Mehdi 1

Murtaza Mehdi Kate Flom WRD 104-335 05/28/2013

Research Statement In March 2011, NATO forces led by the United States of America invaded Libya. Most of the countrys infrastructure was destroyed and the countrys leader, General Mummar Gaddafi was shot and killed in the streets of Sirte, where rebels fired gunshots in the air and claimed victory over the country. During this invasion, all of General Mummar Gaddafis family members, friends, and supporters were either killed or exiled. Numerous organizations including the United Nations have raised concerns by claiming that the invasion of Libya and the death of General Mummar Gaddafi were both illegal. Libya's sovereignty was violated during the invasion, and Gaddafi death was planned assassination; therefore, a war crime. Although there have been many requests by prominent individuals and nations, the International Criminal Court has not opened any files against the coalition between NATO, the US, or the rebels since this war has ended. The goal of my research paper is to examine the actions of the coalition to indicate whether or not the invasion of Libya and the death of General Mummar Gaddafi were war crimes or not. It is my belief that Libyan sovereignty was indeed violated by the so called coalition in 2011, and the death of General Mummar Gaddafi was an extrajudicial killing, orchestrated by powerful nations that saw his as a threat to their wealth.

Mehdi 2 Chorin, Ethan Daniel. Exit the Colonel: The Hidden History of the Libyan Revolution. New York: PublicAffairs, 2012. Print. Although Gaddafi brought a revolution to Libya four decades ago that changed the shape of Libya and gave the people hope through a series of public services and introduction of public institutions, the direction he was leading Libya in the next decade was dangerous for its people, detrimental to the US economy and giving rise to dangerous countries. Chorins research will assist in determining whether or not the collations help was needed by the people of Libya, or was it imposed onto the country. It will also help in discovering how much Gaddafi gave to his country in comparison to how much he took.

Chossudovsky, Michael, Prof. "Destroying a Countrys Standard of Living: What Libya Had Achieved, What Has Been Destroyed." Nato's War on Libya. Global Research, 20 Sept. 2009. Web. 28 May 2013. In this economic article, Professor Chossudovsky discusses the economics of Libya. From the time Gaddafi came to power up until the humanitarian intervention of the coalition formed by the US, NATO and the rebel forces that took over Libya and killed Gaddafi, Chossudovsky provides the audience with in depth information of what was built, and what was destroyed. The author also measures the countrys standard of living and compares it with other countries to illustrate the wealth of resources that were taken during the coalitions invasion. This information will be useful for me to discover whether US and NATO forces had financial interest in

Mehdi 3 invading Libya and killing Gaddafi. It will help in finding out the prime benefactors of the invasion, if it is not the people of Libya.

McKinney, Cynthia. The Illegal War on Libya. Atlanta, GA: Clarity, 2012. Print. McKinny provides the audience with a legal perspective on the issue of the Libyan invasion of 2011. She suggests legal grounds that were violated in order to suppress a leader who had ambitions to empower his continent by challenging the wealth of western nations through oil price competition. Mckinny also discusses how the so called rebel forces that were fighting for liberation were not really Libyans, but part of a terrorist organization that were once on Americas most wanted list, right next to Osama-bin-Laden. This information will help me determine whether or not Gaddafi was attempting to kill his own people, or was he attempting to rid Libya of foreign terrorists. Furthermore, Mckinneys research will also assist in determining whether or not Libyas sovereignty was violated during the invasion.

NATO 11-2. Military. NATO and Libya. NATO News. NATO, 28 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 May 2013. The reports by NATO are a source of communication between NATO spokespersons and the world stage during the Coalitions invasion of Libya. In these releases, NATO spokespersons talk about their initial plan prior to the invasion of Libya versus what actually happened in Libya. This source is a way to determine whether or not the world was told the truth about the plans of Coalition in Libya. By comparing these releases to the actual actions

Mehdi 4 of the Coalition, I will be able to determine whether or not NATO was transparent in their intentions to pose themselves as the facilitators of humanitarian intervention.

Obama, Barack H., Sen. "Political Candidate Q&A: Barack Obama." Interview by Charlie Savage. Www.Boston.com. Boston Globe, 20 Dec. 2007. Web. 24 May 2013. In December of 2007, then presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama had an interview with Charlie Savage, in which he stated that the President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. I plan on using this source to argue the point that although the president argued against the actions of President Bush in Iraq, he took quite the same action when he became the president himself. It helps me make the point that the invasion that our president authorized was unconstitutional and illegal.

US Congress. House Foreign Affairs. War Powers Act of 1973. Comp. Clement J. Zablocki. 93rd Cong., 1st, 2nd sess. Cong Res. 1541-1548. Washington DC: US Congress, 1973. Print. After the war in Vietnam, the congress decided to create the War Power Act of 1973. This federal law oversees and regulates the authority of a president to commit the United States to conflict without the consent of the Congress. In essence, it was created so that the President cannot make the executive decision to go to war

Mehdi 5 with a country without proper justification. I plan on using this information to determine whether President Barack Obama followed the laws of the US constitution before invading Libya, even though Libya did not pose an imminent threat to the US.

"Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)." Libyan Nuclear Weapons. Global Security, 24 June 2011. Web. 20 May 2013. This intelligence repot provides information on the aftermath of the Coalitions invasion of Libya. This report by the Director of National US Intelligence implies that Libya could become the future threat for the US. The rebels have sufficient amount of weapons and training to pose as a threat to the western society. I plan on using this source to draw a parallel between Afghanistan and Libya; Rebels of Afghanistan by the name of Al-Qaeda, led by Osama-bin-Laden were once supported and trained by the US in order to fight Russia. Similarly, Libyan rebels and their leader, Abdel Hakim Belhadj, who already has ties to AlQaeda, may become a problem for the US in the future.

Webster, G. Tarpley, Ph.D. The CIAs Libya Rebels. Global Research, 24 Mar. 2011. Web. 30 May 2013. In this report by Webster, he highlights important information that was the US government and NATO withheld before invading Libya. In this report, Webster refers to a West Point study that indicated that the rebels in Libya were the same terrorist who killed US and NATO troops in Iraq. This key report is instrumental in

Mehdi 6 determining whether or not Gadaffi was killing his own people, or was his simply attempting to rid his country of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. The report implies that the US played propaganda tricks to hide the fact that the rebels they were supporting were actually Al-Qaeda members, to topple a regime.