STWC: Gaddafi overthrow 'not end of war in Libya'

The fall of the Gadaffi regime in Libya marks yet another turning point in a truly remarkable year in the Middle East, but it is “not the end of the story,” Britain's biggest peace group network said Tuesday.     Gaddafi overthrow 'not end of war in Libya,' says STWC “The experience of Iraq teaches that the overthrow of a regime under such circumstances by no means signifies the end of the war,” Stop the War Coalition (STWC) said. “Whatever happens, the deep divisions within Libyan society remain. Likewise, given that the TNC (National Transitional Council) is an amalgam of forces,” SWTC said. It suggested that the NTC may have “neither the capacity to resolve existing differences nor the ability to prevent the emergence of new ones, within its own ranks. ”Whether those who have supported Gadaffi will meekly accept the authority of a new government imposed under such circumstances is open to question,” it also said in a statement on the latest development in Libya. STWC was set up at the start of the so-called war on terror, opposing the US-led military intervention in Afghanistan and subsequent invasion of Iraq. In Libya, the statement said Nato's intervention has not been for idealistic values but was “about regime change, so that a leader more acceptable to western governments and business could replace Gadaffi.” “Right to the end, Nato was bent on a military victory and bringing the Transitional National Council to power in Libya by force of arms.” “All proposals for talks to achieve a political solution – whether from within Libya or outside - have been brushed aside,” it said. From an international point of view, STWC said the most significant thing is that the government of another Arab state has been “changed by external force applied by the big imperial powers.” “There is no real suggestion that the TNC could have come to power unaided. The NATO military intervention, stretching beyond breaking point the mandate given by the United Nations, has been decisive,” it said. The peace campaign group also referred to the victory by the rebels in Libya as heralding “the rehabilitation of a discredited doctrine - that of 'humanitarian intervention' -- after the debacle of Iraq and Afghanistan.” “The defeat of Gadaffi is now being used to justify military action on the grounds that it has helped the Arab revolutions,” it said. 'The danger, it suggested, was that “even a passing 'success' in Libya may embolden the US, British and French governments to believe that the idea of 'liberal interventionism', discredited after Iraq, can be revived on a broader scale.” STWC said that the main demand must be to “end all forms of Nato interference in Libya – not just the end of the bombing, but the withdrawal of special forces and a halt to all forms of political interference.” “The only solution to the crisis in Libya will have to be a Libyan solution. Recent history, from Iraq to Afghanistan, teaches that too,” it said.