[News] As death toll in Libya skyrockets, many charge NATO’s 2011 overthrow of government with responsibility

[Anti-Imperialist News]

peoplesdispatch.org
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/09/14/as-death-toll-in-libya-skyrockets-many-charge-natos-2011-overthrow-of-government-with-responsibility/>
As death toll in Libya skyrockets, many charge NATO’s 2011 overthrow of
government with responsibility
Peoples Dispatch - September 14, 2023
------------------------------
[image: Floods-Libya.jpeg]

According to the mayor of Derna, at least 20% of the city has been
destroyed.

Latest reports
<https://apnews.com/article/libya-floods-derna-storm-daniel-mass-graves-21b1a195d261a642e12dac13f0d19431#>
on the devastating floods
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/09/12/5000-presumed-dead-due-to-flooding-in-libya/>
in Libya confirm 11,300 deaths, with 10,100 still reported missing
following the cyclone that hit the city of Derna, destroying two dams.
Victims are being buried in mass graves as many lose hope of finding
still-missing loved ones. Rescue and relief efforts have been impeded by
the flooding, which has cut off the most affected areas.

According to the mayor of Derna, at least 20% of the city has been
destroyed. The nearby coastal towns of Bayda, al-Marj, Tobruk, and Taknis
have also been affected. At least 20,000 people have been displaced
<https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/world/middleeast/libya-floods-dams-collapse.html>
.

Many are pointing to the crumbling infrastructure in the country as a
source of blame. However, some have criticized Western media coverage of
the flooding for omitting
<https://x.com/medialens/status/1702314144995926151?s=20> the Western role
in the destruction of Libyan state structures in 2011, ultimately leading
to crumbling infrastructure. “It would be helpful if [the BBC] told the
truth about what really happened to Libya,” wrote European Parliament
member Mick Wallace on Twitter
<https://twitter.com/wallacemick/status/1702252491746746485?s=20>. “This
country was illegally destroyed by NATO in 2011 and the entire region is
still suffering from the impact. Sadly those responsible have not been held
to account.”

On September 12, US President Joe Biden sent his condolences to the Libyan
people. The Barack Obama administration spearheaded the NATO push to
overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, resulting in the utter destruction of Libya and
the creation of, what some deem a “modern-day slave state
<https://www.liberationnews.org/bourgeois-crocodile-tears-over-slavery-in-libya-masks-imperialists-role/>”.
“We join the Libyan people in grieving the loss of too many lives cut
short, and send our hope to all those missing loved ones,” Biden wrote
<https://x.com/POTUS/status/1701655886307922222?s=20> on Twitter.

“The US will overthrow your [government], completely destroy your
infrastructure, leave your country in a state of violence and
instability—then when the consequences come back around 10+ years later,
absolve itself of responsibility and only offer thoughts and prayers,”
wrote *Liberation News* editor Amanda Yee.

Libya has been experiencing a political crisis ever since the toppling of
Gaddafi’s administration and NATO invasion in 2011. Whilst the UN Support
Mission in Libya had promised that through its dialogue efforts elections
would be held in December 2021
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/12/21/political-uncertainty-continues-in-libya-a-year-after-elections-were-postponed/>,
they have been postponed
<https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/libyas-elusive-elections-will-2023-be-year-elections>
since
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/12/21/political-uncertainty-continues-in-libya-a-year-after-elections-were-postponed/>
then with no clear resolution in sight. The country has been plagued by
violence as there are two rival governments
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/08/16/27-dead-and-over-100-injured-in-fighting-between-two-militias-loyal-to-libyas-tripoli-based-government/>
backed by opposing militias and military establishments vying for power in
the nation.

Abahlali baseMjondolo, a South African social movement of shack dwellers,
expressed solidarity with the Libyan people, as well as the Moroccan people
who have fallen victim to a devastating earthquake
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/09/11/morocco-earthquake-death-toll-continues-to-climb-as-rescue-operations-intensify/>.
“In all African countries the rich continue to enrich themselves at the
expense of the poor. The poor and working class are the ones that build
these cities but are left to die like flies,” Abahlali baseMjondolo stated.
“The life of the poor does not count at all in a government that is only
interested in profit maximization, whether via capitalist means or
political and government corruption. We are angry when the poor and working
class perish in the manner in which the people in Morocco and Libya have
been killed by the earthquake and the flood.”
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20230914/2aa62f54/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Floods-Libya.jpeg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 82200 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20230914/2aa62f54/attachment.jpeg>