October 24, 2011
The Wisdom Fund

Five Things You May Not Know About Muammar Gaddafi And Libya

Are Libyans awakening from a 'ludicrous nightmare', or does the death of Gaddafi mark the beginning of a new era of imperial exploitation?

by Enver Masud

"Libyans awake from a ludicrous nightmare: Gaddafi achieved nothing in his 42-year rule," David Gardner wrote yesterday in the Financial Times. Others have expressed similar sentiments. Here are the facts:

Libya Ranks #1 on the Human Development Index: According to the United Nations Development Programme, Libya ranked first in Africa (53 globally) on the Human Development Index -- ahead of Saudi Arabia at 55, Iran at 70, South Africa at 73, Jordan at 82, Egypt at 101, Indonesia at 108, India at 119, Afghanistan at 155.

Largest Oil Reserves in Africa: According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa".

Program to Privatize Oil: On February 21, 2011, five days after the Arab Spring broke out in Libya, Qaddafi launched a new program to privatize all Libyan oil to every citizen of Libya, initially providing $21,000 to every Libyan from a total of $32,000,000,000 in the Year 2011, so that the health, education, transport, and some other ministries could be abolished and individual Libyans could use the profits of their own investments, including from oil ownership, to obtain the relevant services.

This, Gaddafi said, is the best way to eliminate corruption, including the theft of Libyan oil by foreign oil companies, and to decentralize governmental power.

Great Man-Made River Project: The Great Man-Made River Project, begun in 1984 by Col. Gaddafi, has been called the 8th Wonder of the World. It supplies fresh water to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte and elsewhere.

The U.S. threatened to nuke this "chemical weapons factory". Foreign companies covet the fresh water.

Gaddafi Seized Power in Bloodless Coup: Muammar Gaddafi, aka Col. Gaddafi, seized power in 1969 in a bloodless coup by overthrowing King Idris of Libya -- Idris achieved power with British backing in 1949.

Rate your news media on a scale of 1 to 10. Assign 2 points for each of the five points above that you previously knew (1 point for partial knowledge). The resulting total is an indication of how well your news media covered the US/NATO backed civil war in Libya.

Are Libyans awakening from a "ludicrous nightmare", or does the killing of Gaddafi on October 20, 2011 mark the beginning of a new era of imperial exploitation?

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Eric Margolis, "Col. Khadaffi's Secret Tunnels of Death," Toronto Sun, December 8, 1997

Enver Masud, "Pan Am 103: Lockerbie Verdict 'Astonishing'," The Wisdom Fund, February 6, 2001

"Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya," United Nations Human Rights Council, January 4, 2011

Jim Lobe, "Neocon Hawks Take Flight Over Libya," Inter Press Service, February 26, 2011

Enver Masud, "Libya Oil Grab Disguised As Humanitarian Assistance," The Wisdom Fund, March 8, 2011

Enver Masud, "Revealed: America's Hidden Hand Behind The UN Resolution For A No-fly Zone Over Libya," The Wisdom Fund, March 19, 2011

Eric Margolis, "Libya: A New Crusade," ericmargolis.com, March 21, 2011

Pepe Escobar, "Libya Endgame: Divide, Rule And Get The Oil," Asia Times, March 25, 2011

Curtis Doebbler, "Why the Attack on Libya is Illegal," counterpunch.org, March 28, 2011

"Libya: A 'Socialist Paradise' Under Colonial Attack," The Wisdom Fund, April 1, 2011

Enver Masud, "LIBYA: TALKING POINTS," The Wisdom Fund, April 1, 2011

"Recollections of My Life: Col. Mu'ummar Qaddafi, The Leader of the Revolution," pakdefenceunit, April 5, 2011

"The Lies Behind the West's War on Libya," The Wisdom Fund, April 14, 2011

Robert D. Crane, "Qaddafi Launched Program to Privatize Libya's Oil to Every Citizen of Libya," The Wisdom Fund, May 12, 2011

"Libyan Rebels Reject Truce, U.S. Targets Qaddafi," The Wisdom Fund, May 31, 2011

"Libya: Independent Reporters Silenced, News Broadcasts Suspect," The Wisdom Fund, August 23, 2011

Pepe Escobar, "Welcome to Libya's 'Democracy'," Asian Times, August 24, 2011

Enver Masud, "America's Libyan Rebels," The Wisdom Fund, August 28, 2011

Ron Paul, "Mission Accomplished in Libya?," Antiwar.com, August 30, 2011

John Pilger, "The Son of Africa Claims a Continent's Crown Jewels For The U.S.," The Wisdom Fund, October 20, 2011

[Libya's particular form of socialism does provide free education, healthcare and subsidised housing and transport--"Gaddafi's quixotic and brutal rule," bbc.com, October 20, 2011]

[Most of the money was under the name of government institutions such as the Central Bank of Libya, the Libyan Investment Authority, the Libyan Foreign Bank, the Libyan National Oil Corp. and the Libya African Investment Portfolio.--Paul Richter, "As Libya takes stock, Moammar Kadafi's hidden riches astound," latimes.com, October 21, 2011]

Enver Masud, "With 30,000 Dead, What Do Faith Leaders and Human Rights Activists Who Pushed For War on Libya Say Now?," The Wisdom Fund, October 29, 2011

[. . . strikingly different from those of many foreign reporters . . .
- The rebellion WAS indeed armed from the very first day of the uprising (this was confirmed in Amnesty's in-depth report from late last year) - not a peaceful movement
- The rebels WERE working hand in glove with Western intelligence agencies to facilitate a NATO blitzkrieg
- The NTC ARE disunited and incapable of governing the country.
- The rebels DO have a racist, even genocidal, policy towards sub-Saharan African migrants and the third of the Libyan population that is dark skinned
- Gaddafi's government WERE NOT conducting aerial attacks against protesters or mass rape (or indeed ANY rape, according to Amnesty)
- There HAD NOT been 10,000 people killed in Benghazi by Gaddafi's government during the uprising (as the NTC claimed), but 110 (Amnesty figures again) killed on both sides prior to NATO's attack--"New York Times interview with Lizzie Phelan," lizzie-phelan.blogspot.com, January 31, 2012]

Andrew C McCarthy, "Hillary Clinton's Benghazi Debacle: Arming Jihadists in Libya . . . and Syria," nationalreview.com, August 2, 2018

[Exactly six years ago, on October 20th, 2011, Muammar Gaddafi was murdered--Dan Glazebrook, "West eyes recolonization of Africa by endless war; removing Gaddafi was just first step," rt.com, October 20, 2017]

What do these faith leaders and HR folks who pushed for war have to say now?--Enver Masud