by An Driaghneán Donn Fri Nov 11, 2011 18:42

It will also be important to ask if gifts of hundreds of thousands of euro for the overthrowing of foreign governments are to be considered tax free in the 26 counties.  Does the SWP have a position on this question?

by An Draighneán Donn Sat Nov 12, 2011 03:39

It is good to see that we can now discuss this matter.  many of us have been amazed at the support of the SWP for the Nato rebels - particularly given Trotsky's resolute words on the issue of imperialism.

It's difficult to think that the presence of a CIA asset in the AWM, who had access to hundreds of thousands of euro in CIA funds, did not have a determining influence on the SWP's disasterous support for the imperialist invasion of Libya.

by Felix Quigley - www.isill.blogspot.com Sat Nov 12, 2011 10:39

Yes, please, let's have a really full discussion of this Libya issue inside the left in Ireland

by jus' curious Sun Nov 13, 2011 07:39

did the SWP/IAWM really support NATO in Libya or just support the Libyan rebels? there is a difference in the two positions.

by An Draighneán Donn Sun Nov 13, 2011 08:53

There was never any separation between the "rebels" and Nato.  So, it was never possible to support one without the other.  Nato and Qatar have been planning and funding these rebel groups for decades.  That funding and armed support had become very intense in the last two years.  We should not forget that this is the second "Arab Spring."  The first one was a series of fake "democratic" uprisings against the Ottoman empire after WW1, funded and armed by Britain and the USA, with the sole intention of replacing the Ottoman empire with a series of Anglo-Saxon puppet states, who would turn over their oil to Anglo-American oil companies.

by An Draighneán Donn Mon Nov 14, 2011 09:01

This video gives some idea of what al-Harati and his fellow Nato rats did in Sirte: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBKRba7HSmk&feature=related

by Oxygenation Mon Nov 14, 2011 09:52

I haven't come across anyting linking al-Harati to the SWP other than the suggestion made here and that appears pretty tenuous at best and to further extrapolate that that tenuous link points to the SWP being somehow linked to the CIA is ridiculously far-fetched. In reference to his appearance at demo's etc, that is not evidence of anything afaics. A case of 2+2=5 and 6,7,8 as well. Don't let that get in the way of a opportunity to have a go at the SWP. If you want an example of articles from the SWP on the Libyan situation I have listed a couple of links below.

http://www.swp.ie/reviews/12-reasons-oppose-air-strikes.../4208

http://www.swp.ie/editorial/usa-hands-libyan-revolution.../4177

http://www.swp.ie/editorial/libya-and-western-plan-chok.../4213

http://www.swp.org.uk/video/25/02/2011/thousands-protes...bassy

http://www.manchesterswp.org/2011/04/why-we-oppose-inte....html

by joe Tue Nov 15, 2011 17:01

This week’s Sunday World reported that its website monitors had been “stunned” to see the huge hit rate in the middle of last week in response to the paper’s revelation of Mahdi al-Harati’s role as a CIA asset .
“Last week, our on-line site was inundated by 2,500 visits from Libya, more than 90 per cent of which were new visits. Bizarrely, hundreds also logged on for the first time from Tunisia, Germany and as far afield as Canada and Australia."

The news about the CIA agent doesn’t seem to have reached the SWP’s headquarters in Henrietta Street yet or the steering committee of the IAWM – a body on which the SWP has several leading members .The political implication of Ireland’s largest anti-war group calling on the government to support the NATO-backed LNC during the Libyan War should have been enough to raise serious questions about the IAWM’s role as any sort of an anti-war group . The fact that that the group has to date issued no statement about its prominent supporter displays a contemptuous disregard for the security –to say nothing about the future credibility- of its own members and supporters..

On March 28 the IAWM distributed a leaflet in support of the Libyan National Council which said that , if NATO seriously wanted to help the “rebels “ they could have :
”Sent arms directly to the rebels and dispatched anti-aircraft weaponry dropped weaponry and supplies to the rebels
Offered medical help and followed the example of many Libyan doctors in exile who hastened home to offer help to the injured.
United in recognising the Benghazi based National Council as the legitimate government of Libya.”

The CIA bag-man Mahdi al-Harati had until October 11 been the commander of the Qatari-trained Tripoli brigade , the NTC-aligned body that , under the protection of NATO air cover ,overwhelmed pro-Gaddafy forces in Libya’s capital last August .
A check of the IAWM’s website shows that ,in the period between its March statement endorsing the so-called rebels and a statement issued in August at the time of the siege of Tripoli there were no official communications from the IAWM regarding the terrible events taking place in Libya. There were no press releases , no meetings called , no protests or demonstrations in support of Libyan national rights or against NATO/NTC atrocities . Above all there was no mention of Mahdi al-Harati. During these five months there had been numerous reports of LNC forces committing the vilest acts - including the lynching of black people in areas that fell under their control. The NTC’s own website had since March been calling for , and had already by August received , massive amounts of aerial support from Nato war planes . There were many reports of the NTC working on the ground in close collaboration with NATO special forces such as the SAS . All through this period the IAWM stood by its statement in support for the “rebels” , ignoring several calls to reconsider its position .

Rather than admit that the NTC was a NATO set-up , the IAWM produced another statement , on August 28, at the end of the siege of Tripoli , in which it welcomed “ the impending demise of the corrupt and despotic Gadaffi regime “ . This same statement only “questioned” the democratic credentials of the National Transitional Council (NTC). claiming , “ we know little about the nature of the Transitional National Council “.This was despite the fact that five months previously the same anti-war organization had been advising Western governments that genuine support for he TNC would involve supplying them with weapons and handing them over billions of dollars from frozen Libyan funds.
In one striking paragraph , the IAWM statement maintains the fiction of NATO military support for the “Libyan people” , identifies the latter with the Nato-directed NTC lynch-mobs ,insinuates that healthy elements exist within the TNC –ones that have not been “selected” by Nato ; and even goes so far as to imply that there may be some long-term benefit for the “Libyan people “way down the list”

. “ It is clear that western leaders will be seeking a payback from the Libyan people for their military support. Negotiations with selected people in the TNC will be happening now and the long term benefit of the Libyan people will be way down the list.”

SWP supporters posting to this and other threads seem to be claiming that none of this concerns the SWP , but they should surely be aware of the amount of influence that the political party has on the IAWM . They should try to understand the concerns of long-standimg opponents of imperialist war at the IAWM’s capitulation to a NATO-controlled force . The IAWM site gave the SWP’s Eamon McCann space to argue in an article at the end of last month that there may have been “mitigating circumstances” for the brutal way in which Gaddaffy was murdered by the LNC in what the columnist calls “ liberated Libya”.

“It may be a mitigating circumstance that the maiming and killing wasn't done in cold blood, but by fighters who had come through a welter of danger and may have been seized by frenzy at having Gaddafi in their clutches at last - unlike the controlled circumstances of the torture perpetrated by Gaddafi's goons on prisoners in bunkers far out of sight of television cameras.”

by Amused Thu Nov 17, 2011 22:01

Seeing that the dictator Gadaffi, like Trotsyism and communism, is dead and his regime lost the revolution, isn't it nearly time to stop moaning about a foreign war. 

In all honesty, who cares if some Libyan was paid by the CIA apart from the < 0.1% of the population that are in any of the SWP, SP, IAWM or ULA.

The rest of us have the budget and Christmas bills to worry about.

by joe Thu Nov 17, 2011 22:36

.........the < 0.1% of the population that are in any of the SWP, SP, IAWM or ULA don't seem to care either judging by the responses here.

by Joe Sat Nov 19, 2011 14:03

This is the text of an email I sent to the IAWM last week. I still haven't had any reply , but willl notify readers of this site if there is any change in that situation.

Hello,

Would you please read this indymedia article and respond asap . It concerns the report in last week’s Sunday World about Mahdi al-Harati.and his funding by the CIA. Below find a copy of what the article says .

Joe

 CIA asset , Mahdi al-Harati

Need for statement from IAWM and IPSC

Mahdi al-Harati , a Dublin-based Libyan who has been prominent at IAWM and ISPC demos for a number of years ,was outed as a CIA asset by the Sunday World last week after his home was robbed and a large quantity of CIA cash stolen from a cupboard there.

Neither the SWP , the IAWM nor the IPSC  have to date released statements about what they know of the role of the Irish /Libyan ,Mahdi al-Harati ,who led the rebel ground forces  that captured Tripoli for NATO  in August .A front page story in the Sunday World last weekend about a robbery  at Mahdi al-Harati’s Dublin home revealed that the so-called rebel Libyan commander had been in receipt of hundreds of thousands of euros from the CIA .

http://www.sundayworld.com/columnists/index.php

“[After the robbery], astonished officers made contact with Mahdi al-Harati who told them that he had travelled to France, the United States and Qatar the previous month and that representatives of an American intelligence agency had given him a significant amount of money to help in the efforts to defeat Gaddafi. He said he left two envelopes with his wife in case he was killed and took the rest of the cash with him when he went back to Libya.”

Mahdi al-Harati has been  well-known in antiwar and Palestine solidarity circles in Dublin over the years . He had been a passenger in the Challenger 1 ship last year when it attempted to break the seige of Gaza as part of the Free Gaza  Flotilla . He was the last Irish member of the flotilla to arrive home after the Israeli raid and was given a hero’s reception at Dublin Airport by members of the IPSC and the IAWM . According to an indymedia comment from last year written by Kev from the IPSC :

“Freda Hughes of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign welcomed his safe return and saluted his bravery: "Al Mahdi, like all of the Freedom Flotilla participants, is deserving of our praise for his courage in attempting to break the illegal siege of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged people there. We are all relieved that he is safely back in Ireland. We hope that his family, who we know were extremely worried about his health, can rest easy now and celebrate his return.."’

The IPSC and IAWM need to state whether or not they have received any funding from Al Mahdi, Was the  support that the IAWM gave to the Libyan Transitional Council during the course of the war linked to the  influence of Mahdi al-Harati or his supporters in the anti-war group ?

by jeff Sun Nov 20, 2011 05:31

Hmmmm,

Intervention is one thing, pre-emption another. I opposed the attack on Iraq, but supported NATO's backing of the rebels. With the former, the U.S/UK deliberatly targeted civilians, and occupied the country. With the latter, the was a demonstratable resistance from civilians to the regime. NATO only assisted once the rebels had made the initial concerted drive on the ground.

Plus, NATO's intervention was nothing on par with Donald Rumsfeld's head the ball 'shock and awe' decimation of Iraq.Of course, NATO et al have their reasons for 'intervening' but it was a mututal agreement between the rebels and NATO.

I'm wary of any pre-emption on Iran. I hate that regime and it's monkey man mutant leader. However, I fear the citizenary being in receipt of the brunt of any initial attack. Plus, I fear a possible twenty year unwinnable war were troops to enter that country; it's huge, and has never been completly occupied. Lastly, the peiople of Iran probably won't benefit, because some Haliburton clone will line its own pockets and deliberatly f### everything up.

It's all well and good to give the hard left a rethorical kick in the teeth, but don't think for one minute I swallow the dribbling saliva sprayed out by U.S Republican/pro-Israel think tanks, politicians and/or gobshite pundits prattling on about 'freedom'. It's a simple equation really;foreigners with guns pointed directly at the citizenary are rarely welcomed in any country. Just ask the Iraqis!

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:18

...once the rebels had made the initial concerted drive on the ground.'

My recollection is that Brit, CIA and French special forces were on the ground in Benghazi from pre-initiation...and that a considerable number of the 'rebels' were shipped in. Their on camera savagery spoke volumes of their origins.

Either way, it was an armed rebelion from day1, dressed as civil war despite the external support of the greatest collective air arm on the planet(in history), ramrodded through the UN with R 1973 as R2P 'civilians', backed by the embedded propaganda machine Goebbels only dreamed of..and was motivated by historic enmities settling old scores..oh and with an eye on the light crude and water resources Gaddafi spent twenty years bringing on stream.

Then there was his attempts to unify Africa(and I've no delusions concerning his personal ambitions)under one currency to resist the escalation of the 'resource wars of the 21st century' and try and wring a fairer deal for the poorest, least developed continent...not something NATO's constituent nations have a pristine record of attempting to further.

Intervention, preemption...this was instigation from way back. Like Castro, Gaddafi got up too many imperial gangster noses. No doubt(well little doubt)he was planning an African dynasty, but at least he saw himself as African..and had established what has been reckoned the highest standard of living of an African nation. Whatever his crimes and schemes, they fade beside his NATO attackers.

by JoeMc Tue Nov 22, 2011 16:24

One point should be made regarding the Sunday World's coverage - apologies for not making it before. The tabloid , which frequently publishes anti-traveller stories , continued to maintain last week , without any sources other than anonymous gardai ones ,that the CIA cash had been stolen by a gang of Rathkeale-based travellers . It should be borne in mind that Mahdi al-Harati - who ,according to the Sunday World, was fully co-operating with the police investigation into the robbery - had fallen out with his fellow NTC members around the time this robbery occurred. http://www.sundayworld.com/columnists/index.php?aid=9335

by JoeMc Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:22

This story is covered by Steve James on WSWS today . http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/dec2011/liby-d03.shtml

by JoeMcIvor Sat Dec 24, 2011 14:22 joemcivor at gmail dot com

"For the past week, the Spanish royalist newspaper ABC has published a daily report by photographer Daniel Iriarte. This journalist is with the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) in the north of the country, right on the Turkish border. Iriarte champions the cause of the "revolution".

"The Free Syrian Army" is claimed to be made up of more than 20 000 people, according to its political chief Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, but the Syrian authorities say they are of only a few hundreds .

However, in the Saturday edition dated 17 December 2011, Daniel Iriarte describes an encounter that shocked him. While his "FSA" friends were taking him to a new hideout, he came across some foreign insurgents: three Libyans.

The first one among them was al-Mahdi Hatari, a Libyan who lived in Ireland before joining Al Qaeda. At the end of the Libyan war, he was named commander of the Tripoli Brigade, then number 2 of the Tripoli Military Council headed by Abdel Hakim Belhaj. He resigned from this function, according to some because of a dispute with the Transitional National Council, according to others because he wanted to go back to Ireland to join his Irish wife. The truth is that he headed for Syria."

http://www.syriaonline.sy/?f=det&pageid=903&catid=21

by Joe Sat Dec 24, 2011 15:07

Steve James said in the wsws article above "Nor do the IAWM’s pro-imperialist activities stop at Libya. The IAWM’s web site currently hosts a petition calling for the German and Turkish governments to use their leverage with the government of Russia to force it to drop support for the Assad regime in Syria."

by JoeMc Sun Dec 25, 2011 16:17

The George Soros-funded Avaaz organization launched the petition that appears on the IAWM site calling on Russia not to block "international action to end the carnage” in Syria, .The bulk of material on the IAWM site consists of articles that are not written by the IAWM , but unusually the IAWM noted in an introduction to the petition :

“This article is not written by the Irish Anti-War Movement and the views in it do not necessarily represent the Irish Anti-War Movement we do however agree that any and all pressure must be used to stop hospitals being used in this way. “

During the Libyan war Avaaz sponsored a similar “humanitarian” petition . Its wording gives some idea of the sort of "international action" the group has in mind for Syria :

"Appeal to United Nations Security Council delegates, European Foreign Ministers, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to impose specific actions to stop and prosecute the violence against civilians in the 2011 Libyan uprising[37] and appeal to United Nations Security Council to create a no-fly zone over Libya "

by Joe McIvor Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:26 joemcivor at gmail dot com

A group of genuine anti-imperialists leafleted and picketed the IAWM’s agm in Dublin last month over the issue of IAWM involvement with al-Harati and its support for the NATO-backed Libya National Council . According to people I spoke to who were present , those protesting the IAWM endorsement of NATO-backed "rebel" forces in Libya were verbally abused and threatened by some of those attending the conference , which “ nearly erupted into a punch up outside”.

Five months after al Harati’s outing as a CIA asset , the IAWM still features him in a video on the front page of its website and also in other videos throughout the site . Far from putting up warning posters about him for their readers , the IAWM leadership continues to allow al Harati to pose as an anti-war activist . Despite being well aware of this man’s bloody activities in Libya and his current role in Syria , the IAWM still refuses to say what influence the CIA bagman and his supporters had on their policy of support for the Libyan National Council last year . Mahdi al-Harati has clearly had close contact with members of the steering committee of the anti-war group . This should be of great concern for the security of individual members of the IAWM, but the organization acts as if it has never heard of him .

Across the web journalists and commentators are now openly describing al Harati as an Al Qaeda leader doing the dirty work of the CIA and other western intelligence agencies in North Africa and the Middle East. The Voltaire Network for example had this to say about Mahdi al-Harati two weeks ago .

“ Mahdi Al-Harati led the Al Qaeda brigade who besieged the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli in August 2011. According to Khamis Gaddafi, he was overseen by French instructors. According to a high-level foreign military source, NATO had given al-Harati the assignment of capturing the Libyan leaders who sheltered in a secret facility of the hotel, and of murdering former congressman and Martin Luther King assistant, Walter Fauntroy, who was staying in the hotel. He was also to eliminate two Voltaire Networkcollaborators, Thierry Meyssan and Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, who were based at the Radisson Hotel, whence al-Harati operated his torture center. This decision had been made at a meeting restricted to the NATO command in Naples a few days earlier. The meeting minutes mentioned the presence of Alain Juppé. When questioned, his secretariat denied any involvement by the French Foreign Minister, saying that he was on vacation at that time.
In October 2011, Mahdi al-Harati organized a model village in Syria located in the mountains on the Turkish border. For two months, he hosted Western reporters singing them the praises of the Syrian “revolution.” The village is inhabited by a tribe that was paid to stage demonstrations and pose for the press. Al-Harati was visited in particular by Paul Moreira of Canal Plus and Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro.”

by Felix Quigley - 4international Thu Mar 29, 2012 17:53

CIA AND MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD ARE WORKING HAND IN HAND

JEWS AND ISRAEL NEED TO DRAW THE LESSONS OF THE MAHDI AL-HARATI EXPERIENCE

It is now so clear that this is a defining issue in the history of the left in Ireland, a left that has become corrupted by Stalinism and by Mandel/Pablo/Healy/Grant type revisionism of Marxist theory and practice.

That the number one counter revolutionary agency the CIA was openly working with the dregs of Islam Fascism in order to train agents in Ireland, inside of all things this “anti war movement” what a laugh!, also in the anti Israel movement is a big lesson.

It shows that those who on the Israel side have been supporting the US are way off the mark and that the only people to defend Israel are real socialists, and that means a struggle against US Imperialism and against Islam medieval reaction.

And despite these traitors the left is living still in Ireland as is shown in the impressive research and compilation in this thread.

And these traitors to the left are cowards as well as is seen in that they have slunk away like mangy maggots and not participated in this investigation.

Professor Francisco Gil White has meanwhile posed the Harati/Ireland/Irish left case in the context of the CIA behind the Islamists takeover in the Middle East:

About Mehdi al Harati, ABC further explains:
“In February, Harati, who lives in Dublin and has an Irish passport, bid farewell to his wife and son, together with other Libyans exiled in Ireland, and went to Libya. There he created the Tripoli Brigade, a group of elite fighters, trained by Qatari advisors, who fought in the final battle for the capital.”
Isn’t that interesting? What was Irish citizen Harati doing before he left Ireland? It seems to me he had to be training for warfare, otherwise it is inexplicable that he was qualified to create and lead a “group of elite fighters.” So what is going on in Ireland? Doesn’t this suggest that Mehdi al Harati is protected and sponsored by the powers that be?
Where do his resources come from? The Spanish daily explains:
“Not too long ago, Harati was implicated in a strange episode when, according to his own story, a band of thieves broke into his home, taking a great store of jewelry and 200,000 pound sterling (about 238,000 euros). Harati told the Police that a great quantity of money had been given to him by a CIA agent to finance his group’s struggle against Qaddafi. The fighter left 200,000 pounds for his wife, in case something happened to him, and he took the rest to Libya.”
How to interpret this? First of all, Harati obviously has a very loose tongue. He talks to everybody. The surprised ABC reporters commented on this: “The Libyans didn’t try to hide their identities.” Perhaps Harati is a bit of an ‘innocent,’ if you catch my drift: he is at the center of things, he feels important, he likes to boast, so he wags his tongue in all directions. But why would he tell the Irish police that the money stolen from him was CIA money to fight the Islamist uprising against Qaddafi? Under what conditions would it make sense for him to do that? Wouldn’t he do this only if he believed himself to be completely protected by the powers that be, powers to whom the explanation of his CIA connection is a way of staying protected? Because in Libya, you see, Harati was second-in-command to Abdul Hakim Belhadj, “the historical leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), the Libyan affiliate of al-Qaeda,”[6] and Belhadj has been linked to the famous Madrid bombings.

(Gil White therefore concludes from the Harati issue)
Now, what is all this consistent with? It is consistent with US Intelligence assisting the Islamist takeover of the Middle East and North Africa, so as to prepare the ground for the destruction of Israel, as we have been arguing for years.

http://www.hirhome.com/israel/optimism_is_dangerous.htm

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Thu Mar 29, 2012 18:27

'..the only people to defend Israel are real socialists..'.

Socialism is post national, internationalist, and non racist...

USrOIL is an uber-nationalist, apartheid-structured, neo-colonial fortress of the oiligarchy in the sump, based on a fairy-tale claim of 'chosen people' master racism....no socialist could support such an idiocracy.

Oh and its nuclear armed, morally depraved, and incapable of producing a leadership for getting it out of its ever-deepening hole of multiple contradictions.

No wonder you love it.

by JoeMc Fri Aug 03, 2012 06:39

A report of the death of Mahdi al- Harati from Al jazeera .I have not been able to find any other reports on this .

http://mejliss.com/video/al-jazira-annonce-la-mort-du-t...a-cia

by joe Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:39

Al Mahdi Al Harati, the battalion commander was the deputy military governor of Tripoli Abdelhakim Belhadj. The commander died during the fighting in Aleppo.

http://www.algeria-isp.com/actualites/politique-syrie/2....html

by Joe Sun Aug 05, 2012 08:19

"There have been rumors circulating lately that former TRB commander Mahdi Al-Harati has been killed in Syria. We would like inform all those concerned that this is merely a rumor and that Mahdi is alive and well and still leading operations."

by JoeMc Fri Apr 12, 2013 17:33

Left groups such as the Anti Capitalist Party in France and the IS0 in the US continue to promote the CIA war in Syria and to justify their support of the CIA /M16 campaign that brought al-Harati to Syria after the Irish/Libyan’s bloody part in support of the CIA operation in Libya had already been exposed . The Irish Anti War movement's website insists to this day that a revolution of the Syrian people has been taking place over the past two years: the fact that a video showing Mahdi al-harati posing as a friend of the Egyptian masses still features on the front page of the IAWM site doesn’t seem to faze the organization at all.

According to its website, the Irish Anti-War Movement will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday 20th April 2013 in The Club Parnell Square Dublin starting at 2pm. The group says that “ A full agenda will be available soon.” They said that last year , but none ever appeared publicly in advance of the AGM .It would certainly be interesting to find out what the full agenda of the IAWM is .

In an article on wsws today Alex Lantier examines the reaction of "left" groups to the publication of detailed reports on the CIA’s role in promoting war in Syria through Islamic proxy forces.

"The petty-bourgeois “left” has reacted to the publication of detailed reports on the CIA’s role in backing Islamist forces in the US proxy war in Syria by intensifying their support for the war. Forces like the International Socialist Organization (ISO) in the United States and the New Anti-capitalist Party (NPA) in France are functioning as conscious propagandists for a neo-colonial CIA operation."
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/12/isos-a12.