McCain-Hillary in 2009: Libya is “An Important Ally in the War on Terrorism”, Gaddafi is “a Peacemaker in Africa”

Senator John McCain, former candidate of the Republican right to the latest U.S. presidential elections, went on a mission in Benghazi, where he called for Washington to recognize the transitional national council as the legitimate government of Libya, helping it to overthrow Qadhafi. Short memory. Just twenty months ago, August 14, 2009, the same McCain met Muammar Qadhafi in Tripoli, praising him for “his role as peacemaker in Africa”.

The delegation led by McCain included three other senators; the Libyan one was composed of Muammar Qadhafi, his son Moutassim (who, as a national security adviser, had met in Washington, in April, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton), and three senior officials. The U.S. side called Libya “an important ally in the war on terrorism”, stressing that “common enemies make better friends”. The Libyan side reiterated the request for “security assurances from the United States” in exchange for Tripoli’s decision to give up weapons of mass destruction. Muammar Qadhafi commented that “friendship was better for the people of both countries” and expressed “his desire to see the relationship flourish”. McCain described the “bilateral military relationship as strong” and pointed to “Libyan officer training at U.S. Command, Staff, and War colleges as some of the best programs for Libyan military participation”.

Just twenty months later, in Benghazi, Senator McCain met with Mustafa Abdul Jalil and other former chiefs of the Libyan government, who now seek to overthrow Qadhafi. But something has not changed: the real purpose of McCain.

The Senator is supporter of big U.S. oil companies: ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and others. Only in the Senator’s election campaign they made “donations” of millions of dollars. In return, McCain supported their request to increase offshore drilling and proposed to reduce taxes on oil companies, making them earn billions of dollars. Funds given by Chevron were used to establish the International Republican Institute, whose chairman is McCain, with the mission of «promoting democracy», in fact paving the way for U.S. companies in oil-rich countries. So far, especially in Iraq, whose invasion was strongly sponsored by McCain in 2003. Same story and same stake today in Libya.


Comment on Global Research Articles on our Facebook page

Become a Member of Global Research


Articles by: Manlio Dinucci

About the author:

Manlio Dinucci est géographe et journaliste. Il a une chronique hebdomadaire “L’art de la guerre” au quotidien italien il manifesto. Parmi ses derniers livres: Geocommunity (en trois tomes) Ed. Zanichelli 2013; Geolaboratorio, Ed. Zanichelli 2014;Se dici guerra…, Ed. Kappa Vu 2014.

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]