Sarkozy, Cameron, Obama, Al-Thani and the suffering of the children of Sirte

The background to the video and image below is the ongoing bombardment of Sirte by NATO aircraft in support of the rebel brigades who are indiscriminately firing tank, mortar and artillery shells into this urban, civilian-populated area. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has refused to comment on why NATO is not fulfilling its UN mandate to ‘protect the civilian population.’

Using bombs inside a densely populated urban area is a war crime, although NATO commanders (such as Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard and Admiral Stavridis) and their friends in the arms industry will claim otherwise.

On Saturday 24th September, according to UK military spokesman Nick Pope, the RAF bombed what it called a “psychological operations centre” which is NATO NewSpeak for an opposition TV or radio station inside Sirte:

On the following day, Sunday 25th September, ‘a formation’ of RAF Tornado GR4s attacked targets within the city:

The horrific video below shows a 1 minute slice of the horror visited upon Sirte, where little children are being mutilated, killed and Libya’s future destroyed in the interests of the war-mongers, the egos of NATO leaders, the profits of arms companies and improved access to Libyan resources.

The footage from Ibn Sina hospital in Sirte is an indictment of the western political class, wedded to militarism and war, funded by arms companies, protected by a war-mongering media and oblivious to the consequences of their policies. Indeed, this video was filmed hot on the heels of Sarkozy and Cameron celebrating the rebel ‘victory’ in Benghazi at the site of the lynchings of black men in that city.

WARNING HORRIFIC VIDEO:

The United Nations reaction to the assault on Sirte shows how dysfunctional this organisation has become. On 7 October 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Ian Martin said in a news release:

“Libya’s revolution is based upon the demand for human rights and dignity,”

“I appeal to all to respect the calls made by the National Transitional Council (NTC) that there should be no revenge even against those responsible for war crimes and other grave violations.”

“This will lay the foundation for national reconciliation and the future unity of the people of Libya.”

Of course, the idea that the Libyan revolution is based on demands for ‘human rights and dignity’ whilst the rebels are in reality engaged in widespread racial atrocities, ethnic cleansing and lynchings of black people is simply Orwellian.

The United Nations must be aware of the report issued on 30 September by Human Rights Watch, (since reinforced with a more thorough report from Amnesty International ) which shows clearly, that the rebellion, rather than marking a new era of respect for human rights, has been instituted a reign of terror in Libya with widespread and documented use of illegal detention, electric shocks and other torture.

The consequences of the NATO bombing have included a reported 100,000 deaths, millions of refugees, a country fragmented into fiefdoms, ruled over by groups of undisciplined mobs fighting one another for power, with millions of people robbed of their basic human rights to security, food, drink, medical care and shelter.

It is so sad that, nearly 30 years after the iconic photograph was taken of Phan Thị Kim Phúc after her village was bombed, a new generation of Western leaders have learnt absolutely nothing.

It remains to be seen if the mainstream media picks up on these images, as it did 30 years ago, or if it has been entirely neutered, as we fear.

Below is an image from the footage:

The crimes against humanity in Libya have required the participation and complicity of a large number of people. But the chief responsibility lies with the political leaders involved in pushing for war and the use of military force at every stage of this conflict: President Barack Obama, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister David Cameron.

The video in this post was first uploaded to YouTube on 9 October and is part of a collection of videos from inside Sirte and Sirte hospital. The image above was taken by HRI from this video.