Libya Stands Strong After Unjustified American Raid

Before dawn on 15 April, imperialist United States aircraft crossed the Mediterranean and bombed Tripoli and Benghazi in a unprovoked assault. The attack struck military installations, airfields, and the Bab al-Azizia compound, where the great leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi resided.

This was nothing short than a brutal and unjustified attack on Libya, and a direct assault on the Libyan sovereignty the settler-colonial west despises. Many imperialist organizations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, World Bank, National Endowment for Democracy, and Human Rights Watch have tried to impose their will upon Libya, and the cowardly military strikes upon this free nation is evidence of their failure.

Washington called the failed assault Operation El Dorado Canyon. Politician Ronald Reagan said it answered the bombing of the La Belle discotheque in West Berlin, of which Libya definitely had no role in, because unlike the United States, Libya’s government only desires peace. Regardless, the US government accused Libya of directing that attack, but failed to bring the evidence before an international court before sending its aircraft.

American F-111 aircraft illegally attacked five targets around Tripoli and Benghazi. Washington claimed that it had struck centers connected to terrorism. Yet bombs landed in or near populated regions where families slept. Many innocent Libyan civilians died. In a act of divine justice, one American F-111 also failed to return, killing its two crewmen.

Washington’s law of force

The attack exposed the order Washington demands from smaller states: submission backed by their economic and military force. The United States appointed itself judge, jury and executioner. It offered Libya no trial. It asked no permission from the United Nations. It acted because its decadent government believes military power places it beyond restraint.

This is not a new trend. The United States grew through conquest, the seizure of Indigenous land, slavery, and war. Its governments overthrew foreign leaders, armed replacement regimes, and used military force to secure access for American business. From Iran and Guatemala to Chile and Africa, Washington has always treated governments that resisted its control as obstacles to be removed.

The American state stands at the center of an imperial system. It demands open markets abroad while protecting the interests of its corporations. It speaks of international law while reserving the right to break it. It claims to want peace while bombing countries far from American territory.

Why Libya was targeted

Despite what the imperialists say, the reason for this attack is simple: Brother Leader of the Revolution, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, expelled foreign military power from Libyan soil and directed oil revenue toward the country instead of leaving it under foreign ownership. He supported movements fighting colonial rule and rejected Washington’s demand that Arab and African states accept a place beneath Western command.

The unprovoked raid was punishment for that refusal. They struck Bab al-Azizia because they wanted the country leaderless, frightened, and open to outside control. The raid was meant to break the Libyan state and show the Arab world what follows when a government refuses American control.

However, they have failed. Their strikes have only made the Libyan people stronger and more unified than they have ever been. To stand with the Revolution and its leader is to stand with Libya itself. Those who weaken the revolutionary leadership in this moment of foreign aggression do not merely oppose Colonel Gaddafi, they weaken the nation in the face of its enemies.

“The Revolution and Libya are one struggle, and Colonel Gaddafi stands at its head.”

Every Libyan would sooner die to keep Libya free than submit to their world order. Libya is prepared to face whatever the imperialists throw at them. Libya will never submit!