Since renaissance times, graduates of Greek and Latin literature in Britain, France and other imperial countries were often recruited by the secret service agencies. There were several reasons for this: graduates who could read the classics of Greek and Latin literature in the original languages tended to have good analytical and linguistic skills and a deep knowledge of history and culture.
Attention to detail and the capacity to read complex codes and signs are essential for intelligence work. On October 29th 2010, the British newspaper Express quoted the head of Britain’s secret service MI6 Johnathon Evans, a classical scholar, saying that classics should be taught in state schools “on the grounds that learning Latin and Greek would help “develop the kinds of skills that would-be spies need”.[1]
Given the centrality of Greek and Latin in the education of the European aristocracy in the past, it comes as no surprise that the current war on Libya was baptized “Operation Odyssey Dawn”. Scholars of the centuries identified many of the locations that feature in Homer’s epic poem in Malta, Sicily and the Mediterranean Sea where NATO’s air and sea forces are currently based.
European elites clearly see this current military adventure as akin to the trials and tribulations of Homer’s hero Odysseus who spent 10 long years attempting to return to his homeland of Ithaca after the Trojan War to liberate his palace from treacherous suitors who were attempting to woo his wife Penelope in his absence.
After many adventures and mishaps, the Homeric hero finally returns to Ithaca, joining up with his son Telemachus(the far-fighter), killing all the suitors occupying his palace.
But the question concerning Libya is: who is playing the role of Odysseus here?
The eponymous hero of Homer’s epic poem is described by the Greek bard as resourceful, wily, smart, fearless, charming, righteous and intelligent. Homer’s most frequently used epithets for Odysseus are‘polytropos’, of many twists and turns, ‘polymeros’,many-faceted and ‘metis’, cunning.
The most distinguishing aspect of this war has been the inversion of language to represent a false reality. So, the ‘protection of civilians’ means the bombardment of civilian targets; the Gaddafi regime means the majority of the population of Libya who support their government; ‘rebels’ and sometimes ‘revolutionaries’ are the euphemisms used to disguise jihadist terrorists’; the crimes of the rebels have been ascribed to the government forces and rebel retreats have been presented as advances.
It is hardly likely, therefore, that NATO considers their hated enemy, Muammar Gaddafi as an Odyssean hero fighting to free his country from greedy parasites. Yet, like Odysseus, Gaddafi has resisted NATO’s bombardment for 6 months.
Like Odysseus, part of Gaddafi’s country is currently being occupied by violent and treacherous parasites in the service of NATO. Like Odysseus, Gaddafi has managed to escape capture and death from the most gigantic and formidable forces on the planet.
Many classical etymologists derive the word Odysseus from the Greek ‘odyssomai’(ὀδύσσομαι ), meaning “to be wroth against, hated”[2]
Is there any other figure in the international media today more hated, more demonized than Muammar Gaddafi?
In Homer’s Odyssey, the suitors who occupy the eponymous hero’s palace attempt to persuade his wife Penelope that Odysseus is dead, that he will never return and that she should choose a new husband.
The international corporate media have been spreading the same lies and rumours about Gaddafi since the outbreak of the war in March this year.
When hostilities began in February, the British foreign minister William Hague declared that the Libyan leader had fled to Venezuela. The claim was false.
Claims were recently made that Gaddafi’s son Khamis had been killed. The claims were false. On Sunday August 21st International Criminal Court prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo-the man who told the astonishingly absurd lie about Gaddafi ordering Viagra for his troops so they could rape women-- told Reuters news agency that Gaddafi’s on Saif Al Islam had been captured by the rebels.[3]
Ocampo’s claim has been dismissed by Mathaba news agency. [4]
Gaddafi has continued to survive. Whether one likes the guide of the Libyan Green Revolution or not, it is clear that the Libyan people love their leader and that he is a man of unquestionable ability.
Only a leader of Odyssean qualities would be capable of resisting the aggression of the most powerful nations on earth for the best part of 40 years; instituting a political system that has the support of the people; creating the wealthiest and most egalitarian country in Africa and finally, surviving continuous aerial bombardment, economic blockades and invasions of foreign mercenaries for 6 months.
Did the planners of Operation Odyssey Dawn unwittingly dramatise themselves as the vengeful god Poseidon , punishing a superhero protected by Athena, the goddess of wisdom?
Operation Siren: psychological warfare to break the Libyan resistance.
According to the French newspaper Le Parisien on Saturday August 20th, the spokesman for the National Transition Council in Benghazi , announced the commencement of Operation Siren. The operation is being carried out by NATO forces in conjunction with rebels on the ground and aims to take Tripoli by ousting Colonel Gaddafi and his regime, [5] according to the Libyan NCT spokesman,
In book 12 of Homer’s poem, Odysseus and his men confront the challenge posed by the enchanting sounds of the Siren’s song. In Greek and Homeric mythology the Sirens were bird-women and seductresses who lured unsuspecting sailors to shipwreck and destruction.
The songs of the sirens were said to be impossible to resist but Odysseus had previously been warned about the nefarious bird-women by the sorceress Circe;
‘To the Sirens first shalt thou come, who bewitch all men, whosoever shall come to them. Whoso draws nigh them unwittingly and hears the sound of the Sirens' voice, never doth he see wife or babes stand by him on his return, nor have they joy at his coming; but the Sirens enchant him with their clear song, sitting in the meadow, and all about is a great heap of bones of men, corrupt in death, and round the bones the skin is wasting. But do thou drive thy ship past, and knead honey-sweet wax, and anoint therewith the ears of thy company, lest any of the rest hear the song; but if thou myself art minded to hear, let them bind thee in the swift ship hand and foot, upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast let rope-ends be tied, that with delight thou mayest hear the voice of the Sirens. And if thou shalt beseech thy company and bid them to loose thee, then let them bind thee with yet more bonds’[6]
Odysseus survives by asking his men to bind him to the mast of the ship so he can hear the sirens. knead honey-sweet wax, and anoint therewith the ears of thy company, lest any of the rest hear the song / the sailors put wax in their ears so they won’t hear the song and be drawn into destruction.
The Parisien report goes on to claim that it is no longer possible to evacuate foreign nationals in Tripoli as a Maltese ship which was due to evacuate Polish citizens has come under fire. However, the report does not say who exactly fired on the ship. According to the Polish foreign ministry, negotiations are underway with the rebels in order to secure the evacuation of Polish citizens in the country. [7]
However, the Reuters version of the same report gives more information about Polish citizens attempting to flee the besieged city of Tripoli. According to the report, 250 Polish families are currently in Tripoli.
“The ministry was not immediately available to confirm the report.
Poland has evacuated most of its citizens from Libya and moved its ambassador from Tripoli to rebel-held Benghazi, but some 250 people from mixed Polish-Libyan families have stayed behind, the ministry official added.
One family had hoped to leave on the Maltese ship, the MV Triva 1”. [8]
The above-cited French newspaper did not mention that the report had NOT actually been confirmed by the Polish foreign ministry and the Reuters report states that out of 250 people of mixed Polish-Libyan families only one family hoped to leave on the Maltese ship.
Both the Reuters and Le Parisien reports also claim that ‘heavy fighting’ has broken out in Tripoli between “remnants” of the “Gaddafi regime” and “rebels”, who, it appears, are about to capture the Libyan capital.
Le Parisien quotes Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini saying that “the tragedy is coming to an end” as the rebels will soon capture Tripoli. Frattini also assures Italian companies that previous contracts signed with the Gaddafi government will be respected as soon as the NTC takes over. [9]
What is the significance of the Maltese ship here? Why is NATO so concerned about getting a ship into Tripoli to evacuate foreign nationals when the unconfirmed reports cited only one Polish family hoping to flee the Libyan capital? To whom is the NTC president talking when he warns of a ‘catastrophic end’ for Gaddafi and his people?
Is NATO attempting to use a ‘humanitarian’ vessel as a Trojan Horse to deliver terrorists to Libya? Is another humanitarian narrative being written to justify NATO troops on the ground to ‘liberate’ Tripoli? Why do the reports not confirm who exactly fired upon the Maltese ship? Why does the report state that officials are negotiating with rebels to bring the ship into Tripoli? The rebels are not in control of the city.
Independent reporter and political analyst Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya has claimed that NATO is now embarking on a sophisticated psychological warfare operation to create panic and fear among the Libyan population in order to break their resistance to NATO’s terrorists. It is clear that Operation Siren is the name of NATO’s new terror campaign.
The same reporter told Russia Today that he had been fired upon by snipers. Nazemroaya also said that a CNN producer had issued death threats to CNN journalists in the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli.
The websites of Libyan state newspapers Al Jamahirya, Al Yosberides, Azzaf Alakhdar and Al Fair Aljadeed have been suspended.
NATO may now attempt to cut power and communication lines in Tripoli, create a state of chaos and fear in the streets, backed up with a mass rumour campaign in order to break the resistance of the Libyan people and prepare the conquest of Tripoli.
There have been reports in the Libyan television station Rayysse of an elaborate hoax prepared by Al Jazeera in which scenes of Tripoli being overrun by rebel forces are fabricated.
Rayysse reported on Friday August 19th:
“an anonymous source reports that NATO will try its last card, it seems that they have reproduced the background of Tripoli in a studio in Doha, Bab Aziziya in particular, and that they are going to simulate a takeover of Tripoli, after they cause a general blackout, cutting electricity and transmissions. The aim is to break the morale of the brave Libyans and fool them, so as to lead the city and the country into a chaotic state.”[10]
This morning August 22th Al Jazeera broadcast a report from Tripoli’s Green Square which they claimed was now in control of the rebels. The reporter Zeina Khodr declared “ this city is now in the hands of the opposition”
In a message on facebook, independent journalist Lizzie Phelan, who has been reporting from Libya since the start of the war declared:
“I now have from reliable sources that the Libyan army is still in control of Tripoli. Al Jazeera footage of Green Square was fake. Gaddafi went to Green Square with his sons. Things are much calmer now”
Al Jazeera, the television station owned by the Emir of Qatar, has been a driving force in the media war on Libya since the start of hostilities there. In February the Qatari station aired a video which they claimed showed peaceful protestors in Benghazi being fired upon by ‘Gaddafi’s forces’.
The video was subsequently located and published on the internet.
It clearly shows pro-Gaddafi demonstrators being fired upon by unknown snipers. The video was edited by Al Jazeera to suit their agenda of demonizing the Libyan government and creating the pretext for “humanitarian” intervention by NATO and the Gulf dictatorships.[11]
In a press release on August 21st, Libyan government spokesman Dr. Moussa Ibrahim, confirmed that over 1300 people had been killed and 900 injured in Tripoli within 12 hours of rebel attacks. Although dozens of rebels have been captured and they have not captured the city, the final phase of NATO’s brutal destruction of Libya is likely to end in a bloodbath. [12]
In spite of media claims of ‘game over’ for Gaddafi, the Libyan armed forces have cleared the rebels from Misrata, Zawia, Garman, Sormon and Sabratha in the last few days[13] It is clear that the majority of the Libyan people still support Colonel Gaddafi.
Conclusion.
Though the mainstream media chant about “Gaddafi’s last stand”, Operation Siren is the last desperate attempt of the North Atlantic Terrorist Organisation to enslave the Libyan population. If this war is not stopped now, there will be a humanitarian catastrophe in Libya.An anonymous NGO report published on August 21st states on the 108morris108 channel on utube states:
"All the carnage was distant until night fell then the sea boiled over with small fast boats that dumped ten or more special forces and Al Qaida killers at hundreds of points along the beach in and around Tripoli. The slaughter began at that moment. The distraction of the small gangs inside the city proved successful and allowed the unfettered invasion from the sea. Killing hundreds of thousands of Libyans in the next few days may be the result of this full fledged attack on a sovereign nation by NATO" [14]
NATO's rebels are facing a population of over 2 million Tripolitan citizens who have been armed by the government. These brave people, ignored by the world, will fight for the rights and freedoms that are theirs, the cities and towns that are theirs, the future of their families and children.
NATO’s sirens may beam their evil songs but the people of Tripoli are singing back to them. “Alla, Muammar, Libya bas” The Libyan people have three muses, Allah, Muammar and the land of Libya.
Perhaps NATO thinks it is winning this media war. But they would do well to consider the fate of the Sirens before committing ground troops to crush the Libyan people. The medieval writer Stephanus of Byzantium tells the story of a competition between the sirens and the Greek muses. When the sirens won the singing competition, the muses plucked the feathers from their wings. The sirens turned white and fell into the sea.
[1] http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/208177
[2]http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do%29du%2Fssomai
[3] http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/21/us-libya-rebels-tripoli-idUSTRE77K2EX20110821
[4] http://mathaba.net/news/?x=628171
[5]http://www.leparisien.fr/intervention-libye/libye-pour-isoler-kadhafi-les-rebelles-lancent-l-operation-sirene-21-08-2011-1573322.php
[6] http://www.literaturepage.com/read/theodyssey-177.html
[7] http://www.leparisien.fr/intervention-libye/libye-pour-isoler-kadhafi-les-rebelles-lancent-l-operation-sirene-21-08-2011-1573322.php
[8] http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=maltese-ship-heading-for-tripoli-un
[9] http://www.leparisien.fr/intervention-libye/libye-pour-isoler-kadhafi-les-rebelles-lancent-l-operation-sirene-21-08-2011-1573322.php
[10] http://libyasos.blogspot.com/2011/08/al-jazeera-and-nato-planning-major-scam.html
[11] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb2qL9UOxuA
[12] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpbjSPHOdZQ&feature=share
[13] http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1108/S00205/susan-lindauer-libya-gadhaffi-retakes-key-towns.htm
[14]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFGsmJMd_fo&feature=player_embedded
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