You know I have to wonder if Americans know anything about Libya at all. There are many from other countries that don’t seem to know much about it either, I am afraid.
Comments on different news sites tell me how mislead many are. One of the most predominant comments is now Libya will come out of the Dark Ages.
Well I am not sure what dark ages they are talking about as Libya was quite advanced.
NATO has blown them back to the dark ages,
So take a tour of Libya with me and see how things were before US/NATO intervention and tell me if they lived in the Dark Ages.
Videos of how Libya was before the invasion are below. Definitely they did not live in the dark ages.
Before we start the tour there are a few things you need to know however. (Under the horrible Dictatorship of Gadhafi – Before NATO destroyed the Libya he had built up. ed)
1. There was no electricity bill in Libya; electricity was free for all its citizens.
2. There was no interest on loans, banks in Libya were state-owned and loans were given to all its citizens at zero percent interest by law.
3. Having a home was considered a human right in Libya.
4. All newlyweds in Libya received $60,000 dinar (U.S.$50,000) by the government to buy their first apartment so to help start up the family.
5. Education and medical treatments were free in Libya. Before Gaddafi only 25 percent of Libyans were literate. Today, the figure is 83 percent.
6. Should Libyans want to take up farming career, they would receive farming land, a farming house, equipments, seeds and livestock to kickstart their farms - all for free.
7. If Libyans could not find the education or medical facilities they needed, the government funded them to go abroad, for it was not only paid for, but they got a U.S.$2,300/month for accommodation and car allowance.
8. If a Libyan bought a car, the government subsidized 50 percent of the price.
9. The price of petrol in Libya was $0.14 per liter.
10. Libya had no external debt and its reserves amounting to $150 billion are now frozen globally.
11. If a Libyan was unable to get employment after graduation, the state would pay the average salary of the profession, as if he or she were employed, until employment is found.
12. A portion of every Libyan oil sale was credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.
13. A mother who gave birth to a child received U.S.$5,000.
14. 40 loaves of bread in Libya cost $0.15.
15. 25 percent of Libyans have a university degree.
16. Gaddafi carried out the world’s largest irrigation project, known as the Great Manmade River project, to make water readily available throughout the desert country.
17 Women’s Rights: Under Gaddafi, gender discrimination was officially banned and the literacy rate for women climbed to 83 per cent. The rights of Black’s were also improved.
To add to problems now facing those in Libya are the tons of DU dropped on them by US/NATO forces.
There was no DU before to make people sick, so now there will be numerous health problems never before seen in Libya.
1. Libya is Africa’s largest exporter of oil, 1.7 million tons a day,
which quickly was reduced to 300-400,000 ton due to US-NATO bombing.
Libya exports 80% of its oil: 80% of that to several EU lands (32% Italy, 14% Germany, 10% France); 10% China; 5% USA.
2. Gaddafi had been preparing to launch a gold dinar for oil trade with all of Africa’s 200 million people and other countries interested.
French President Nickola Sarkozi called this, “a threat for financial security of mankind”.
Much of France’s wealth—more than any other colonial-imperialist power—comes from exploiting Africa.
3. Central Bank of Libya was 100% owned by state (since 1956) and is thus outside of multinational corporation control (BIS-Banking International Settlement rules for private interests).
The state can finance its own projects and do so without interest rates
4. Gaddafi-Central Bank used $33 billion, without interest rates, to build the Great Man-Made River of 3,750 kilometers with three parallel pipelines running oil, gas and water, supplying 70% of the people (4.5 of its 6 million) with clean drinking and irrigation water.
5. The Central Bank also financed Africa’s first communication satellite with $300 million of the $377 cost. It started up for all Africa, December 26, 2007, thus saving the 45-African nations an annual fee of $500 million pocketed by Europe for use of its satellites and this means much less cost for telephones and other communication systems.
Some of the numbers above vary a bit from web site to web site but all are relatively close.
Great Man made River Project Libya Absolutely Amazing
The Great Man-Made River is a network of pipes that supplies water from the Sahara Desert in Libya, from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System fossil aquifer. Some sources cite it as the largest engineering project ever undertaken.
The Guinness World Records 2008 book has acknowledged this as the world’s largest irrigation project.
According to its website, it is the largest underground network of pipes and aqueducts in the world. It consists of more than 1300 wells, most more than 500 m deep, and supplies 6,500,000 m³ of freshwater per day to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirt and elsewhere. Muammar al-Gaddafi has described it as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.
Great Man Made River Project Libya
Libya – Great Man Made River Project
Libya Telecom and Technology (LTT)
Libyan Farm–This is about half an hour driving from Tripoli,
Libya Footage
Libya footage II
Libya footage II.V
Libya Footage III
Photos around Tripoli, Libya
1. “Severan Arch, Leptis Magna”
2. “All roads lead to …”
3. “Detail of Severan Arch, Leptis Magna”
4. “Oration, Leptis Magna”
5. “Arches, Leptis Magna”
6. “Carved marble Leptis Magna”
7. “Detail on marble column, Leptis Magna”
8. “Doorways, Leptis Magna”
9. “Forest of columns Leptis Magna”
10. “Front terrace Villa Silin”
11. “Gargoyles on arches, Leptis Magna”
12. “Granite columns Leptis Magna”
13. “Leptis Magna”
14. “Majestic columns, Leptis Magna”
15. “Grave, Leptis Magna”
16. “Check the surf, Villa Silin”
17. “Market Leptis Magna”
18. “Market place Leptis Magna”
19. “Modern meets ancient”
20. “Tumbling into the ocean, Leptis Magna”
21. “Statues”
22. “The Latrines”
23. “View to the ocean Leptis Magna”
24. “Gum tree, Leptis Magna”
Photos from Libya
The Green Mountain of Libya
Libya as you never seen it
Libya Tourist Attractions
Libya’s beautiful beaches
Tripoli, Libya
Visit to Tripoli/Libya A walk about.
Libya 2009
Pro Gaddafi Rally in Benghaziin May 2011
Massive Anti-NATO-Rebel Demonstrations in Tripoli, July 1, 2011 1.5 million people were at this rally.
Translation of Gaddafi speech today, translation by Karim Budabuss:
The leader is talking now. He is saying that this is a historical day, and he is challenging Sarkozy, Cameron and Obama to switch on their TVs and watch the crowds and he is saying that they will find out that they are delusional because they entered a war which they never win, he also says if you continue targeting our houses we can do the same coz Europe is not far away but he said lets not do this and watch the crowds , kids and women.
They are not here because I ordered them to, it is they are free will. in this war you are not facing me, you are facing these crowds. I am nothing, if you want peace with Libyans, it is up to the crowds.
If you want any thing , negotiate with the crowds. The regime is not Gaddafi regime, it is a Libyan regime . Even if many got scared, defected and escaped, the Libyans will remain, and each coward will be replaced with a hero.
Is it a democracy to bomb the civilians, we don’t want a democracy which comes with bombs. The socialist Jamahyria will win, the real democracy which serves the people. I advice you to stop bombing, and stop becoming mercenaries for some rebels.
The Libyans said their words, they marched, their tribes made it clear that the future is for Libyans, the oil is for Libya, Libya is ours. You are delusional, a group of traitors convinced you that Libya is easy to get, you hired mercenaries , propaganda, psychological war all that didn’t allow you to make any progress on the ground.
Turn on your TVs and watch the longest Libyan flag 4.5 km, I didn’t make this flag, people donated to make this flag. Those rebels are no different from who betrayed Libyan during the Italian invasion.
Libyan people go in millions without weapons to liberate the regions under rebel control. You Libyan people are the only one who can finish this war with a victory. If they want to negotiate we welcome that, otherwise we are continuing and they are definitely losing no matter how many weapons they drop with parachute to the rebels.
We will not betray our history nor our children and their future. The glory is for you brave Libyans, the struggle will continue. (end of speech)
Tens of millions of us who care about humanity protested to prevent the Bush regime from getting the coalition it sought to attack Iraq; much of the world was convinced the U.S. was not invading to “save” Iraqis but to advance its own imperial agenda. Our actions did contribute to this loss of legitimacy as the United States military ran into deep geopolitical difficulties in the region (remember, Bush and Cheney planned to sweep through Iraq as a gateway to dominating the rest of the region, including Iran, a strategy that has, shall we say, not gone well.)