U.S. Militarization in Libya

They didn’t become involved in Libya to avoid the damage and death that they experienced in their ranks in Afghanistan and Iraq. But, with a powerful air war, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and the partners of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) destroyed an independent and sovereign nation in the name of a hypocritical worry about democracy, without having a single one of their soldiers leave Libya in a coffin. But now, given the difficulty facing the new authority — put in place by the Western powers — to establish and administrate the “new” Libya, Washington has decided to take action.

The chaos impacts one of the major African oil producers. The armed groups that responded to the National Transitional Council (NTC) — the NATO land army in the war against Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, have spent months fighting for the control of strongholds with a force that requires the NTC to be partial to their interests. Because of this the armed groups reject offers to integrate themselves into what would be the new Libyan armed forces.

The most serious part of this situation is the prevalence of discontent and distrust in the NTC. Recently, the vice chairman of the council, Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, was forced to renounce his position in the middle of growing protest cries in Benghazi (in the northeast), the second largest city in Libya and cradle of the rebellion against Gadhafi. Even after leaving his position, Ghoga, who is accused of being opportunistic in his participation with Gadhafi’s government and afterward with the NTC, was attacked by students from the University in Benghazi. The demonstrations, which quite frequently occur, demand that new authorities be more transparent about the administration and the assets of the country. Despite being one of the richest African countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports that the country’s finances are in a precarious situation.

But what worries Washington the most is the possibility that the opposition could organize a resistance movement that could impede the formation of peace in the country. The NTC, which has had to confront protests as well as armed sabotages, is at the tip of losing control in certain zones of particular cities.

For this reason, the North American superpower began to establish a military presence in Libya, in an elusive manner thanks to the silent response from the major media powers that accompanied the imperial war against the North African nation.

Since late December, the Pentagon began installing a military base in Wau Al Kebir (900 km southeast of Tripoli and 240 km north of the border with Chad). And in the last few days, various media outlets have reported the movement of American soldiers — some say 6,000, others say up to 12,000 — from a military base in Malta to Brega — a strategic Lebanese city where petroleum is refined before it is sold on the world market.

The movement of troops into Brega is another violation of sovereign Libya and has irritated even some who initially supported the NTC. Some of these groups — for example, those from Misrata — served as a NATO pawn in the war against Gadhafi, then were targeted by the French Apache aircraft as they intended to control the oil platforms in Brega.

This is a merciless military campaign for Libya’s crude oil, where Washington is looking to strategically position its businesses, even if it must do so with military force.

According to Ali Tarhouni, who served as the minister of Petroleum for the NTC between March and November of 2011, the list of Western business partners that benefit from current contracts in Libya rank second — just after France, followed by Great Britain and Italy. But this constellation could change. The current minister of this section, Abdul-Rahman Ben Yezza is an ex-executive of the Italian company Eni (originally Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi), a foreign group that was most involved in the petroleum sector during Gadhafi’s regime.

The United States is after Libya’s oil. And Libya is only the beginning. It is a door for the ambitious plans that Washington has for Africa.