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Libya – Eyewitnesses describe suffering of besieged North African nation

Charlene Muhammad, National Correspondent

June 23, 2011

CHARLENEM

LOS ANGELES (FinalCall.com) – “NATO is bombing in the daytime, in the afternoon, in the evening and at night. It’s ridiculous what they’re doing!” Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate, told The Final Call during the June 18 kickoff of “Eyewitness Libya,” her national tour to give eyewitness accounts of the U.S.-sponsored/NATO-led bombings in Tripoli.

Ms. McKinney and a “Dignity Delegation,” including independent journalists, visited the North African country for a fact-finding mission from June 1-18. NATO forces launched its war on Libya in February.

The near three-hour report before approximately 200 people at Immanuel Presbyterian Church also featured Abdul Akbar Muhammad, international representative of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam; Dedon Kamathi, a journalist and member of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party; and Michael Prysner, an organizer with A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and Iraq War veteran. A.N.S.W.E.R. hosted the event and is providing the logistics for the tour, which includes stops in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago and New York.

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Cynthia McKinney delivered a passionate speech in Los Angeles after returning from her trip to Libya on June 18, 2011.

“Our task is to tell the truth, to give clarity to the key questions: What is the U.S. government’s motives in Libya?In whose interests are those motives and what is our motive,” Mr. Prysner said.

“What we’re seeing is the ‘Israelization’ of NATO policy against the people of Libya. NATO is refusing to allow food, fuel and medicine to come in as they bomb people and hurt people.NATO is refusing to allow Libya to access the necessary medicine and that too is against international law,” Ms. McKinney said.

She urged the audience to pressure Congress to use its authority to rein in President Barack Obama, whom she said is already guilty of war crimes for ignoring the War Powers Act, among other things. The Act requires the president to seek congressional approval to continue U.S. participation in the war against Libya.

There might be more pressure if the American public knew what was going on but the special interest press is actually lying to people, Ms. McKinney said to an outburst of applause.

She said on the night that NATO tested bombs, it dropped 26-29 of them and when it began bombing during the daytime, it dropped 89 bombs, non-stop, from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. until it actually ran out, she said but Canada is in the process of acquiring 1,000 more to continue the campaign.

At his June 15 press conference at the UN Plaza Hotel, Minister Louis Farrakhan exposed how the united coalition of demons is attacking Libya to assassinate sovereign leader Col. Muammar Gadhafi over its greedy lust for the country’s sweet crude oil, not humanitarian concerns.

“The actions of NATO, along with the United States, Canada, Qatar and members of the Arab League, engaging in this errant behavior are creating conditions that will ultimately bring about the destruction of the UN and all those engaged in this action,” Min. Farrakhan warned during his address.

While Ms. McKinney presented a videotaped timeline of the bombings, victims tortured by opposition rebels, and others in hospitals, Libyan American demonstrated outside the church. They said they felt Ms. McKinney and the delegation were ill-informed on events in Libya.

They attempted to enter the chapel with banners and life-sized flags of their country and the American flag but were blocked by the human wall formed by A.N.S.W.E.R.’S youth members.

During his historical overview of Libya’s progress under Mr. Gadafi’s rule, Mr. Muhammad said to the Libyans outside and a few who had entered the chapel, “You can trust this intervention of the United States in your country but history has shown you that your people should have the freedom to choose themselves.”

He said the reason many have “taken a principled stand with Brother Muammar Gadhafi is because we don’t see what America is saying because it’s hypocritical to talk about, ‘We have to stop him from slaughtering civilians,’ when they know this whole thing was planned a long time ago.”

According to Mr. Muhammad, Mr. Gadhafi’s opposition mistakenly sent them (he and other Blacks in the Diaspora that they thought were with the opposition) an email outlining what they were going to do: 1) demonstrate in Benghazi on February 17, 2) protest and pick up on uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and 3) topple Mr. Gadhafi.

Instead, it turned out to be a full-fledged war, Mr. Muhammad said.

Mr. Kamathi feels that part of why the U.S. targeted Mr. Gadhafi is to divide and conquer Libya and the African nations. Mr. Gadhafi boldly professes that he is an African, not an Arab, and that presents a problem for the West, Mr. Kamathi said.

Voices of outrage against Libyan war(FCN, 06-21-2011)

Planning assassination in the name of Western assistance(FCN, 06-10-2011)

Gold, Oil, Africa and Why the West Wants Gadhafi Dead(FCN, 06-07-2011)

Imperialist bombardment, assault on Libya continues(FCN, 05-19-2011)

Ten reasons why the U.S. war in Libya is a CIA operation(FCN, 04-28-2011)

Why the West Want the Fall of Muammar Gaddafi(Analysis by Jean-Paul Pougala, 04, 2011)

‘U.S. provoking China and Russia in Libya,Mediterranean’(Tehran Times, 04-28-2011)

West ‘getting away with murder’ in Libya(FCN, 04-27-2011)

Farrakhan Questioned on Libya (WPFWRadio Interview, 04-03-2011)

A CIA commander for the Libyan rebels(WSWS, 03-28-2011)

Libya, Getting it Right: A Revolutionary Pan-African Perspective(FCN, 03-08-2011)

Massive Disinformation War against Libya for US/West Military Intervention? [The 4th Media](03-01-2011)