By the Editor.

The finishing touches are being added to the myth of the Libya war. A barrage of propaganda is convincing the world that the war is almost over. Amid the chaos Western oil giants pounce, foreshadowing a protracted and bloody civil war, and a foreign occupation in the guise of a ‘peacekeeping’ force.

Conventional wisdom has it that events in Libya are the result of an indigenous uprising that has organically risen from the soils of Libya. We are meant to believe that the ‘rebels’ are an independent force finally seeking freedom from a 42-year dictatorship under Muammar Gaddafi.

From the outset, this is the narrative that has been pushed by a concerted global corporate media campaign, and it is a completely false one. This myth has allowed NATO to bombard Libyan infrastructure, soldiers, and civilian volunteers who have taken up arms to defend themselves from foreign invasion.

In the last few days, this myth has culminated in a brazen psychological warfare operation mounted in tandem with a NATO attack on Tripoli, aimed at crushing the Libyan Resistance once and for all.

Demolishing the ‘revolution’ myth

From the very beginning, the Pakistan Observer reported that on the night of February 22/23, British, American, and French military personnel were landed in Benghazi and Tobruk via boat from NATO warships anchored off the Libyan coast. The Indian Navy also sent its largest warship – the INS Jalashwa (formerly the USS Trenton – delivered to India by the U.S. four years previously). These troops set up military bases in Libya from which they could train and direct the disorganised, untrained ‘rebel’ forces.

From early March, reports of British troops on the ground in Libya saturated the press. The British government refused to comment on its special forces presence in Libya, but admitted to the presence of a military advisory team.

Amid the British, French, American, and Israeli military and intelligence personnel directing the ‘rebels’, a Libyan CIA asset returned to Libya to take a commanding post. In mid March, Khalifa Haftar returned to Libya from his comfortable home in Vienna, Virginia – where he had lived for 20 years – 5 miles from Langley, CIA Headquarters.

NATO’s cowardly and bloody air war

What followed was a cowardly military campaign wherein NATO jets and drones destroyed Libyan air defences, and simply levelled anything in the rebels’ path. Weeks after the onset of the NATO bombing in mid March and after negligible military progress, British and French attack helicopters entered the fray, further tipping the balance in favour of the ‘rebels’. Libyan Army soldiers, many who were teenage conscripts, as well as civilian volunteers, were torn to shreds as Apache helicopters and jets attacked ‘Gaddafi troop concentrations’.

After 5 months of intense NATO aerial bombardment, the ‘rebels’ were still unable to achieve any lasting strategic victories. More importantly the Libyan people, especially in Tripoli, had become galvanised and staunch in their unity against NATO, against the rebels, and in solidarity with Col. Gaddafi.

Operation Mermaid Dawn: Smoke, Mirrors, and Blood

Knowing that the ‘rebels’ had no chance whatsoever against the popular will of Libya, NATO resorted to the only tactic that could work: psychological warfare partnered with a cowardly blitzkrieg of Tripoli, accommodating a ground advance into the capital.

On Saturday 20 August at 20:00 – just after the Iftar, the breaking of the Ramadan fast – NATO’s Operation Mermaid Dawn went into action. The Mosque loudspeakers of Tripoli were used to signal dormant ‘sleeper cells’ of rebels. In several small groups, these armed rebels carried out multiple attacks. The fighting overnight left 350 dead, over 3,000 wounded, and was intended to cause panic amongst the Libyan Resistance. Thierry Meyssan reports that fighting subsided during the day of Sunday 21 August, until phase II of NATO’s final push began.

A NATO ship docked at Tripoli, and unloaded heavy weaponry as well as Qatari troops and rebel forces. NATO’s cowardly modus operandi continued as Apache helicopters strafed Libyans in the streets in order to clear the way for the rebels. Bombing was stepped up on Tripoli in order to terrorise the Libyan resistance and increase the likelihood of rebel success. Over 1,300 were killed within a 10 hour period on Sunday night.

Independent journalists Mahdi Nazemroaya and Don DeBar, citing sources in Tripoli, both report the presence of Qatari troops, several of whom have been killed in the fighting. Nazemroaya also reports CNN journalists threatening independent journalists, warning that they would be killed if they mentioned the rebels’ al Qaeda links.

Further, Thierry Meyssan reports the presence of CIA & MI6 spies in the Tripoli Rixos hotel, who are masquerading as journalists.

The corporate-Zionist media dutifully played its role in the psychological warfare operation, ensuring the world was oblivious to the reality on the ground. Across the spectrum, reports flowed in of people ‘flooding the streets’ and celebrating as the rebels rolled in to Tripoli meeting little resistance. The truth of the matter was that Tripoli was suffering a lethal and intense NATO bombardment with hundreds upon hundreds being killed in a matter of hours. In tandem with this, Qatari troops and rebel forces advanced under the shadows of NATO bombs and bullets – the whole operation coordinated by Western intelligence.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera went to extreme lengths to attempt to psychologically cow the Libyan people. On the morning of August 22 they orchestrated an elaborate hoax. Al Jazeera Arabic screened footage of rebels celebrating in Green Square, that was actually filmed in a studio replica of the square in Doha, Qatar. The fraudulent images made their way across the global corporate media, but Libyan intelligence had learned of this plot two days prior to the event, and had already warned the Libyan people via State TV.

As part of the psychological warfare operation, even the ICC got involved in telling barefaced lies. The ICC confirmed that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi had been captured, and this in fact turned out to be a complete fabrication intended to cow the Libyan Resistance into submission. Matthew Chance, a senior CNN correspondent subsequently had a face-to-face meeting with Saif al-Islam, and even took a photo.

In the following RT report you will see Saif al-Islam Gaddafi parading the streets of Tripoli. Furthermore, Lizzie Phelan’s report puts paid to the thrust of NATO’s psychological warfare – the lies that the Resistance is ‘crumbling’, and rebels are in control of most of Tripoli:

And now, in what is perhaps one of the central objectives of the psychological warfare being waged in the media, Western oil giants have begun to pounce. The global corporate media tells the world that the war in Libya is as good as over. In reality, Libya is now entering a period of protracted civil war as the Libyan Resistance refuses to submit to the foreign invaders and their proxies. A violent foreign occupation, already predicted for October 2011, also seems imminent, and has already been called for by the President of the Council on Foreign Relations. Amid the chaos and confusion, Libya’s most precious national asset is already being stolen and divvied up, and you can expect its gold to follow.