"This intervention must stop"

It's almost unprecedented for dearunite.com to publish as a main story an article by a General Secretary, but credit to McCluskey.  Whether the more bloodthirsty rightwingers in his small supporters' club will back him or break iron UL discipline is yet to be seen.  Already UL member Jim Denham (the 'Shitarsed Socialist') has bizarrely described it as 'scabbing' and declared "Len has no mandate whatsoever for his comment".

New! John Pilger on Libya

"This Libyan intervention must stop
len
By Len McCluskey (General Secretary of Unite)

Rather than pumping up a civil war, our government should be pushing for a ceasefire and international mediation

Libyan insurgents 'rebels' in Brega
The attack on Libya by British, French and US forces is wrong and should be halted without any further delay or futile loss of life. While holding no brief for Colonel Gaddafi and his regime, and strongly supporting the movements now developing for democracy and freedom across the Arab world, I believe the present military intervention is a mistake which shows the lessons of Iraq have still not been learned.



The war risks killing Libyan civilians while doing nothing to end hostilities on the ground. Indeed, prolonging the conflict will surely lead to more civilian deaths at the hands of troops on both sides, in addition to those directly caused by the bombing.

Rather than pumping up a civil war, our government should be joining others in pushing for a ceasefire followed by international, preferably Arab-led, assistance in negotiating a better future for Libyans. This could only lead to an extension of democracy in Libya at the very least, something that will be made harder by prolonged conflict.

The present action instead raises the alternative possibility of escalation, leading to military occupation of all or part of Libya. Similar occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown how disastrous and counter-productive such interventions are. Escalation and "boots on the ground" will cost British soldiers' lives and will once more stoke up hostility to Britain across the Middle East and the Muslim world.

This will do nothing to resolve Libya's problems. Some people may think "third time lucky" for foreign occupations of Muslim nations – I am not one of them. When you're in a hole, stop digging.

It is now clear that, despite the initial spin, the military action has little or no Arab involvement (Qatar aside). It is also opposed by, among others, Russia, China and India. This leaves it dependent on those western powers whose policies have already aroused deep hostility throughout the Middle East and will inevitably arouse memories of colonialism.

The bombing of Libya stands in contrast to the indulgence shown by the government to the autocrats in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere who have been allowed to repress movements for democracy in their own countries with impunity. They are no better than Gaddafi and the kid-glove treatment of these despots adds a smell of hypocrisy to the whole enterprise.

Many trade unionists will also be wondering how a government which cannot find the money for the most basic services here at home can all of a sudden spend tens of millions of pounds bombing yet another Middle Eastern country. It seems like small wars are a habit the establishment here cannot kick.

Whether any of this would be being done for a country without huge oil reserves is another question members of Unite have been asking.

These are all good reasons why Unite is urging the British government to think again, call a halt to the military action and push for a ceasefire to be followed by international mediation."

Unite official statement on Libya.

Moussa Koussa "acted as a double agent for the MI6 and the CIA for a decade"

 New! read How the Libyan Political System functions by Waniss Otman, Erling Karlberg, extract below:

"At its most basic level all Libyan citzens are part of Basic Peoples' Congresses, with membership being the right of all citizens. Through interaction and direct vote each Basic People's Congress democratically elects a working committee which selects its own Secretary and Assistant Secretary. The Basic People's Congresses directly choose the People's Committees.  The Basic People's Congresses, the People's Committees, the unions, syndicates, and professionalassociations gather annually in the General People's Congress, the national legislative authority. "

And a brief history

9 comments:

  1. Gadaffi's foreign legion: the self-employed petit bourgoisie.

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  2. We're back to ad hominem attacks are we? The Shitarsed Socialist is off his arse to support war and lie about it.

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  3. Is Jim Denham Norman Tebbit in disguise?

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  4. Typical 'Alliance for Workers Liberty' comment from Jim Denham. This organisation is pro-Imperialist, pro-Zionist and has nothing whatsoever to do with the labour movement. They're turning into the RCP of the 1980s, who eventually became a right wing rump, attacking the Left more than the bosses and defending the BNP's rights.

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  5. well said Jim. these crackpots and pseudo pacifist idiots need to be called out for what they are.

    i.e. crackpots

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  6. So anyone who fights imperialism is a pacifist? What warped logic is that? Was Lenin a pacifist? Sandino? Castro? Are the ordinary workers of the states trying to overthrow despotic pro-Western leaders pacifists? I think not.
    And anyone who wants to overthrow tyranny, without having to resort to supporting the very same Western governments who historically backed these tyrannical dictatorships is a ‘crackpot’!?
    The level of political analysis and understanding amongst the union right-wing is unbelievably frightening in its ignorance and naivety.
    The pseudo-left ‘Alliance for Workers Liberty’ (sic) and the pro-capitalist right wing of Unite are two sides of the same anti-working class coin.

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  7. What's this!!!!! Is Dave going soft in his old age? Agreeing with the GS is surely a slippery slope. What next, Unite is kind of ok????

    As for Jim Denman and the wacky AWL don't be so surprised by their pseudo leftism as they more often than not resemble right wing reactionary libertarians.

    Lets also not forget that the AWL were originally supporters of Jerry Hicks but jumped ship after Hicks staged managed shambolic antics at the now infamous Manchester hustings.

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  8. By the way, I think Dave's after a job with Unite. Do we need a narrowboat skipper on the organising team?


    Altogether now:

    "He's Davey the sailor man,
    TOOT TOOT...."

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