On the invasion of the African state of Libya by the imperialist forces

We, the sons and daughters of Africa, are condemning in the strongest terms, and demanding the immediate end of the imperialist invasion in the African country of Libya.

Africans in the continent and all over the world are shocked beyond words, at the actions of the former colonialist and current imperial powers.

We are aware of the occupation in Iraq by US Forces and the chaos created under the guise of removing a dictator, an action which has ended up with the plunder of Iraqi resources by private US firms. We are further reminded of the killings, rape and plunder of the millions conducted on this continent for over 500 years under slavery, and colonization by French and British governments. We have good reason to fear that their involvement will lead to a new form of colonization of the African continent.

We would like to state that the African people were, and still are, in full solidarity with the peaceful and unarmed uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, which ended in the victory of African people. We would also like to unambiguously state that we are in solidarity with the oppressed people of Morocco and Saharawi, who are rising against the monarchy ruining their country.

We understand that the imperialist forces are only interested in Libya’s oil, which contributes 2% of all oil, and which has the largest known oils reserves in the whole world. In this respect, we would like to raise some critical and fundamental questions.

- Why didn’t they invade Tunisia, when Ben Ali was killing hundreds of innocent youth, women and workers?
- Why didn’t they invade Egypt, when Mubarak had murdered hundreds of innocent and unarmed demonstrators?
- Why have they not invaded Bahrain, where the US-friendly monarch is killing hundreds of unarmed civilians including the sick in the hospitals?
- Why have they not invaded the fascist state of Israel, where thousands of innocent Palestinian people are being bombed by military jets on almost a daily basis?

We would like to remind the world that Libya has the highest Human Development Index in Africa, and we highly suspect that they want to destroy Africa’s best success story. Libya has free universal education up to the university level, where the literacy rate stands at over 94%, this is compared to the U.S where we have over 40 million illiterate adults. Libya’s life expectancy stands at 74 years, which is the highest in Africa. This is due to Libya’s commitment to providing free, high quality healthcare to its citizens.

It is also important to note that Libya has been at the forefront of pushing for unification of Africa, and Gaddafi has for years pushed for this unity which will alleviate all the problems that we have in Africa, and make it the most powerful continent in the world. We feel that the west have bigger interests in jeopardizing these efforts, by bringing instability in Libya.

We are also angered by the silence of the government of Kenya and that of the African Union, on this brazen colonialist attack on the African state of Libya. We are hereby demanding for an immediate reaction from the Kenyan government, and stronger condemnation by the A.U of these military attacks, which will ultimately lead to an occupation, as we have seen in Afghanistan, and Iraq.

As they continue launching operation “Odyssey Dawn”, we wish to remind them of operation “Black Hawk Dawn” in Somalia, which was not only a total failure, but has caused a never ending war in the Horn of Africa up to date. This war has put the whole of eastern Africa region in a quagmire, with constant threats of instability.

THE SOLUTION

Our solution is dialogue. We cannot end civil unrest by bombing innocent civilians. The pan Africanist movement hence supports the Hugo Chavez proposal, of an immediate ending of fighting, and the commencement of dialogue, under the guidance of the AU and other regional bodies.

We know that the U.N resolution 1973 was a mere formality, since the U.S had three weeks earlier, sent three warships, including nuclear carrying USS Keassarge and USS ponce.

We are also condemning veto powered Russia and china, whom have in the past stood for African sovereignty and interests, but who chose to support the Libyan invasion by abstinence in the vote. It is with this respect that we demand, that the A.U, or an African country chosen by the AU be admitted into the U.N Security Council, with full veto powers, so as to protect the interests of the over 1 billion African population.

We are also asking the immediate disclosure and closure of British military and U.S bases on our land. This is to deter any attacks from these foreign forces from within, in the guise of “Bringing Peace” as we have seen in Libya.

In order to avoid a repeat of the 1998 bombings of the U.S embassy, where over 200 Kenyans lost their lives, we are asking that the French embassy be relocated from the CBD of Nairobi, to avoid Kenyan losses as collateral in the war that they are now engaged in.

Thank You.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Afreeka in Unity is a consortium/community of Afreekan communities, organizations and individuals sanctified in history and united in destiny. We take responsibility in forwarding the process of Afreekan Unity, Freedom and Prosperity.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.