic terrorists’. 

July 10th.2011 / Afganistan. Leon Panetta, the former CIA director now the boss of the Pentagon, visited US troops and their local afghan Lackeys.

Documents ASSOCIATED PRESS

US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta greets members of the helicopter medivac crew attached to the 115th Combat Support Hospital while making an unannounced visit to Camp Dwyer,  Sunday July 10th, 2011, in southern Afghanistan.  Panetta visited troops in southern Afghanistan as part of his first trip to the country since taking up his post and ahead of a withdrawal of some US forces.

US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta, left. and senior members of the Afghan Army watch demonstrations of mine and IED detection and clearing during an unannounced visit by the Secretary to Camp Dwyer, Sunday July 10, 2011, in southern Afghanistan.

US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta, right,  has a brief chat with his US Generals Anthony Rock, left, and Lloyd Austin, late Sunday July 10, 2011, during an unannounced visit by the U.S. Secretary to Camp Dwyer, Sunday July 10, 2011, in southern Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Paul J. Richards, Pool)

Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

July 10.2011 / France, after Russia and China, called for putting an immediate end to the strategy of air-bombings against Libya. The French MOD Gérard Longuet declared that the time had come to both loyalists and rebels to « sit at a same table and find a compromise », admitting that there was « no solution by use of force ».  The day before, the general staff of NATO had pretended that its air-force had performed a new surgical strike on a libyan missile-battery near Tawurgha, in the south of Misrata, but the people of that village denied any military presence in the targeted area, as it was lately. It is now NATO’s turn to be the target… of criticism. For instance, by the attendants of a press-conference, especially by journalists of Jane’s Defense Weekly.

July 12.2011  / The absolute majority of the French Parliament ‘authorized’ the prolongation of the French intervention in Libya.  None of the deputies questioned about the real aims or about the preparation of the war.  On the next day, the District attorney of the Supreme Court of Libya, Mohammed Zikri al-Mahjoubi, announced that over 1 100 civilians had been killed and 4500 injured since march 19.

July 11. 2011 /  Stray bullets from a US Army firing range hit civilian buildings in the southern German town of Grafenwöhr during shooting practice.  This small german town in Bavaria lies close to a famous area of army training.  In particular, the famous Spanish “Division Azul” was drilled there in 1941.  Since 1945, the training ground is used by the US Army, sometimes causing mayhem amongst the population. Both the US military and German police say they are investigating why the 12.7-millimeter rounds, fired from a four-wheel-drive vehicle, hit buildings outside the training ground.  The machine-gun shots hit three buildings inside the training ground, and a vocational school, a house, and a garage some five kilometers from the training range.  Ten years ago, a shell struck a German elementary school near the training grounds, where troops were training before heading to Afghanistan.

July 14..2011 / The US MOD admitted that a foreign power had hijacked some 24.000 classified files, through a cyber-intrusion.

July 13.2011 /  According to the Iranian news agency Farsnews and to the daily newspaper As-Safir, the US and French ambassadors Robert Ford and Eric Chevalier had an illegal trip to the city of Hama, in order to support rebel forces there. The former seized the opportunity to transfer to Hama bugging and spying devices. This adventure provoked popular protest demonstrations at their embassies in Damascus. Numerous spying devices have been discovered by Syrian security forces all over the country, mostly on the balconies of houses facing official buildings.

July 12.2008 / Pakistan. 22 ‘rebels’ were killed by 4 missiles launched in two attacks by drones of the CIA, one on the city of Birmel, in southern Waziristan, the other on the city of Miranshah at the Afghan border in northern Waziristand. One day before, a bomb attack killed 5 attendants of a political meeting. More details to come.

July 14.2011 /  13 Turkish soldiers and 7 Kurdish rebels died in a combat which was qualified as the most violent for three years. A day before, a commando of Al Qaeda was captured in Turkey : it was poised to perform bomb attacks against embassies, especially the US embassy.

July 14.2011 / Simultaneously a wave of terrorism stroke Algeria. 2 servicemen were killed, 6 other injured in two different attacks near Boumerdès. Algerian troops killed 2 and captured 7 suspects of terrorism near the border with Mali, a country which the AQMI uses as a sanctuary.

July 14 .2011 / In Nigeria, where the Boko Haram sect is in full swing, 8 policemen were ambushed and killed. More details to come.

July 11.2011 /  William DALEY, general secretary of the White House, announced that the  US administration would cut by 40% its military aids to Pakistan, arguing that Islamabad had denied entry visas to 120 US military instructors and criticizing its lack of anti-terrorist cooperation.

July 12.2011 /  Ahmed Wali Karzaï, a brother of President Hamid Karzai, was murdered by a body-guard named Sardar Mohammed. Some information described the latter as a CIA man or as a Taliban… Where is the .difference?  The victim, acting as a president of the Assembly of Kandahar, is known as a ‘drug prince’. More details to come.

Date: 2011/07/13

source: IRNA

Iran refutes US defense chief's allegation Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has dismissed the recent allegations by the US secretary of defense against the Islamic Republic.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Vahidi made the remarks at the closing ceremony of the first Strategic Navy Conference in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday.

The new US defense chief Leon Panetta, who is on an official visit to Iraq, claimed on Monday that Washington is "very concerned about Iran and the weapons they're providing to extremists in Iraq."

The Iranian commander said that the US hegemony in the region has come to an end, and such remarks indicate Washington's political defeat.

Vahidi went on to say that the United States tries to sow discord among the countries of the region, but such attempts are doomed to failure due to their wrong interpretation of the regional events.

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast described the accusations as a "big lie".

Mehmanparast said that Washington was making desperate efforts to find a way to extend its stay in the region "since the Americans are facing a widespread wave of opposition by the Iraqi people, government and [political] parties, and they must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 and Afghanistan by the end of 2014."

On Monday, Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi also rejected Panetta's allegations.

"The international community and world public opinion are well aware that Iran as a responsible country has always behaved in a way [that has seen] its duties carried out well," Salehi said.

 

 

FROM  THE  ITALIAN  REVIEW  OF  GEOPOLITICS

EURASIA

 

Italy has already lost its Libyan war

Italy-Libya :::: Daniele Scalea :::: 27 march, 2011

After celebrating its 150 years of unity on the quiet, the Italian Government chose to add a very particular touch to the festivities: a war in Libya. An almost nostalgic conflict: Libya had been conquered by Giolitti in 1911, “pacified” by Mussolini right after the war, and it was the main Italian front during the Second World War. This time though, the reasons are much different.

Let’s set the record straight: only a gullible person might think that the current attack on Libya by some NATO member countries could actually be motivated by “humanitarian” concerns. Of course, Gaddafi is a merciless dictator with his enemies, but he’s not any fiercer than most of the dictators in other Arab countries, some of whom have been already overthrown (Ben Ali and Mubarak), while others are still governing and are stoking the flames of war (the autocrats of the Arab Peninsula).

According to the former Libyan deputy ambassador to the United Nations, there’s a “genocide” in the making; this statement is a blatant exaggeration. It’s possible, or even more probable, that Gaddafi repressed the first demonstrations against him (like it has been done by all the other Arab rulers), but the idea of his resorting to air assault (!) to clear peaceful demonstrations is incredible enough to almost make unnecessary the disclaimer put out by the Russian army (who monitored the events by their spy satellites).

It didn’t take long before peaceful protests turned into an armed rebellion, and at that point it became impossible to still talk about “repression of protests”. Even if, for a few more days, western journalists continued to define as “peaceful protesters” the men who were taking control of cities and entire regions, while showing them armed with rifles, artillery and tanks (obtained from army divisions and perhaps from foreign sponsors as well).

Barack Obama on 19 March 2011: “Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries … The United States of America is different. And as president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action.”

Since then, Gaddafi has surely had recourse to planes against the rebels, though the numerous journalists have been unable to document any attacks against civilians. Same story for the allegations of “mass graves”, based on a single picture portraying four or five open tombs in an identifiable cemetery of Tripoli, which was immediately shelved due to its scarce credibility.

The civil war unfolding between the rebels and the Tripoli government was – as far as we know – not very fierce, since the daily victims could be counted on the fingers of one or two hands, and it was drawing to an end. The problem is that, in the eyes of some Atlanticist nations, “the wrong side” was winning. History – in Krajina, in Kosovo, even in Iraq – has taught us that external military interventions usually cause more victims than the ones attributed to the actual or alleged “massacres” that they pretend to stop. For instance, in Krajina NATO’s “humanitarian” bombing enabled Croatia to expel a quarter of million of Serbs: one of the most successful “ethnic cleansing” operations ever made in Europe, or at least in the last decades.

Therefore, the real reasons for the intervention are strategic and geopolitical: humanitarianism is just a pretext. On this site, it is possible to glean the real reasons motivating France, the US and Great Britain. Reasons that, after all, are easy to guess. Here, we will dwell on the choices made by the Italian Government.

Let’s start from the beginning. Before the riots erupted, Italy enjoyed a privileged relationship with Libya. First of all, Italy is Tripoli’s largest trading partner, constituting the main market for Libyan exports and the first exporter to Libya. Italy buys almost 40% of Libya’s exports (its second main buyer, Germany, gets only 10%) while selling to Libya 18,9% of its total imports (the second main seller, China, provides not much more than 10%). Libya’s trade dependence on Italy is strong, but this relationship represents an even greater strategic value for Rome than for Tripoli.

Libya owns the biggest oil reserves (good quality oil) on the whole African continent and is geographically close to Italy, therefore it is naturally Italy’s main, or one of the main, energy supplier. Italian state company ENI extracts from Libya 15% of its total oil production; through the Greenstream pipeline in 2010 Italy received 9,4 billion cubic meters of Libyan gas. ENI’s contracts in Libya are still valid for 30-40 years, and despite Italian behaviour, which we are about to analyze, Tripoli confirmed them on March 17th through the voice of oil minister Shukri Ghanem. Currently Libya grants all contracts for infrastructure building to Italian companies, assuring billions of orders that impact positively on Italy’s employment market. Lastly Libya, which is a relatively rich country thanks to its energy exports (it has the highest per-capita income in Africa), invests in Italy most of its “petrodollars”: currently it is involved in business transactions with ENI, FIAT, Unicredit, Finmeccanica and other companies. A fundamental contribution of capitals in a trend characterized by a lack of liquidity, after the financial crisis of 2008.

All this makes of Libya, from our point of view, a unique case among the oil producers of the Mediterranean and the Near East. Almost all, in fact, have privileged economic ties with the U.S. and the U.K., with French or Asian energy companies.

On 2nd March, 2009 the Treaty on Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation between Italy and Libya initially signed by PM Berlusconi and Col. Gheddafi on August 30th, 2008 was finally enforced. In June, the Libyan leader was invited for his first official state visit to Italy.

The Italian-Libyan relationship was sealed in 2009 with the Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation Treaty, signed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi but resulting from negotiations conducted by former governments, including leftist governments. This treaty – besides reinforcing the cooperation in a numerous areas – bound the Parts to reciprocal obligations. Among these, we can name:
- the mutual respect of «sovereign equality, and all the rights inherent therein including, in particular, the right to freedom and political independence» and the right for both of the Parts to «choose and freely develop its own political, social, economic and cultural system» (art. 2);
- the agreement «to not resort to threat or the use of strength against the territorial integrity or the political independence of the other Part» (art. 3);
- the abstention from «any form of intrusion, direct or indirect, in the national or foreign affairs that fall within the other Part’s jurisdiction» (art. 4.1);
- the assurance that Italy «won’t use, nor authorize the use of its territory in any hostile action against Libya» and vice versa (art. 4.2);
- the agreement to peacefully resolve the disputes between the two countries (art. 5).

So Italy arrived at the outbreak of the Libyan crisis as an ally of Tripoli, tied to Libya by the clauses – written down in black and white – of a treaty, stipulated not a hundred years ago but in 2009, and not from a former government but from the incumbent one.

The Italian attitude, during the last weeks, has been uncertain and embarrassing. At the beginning Berlusconi stated that he didn’t want to “disturb” colonel Gaddafi (February 19th), while his Foreign minister Frattini was haunted by the spectre of an “Islamic emirate in Benghazi” (February 21st). Very soon, though, the riots seemed to overcome the authority of the Jamahiriya and the Italian attitude changed: Frattini inaugurated the hike-up of the alleged victims, announcing 1000 bodies (February 23rd) while Human Rights Watch was still counting a few hundreds; Minister of Defence La Russa (we don’t know by what specific area of expertise) announced the suspension of the Italian-Libyan Friendship Treaty, a totally arbitrary and illegal measure (February 27th). Gaddafi reversed the situation though, moving to reconquer the territory that had fallen in rebel hands. As Gaddafi’s troops advanced, the Italian warmongering seemed to subside: minister Maroni invited the US “to cool down” (March 6th). But the United Nations Security Council resolution of March 17th, starting the Atlanticist attacks on Libya, caused an abrupt change in Italian diplomacy: the government immediately authorized the use of its bases and planes to bomb the former “friend” and “partner”.

It’s only too evident that in this event the Italian government displayed a very irresolute attitude; if anything, it manifested a pronounced inclination to waver depending on the evolution of events, trying time and again to bet on the probable winner. Just like in other recent foreign policy occasions, the Prime Minister appeared absent, letting his ministers dictate, or at least communicate the Italian position to the nation. The ambivalence displeased both the Libyan government, which expected a friendly position from Rome, and the Cyrenaican rebels, who received concrete support from France and the UK but surely not from Italy.

In the end, the Friendship Treaty, sealed only two years ago, has been trashed and Berlusconi gets ready, even if just under the aegis of the United Nations, to begin its war against Libya.

Whatever will be the outcome of this conflict, Italy has already lost its Libyan campaign. Italian leaders celebrated the 150 years of unity with a glaring about-face towards Libya: a tragicomic new edition of the tragedy of September 8, 1943. This time it won’t be Italy, but its former “friend” Libya’s turn to descend into a long and painful civil war, which could have been ended in a few days without external intrusions.

It’s just not honour and reputation that are at peril though. The contracts and oil supplies – regardless of how the conflict will end – will probably shift, most of them if not all, from Italian hands to other countries. In case Gaddafi wins they will end up with the Chinese or the Indians; if the insurgents win they will go to the French and the British; on the other hand if the Libyan civil war persists there won’t be much to pick up. Except for waves of immigrants and destabilizing influences for the whole region.

Translated by Giuliano Luiu, revised by Voltaire Network

* Daniele Scalea, editor for “Eurasia” and scientific secretary of IsAG [an Italian institute of geopolitics], author of La sfida totale (Rome 2010). He is co-author, along with Pietro Longo, of a forthcoming book concerning the Arab riots.