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 14th 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
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’
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’
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’
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.
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
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(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.
"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 13th, 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
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(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).
- 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.
* 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.
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