‘NATO adopted civil war and will stay in Libya forever’

Fierce fighting for Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte continues in Libya, where revolutionary forces claim they have seized the convention center – the main base of the Colonel's loyalists.

Libya's interim leaders say failure to take Sirte is the only thing keeping them from formally declaring liberation and scheduling elections.Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar says that, while focusing on this stated aim, the mainstream media ignores the high human cost.“The only coverage that you see in Western mainstream corporate media is about the advances of the so-called pro-revolutionary forces. This is not a revolution. This is a civil war, which was adopted by the NATO powers and the US,” he told RT.“There are more than 100,000 living in Sirte. If 10,000 are left, or 20,000, most of the population is still there. They were bombed by NATO. NATO bombed at least half of the city, including what they said were Gaddafi installations all across the town,” Escobar continued. “This is cluster bombing of R2P, responsibility-to-protect, which was, theoretically, the reason for NATO’s ‘humanitarian’ intervention in Libya.“So, if the ‘good guys’ are being attacked by Gaddafi forces, R2P applies,” he went on to explain. “But if the ‘bad guys’ are ensconced in Sirte, for instance, and we don’t care if there are thousands of civilians in Sirte as well, R2P does not apply. So, in terms of hypocrisy, this beats anything else in the market.”As for the duration of the NATO operation in Libya, Pepe Escobar believes the alliance is going to stay in Libya “forever.”“The last time they said: ‘As long as there is no functioning government in Tripoli, we will be there.’ This is not going to happen. Thus, ergo, war forever.”For over two days now, Libya's interim rulers have been waging one of the biggest assaults yet on the most important remaining stronghold of the ousted leader. Revolutionary forces claim they control most of the town, which has now been under siege for three weeks.