Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

The Libyan Soldier: The True Heroes of NATO’s War
24 Aug 2011

NATO has proven it has the capacity to kill thousands of Libyan soldiers from the skies, but it cannot “convey honor and legitimacy” to the rebels under its killer wings. “They are little more than extras for imperial theater, a mob that traveled to battle under the protective umbrella of American full spectrum dominance of the air.” The incinerated bodies of her soldiers have secured Libya’s place in history.

“The Libyan armed forces maintained their unit integrity and personal honor, with a heroism reminiscent of the loyalist soldiers of the Spanish Republic, in the late 1930s.”

The story is not over – not by a long shot – but the saga of the Libyan resistance to the superpower might of the United States and its degenerate European neocolonial allies will surely occupy a very special place in history. For five months, beginning March 19, the armed forces of a small country of six million people dared to defy the most advanced weapons systems on the planet, on terrain with virtually no cover, against an enemy capable of killing whatever could be seen from the sky or electronically sensed. Night and day, the eyes of the Euro-American war machine looked down from space on the Libyan soldiers’ positions, with the aim of incinerating them. And yet, the Libyan armed forces maintained their unit integrity and personal honor, with a heroism reminiscent of the loyalist soldiers of the Spanish Republic under siege by German, Italian and homegrown fascists, in the late 1930s.

The Germans and Italians and Generalissimo Franco won that war, just as the Americans, British, French and Italians may ultimately overcome the Libyan army. Bu t they cannot convey honor or national legitimacy to their flunkies from Benghazi, who have won nothing but a badge of servitude to foreign overseers. The so-called rebels won not a single battle, except as walk-ons to a Euro-American military production. They are little more than extras for imperial theater, a mob that traveled to battle under the protective umbrella of American full spectrum dominance of the air. They advanced along roads already littered with the charcoal-blackened bodies of far better men, who died challenging Empire.

“The so-called rebels won not a single battle, except as walk-ons to a Euro-American military production.”

One thing is sure: the Americans and Europeans have never respected their servants. The so-called rebels of Libya will be no different. Washington, Paris and London know perfectly well that is was their 18,000 aircraft sorties, their cruise missiles, their attack helicopters, their surveillance satellites and drones, their command and control systems, their weapons, and their money, that managed to kill or wound possibly half the Libyan army. Not the rabble from Benghazi.

The rebels should not take too seriously being fawned over by the ridiculous hordes of corporate media tourists that have come to Tripoli to record the five-month war's finale. They are highly paid cheerleaders. And, although it may appear that they are cheering for the rebels, don't be fooled – at the end of the day, the western corporate media only cheer for their own kind. They are celebrating what they believe is a victory over the Libyan demon they have helped to construct in their countrymen's minds. Next year, rebel, that demon might be you.

Or next year, it might be many Libyans, including those who were no friends of Col. Moammar Gaddafi. The Americans treat their native minions like children in need of supervision – and there is a certain logic to this, since whoever would entrust his nation's sovereignty and resources to the Americans is, surely, either exceedingly stupid, or hopelessly corrupt. But Libya's honor and her place in history has already been secured by a small African army that held out nearly half a year against the NATO barbarians.

For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford. On the web, go to www.BlackAgendaReport.com.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at [email protected].

listen
http://traffic.libsyn.com/blackagendareport/20110824_gf_LibyaOne.mp3
Libya

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
Black Agenda Radio May 23, 2025
23 May 2025
In this week’s segment, we discuss the legacy of Malcolm X and the state of the political party that many Black people feel trapped in.
Libya
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
How the Libyan People Are Still Impacted By the U.S./NATO Destruction of Their State
23 May 2025
Our guest is Dr. Abdelkarim Kashkar. He is a physician and author who writes about politics in Libyan newspapers.
Black Agenda Radio September 29, 2023
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio September 29, 2023
29 September 2023
In this week’s segment we discuss US policy towards African nations, Canada's revelations of Ukraine’s and its own connections with Nazis, and how

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 13, 2025
    13 Jun 2025
    In this week’s segment, we hear about how a tornado impacted the Black community of St. Louis, which already suffered as a result of decades of destructive public policy. But first, we discuss…
  • Global March to Gaza
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Nkosi Mandela on the Global March to Gaza
    13 Jun 2025
    Our guest is Nkosi Mandela. He is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela. He joins us from Johannesburg to discuss his work in solidarity with Palestine…
  • St. Louis after tornado
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    St. Louis Black Community Organizes Against Racist Policy and Tornado Impact
    13 Jun 2025
    Our guest is Christopher Gladney. He is president of the Northside Independent Neighborhood Association in St. Louis, Missouri. He joins us from St.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Solidarity Against ICE and the Entire State Apparatus
    11 Jun 2025
    Popular resistance against the Trump administration in Los Angeles and other cities is a very positive development and one that Black people must embrace.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
    11 Jun 2025
    “any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us