Democracy demonstrators in Libya are attacked by a mercenary army and bombed by jets. Hundreds of people are killed.
The United Kingdom and Italy have been selling arms to the regime of Muammar al-Gaddafi, even though the dictator has held absolute power for 42 years.
Most European countries condemn the violence apart from Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister of Italy, who says he "didn't want to disturb" Gaddafi.
During the crisis, the United Kingdom Prime Minister, David Cameron, visits Kuwait (another absolute monarchy) with a delegation containing arms dealers. The United Kingdom had already sold £215 million worth of arms including high velocity sniper rifles and tear gas.
The USA condemns the violence on the same day that their unmanned drones kill six people in Pakistan. Many countries call for sanctions to be imposed on Libya but not Italy or the United Kingdom which have extensive business interests in the country.
The United Nations calls for a no-fly zone against Libya. The USA president, Barak Obama, talks about "protecting civilians" from attack. At the same time Yemen and Bahrain are attacking their own civilians. This is given little coverage in UK newspapers and television.
Al-Jazeera stated: "However, the overzealousness of certain Western powers like Britain, France and, as of late, the US, to interpret the resolution as an open-ended use of force, is worrisome. With their long history of interference and hegemony in the region, their political and strategic motivation remains dubious at best. Likewise, their rush to use air force individually or collectively could prove morally reprehensible - even if legally justified - if they further complicate the situation on the ground."
The USA, UK and France bomb Libya. The Western media details the massacres occuring in Libya but ignores similar massacres occurring in Yemen and Bahrain at the same time.
48 people are killed and over 150 wounded from air and missile strikes. The general secreteary of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, states that "What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians." . In addition, Russia, China, and the Latin American Alba bloc condemn the bombings.
The Stop the War Coalition spokesman, Andrew Burgin, warns that the motive of the intervention was regime change, which is illegal under international law: "It looks like they are going way beyond the terms of the UN resolution. The firing of 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles was a declaration of full-scale war on Libya, not just the supposed no-fly zone which we've been presented with. This will result in substantial civilian casualties and may already have."
After a week, The UK, USA and France have used 120 cruise missiles (each costing $750,000) on Libya bombing residential areas as well as military bases.
NATO forces attack the compound of Muammar al-Gaddafi killing his son and other people.
An airstrike on a guest house in the city of Brega kills 11 Islamic clerics and wounds 45 others. The clerics had gathered for a peace march.
It late May France and UK escalate the bombing of Tripoli, the capital of Libya.
According tho the BBC, NATO is "protecting civilians".
In June, France and the UK bomb the compound of Muammar al-Gaddafi for several hours killing many people.
The central administrative complex of the Higher Committee for Children in central Tripoli was bombed with twelve bombs / rockets. The complex housed the National Downs Syndrome Centre, the Crippled Women’s Foundation, the Crippled Children Center, and the National Diabetic Research Center.
A private hotel in central Tripoli was bombed, killing three people.
In late June eight missiles and bombs hit the home of Khaled Al-Hamedi. Fifteen family members and friends were killed including Khaled’s pregnant wife, his sister and three of his children.
On the main road west of Tripoli a public bus with 12 passengers was hit by a missile killing all the passengers.
In early August, NATO air missiles hit a children's hospital in Zlitan, killing 85 people including 32 women and 33 children. No coverage is shown in the UK media.
Muammar al-Gaddafi is killed in Sirte by rebel groups after an air strike initiated, organized, coordinated and led by NATO and UK SAS forces.
The justification for the entire campaign, the charge that Gaddafi was engaged in a “massacre” of his own people, has since been shown to be based on falsehoods, misrepresentations, and undocumented allegations.
Libya (which had no debt) is encouraged by the conquerers to borrow money to rebuild its infrastructure, destroyed by the West.
