ສິ່ງທີ່ບໍ່ສາມາດເວົ້າໄດ້ໃນການໂຄສະນາຫາສຽງເລືອກຕັ້ງທົ່ວໄປຂອງອັງກິດແມ່ນນີ້. ສາເຫດຂອງຄວາມໂຫດຮ້າຍຂອງ Manchester, ໃນນັ້ນ 22 ຄົນສ່ວນຫຼາຍແມ່ນໄວໜຸ່ມຖືກຂ້າຕາຍໂດຍພວກ jihadist, ໄດ້ຖືກສະກັດກັ້ນເພື່ອປົກປ້ອງຄວາມລັບຂອງນະໂຍບາຍການຕ່າງປະເທດຂອງອັງກິດ.
Critical questions—such as why the security service, MI5, maintained terrorist “assets” in Manchester and why the government did not warn the public of the threat in their midst—remain unanswered, deflected by the promise of an internal “review.”
The alleged suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, was part of an extremist group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), that thrived in Manchester and was cultivated and used by MI5 for more than 20 years.
The LIFG is proscribed by Britain as a terrorist organization which seeks a “hardline Islamic state” in Libya and “is part of the wider global Islamist extremist movement, as inspired by al-Qaida. The “smoking gun” is that when Theresa May was Home Secretary, LFIG jihadists were allowed to travel unhindered across Europe and encouraged to engage in “battle”: first to remove Mu’ammar Gadaffi in Libya, then to join al-Qaida-affiliated groups in Syria.
Last year, the FBI reportedly placed Abedi on a “terrorist watch list” and warned MI5 that his group was looking for a “political target” in Britain.
Why wasn’t he apprehended and the network around him prevented from planning and executing the atrocity on May 22? These questions arise because of an FBI leak that demolished the “lone wolf” spin in the wake of the May 22 attack—thus, the panicky, uncharacteristic outrage directed at Washington from London and Donald Trump’s apology.
ຄວາມໂຫດຮ້າຍຂອງແມນເຊັສເຕີຍົກຫີນຂອງນະໂຍບາຍຕ່າງປະເທດຂອງອັງກິດເພື່ອເປີດເຜີຍພັນທະມິດ Faustian ຂອງຕົນກັບອິດສະລາມທີ່ຮຸນແຮງ, ໂດຍສະເພາະແມ່ນນິກາຍທີ່ເອີ້ນວ່າ Wahhabism ຫຼື Salafism, ເຊິ່ງຜູ້ຮັກສາແລະນາຍທະນາຄານຕົ້ນຕໍແມ່ນອານາຈັກນ້ໍາມັນຂອງ Saudi Arabia, ລູກຄ້າອາວຸດທີ່ໃຫຍ່ທີ່ສຸດຂອງອັງກິດ.
ການແຕ່ງງານຂອງຈັກກະພັດນີ້ໄດ້ບັນລຸກັບຄືນໄປບ່ອນສົງຄາມໂລກຄັ້ງທີສອງແລະຍຸກຕົ້ນຂອງ Muslim Brotherhood ໃນເອຢິບ. ຈຸດປະສົງຂອງນະໂຍບາຍຂອງອັງກິດແມ່ນເພື່ອຢຸດພັກອາຣັບ: ລັດແຂກອາຫລັບພັດທະນາລັດທິໂລກທີ່ທັນສະໄຫມ, ຢືນຢັນຄວາມເປັນເອກະລາດຂອງພວກເຂົາຈາກຈັກກະພັດຕາເວັນຕົກແລະຄວບຄຸມຊັບພະຍາກອນຂອງພວກເຂົາ. ການສ້າງອິດສະຣາເອນທີ່ໂຫດຮ້າຍແມ່ນໝາຍຄວາມວ່າຈະເລັ່ງລັດນີ້. ນິກາຍ Pan-Arabism ໄດ້ຖືກທໍາລາຍ; ເປົ້າຫມາຍໃນປັດຈຸບັນແມ່ນການແບ່ງແຍກແລະການເອົາຊະນະ.
ໃນປີ 2011, ອີງຕາມ Middle East Eye, the LIFG in Manchester were known as the “Manchester boys.” Implacably opposed to Mu’ammar Gadaffi, they were considered high risk and a number were under Home Office control orders—house arrest—when anti- Gadaffi demonstrations broke out in Libya, a country forged from myriad tribal enmities.
ທັນທີທັນໃດຄໍາສັ່ງຄວບຄຸມໄດ້ຖືກຍົກຂຶ້ນມາ. ສະມາຊິກ LIFG ຄົນ ໜຶ່ງ ກ່າວວ່າ "ຂ້ອຍໄດ້ຮັບອະນຸຍາດໃຫ້ໄປ, ບໍ່ມີ ຄຳ ຖາມຫຍັງຖາມ. MI5 ໄດ້ສົ່ງຄືນຫນັງສືຜ່ານແດນຂອງພວກເຂົາແລະຕໍາຫຼວດຕ້ານການກໍ່ການຮ້າຍຢູ່ສະຫນາມບິນ Heathrow ໄດ້ຖືກບອກໃຫ້ໃຫ້ພວກເຂົາຂຶ້ນຖ້ຽວບິນຂອງພວກເຂົາ.
The overthrow of Gaddafi, who controlled Africa’s largest oil reserves, had long been planned in Washington and London. According to French intelligence, the LIFG made several assassination attempts on Gadaffi in the 1990s, bankrolled by British intelligence. In March 2011, France, Britain, and the U.S. seized the opportunity of a “humanitarian intervention” and attacked Libya. They were joined by NATO under cover of a UN resolution to “protect civilians.”
Last September, a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee inquiry concluded that then Prime Minister David Cameron had taken the country to war against Gaddafi on a series of “erroneous assumptions” and that the attack “had led to the rise of Islamic State in North Africa..” The Commons committee quoted what it called Barack Obama’s “pithy” description of Cameron’s role in Libya as a “shit show.” In fact, Obama was a leading actor in the “shit show,” urged on by his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and a media accusing Gaddafi of planning “genocide” against his own people. “We knew… that if we waited one more day,” said Obama, “Benghazi, a city the size of Charlotte, could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world.”
ເລື່ອງການສັງຫານໝູ່ແມ່ນຖືກປະພັນໂດຍພວກຫົວຮຸນແຮງ Salafist ທີ່ປະເຊີນໜ້າກັບຄວາມພ່າຍແພ້ຂອງກຳລັງລັດຖະບານລີບີ. ພວກເຂົາເຈົ້າບອກ Reuters ວ່າຈະມີ "ການນອງເລືອດທີ່ແທ້ຈິງ, ການສັງຫານຫມູ່ດັ່ງທີ່ພວກເຮົາໄດ້ເຫັນຢູ່ໃນ Rwanda." ຄະນະກໍາມະການ Commons ລາຍງານວ່າ, "ຂໍ້ສະເຫນີທີ່ Mu'ammar Gaddafi ຈະສັ່ງໃຫ້ສັງຫານພົນລະເຮືອນໃນ Benghazi ບໍ່ໄດ້ຮັບການສະຫນັບສະຫນູນໂດຍຫຼັກຖານທີ່ມີຢູ່."
Britain, France and the United States effectively destroyed Libya as a modern state. According to its own records, NATO launched 9,700 “strike sorties,” of which more than a third hit civilian targets. They included fragmentation bombs and missiles with uranium warheads. The cities of Misurata and Sirte were carpet-bombed. UNICEF, the UN children’s organization, reported a high proportion of the children killed “were under the age of ten.”
More than “giving rise” to the Islamic State—ISIS had already taken root in the ruins of Iraq following the Blair and Bush invasion in 2003—these ultimate medievalists now had all of north Africa as a base. The attack also triggered a stampede of refugees fleeing to Europe. Cameron was celebrated in Tripoli as a “liberator,” or imagined he was. The crowds cheering him included those secretly supplied and trained by Britain’s SAS and inspired by Islamic State, such as the “Manchester boys. To the Americans and British, Gadaffi’s true crime was his iconoclastic independence and his plan to abandon the petrodollar, a pillar of American imperial power. He had audaciously planned to underwrite a common African currency backed by gold, establish an all-Africa bank and promote economic union among poor countries with prized resources. Whether or not this would have happened, the very notion was intolerable to the U.S. as it prepared to “enter” Africa and bribe African governments with military “partnerships.”
The fallen dictator fled for his life. A Royal Air Force plane spotted his convoy, and in the rubble of Sirte, he was sodomized with a knife by a fanatic described in the news as “a rebel.”
Having plundered Libya’s $30 billion arsenal, the “rebels” advanced south, terrorizing towns and villages. Crossing into sub-Saharan Mali, they destroyed that country’s fragile stability. The ever-eager French sent planes and troops to their former colony “to fight al-Qaida,” or the menace they had helped create.
On October 14, 2011, President Obama announced he was sending special forces troops to Uganda to join the civil war there. In the next few months, U.S. combat troops were sent to South Sudan, Congo and the Central African Republic. With Libya secured, an American invasion of the African continent was under way, largely unreported.
In London, one of the world’s biggest arms fairs was staged by the British government. The buzz in the stands was the “demonstration effect in Libya.” The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a preview entitled “Middle East: A vast market for UK defence and security companies.” The host was the Royal Bank of Scotland, a major investor in cluster bombs, which were used extensively against civilian targets in Libya. The blurb for the bank’s arms party lauded the “unprecedented opportunities for UK defence and security companies.” Last month, Prime Minister Theresa May was in Saudi Arabia, selling more of the £3 billion worth of British arms which the Saudis have used against Yemen. Based in control rooms in Riyadh, British military advisers assist the Saudi bombing raids, which have killed more than 10,000 civilians. There are now clear signs of famine. A Yemeni child dies every 10 minutes from preventable disease, says UNICEF.
ຄວາມໂຫດຮ້າຍຂອງເມືອງແມນເຊັສເຕີໃນວັນທີ 22 ພຶດສະພານີ້ເປັນຜົນຂອງການກໍ່ຄວາມຮຸນແຮງໃນລັດທີ່ບໍ່ຢຸດຢັ້ງຢູ່ບ່ອນຫ່າງໄກສອກຫຼີກ, ສ່ວນຫຼາຍແມ່ນອັງກິດສະໜັບສະໜູນ. ຊີວິດ ແລະຊື່ຂອງຜູ້ເຄາະຮ້າຍແມ່ນເກືອບບໍ່ເຄີຍຮູ້ຈັກກັບພວກເຮົາ.
ຄວາມຈິງນີ້ຍາກທີ່ຈະໄດ້ຍິນ, ຄືກັນກັບມັນຍາກທີ່ຈະໄດ້ຍິນໃນເວລາທີ່ລອນດອນໃຕ້ດິນຖືກລະເບີດໃນວັນທີ 7 ກໍລະກົດ 2005. ບາງຄັ້ງ, ສະມາຊິກສາທາລະນະຈະທໍາລາຍຄວາມງຽບ, ເຊັ່ນຊາວລອນດອນຕາເວັນອອກທີ່ຍ່າງຕໍ່ຫນ້າ CNN. ລູກເຮືອກ້ອງ ແລະນັກຂ່າວຢູ່ກາງທົ່ງ. "ອີຣັກ!" ລາວເວົ້າວ່າ. “ພວກເຮົາບຸກໂຈມຕີອີຣັກ. ພວກເຮົາຄາດຫວັງຫຍັງ? ຕໍ່ໄປ, ເວົ້າມັນ.”
ໃນກອງປະຊຸມສື່ມວນຊົນຂະຫນາດໃຫຍ່ທີ່ຂ້າພະເຈົ້າເຂົ້າຮ່ວມ, ແຂກທີ່ສໍາຄັນຫຼາຍຄົນໄດ້ເວົ້າ "ອີຣັກ" ແລະ "Blair" ເປັນປະເພດຂອງ catharsis ສໍາລັບສິ່ງທີ່ພວກເຂົາບໍ່ກ້າເວົ້າຢ່າງເປັນມືອາຊີບແລະສາທາລະນະ.
Yet, before he invaded Iraq, Blair was warned by the Joint Intelligence Committee that “the threat from al-Qaida will increase at the onset of any military action against Iraq…. The worldwide threat from other Islamist terrorist groups and individuals will increase significantly.”
Just as Blair brought home to Britain the violence of his and George W. Bush’s blood-soaked “shit show,” so David Cameron, supported by Theresa May, compounded his crime in Libya and its horrific aftermath, including those killed and maimed in Manchester Arena on May 22.
The spin is back, not surprisingly: Salman Abedi acted alone, he was a petty criminal. The extensive network revealed by the American leak has vanished. But the questions have not. Why was Abedi able to travel freely through Europe to Libya and back to Manchester only days before he committed his terrible crime? Was Theresa May told by MI5 that the FBI had tracked him as part of an Islamic cell planning to attack a “political target” in Britain?
In the current election campaign, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has made a guarded reference to a “war on terror that has failed.” As he knows, it was never a war on terror, but a war of conquest and subjugation—Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria. Iran is said to be next. Before there is another Manchester, who will have the courage to say that?
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John Pilger is an Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker