Caught on video: Horrifying proof that Libya's freedom fighters have turned into brutal torturers

[joshcryer]

79. 1) a peoples are not represented by their fighters 2) fighters do not represent the sole source...

...of resistance 3) political and cultural resistance plays a pivotal role in revolution.

Most of the fighters were islamists, does that mean that they represent the Libyan people? No, of course it doesn't.

The International Community was correct in intervening in a popular peoples movement, the UK was pushed into doing it by France which was pushed into doing it by BHL who'd visited Misrata and gauged that the popular protest was real. The US was a reluctant follower, and provided a logistics role for the most part (the non-intelligence gathering drone use was immoral and wrong and I stated as much).

It doesn't fucking matter what the US wants, what the UK wants, what France wants, what any partner in the intervention wanted.

What matters is what the Libyan people wanted.

Popular protest in 21 cities! Representing more than 2/3rds of Libya's population (this, btw, is much higher than Egypt, Tunisia, and even OWS, combined, as a proportion of protesters to population)! Tripli, the largest city, a city of 2 million, fell to 2000 noncombatants!

You keep deflecting, insulting the Libyan people, completely glossing over what they did and how it is they who are moving forward. I continue to be amazed at how "US imperialism" is being chastised here, who cares? The Libyan people are very distrustful, they've ousted quite a few US-backed puppets along with old Gaddafi-regime officials (recently they tortured one of his ministers to death). I don't see it having an appreciable effect. Meanwhile Gaddafi was pumping the oil and opening up very favorable western contracts. So what if the Libyan's eventually give even more favorable contracts?

This, in the end, is about a desire to see the US fail, to lose, or whatever.

For me that doesn't come into the picture.

I want to see the Libyan people succeed.

And given the political situation on the ground in Libyan I'm not convinced the US or the west in general has much imperialist play.

No occupation, western diplomats are distrusted, westerners trying to gain political power are ousted.