“Minneapolis, MN - Cynthia McKinney, former six-term member of the House of Representatives, and Sara Flounders, co-director of the International Action Center, spoke to a packed room of over 60 supporters, July 9, at the Plymouth Congregational Church. Both gave motivating speeches for how the U.S./NATO intervention in Libya is endangering and killing the civilian population and demanded an immediate end to the war on Libya.

President Obama claims U.S. involvement in Libya is not a ‘war,’ but McKinney’s firsthand testimony of the nighttime and daytime bombing of Tripoli, the country’s largest urban center, during her month long stay disputed that claim. She saw missiles fly over her head and heard drones and bombing attacks repeatedly. “The bombing for me, and I was only there for a couple of weeks, takes a psychological toll. If I’m subject to it, imagine the children. That first day of intense bombing took place on the day of national exams for the little kids…The first day of the super intensive bombing they started bombing at 11:30 in the morning and kept on going until 11:30 at night. We counted a total of 89 bombs that day,” McKinney told the audience.

During her stay McKinney had the opportunity to meet with people who were carrying out their everyday lives as an act of resistance to the U.S./NATO bombing campaign. She occupied the plaza in front of Momar Qadafi’s home with thousands of Libyans and Africans who support Qadafi, refuse to leave and are offering themselves as protection from bombing. She met with students who came to the university to take their finals despite the bombing raids because they refused to put their lives on hold because of U.S. imperialism. “They said they were not going to be deterred because of NATO.”

Both McKinney and Flounders addressed the roots of the conflict directly. They argued effectively that the U.S. and NATO are using the civil war as an excuse to carry out regime change in Libya. They articulated that the U.S. and European powers want to install a puppet government so they can control the largest oil reserves in Africa.

Flounders attacked one of President Obama’s main justifications for the war, “He says this war is for humanitarian intervention. This is an excuse. There is not a country in the world that is better off after U.S. warfare. Just ask the people of Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan!”

This event was a part of the national speaking tour of the Dignity delegation, which was lead by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. This tour is playing an important role in giving voice to the Libyan people during a time when an increasing number of Americans are strongly questioning the U.S. role in this conflict while state and federal governments are in debt and cutting needed social services. By a margin of 2-to-1, people in the United States oppose the war in Libya.

The Eyewitness Libya event was co-sponsored by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, the Emergency Committee to Stop U.S./NATO War on Libya, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, the Twin Cities Peace Campaign and Women Against Military Madness.”

-FRSO staff