Huge bunker-buster bomb creates devastating damage in downtown Tripoli.
Saturday, June 25, 2pm National Black Theatre
125th St. and 5th Avenue.
ALSO SPEAKING: * Akbar Muhammad, Nation of Islam * Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General * Viola Plummer, December 12th Movement * Brian Becker, ANSWER Coalition
McKinney and the other speakers will shed light on the devastating impact of the U.S./NATO bombing of Libya and the extensive civilian casualties that the White House, Pentagon and the media have persistently denied. McKinney is currently on her second trip to Libya during the NATO bombing. During her time there, she has visited several hospitals, and has conducted video interviews with doctors and the wounded.
Under the guise of humanitarian intervention and protecting civilians, NATO has carried out a massive bombing of the country in Africa with the largest oil reserves. McKinney's report shows how devastating the bombing has been for civilians in Tripoli and elsewhere.
Other major tour stops include: San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.
More about:
SARA FLOUNDERS, INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER & UNITED NATIONAL
ANTIWAR COMMITTEE
Sara Flounders:
is the
Co-Director of
the
International
Action Center,
an organization
founded by
Ramsey Clark in
1991 to oppose
U.S. militarism,
racism and war.
She is an editor
and co-author of
10 books
published by the
IAC that cover
the brutal
impact of U.S.
policy in Iraq,
Yugoslavia,
Haiti, Colombia,
along with a
book on the role
of U.S.
corporate media,
and another on
the Pentagon's
use of
radioactive
depleted uranium
weapons, the
most recent book
is: Gaza Symbol
of Resistance.
She has produced
several
important
documentaries,
helped maintain
a number of web
sites, blogs and
internet
petitions. She
was twice
elected to the
board of WBAI-Pacifica
radio station in
NY, She has
traveled to many
targeted
countries in
order to
challenge the
media propaganda
and racist
demonization
used to justify
U.S. wars, most
recently in
January 2011 to
Gaza and Egypt.
She coordinated
in NYC, the
September 11,
2010 Emergency
Mobilization
Against Racism
and Anti-Muslim
Bigotry -- a
major outpouring
of thousands
determined to
stand for unity
and solidarity.
She was a
national
organizer in
2002 and 2003 of
the
demonstrations
that drew
hundreds of
thousands of
people to
Washington to
oppose the
invasion of
Iraq. In 2011
she is
organizing with
United National
Antiwar
Committee for a
major national
antiwar
demonstration
scheduled for
April 9th in NYC
and April 10 San
Francisco. Her
article,
Pentagon's Role
in Global
Catastrophe -
Add Climate
Havoc to War
Crimes. was a
winner of
Project
Censored's top
25 articles for
2009 - 2010 news
stories: In 2008
her article: The
Tunnels of Gaza
was included in
Project Censored
top 25 articles.
Although she has
often spoken at
universities and
high schools and
appeared on CNN,
FOX, ABC News,
BBC, RT News, Al
Jazeera, NPR and
Pacifica Radio,
her main role
over many years
is as a
grassroots
organizer
because she
believes the
only way to make
a real
difference in
the world is
through
collective
effort at the
grass roots
level. Sara has
spoken first
hand with youth
in Baghdad and
traveled there
several times
during years of
U.S. starvation
blockade on
Iraq. She was
part of one of
the last visits
to Iraq just
before the U.S.
invasion and
could see the
resistance
training and
arming that the
U.S. military so
arrogantly
dismissed
claiming they
would be
welcomed as
liberators. She
has witnessed
what Wall
Street's war
looks like -- in
Sudan, after a
U.S. bombing of
the one vital
Pharmaceutical
plant, she was
in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia as
U.S. bombs were
falling on a
beautiful city.
She climbed atop
the rubble of
schools in
Lebanon at a
time when the
country was
littered with
more that 1
million U.S.
manufactured
cluster-bombs.
As part of the
Haiti Commission
of Inquiry she
traveled to
Central Africa
Republic, just
after the U.S.
government
kidnapped
President
Aristide. This
delegation
helped expose
the kidnapping
of President
Aristide and
arrange for
President
Aristide to
speak to the
world about his
kidnapping. She
traveled to
Colombia to help
expose the story
of the
systematic
assassinations
of trade union
leaders. Twice
she had the
opportunity to
be in Palestine
during the
uprising called
the Intifada.
She had the
powerful
experience of
traveling and
helping to
organize popular
tribunals --
mass gatherings
around the globe
that put the
real war
criminals in the
docket of
history for
their crimes.
She has worked
to build
continuing
solidarity
during the
trials,
sentencing and
appeals of Mumia
Abu Jamal,
Leonard Peltier,
Lynne Stewart
and Dr. Aafia
Siddiqui and
many other U.S.
political
prisoners. Her
visits to other
countries have
been to build
links to
people's
resistance
movements and to
help explain
these movements
here in the U.S.
She does NONE of
this work alone.
She is able to
do a lot because
she works
collectively
with a whole
network of
committed
activists
fighting for
change
Tell Congress: Use War Powers
Act to Stop Bombing Libya! End
NATO Massacres of Imams and
Other Civilians!
On May 19 the war against Libya
will reach its 60-day mark. On
that date this criminal war will
be in explicit violation of the
War Powers Act. The War Powers
Act is a U.S. law that grew out
of the struggle against the war
in Vietnam. It requires a
president involved in a military
conflict lasting longer than 60
days to come before Congress for
authorization to continue the
war. Knowing that this war is
immoral, illegal and based on
lies, the Obama administration
has refused to address the
reasons behind initiating yet
another war after years of death
and destruction in Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Iraq. In the past
57 days of a war that was
promoted as a "humanitarian
intervention" to enforce a
"no-fly zone," the U.S. and NATO
have conducted more than 2,500
bombing missions. ...
International Action
Center • Solidarity Center
• 55 W. 17 St., Suite 5C • New York,
NY 10011
Phone
212.633.6646
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 212.633.6646end_of_the_skype_highlighting
• E-mail: iacenter@iacenter.org • En
Español: iac-cai@iacenter.org
Huge
bunker-buster
bomb
creates
devastating
damage
in
downtown
Tripoli.
Saturday, June
25, 2pm
National Black
Theatre
125th St. and
5th Avenue.
ALSO SPEAKING:
* Akbar
Muhammad, Nation
of Islam
* Ramsey Clark,
former Attorney
General
* Viola Plummer,
December 12th
Movement
* Brian Becker,
ANSWER Coalition
McKinney and the
other speakers
will shed light
on the
devastating
impact of the
U.S./NATO
bombing of Libya
and the
extensive
civilian
casualties that
the White House,
Pentagon and the
media have
persistently
denied. McKinney
is currently on
her second trip
to Libya during
the NATO
bombing. During
her time there,
she has visited
several
hospitals, and
has conducted
video interviews
with doctors and
the wounded.
Under the guise
of humanitarian
intervention and
protecting
civilians, NATO
has carried out
a massive
bombing of the
country in
Africa with the
largest oil
reserves.
McKinney's
report shows how
devastating the
bombing has been
for civilians in
Tripoli and
elsewhere.
Other major tour
stops include:
San Francisco,
Chicago,
Washington, D.C.
and Los Angeles.
VIDEO: Surveying the damage, talking with students
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91yClPLxvX0&feature=channel_video_title
More NATO "Humanitarian Intervention: The Bombing of Al Fateh
University, Campus B 14June 2011
By Cynthia McKinney
Since coming to Tripoli to see first hand the consequences of the NATO
military operations, it has become clear to me that despite the ongoing
silence of the international press on the ground here in Libya, there is
clear evidence that civilian targets have been hit and Libyan civilians
injured and killed. This Tuesday morning I was taken from my hotel
across the city through its bustling traffic to the Al Fateh University.
On 9 June, Dean Ali Mansur was outside in the parking lot. The sky was
blue like Carolina blue. The clouds were white--no chemtrails in sight.
Puffy and white. Dean Mansur was visibly upset. It seems that some of
the young men at Al Fateh University, Campus B were fighting over girls.
He explained to me that Libyans are hot blooded. With a gleam in his
eye, he whispered to me that girls are important to young men. Yes, that
was clearly evident today as I approached the campus of Al Fateh
University, Campus B, formerly known as Nasser University. Under the
trees, throughout the lawn as we approached the campus gates, I could
see young men and women talking to each other, talking on cell phones,
walking to and fro, assembled, probably talking about the latest campus
news--whatever that might be. Today, on the Al Fateh campus, life was
teeming. Student life seemed vibrant. This feel and ambiance of this
university was not unlike the hundreds of other universities that I have
visited in the US and around the world. Libyan boys and girls are like
ours. My son would easily fit into the life of this university. The
campus seemed vibrant, too. Cranes everywhere indicated a healthy
building program, adding new buildings to enhance the student learning
environment. Despite the students' fracas, Dean Mansur had everything to
be happy about as he saw his university becoming bigger, better, and
stronger. Her told me that they had even signed an agreement with a
British university to begin programs in the English language. Not
English studies, Dean Mansur emphasized, but an entire curriculum of
study taught in the English language! Of course, he entoned, that's all
disappointingly ended now. Al Fateh University, Campus B consists of
about 10,000 undergraduates, 800 masters degree candidates, and 18 Ph.D.
students; 220 staff, 150 ad hoc professors, 120 employees. It has eight
auditoriums, 19 classrooms, 4 extra large classrooms. It also has a
rural campus at Al Azizia where 700 students are taught and are a part
of the university system. Dean Mansur compares himself to a mayor
because he has so many responsibilities presiding over a large community
of students engaging in a rich and vibrant academic life. Dean Mansur
told me that life at the university and, for him personally, changed
forever on the afternoon of Thursday 9 June, 2011. He recalled that the
university opened as usual around 8:00 am and was to close later that
evening at about 8:00 pm. Thursday, 9 June, he thought, was going to be
just like any other day, except for the fracas over the girls that had
cleared the campus of many of the students who didn't want to have any
part in the fighting. So, outside in the campus parking lot, Dr. Mansur
told me he was preoccupied thinking how he would deal with the
disciplinary issue before him. Then, out of nowhere and all of a sudden,
he heard something loud up in the sky. He said it began out of no where,
a loud roar. Then a frightful high pitched the hissing sound. He said he
looked up into the sky and couldn't hardly believe his eyes: something
shiny up in the sky appeared dancing in front of him. He said it moved
about like an atari game or something. It danced and zig-zagged all over
the sky. He said he was transfixed on the object for what seemed like
minutes but in truth must have only been seconds. Up and down and
sideways it raced in the sky and then, without warning, it just came
crashing down into the ground nearby. It was a NATO missile. Tragically
it had found its target: Al Fateh University, Campus B. Dean Mansur said
he saw one missile, lots of fire, lots of different colors all around
it, and then a huge plume of smoke. He saw one missile, but heard what
seemed like many explosions. He said he now can't honestly say how many.
Dr. Mansur said the force and shock of the blast held him frozen in his
place. He said his heart stopped for a moment. He wasn't afraid, just
frozen. He didn't run away; he didn't cower; he said he just stood
stupefied. The force of the blast cracked thickened concrete wells,
shattered hundreds of windows and brought numerous ceilings down in
lecture halls. Whether it was a wayward Tomahawk Cruise Missile or a
misdirected laser guided bomb, no one knows. His immediate thoughts were
for the thousands of his students in the university and for his own
three children who study there. After about 30 minutes, the Libyan press
came to see what had happened. the University President and other
officials of the school all came. But to Dr. Mansur's surprise not the
international press. And what did they see? The media saw the widespread
structural damage to many of the buildings, all of the windows blown out
in every one of the eight auditoriums. Doors blown off their hinges.
Library in a shambles. Books and debris everywhere. The campus mosque
was damaged. Glass heaped up in piles. Some efforts at cleaning up had
begun. Dr Mansur says that they have kept the university, wherever
practicable, in much the same condition as it was on the day of the
attack. Except that the main classroom area that students work in has
been cleaned and will be renamed the Seif Al-Arab auditorium complex in
memory of Muammar Qaddafi's son murdered on April 30, 2011 in his home
by NATO bombs. On Thursday, NATO missiles. Friday and Saturday are
considered the weekend here. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, the students
are back to school undaunted by the bombing. In many of the classrooms I
saw today, students were taking final exams amid the debris. As I walked
around the campus, one male voice shouted out and spoke to me in Arabic:
"Where's Obama?" Good question I thought. I've always wondered if the
politicians who regularly send our young men and women away to war and
who regularly bomb the poor peoples of the world have ever, themselves,
been on the receiving end of a Cruise Missile attack or placed
themselves and their family at the mercy of a laser guided depleted
uranium bomb. Maybe, just maybe I thought, that if they had experienced
first hand the horror of a NATO attack on a civilian target they might
just stop and question for a minute the need to dispatch our armed
forces to attack the people of Libya. I didn't want to disturb the
students taking exams so I found some students standing outside not
taking exams to talk to. I asked them if they had anything to say to
President Obama. One professor, a woman, spoke up readily and said, "We
are working under fire: physical and psychological." One student spoke
up and said that President Obama should "Free Palestine and leave Libya
alone." He continued, "We are one family." More on that later, but
briefly, every Libyan is a member of a tribe and every tribe governs
itself and selects its leaders; those leaders from all of the tribes
then select their leaders, and so on until there is only one leader of
all of the tribes of Libya. I met that one tribal leader yesterday in
another part of Tripoli and I am told he is the real leader of this
country. He presides over the Tribal Council which constitutes Libya's
real policymakers. So when the young man said "We are one family," that
is actually the truth. Dr. Mansur, trained in the United States and
spoke fondly of his time in the US and the many friends he made there.
He is proud of his students and the richness of his university's
community life. He was just like any University Dean in the United
States. In my view God intervened on Thursday 9 June, 2011. On the day
that the missile struck, not one student was killed. It could so easily
have been different. It could have been a catastrophe taking the lives
of hundreds of teenagers. I am told that in the surrounding area
immediately outside the university others were not so fortunate. Reports
are that there were deaths in the nearby houses. It's a funny thing
about war. Those who cause war become oblivious and removed from its
consequences; they seem happy to inflict harm on others and become numb
to its ill effects while war's victims find a way to normalize the
abnormal and live with the constant threat of death and destruction.
After visiting Tripoli, I remain as opposed to war as ever before. The
students at Al Fateh University continue their studies despite the siege
that their country is under. And oh, that second group of students that
I randomly spoke to? I asked them how much they pay for tuition. They
looked at me with puzzled faces even after the translation. I asked them
how much they pay for their books. Again, the same puzzled face. Tuition
at Al Fateh University is 16 dinars per year--about $9. And due to the
NATO embargo on gasoline imports, the school now has started 10 free bus
lines to its surrounding areas in order to make sure that the students
can get to school, free of charge. I told them that I was about to enter
a Ph.D. program in the US myself and that I needed tuition and book
money costing tens of thousands of dollars. I continued that my cousin
is in debt $100,000 because she went to the schools of her choice and
received a Master's degree. They said to me, "We thank Muammar Qaddafi.
Because of Muammar Qaddafi we have free education. Allah, Muammar, Libya
obes!" Well as for NATO, they still cling to the chimera that their
strikes are against military targets only and that theirs is a
"humanitarian intervention." I'm still waiting to find evidence
somewhere in the world that bombing poor civilian populations of the
Third World from the air is good for their voting rights, democracy,
medical care, education, welfare, national debt, and enhancing personal
income and wealth distribution. It seems clear to me that complex life
issues require more complex intervention than a Cruise Missile could
ever deliver. Here is video of Michel Collon about western wars and the
media lies that accompany them (thanks to Rosemary Tylka for sending
this to me for forwarding): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXFAsz6_W50&feature=player_embedded
It's been a week since we first started passing on the information
coming to us from on the ground in Tripoli, and you can see that the
truth is quite a bit different from the picture being painted by US
media, including by such "progressive" outlets as Democracy Now and
post-coup Pacifica Radio. There are still remaining, however, some free
spaces within Pacifica where the word has been getting out - more on
that within.
Some of the Dignity delegation has returned to the US - our first two
pieces today are interviews conducted here in the US after their return.
First is an interview done yesterday with Dignity delegation member
Dedon Kamathi, a producer for Pacifica Radio's KPFK-FM in Los Angeles.
That interview, by Askia Muhammad, aired on Pacifica's Washington, DC
station WPFW-FM yesterday. You can hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REd_YtUfrio
Next is a piece written by Dignity delegation member Wayne Madsen, a
Washington, DC journalist who specializes in intelligence matter. That
piece, entitled "NATO's 'Alternate Universe' in Libya" begins as
follows:
"The Pentagon and its NATO partners are engaged in one of the most
obvious and intensive propaganda ploys in their military operations
against Libya since the days leading up to the "Coalition of the
Willing" attack on Iraq." The entire piece can be found at http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=627079
I was interviewed by PressTV this past Thursday about the War on Libya,
including the attempt by the US to present it as a NATO, and not
American, enterprise, as well as how the cost of the US wars are
impacting the US economic crisis - that interview can be found at
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/183967.html
I am waiting for some further information about some rather graphic
video I received yesterday from Tripoli; when I receive it, I will post
a link and description of same.
It
is now 1:10 in the afternoon and as the daily life in Tripoli unfolds
that includes teachers, staff, and children at school, shopkeepers
working in their businesses, streetsweepers sweeping the streets, people
moving to and fro in the cars, on bicycles, and on foot, Tripoli has
thus far since around 11:00 up to now, received at least 29 bombs.
Interestingly, the efforts of the Washington Post, New York Times,
Associated Press, and others to portray Libya claims on the bombings as
"absurd" are patently false and are merely efforts to defend in the
court of public opinion, the indefensible bombing of civilians going
about their lives in a heavily populated area. The Washington Post
headlined "Libya government fails to prove claims of NATO casualties"
and the Los Angeles Times headline blared "Libya officials put a spin on
a conflict." These bombs and missiles are not falling in empty spaces:
people are all over Tripoli going about their lives just as in any other
major metropolitan city of about two million people.
Meanwhile, NATO has a spin machine of its own: NATO says it is making
"significant progress" in protecting Libyan civilians. "What we did
target was the military intelligence headquarters in downtown Tripoli,"
the alliance said. I am currently with a delegation of former MP's and
professors from France who are here in Tripoli on a fact-finding
mission. The program for today was to visit the camps of internally
displaced persons in this part of the country. However, we are not able
to complete our program while Tripoli is under attack. I will do my best
to visit some of the areas bombed today when/if this attack lets up.
What were you doing today between 1:00 pm and now? The people of Tripoli
endure the trauma of repeated bombings in their immediate environment.
See video of wounded civilians,
taped in their rooms in El Khadra Hospital in Tripoli, at www.WBAIX.org
Huge
bunker-buster bomb creates
devastating damage in downtown Tripoli.
Saturday, June 25, 2pm National
Black Theatre
125th St. and 5th Avenue.
ALSO SPEAKING: * Akbar
Muhammad, Nation of Islam * Ramsey
Clark, former Attorney General * Viola
Plummer, December 12th Movement * Brian
Becker, ANSWER Coalition
McKinney and the other speakers will shed light
on the devastating impact of the U.S./NATO
bombing of Libya and the extensive civilian
casualties that the White House, Pentagon and
the media have persistently denied. McKinney is
currently on her second trip to Libya during the
NATO bombing. During her time there, she has
visited several hospitals, and has conducted
video interviews with doctors and the wounded.
Under the guise of humanitarian intervention and
protecting civilians, NATO has carried out a
massive bombing of the country in Africa with
the largest oil reserves. McKinney's report
shows how devastating the bombing has been for
civilians in Tripoli and elsewhere.
Other major tour stops include: San Francisco,
Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.
Cynthia
McKinney brought her national tour to Harlem on June 25, 2011 to
discuss the results of her fact-finding mission to Libya earlier
in the month. Speakers include Don DeBar, Viola Plummer, Ramsey
Clark, Brian Becker, Akbar Muhammed and Cynthia McKinney.
Please bring
your friends, family
members, neighbors and
co-workers to the White
House on Saturday July
9, 2011, to demand “Stop
the Bombing of Libya!”
Buses and car caravans
are coming from
New York City,
Boston, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, New Haven and
other cities and towns.
Hundreds of
organizations and
individuals are coming
together to mobilize for
the July 9 demonstration
at the White House,
which was initiated by
the ANSWER Coalition
following the Cynthia
McKinney national
speaking tour titled
“Eyewitness Libya.”
Following the
July 9 protest at the
White House, we will be
mobilizing for a mass
action against the
bombing of Libya taking
place on Saturday,
August 13 in Harlem. The
demonstration is
initiated by the
December 12th Movement
and has the support of a
large number of
organizations. More
details are coming soon.
Contrary to the absurd
argument that the
bombing of Libya does
not constitute a
“hostility,” this is
fierce and illegal war
aimed at carrying out
regime change in the
country that possesses
the largest oil reserves
in Africa and the ninth
largest in the world.
Hundreds of thousands of
people demonstrated in
Tripoli on June 17
against the U.S./NATO
bombing and the terrible
toll it has taken on the
people, economy and
infrastructure of Libya.
Of course, you didn’t
see any coverage of this
huge demonstration in
the corporate media.
That massive outpouring
of humanity undoubtedly
included many people who
have grievances against
the current Libyan
government. But the
people of Tripoli, like
people everywhere, stand
together against bombing
by foreign powers in
pursuit of an imperial
agenda. Libyans want
peace and they must be
free to determine their
own destiny.
The people of the United
States are adding their
voice of opposition on
Saturday, July 9 at the
White House. By a margin
of 2-to-1, the American
people oppose this
illegal and criminal
war. There is no such
thing as a
“humanitarian” cruise
missile. The U.S.
government is spending
$10 million a day
bombing Libya while it
bombs Afghanistan and
still occupies Iraq with
47,000 troops.
In the name of
“protecting civilians”
NATO is killing
civilians—and describing
them as “legitimate
military targets.”
On June 20, for
instance, NATO and the
Pentagon pummeled the
birthday party of a
four-year-old boy with
heavy missiles. They
killed 16 civilians,
including the
four-year-old and his
mom, as well as other
children and their
parents. The
four-year-old was the
grandson of Khweldi el-Hamedi,
an associate of Colonel
Gaddafi who participated
in the 1969 coup that
overthrew the old
monarchy.
NATO is killing the
civilian family members
of the Libyan government
in an attempt to break
the will of those they
have targeted for
destruction and
overthrow. The Pentagon
used the same type of
tactic in the 1991 Iraq
war.
At a time when the U.S.
government says that it
is broke and that tens
of thousands of teachers
and nurses and other
workers are being fired
because of the “budget
crisis,” there seems to
be limitless funds for
war, bombing, invasion
and occupation.
Please join us Saturday,
July 9 at the White
House.
Transportation
centers
have
been
created
in
numerous
cities
to bring
people
by bus,
van and
car
caravan
to to
the
White
House on
Saturday,
July 9,
at noon
to
demand:
Stop
Bombing
Libya!
Find the
transportation
center
nearest
you.
After
more
than 100
consecutive
days of
bombing,
the main
complaint
of the
NATO
bombers
is that
they are
running
out of
missiles
and
bombs.
Join
with
people
from all
over
this
Saturday,
July 9
at
12noon
at the
White
House to
demand
an end
to the
criminal
bombing.
Immediately following the September 11 attacks, the ANSWER Coalition was formed with the goal of building a mass movement to oppose U.S. imperialist policy. Our work depends entirely on your generous donations.
Channel 34 of the Time/Warner & Channel 83 of the
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Cable Television Systems in Manhattan, New York.
The Program can now be viewed on the
internet at time of cable casting at: WWW.MNN.ORG NOTE: You
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