Radio Sputnik’s Loud and Clear spoke with Zafar Bangash, director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, about how Daesh was able to rise to power in parts of Libya and the US’ true intentions in the country and region more broadly.
Bangash discussed how different self-imposed governments control different parts of Libya, and the Government of National Accord, a US-supported regime based in Western Libya, "launched a campaign against ISIL terrorists back in May. they haven’t made much progress. I think what the US feared was that if this government that they have recognized is not able to take control or defeat ISIL terrorists, then this is going to create another problem in the region."
Bangash added that aggressive airstrikes will likely lead to a strategic retreat on the part of the part of terrorists, but not to their defeat.
"Although I have no sympathy with these terrorist groups, the concern that I have is that the policy that is being adopted to confront them is not likely to yield any results as it hasn’t in any of the other places where the US and its so-called allies have been involved." He said, "The way the scenario is evolving, ISIS will simply go underground, they will also attract more people from other places and then they will penetrate into Tripoli itself and start carrying out bombing campaigns and even trying to carry out assassination attempts."
Loud and Clear host Brian Becker remarked, "The US has begun their campaign in Cert to dislodge ISIL. If the United States commits itself to the destruction or the bombing of ISIS and it doesn’t succeed, then the logic will be "Ok, we must do something more." He pointed that one of the the current presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton, was the driving force behind the first airstrike in Libya.
Bangash agreed, saying, "HIllary Clinton is the architect of the US-Libya disaster," and said Clinton’s actions "led to the murder of the US ambassador on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi in the US consulate." He claimed that the terrorists responsible for the attack on the American consulate was the same "that the US government had backed in trying to overthrow the government of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and leading to his lynching in October of 2011."
Bangash feels that the US’ new airstrike campaign in Libya has more to do with the nation attempting to increase its military presence in the region more than the security of the North African country.
"It seems to me that all along the US wanted to totally destabilize these countries and this was meant to give a free hand to the Zionist state of Israel.” He stated, “And even though the US has not succeeded in Iraq, has not succeeded in Syria…this has created more problems for the US than less, so they’re plan is not going according to script. The only thing they have achieved is to sow destruction, so most of these countries are non-operational."
