Gilbert Achar’s recent interview with New Left Project, published in International Viewpoint in August 2011 elicited, like his previous articles, a lot of discussion. Here, NLP’s David Wearing asks Achcar a series of follow-up questions on the criticisms of his position, and on the emerging situation in Libya.
Imminent Victory in Libya – the struggle will continue
4 September 2011, byThe Executive Committee of Socialist Resistance (British section of the Fourth International) adopted this statement on 31 August 2011.
Imperialist Victory Is No Gain For Libyan People
4 September 2011, byThis article by Jeff Mackler for the Political Committee of Socialist Action appears in the September 2011 edition of Socialist Action newspaper.
Popular rebellion & imperialist designs
26 August 2011, by ,Gilbert Achcar spoke to Tom Mills of New Left Project, a British-based website, about the rebellion in Libya and the motives behind NATO’s intervention on 25 August 2011.
NATO’s "Conspiracy" against the Libyan revolution
19 August 2011, byIn an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal (19 July 2011), Max Boot— the aptly named neoconservative author and military historian known for his support for “democracy promotion” at the point of a gun, and an ardent supporter of full-scale US military engagement in Libya—referred to a Financial Times article (15 June) that compared the current aerial bombing campaign over Libya and the Kosovo air war in 1999 in order to emphasize “the lack of firepower in the Libya operation.” Boot commented, dwelling on the same comparison with additional details:
Imperialist intervention in Libya and the Left
24 July 2011, byThe Arab revolution continued with the fall of the third hated dictator, Saleh in Yemen, after months of bloody repression. In Bahrain and Syria, the regimes continue their efforts to stifle the popular resistance in blood. In Tunisia and Egypt, the ruling elites attempt to impose a “normalization” of their state and the exploitative system. The rebellion against the Gaddafi regime, which was until recently completely pro-Western, took a particularly tragic turn. The revolt itself was justified from the beginning and backed by the same layers — the laboring classes and youth — as in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries. Therefore the international labor movement and especially the internationalist left had to side with the insurgents despite the heterogeneity of the political forces involved and the relative weakness of the independent labor movement in Libya. The rebels managed to control Benghazi and the eastern part of the country, while Gaddafi prevailed in Tripoli and in western Libya. His troops proved clearly superior to the rebels in March, even threatening to invade Benghazi itself. Only the military intervention of the U.S., France, and Great Britain stopped the advance of the regime’s forces and prevented the military defeat of the insurgents.
Libya: revolution, intervention and crisis
12 May 2011, byFor socialists and for antiwar forces, the events in Libya have presented — and continue to present — agonizing political and ethical choices. It is entirely logical and inevitable that thoughtful activists find themselves in disagreement among each other, and indeed in internal conflict within themselves, over questions raised by the Libyan popular uprising and by the military intervention of the western powers. Recognizing the difficulties of the situation is the essential first step for the international left to work through them.
The Libyan insurrection between Gaddafi’s hammer, NATO’s anvil and the Left’s confusion: results and prospects
26 April 2011, byIt has been over a month since the NATO-led coalition started its military intervention in Libya, after the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted on March 17 its resolution 1973 authorizing the implementation of a no-fly zone over the country as well as "all necessary measures" in order "to protect civilians and civilian populated areas."
No to imperialist war in Libya
14 April 2011, byThe Red Green Alliance in Denmark decided to support Danish participation in the UN-NATO intervention in Libya. This support was later retracted. The SAP (Danish section of the Fourth International), which is part of the RGA, disagrees with the original position and considers the retraction insufficient, given the motivation. This resolution from their leadership explains why. The two statements from the RGA are published following the SAP resolution.
The Arab revolutions and campist politics
11 April 2011, byWhether they are fake republics, oil theocracies or pseudo-parliamentary monarchies and independently of their social and economic profile, all the countries of the Arab world share - or shared before January 14 - a common feature: they are all subjected to ferocious dictatorships run by small oligarchies who maintain themselves in power by Mafia-style practices and police repression, generating in the majority of the cases elevated and scandalous levels of poverty for the majority of their population.