Global Research

Thousands of  British and American troops on standby to head off potential Gaddafi counter-attack

Preparing to head off any potential counter-attack by Gaddafi forces, NATO powers are readying a “humanitarian” occupation of Libya with thousands of British and American soldiers, risking the possibility that troops could be sent into yet another quagmire to rival Afghanistan and Iraq.

Eager to control the country’s vast oil resources and its 144 tons of gold bullion, a plan to send in troops would represent a complete violation of the UN’s own resolution authorizing military intervention, unless of course the soldiers were labeled “peacekeepers” and inserted under humanitarian cover.

Recall that the EU ground invasion force that was proposed back in April was similarly couched in humanitarian rhetoric and yet would have been empowered to “secure sea and land corridors inside the country,” a transparent military objective.

“Hundreds of British soldiers could be sent to Libya to serve as peacekeepers if the country descends into chaos, Downing Street indicated last night,” reports the Daily Mail.

“The troops have been on standby for Libya since the start of July. All their kit is packed and they are just waiting to get the call to go,” said one source.

Similarly, a U.S. occupation force has also been on standby for several months.

As Infowars reported back in June, military sources indicated that 30,000 troops from the 1st Calvary Division (heavy armor) and III Corps at Ft. Hood were being readied for deployment to Libya by October.

As we highlighted before the NATO attack on Libya even began, hundreds of British, American and French Special Forces were sent to Libya at the end of February to train and command the Al-Qaeda led rebel army. These Special Forces troops were later caught on camera fraternizing with rebels by an Al-Jazeera film crew.

Launching an occupation under humanitarian cover would be an echo of how NATO was able to manufacture a pretext for intervention in the first place, by having the establishment media spin a civil war as a brutal Gaddafi crackdown, characterizing rebels who seized fighter jets, tanks and Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers as “protesters,” before enforcing a “no fly zone” that turned into a bloody bombardment overnight.

Also desperate to prey on the spoils of war is the World Bank, which yesterday announced its desire to “help” Libya’s recovery, no doubt by repeating its routine trick of indebting countries with crippling loans that can never be paid back while swallowing up real assets in return.

Once Gaddafi’s authority completely collapses in Tripoli, and that is by no means a certainty, Libya will likely descend into a turf war fought by rival tribes. With British and American forces already stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with the economies of both countries teetering on the brink of a double-dip recession, committing to a third quagmire by intervening further in a civil war is beyond insane.

While an occupying NATO army is by no means a given, there’s no doubt that it has been built into the timetable as a precaution should Gaddafi’s forces mount a successful counter-attack. Reports today suggest that might be occurring, after claims that Gaddafi’s son Saif Al-Islam was arrested turned out to be completely false. Al-Islam later appeared in Tripoli and vowed to “break the will” of rebels who he said had been trapped in the city as part of a deliberate military ploy by Gaddafi’s regime.

We were able to divulge NATO’s plan to launch a massive bombardment on Tripoli to end the conflict before the start of September back in early July. Like the September deadline, NATO will also be working to a cut off point when, if necessary, it will send in an occupying army under the pretext of humanitarian assistance to ensure all remnants of Gaddafi’s regime are swept away for good.