Twenty-two facts you may not have known about the 'liberation' of Libya by the US/UK/NATO
Before the attack on Libya:
1. There is no electricity bill in Libya; electricity is free for all its citizens.
2. There is no interest on loans, banks in Libya are state-owned and loans given to all its citizens at zero per cent interest, by law.
3. Having a home is considered a human right in Libya.
4. All newly-weds in Libya receive $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 are free in Libya. Before Gaddafi only 25 per cent of Libyans were literate. Today, the figure is 83 per cent.
6. Should Libyans want to take up a farming career, they would receive farming land, a farm house, equipment, seeds and livestock to kick-start their farms - are all for free.
7. If Libyans cannot find the education or medical facilities they need, the government funds them to go abroad, for it is not only paid for, but they get a U.S.$2,300/month for accommodation and car allowance.
8. If a Libyan buys a car, the government subsidises 50 per cent of the price.
9. The price of petrol in Libya is $0.14 per litre.
10. Libya has no external debt. Its reserves amounting to $150 billion are now frozen globally.
11. If a Libyan is unable to get employment after graduation the state would pay the average salary of the profession, as if he or she is employed, until employment is found.
12. A portion of every Libyan oil sale is credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.
13. A mother who gives birth to a child receives U.S.$5,000.
14. 40 loaves of bread in Libya costs $0.15.
15. 25 per cent 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 blacks were also improved.
18. To add to problems now facing those in Libya are the tons of Depleted Uranium dropped on them by US/NATO forces. There was no Depleted Uranium before to make people sick, so now there will be numerous health problems never before seen in Libya.
19. Libya is Africa's largest exporter of oil, 1.7 million tons a day, which quickly was reduced to 300-400,000 tons 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.
20. Central Bank of Libya is 100% owned by the 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 does so without interest rates.
21. Gaddafi-Central Bank used $33 billion, without interest rates, to build the Great Manmade River of 3,750 kilometres with three parallel pipelines running oil, gas and water supplying 70% of the people (4.5m of its 6m) with clean drinking and irrigation water.
22. The Central Bank of Libya also financed Africa's first communication satellite with $300 million of the $377 cost. It started up for all Africa, on December 2007, thus saving the 45 African nations an annual fee of $500 million pocketed by Europe for use of its satellites - and this meant much less cost for telephones and other communication systems.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Libya had no external debt whatsoever under Gaddafi's rule. Yet, the country's reserves amounting to $150 billion were globally frozen. Why?
The Central Bank of Libya was 100% owned by the state since 1956, and thus outside of multinational corporation control (BIS - Banking International Settlement rules for private interests). The state of Libya could easily finance its own projects and, what's more, did so, without interest rates. Yes, that's right: loans were given to all citizens at zero per cent interest.
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 Nicolas Sarkozy 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. All of a sudden Europe could no longer afford Africa... of course this could not be allowed.
And let's compare the situation with another recent invasion under the US/UK belt. Saddam Hussein's Iraq didn't have any external debt. American/European banks were desperate for Hussein to take out enormous loans at colossal interest rates (in return for huge hand-outs to him personally, if necessary for agreeing to the loans) so the country would be engulfed by debt and thus the US/European banks would have control of Iraq by holding its purse strings.
When Hussein refused, an assassination attempt was made, which also failed... which eventually led to the invasion. The West was adamant to get at him by any means and the only way open was to stage a situation where Iraq was a 'security threat through possessing weapons of mass destruction', which turned out to be a load of cobblers.
Can we spot any similarity with Colonel Gaddafi's Libya here? That's not even discussing the $150 billion global investments by Libya frozen by the cash-starved nations leading 'operation liberation'.
Where is the oppression from which the people had to be liberated?