Arm all the Libyan masses; for a revolutionary workers government based on councils of delegates of workers and militia; down with the imperialist NTC

The imperialist agency, the TNC/NTC, is trying to destroy the Libyan revolution from within. They are trying to set up a Gaddafi regime without Gaddafi. But the first condition for them to do this is for them to disarm the militias. Already the TNC are coming with all sorts of bribes and schemes, offering laptops, money, benefits, with one aim in mind- to disarm the masses.

There is a fundamental difference between the TNC and parties of Social Democracy such as in Germany in the 1930’s. The Social Democracy had a base in the proletariat while the TNC was a direct creation of imperialism, without any base in the working class. Thus the question of a proletarian united front with the TNC could not be seriously posed. In fact the role of the TNC was to save the Gaddafi regime, not combat it. When Gaddafi’s forces were at the gates of Benghazi, it was not obvious that they would win- in fact, the battles for Misrata showed that Gaddafis’ forces could be defeated- the masses in Benghazi had more heavy weaponry and planes available- if they defeated the Gaddafi forces the plan for a ‘no-fly zone’ would have been clearly exposed as an imperialist invasion. The masses, sensing their own strength, would have more strongly have combated the TNC (how could the TNC call for Nato intervention when Gaddafi’s forces were being defeated?). Imperialism did not act to ‘save’ the masses in Benghazi, as some comrades implied. (They would have been happy for a mass slaughter as in the DRC, Rwanda and Syria today). Imperialism acted because they dare not allow the masses to be seen anywhere on the planet as their own agency of revolution. Imperialism intervened to save the Gaddafi regime from the masses (as the independent action and organization of the masses would have destroyed every last vestige of the Gaddafi terror regime. To imply that imperialism acted to save the masses in Benghazi, is to create a new theory that imperialism can , under pressure of the masses, act in a progressive way.

Thus it follows from the TNC being an artificial imperialist agency, without a base in the masses, that the most harsh criticism of it was necessary and every attempt explored to organise independently from it and against it.

There are those who argue that the TNC was a popular front. Then it was necessary to answer what the base was of this popular front. Surely it followed that there was support among the militias for the TNC. The guiding question to combat fascism then follows from this section of the Transitional programme of the Fourth International: ‘… The émigré People’s Front is the most malignant and perfidious variety of all possible People’s Fronts.’…’A merciless exposure of the theory and practice of the People’s Front is therefore the first condition for a revolutionary struggle against fascism.’

In Libya, the imperialists used funding and all manner of political instruments to prop up its TNC to gain control so that it can now begin to disarm the masses and re-establish a capitalist regime. A few arms were given to the masses, and only to the extent to boost the TNC’s profile as combating the Gaddafi regime. The TNC called for a bombing campaign by the imperialist Nato. The TNC hosted imperialist military ‘advisors’ on the ground. Imperialism bombed the anti-Gaddafi militias from time to time and prevented the really weaponry from getting into the hands of the masses; imperialism also prevented the masses from flying the planes they had against the Gaddafi army. Thus the fighting was deliberately dragged out so that the masses would be tired out and weakened. The TNC sent the militia lightly armed and in some cases unarmed to face the heavy weaponry of Gaddafi’s army. Hundreds, if not thousands of the militia members were killed off by the Gaddafi armed forces and mercenaries during this period of deliberate delay. Despite this, some of us still called for a united front with the TNC under the guise of a ‘defence of democracy’, while refusing to call for a single cell to be set up of revolutionary socialists within the militia, nor did they even call to organise a council of delegates of the workers and militias to co-ordinate the fight against the Gaddafi regime. This council could have spearheaded the fight against the TNC as well. As it is, the only structure that was ‘co-ordinating’ the fight against the Gaddafi regime, was the TNC! Was this not a complete break from the fundamentals of the Transitional Programme of the Fourth International?

In other words a consistent, merciless campaign to expose the TNC, its capitalist- anti-worker- anti-immigrant nature, from the time it was created and had little base among the masses, up to the current period, had to be conducted. Lean on the ‘democratic’ TNC and ‘democratic’ imperialist Nato forces against the fascist Gaddafi, the workers and militia were advised by some of us- we will deal with them later, they said. What ever happened to ‘march separately- strike together’?

The Libyan masses captured and killed Gaddafi despite Nato and its TNC. We remember the time when the masses dealt with the dictator Mussolini and hung him from a pole in the middle of Rome. Such was the hatred of the masses for Gaddafi that he was killed on the spot. No doubt, if he had faced a formal workers tribunal, Gaddafi would no doubt have further exposed the deep relation he had with imperialism such as playing host to the CIA rendition prisons. But it is not for us or anyone to dictate to the masses the timetable and form of justice meted out. That imperialism expresses ‘concern’ at the killing of Gaddafi, is more as a reassurance to the other dictators under their thumb, all of whom are increasingly nervous that they may be next. Imperialism could not intervene to save Gaddafi as their agency, the TNC would have been more exposed. As it is, the hold of the TNC is tenuous and it is more important to imperialism to have a agency that can control the masses than risk the overthrow of its main means of keeping the Libyan masses in check.

That the TNC now wants to put on trial those who killed Gaddafi is part of the reassurance by imperialism to its other puppet regimes and to the remaining fragments of the Gaddafi regime that imperialism wants to be part of the ‘new’ capitalist regime. It is part of the campaign by imperialism to disarm the masses- a necessary condition for a capitalist regime to exist. The terror regime of Gaddafi could exist for 42 years because the masses were physically unarmed. The terror regime could exist for 42 years because Stalinism and the world’s left isolated the Libyan masses by portraying Gaddafi as a ‘socialist’.

The TNC is worse than Gaddafi- they are already handing over the oil to imperialism at a far lower rate than even Gaddafi; the TNC has put the masses at the mercy of imperialism; the TNC knows who all the progressive elements in the militia are- they are waging an intense campaign to isolate and disarm the militias.

The allies of the Libyan masses are on strike in Oakland, are occupying Wall street, are on the streets of Egypt against the military dictatorship, are in Greece, Spain, Malawi, Madagascar, South Africa, Botswana, China, Chile, Bolivia, are in Las Heras, in the pampas, in the streets and factories of Buenos Aires, in Japan.

From the armed militias to arming all the masses in Libya!

Expropriate all imperialist assets and the local bourgeoisie without compensation, under workers control!

For councils of delegates of workers (including immigrant workers) and militia!

For revolutionary workers tribunes to try all the remnants of the Gaddafi terror regime.

Open the books on all the terror rendition prisons of the CIA in Libya under Gaddafi; open the books on all the terror deeds of the Gaddafi regime and its links to imperialism!

For a revolutionary workers government based on councils of delegates of workers and militia!

Down with the imperialist agency, the NTC/TNC!

For the refounding of the Fourth International with a section in Libya, in the region and internationally.

From Workers International Vanguard League

South Africa

Affiliate of the International Leninist Trotskyist Fraction (FLTI).

18^th Nov 2011