Cynthia McKinney: The War Against Libya

At a time when the American people have been asked to tighten their belts, teachers are receiving pink slips, the vital statistics of the American people reveal a health crisis in the making, and the US government is in serious threat of default, our President and Congress have decided that a new war, this time against the people of Libya, is appropriate. This comes at a time when the US, by one estimate, spends approximately $3 billion per week for war against Iraq and Afghanistan. The President and Congress continue to fund the war against Libya despite the fact that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that the US had no strategic interest in Libya, and despite the fact that the Senate Chairwoman of the Select Committee on Intelligence admits that the US really does not know who the "rebels" are, while the rebels themselves, according to a Telegraph report of 25 March 2011, admit that Al Qaeda elements are among their ranks. So while the apparatus of our government has been used for over ten years to inform the American people and the global community that Al Qaeda is an enemy of freedom-loving people all over the world, our President chooses to ally our military with none other than Al Qaeda elements in Libya and other people whom the US intelligence say they do not know. Additionally, US Admiral Locklear admitted to a member of Congress that one of NATO's missions was to assassinate Muammar Qaddafi. Indeed, NATO bombs have killed Qaddafi's son and three grandchildren, just as US bombs in 1986 killed his daughter.