Spoils of War

Now that NATO has achieved its actual goal of toppling the regime in Libya, the UK and other Western governments and corporations can commence the feast and gorge themselves on the spoils of war.

As reported in the Guardian article British trade mission seeks to make most of Libyan goodwill,

Britain has moved quickly to explore opportunities for boosting business in Libya, hoping to build on the goodwill of its support for the administration that has overthrown Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

To re-phrase that, Britain has bought “goodwill” from the new rebel government because of their willingness to bomb and kill people that the NTC didn’t like, and overthrow a foreign government so that the NTC could take control in it’s place. As a reward Britain now stands ready to cash in on the death and destruction with lucrative sweet-heart business deals. How do you know these are “sweet-heart” deals? Lord Green, minister for trade and investment, said that

“There’s a long-standing warmth on the part of the Libyans towards Britain and they are extremely appreciative of the role that Britain and others played,”

He said this in the context of a trade mission to Libya where he was accompanied by representatives of BP and Shell. Not only that but the article goes on to state that

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the NTC leader, has signalled that allies can expect preferential treatment while opponents of Nato’s role, such as Russia, China and Germany, or those which were slow to denounce Gaddafi, like Italy, will lose out.

Western corporations are tripping over themselves to be first in line to exploit Libya and gobble up trade contracts with the now-indebted NTC. The “Arab Spring” in Libya is looking more like a post-Thanksgiving sale at Walmart, with fat bloated bodies pressed against the locked doors of the country salivating at the chance to get discounted deals. Then when the government is overthrown the doors are unlocked and the masses pour in, practically trampling over each other to fill their baskets with trade deals.

On the ground in Libya this can be seen from the following observation:

British companies are not alone in seeking to make money in post-Gaddafi Libya, which needs investment in everything from schools to services… The best hotels in Tripoli and Benghazi are buzzing with visiting businessmen as well as security consultants, diplomats, and journalists.

The “buzzing” of businessmen and diplomats sounds similar to a swarm of flies on a pile of fresh shit.