Translated "Avante!"article by Rui Paz, collaborator of the International Department

Initially presented as a “civil population protection” mission, through the establishment of “an exclusive aerial” zone, the aggression against Libya, rapidly changed into a military attack operation against land targets and is currently in moving forward unto an open occupation war with the use of weapons originally from NATO powers and the active presence of mercenaries disguised as military advisers.

This scenery is not new. One has seen it in Bosnia, in 1991, where Perez de Cuellar, the then UN secretary-general, accused Germany of trying to sabotage the efforts towards the conflict’s peaceful solution and set fire to the portcullis’ in the Balkan war. It was repeated in Kosovo, in 1999 with NATO out breaking a real humanitarian catastrophe, as general Heinz Loquai, the OSCE head-of-mission, in Yugoslavia, confirmed, or as Norman Braun, the North-American diplomat in Pristine. It carried on in 2001, Afghanistan’s ravaging by the North-American bombardiers soon after a delegation from the then Kabul regime refused to sign down building pipeline contracts with Texan oil companies in Washington, and in 2003, with the Iraq nuclear weapons’ lie. The novelty in this new “humanitarian” war against Libya is the participation, for the first time, of Arab states, such as Qatar, amid a military aggression led by NATO.

Whoever looks up the Internet (in Wikipedia) will rapidly know that Qatar is a confessional absolute monarchy, having the Charia as the support of its juridicial system. The Emir is the Head of State, who concentrates, in his hands, the executive and legislative branches.. Political parties are forbidden. The regime is under the support of 11800 armed soldiers, together with Mirage 2000 planes and Leopard tanks, supplied by France and Germany and assisted by the North-American and British air forces , stationed in Al Udeid Air Base, near Doha, the capital.

But this form of feudal dictatorship, backed by NATO’s main powers’ foreign military bases is common to the six absolute monarchies, members of the so-called Gulf Cooperation Counsel and supporters of this new imperialism “liberation” war against the Republic of Libya.

On the 7th April 2007, the international agencies reported ihat “His Royal Highness, the Emir of Qatar, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the ExxonMobil (USA) and Total (France) representatives, all Qatar Petroleum’s shareholders, celebrated the Qatargas 2 foundation, in Doha, a project meant to provide Great Britain with the most modern premises on what regards prospecting, exploiting and importing gas from all over the world. On the 27th March last, according to an Egyptian source, and following the Qatar monarch having expressed his will to send planes and weapons to support the rebels in Libya, the Qatar Petroleum signed with Ali Tarhuni, responsible for the economy within the occupied zones by the NATO loyal forces, contracts which guarantee the Emir along with the French, British and North-American shareholders, the Libyan oil commercialization.

Every time NATO unleashes a new war, one understands better which are the most powerful world alliance’s successive strategic concepts. That the PS, PSD and CDS successive governments support and submit Portugal to a military organization’s decisions, that acts such as an international dangerous assaulter gang, is a tremendous blow against the Portuguese Republic Constitution ’s principles and the democracy conquered with the 25th April Revolution. But one cannot expect from those who hand over the workers and the people of their country to the IMF and imperialism’s voracity , might respect other peoples’ national sovereignty. Therefore, to vote CDU, on June 5th next, is also to defend Portugal’s international prestige and dignity.