Law Of Karma At Work?

Almost exactly a year ago in 2011, the Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi was brutally murdered by a combined force of NATO and the Benghazi rebels. Many people also lost their lives in during those sad and shameful periods in the history of Libya. Here was someone who was providing virtually everything for his people, then all of a sudden, a group of former Taliban fighters whose freedom he secured from the Americans from the Guantanamo Bay Prison, with a condition that he would make sure they do not engage in any form of terrorist activities. These former Taliban fighter were Libyans and they numbered about two hundred.He then resettled them in the city of Benghazi and made them comfortable. Due to their programming at the Guantanamo Bay Prison, the time was ripe for them to initiate their plans for the overthrow of Qaddafi in 2011. How the rebellion started and the subsequent incidents are now confined to the yet to be written chapters on Libyan and African history. Fast forward to the year 2012, Qaddafi's loyalists were just waiting for their time to punish the perpetrators of the heinous atrocity committed on Libyan soil.Someone makes a short film entitled "Innocence of Muslims" which demeans the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), then the trouble begins in the Arab world starting first with a protest in Cairo, Egypt, then Benghazi. In these two cities, the American Consulate in Benghazi was attacked and the Ambassador and three of his staff were killed. The American Embassy in Cairo was also attacked resulting in the removal of the American flag and some minor casualties. Most western powers condemned both the film and the attacks on the American Diplomatic Missions in the Arab world. Then just a few days ago, Omar Shaaban, the man credited with finding Qaddafi in the sewer was also kidnapped, tortured and murdered by Qaddafi loyalists. Libya has not known peace ever since the overthrow and death of Qaddafi. During Qaddafi's rule, not a single Embassy or Consulate was attacked. Now they are blaming the attacks on Al Qaeda. Coming events truly cast their shadows. I think its payback time and they have sent out a clear statement to all those who condoned and connived to murder Qaddafi that, no matter how long it takes, wherever they hide, their time would surely come and would also face the same music. The US should try and give her diplomacy around the world a new face. These are just the thoughts of an ordinary blogger somewhere on the surface of the earth..

Friends Today, Enemies Tomorrow.

Have you ever been in a friendship that seems to be everlasting, and all of a sudden the two best friends become sworn  enemies? When that happens all types of strategies would be employed to get rid of each other or to make one look bad. This enmity has come down to us in this our modern world, and it is happening between countries who were once good allies and fought for a common interest. The USA used to have friendly and warm relations with Iran during the 1970s when the Shah of that country was at the helm of affairs. But this relationship turned sour and cold when the Shah was overthrown by the fundamentalists led by the spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini. The US then fought a proxy war with Iran by propping Saddam Husein of Iraq and sending him weapons. This was the Iran/Iraq War from 1980-1988. This war ended with no clear victor. Saddam Husein was then branded an enemy by the USA when he decided to invade Kuwait. That was the biggest mistake he did. We all know what happened after that invasion. Then in the early part of the 21st century Iraq was invaded by the USA and her allies, Saddam Hussein was eventually captured and later executed. All these were done on the pretext that Saddam Hussein was having Weapons Of Mass Destruction (WMDs). But the whole world never got to know where those weapons were being kept in Iraq. In fact no WMDs have been found in Iraq up to date. The late ruler of Libya Muamar Gaddafi was once an avowed enemy of the west, he then became friendly towards them. But later events led to his country being bombarded by NATO after a rebel insurrection in the Libyan city of Bengazi. Syria is now paying dearly for refusing to do the bidding of the west in an ongoing civil war with the western powers trumpeting that Assad must leave power at all cost giving little room for any political solution. Innocent lives are being lost in a senseless war. I know for sure Iran would be the next stop for the western powers. They did it to Manuel Noriega of Panama, tried it on Fidel Castro of Cuba, but it never worked. So as the saying goes, "Beware of the Greeks when they come bearing gifts", these acts of friendship by the western powers might end up being a "Trojan Horse". We all have to be careful when entering into a friendship, because that friendship can turn into enmity tomorrow. Just be careful who you become friends with, it might later spell your doom.

The Syrian Question.

The world is on the brink of a major conflict in the Middle East, and it seems the innocent lives being lost in this senseless conflict in Syria is being left to pass by. This Syrian  crisis has so many actors involved. For ethical and security reasons no names would be mentioned here. Some of these actors have come out openly to support one faction and the other actors are doing what they know what to do best, that is clandestinely supporting one faction with arms and ammunition. If i may ask, why is this happening now in Syria? Let me take you back to the genesis of this conflict. It has been raging on for more than a year and almost 7000 lives have been lost. If you look at the situation carefully, it seems there is a calculated plan to get rid of all leaders who have stayed for so long in power in the world. It started with the so called 'Arab Spring' (even though there is nothing like a 'Spring' season in Africa) in Tunisia, where long time leader Ben Ali was forced to flee into exile, followed by Hosni Mubarak of Egypt who was also forced to leave office, and hand over power to the powerful Egyptian military, then the time became very ripe to get rid of their one time foe and later turned ally Muamar Gaddafi of Libya who was murdered after the whole world was told by NATO that he was not a target of their aerial bombing campaigns, in which innocent people also lost their lives. Yemen and Bahrain also had their fair share of uprisings with Abdullah Salleh of Yemen relinquishing his rule by signing an agreement laced with immunity clauses. Bahrain have been able to withstand  protests for some time now. I have a hunch that Iran, Jordan, Morocco and the other countries in the Middle East with long time leaders would be on the list as the next points of call for the so called bastions of democracy. Now, we all know those behind the uprisings in the Middle East, and eventually Bashir Al Assad of Syria would be kicked out and a puppet government would be installed like what they have done in Libya, but Assad would not go without a fight. I hope Syria does not turn into another Iraq, as the situation has now turned into a full scale civil war with women and children bearing the brunt of both the Syrian government forces and the rebels. If i may ask, who is behind all these conflicts in the Middle East? First they ask you to initiate reforms, then they send spies in the form of a UN Observer Mission, they they call for regime change and thats your end.But remember that if you decide use a long spoon to sup with the devil, you must be prepared to bear the consequences when pay back time is due.

When Will The Truth Be Told?

The death of the only man to have been convicted of the Lockerbie bombing – when Pan Am flight 103 was blown out of the sky over Scotland in the week before Christmas 1988, means it is less likely than ever that the full story behind the outrage will be told.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi who died in Tripoli on Sunday, two years and nine months after his release from a Scottish jail, always protested his innocence.
The 60-year-old, whose imminent death had been predicted on several occasions since his return to Libya, had, according to US and UK authorities been a Libyan intelligence officer as well as head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines and director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli.
In November 1991, he and Lamin Khalifa Fhimah were indicted in the US and Scotland for the bombing which killed 259 passengers and crew on the Pan Am jet and 11 people on the ground. Libya refused to extradite them, though they were kept under arrest in Tripoli.
However, eight years later they were handed over after complex negotiations that led to their being prosecuted under Scottish law, at a court with three judges but no jury, in the Netherlands. In January 2001, Megrahi was convicted of 270 murders and jailed for life. Fhimah was acquitted.
The Libyan government paid $2.7bn (£1.7bn) in compensation and accepted responsibility for the actions of its officials while not admitting direct responsibility for the bombing. Megrahi was jailed first at Barlinnie, in Glasgow, and later at Greenock. His wife and children moved to Scotland too.
Years of legal wrangling followed, with an appeal rejected in 2002, and a £1.1m investigation by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) that found there were six grounds where a miscarriage of justice may have occurred.
A full appeal got under way in April 2009. But it was dropped suddenly the following August, two days before Megrahi was put aboard a plane to Tripoli. Climbing aboard the plane, he wore a white shell-suit to hide body armour. He had been transferred from prison in a bombproof vehicle accompanied by security officers, also wearing body armour and drawing enhanced danger pay.
International furore erupted over the release, with allegations it had been sanctioned by the UK government in order to secure more business and oil deals with the Gaddafi regime. Gordon Brown's administration was forced to admit it had known in advance of the release but that it had been a matter for the Scottish justice system. Nonetheless, David Miliband, then foreign secretary, made no apology for protecting business links with Libya. "With the largest proven oil reserves in Africa and extensive gas reserves, Libya is potentially a major energy source in the future", he told MPs at Westminster. David Cameron always said that Megrahi should have died in jail.
Even as the Gadaffis faced overthrow last year, state TV showed Megrahi at a rally in support of the threatened rulers. But when rebel forces took control of Tripoli and discovered Megrahi apparently close to death, the national transitional council said he would not be returned to Britain.
Late last year, the new Tripoli government gave Britain some encouragement to mount fresh investigations, both into Lockerbie and the shooting of PC Yvonne Fletcher in London in 1984.
Megrahi's family insisted he was too ill to be seen by British officials and in March this year Libyan officials appeared to rule out the possibility of UK detectives travelling to Libya to conduct new inquiries for the foreseeable future.
However, Frank Mulholland, the Lord Advocate and Scotland's chief law officer, recently visited Tripoli with the FBI chief Robert Mueller to kickstart talks about getting access to records from Gaddafi's regime and potential suspects, believed to include the former Libyan head of intelligence Abdullah al-Senussi.
While many relatives of Lockerbie victims remain convinced of Megrahi's guilt, there are some, particularly in Britain, who believe he is innocent.
John Ashton, Megrahi's biographer and author of Megrahi: You Are My Jury, said: "I think there will be moves to reopen the appeal. That has yet to be decided. I would very much hope that his appeal is resurrected and that somebody does make an application to the SCCRC. The people best placed to do this would be his family."
The SCCRC and Megrahi's legal team believe they uncovered a series of critical flaws in his conviction, which made it highly likely he would be cleared by an appeal.
Ashton's biography quotes Megrahi stating he was "framed" for the attack. While he refused to blame Dumfries and Galloway police, he accused the Crown Office of "a blatant breach" of their obligations to disclose all the evidence in the case. "If I was a terrorist, then I was an exceptionally stupid one," Megrahi said.
The grounds of appeal included compelling evidence that the chief prosecution witness, Tony Gauci, had wrongly identified Megrahi and linked him to the bomb which brought down the plane; new evidence that Gauci and his brother were paid very large rewards after the conviction; new scientific evidence disputed evidence that the type of timer in the bomb was solely used by the Libyans; and failure to disclose a break-in at Heathrow airport near Flight 103 which could easily have allowed the bomb to be planted.
Ashton, who had worked as Megrahi researcher during the Libyan's appeal, said he was upset by his death. "We have always expected this day to come; we'd been expecting it for three years, but it's still shattering. It's still pretty shocking. I had come to like him. For all he had been through, there was remarkably little rancour. He was, all things considered, very gracious and never lashed out at those closest to him."
Their claims are rejected by the Scottish and UK governments and the Crown Office, the Scottish prosecution service, which has reopened its investigation into the case after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi and has sought cooperation from the new Libyan civilian government.
The UK and US authorities have repeatedly brushed off claims by campaigners that the bomb was planted by Syrian agents and Palestinian terrorists in revenge for the attack on an Iranian passenger airliner by a US warship.
The Scottish first minister Alex Salmond said: "The Lockerbie case remains a live investigation, and Scotland's criminal justice authorities have made clear that they will rigorously pursue any new lines of inquiry. "
Jim Swire, whose daughter was a passenger on Pan Am 103 told Sky News: "It's a very sad event. Right up to the end he was determined – for his family's sake, he knew it was too late for him, but for his family's sake – how the verdict against him should be overturned.

"And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen." 

So who actually carried out the bombing of the PANAM Airliner in 1988 over Lockerbie? Was it a conspiracy? Were the 270 innocent victims sacrificial lambs for a country's hidden agenda? Did Megrahi die with all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle? Time will tell and the truth will actually be revealed one day. My condolence goes out to all the families who lost loved ones in that tragic incident.

Muammar Gaddafi's Ghost In Mali?

The West African country of Mali just had a coup d' tat, and their democratically elected president was overthrown. This unfortunate incident was undertaken by the army. One of the reasons they gave for their action was that, the government was not handling the Tuareg insurrection in the northern part of the country very well. Most of the northern towns have been taken over by the Tuareg rebells and the soldiers were being killed and disgraced by the well equiped  Tuareg rebells. Just ask yourself, where did these rebells get the weapons and how come their numbers have swelled all of a sudden. The condemnation of the coup have come from all angles, first from the regional bloc, ECOWAS, the AU, UN and other countries who tout themselves as adhering to the tenets of democracy. The ECOWAS bloc is even thinking of sending troops into Mali to reinstate the democratic government which was overthrown. I see some hypocrisy at play here. Have the world forgotten that Gaddafi's murder is now having a disastrous effect on the African continent. Most of the remnants of Gaddafi's forces have now joined the Tuareg insurrection in the northern part of Mali and they are well armed with sophisticated weapons. We are being told that the former Libyan leader had about 10,000 elite troops who would have staged a last stand in the Libyan desert to restore their leader back to power, but only God knows why that did not happen. Why did the AU sit down and close their eyes for NATO to interfere in the Libyan conflict under the guise of protecting civilians?  Now the coup leaders in Mali have got the support of the masses in the country, and no amount of threats and sanctions imposed on them would coerce them to restore the former government. One would have the impression that, i support this coup in Mali, but i would be the last person on this earth to do so. Before a decision is taken against the junta by all those condemning their action, a critical look and assessment must be done to find out the remote and immediate causes of the overthrow of the democratic government in Mali. Muammar Gaddafi's ghost would continue to haunt the African continent for not standing by him at the time he needed his brothers most. But, hey, ghosts do exist, go to Mali and you will find Gaddafi's ghost there.