by Stephen Lendman

Whenever major media Libya reports appear, truth is distorted, manipulated and falsified. For seven months, despite daily terror bombing and ground attacks, courageous loyalists bested the ferocity of NATO and its rebel army.

As a result, they control most of Tripoli, Benghazi and other cities across the country. Fighting, however, still rages. Loyalists are holding their own. They're determined to liberate Libya, live free and rebuild.

NATO ravaged widespread areas, willfully targeting civilians and sites unrelated to military necessity. They include hospitals, schools, residential neighborhoods, and at times anything that moves.

Loyalist victories are called NATO ones. On October 17, bogus reports again said Bani Walid fell. New York Times writer Rick Gladstone headlined, "Pro-Qaddafi Enclave in Desert Is Said to Fall After a Battle," saying:

"Libyan forces (read cutthroat mercenaries) fighting the vestiges of (Gaddadi's) toppled government said Monday that (they) were in control of Bani Walid," south of Tripoli.

Claiming it and Sirte are "the last holdouts of pro-Qaddafi resistance," completely ignores reality as loyalists control most of Libya.

Despite years of more credible reporting, Al Jazeera now functions mainly as Qatar's propaganda arm. On October 18, it headlined, "Libyan fighters claim capture of Bani Walid," saying:

"NTC military commanders....said they captured about 95 per cent of" the city. Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley is a notorious liar, saying:

"We are very much in the center of Bani Walid. (Rebels) came through here just over an hour ago and they are saying this is an almost complete liberation of the town."

"The gunfire of celebration is ringing out and they are going completely crazy here because they know this (will) send a very clear message to those pro-Gaddafi elements who are still holding out in Sirte. Basically, there is nowhere left to go."

At least Times reporter Gladstone explained that other claimed TNC victories "proved overly optimistic." In fact, they were willfully falsified. Media scoundrels, including The Times and Al Jazeera, reported them like gospel.

When proved false, little mention was made. Nothing major media sources report is credible. Throughout seven months of conflict, truth was the first casualty. John Pilger once said:

"Journalism is the first casualty. Not only that: it has become a weapon of war, a virulent censorship that goes unrecognised in the United States, Britain and other democracies; censorship by omission, whose power is that, in war, it can mean the difference between life and death for people in faraway countries...."

When America goes to war, managed news jeopardizes free and open societies by substituting fiction for facts. Truth is carefully filtered. Propaganda replaces real journalism.

No wonder media scoundrels call wars of aggression liberating ones. Mass slaughter and destruction are ignored. Human misery is inconsequential. Only imperial interests matter.

Honest voices debunking official lies are called unpatriotic or accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Political Washington and NATO killers are freedom's enemy.

On October 17, Mathaba's report shouldn't surprise. Headlining, "Al Jazeera's victory claim on Bani Walid is fake," it cited German-based Mein Parteibuch Zweitblog, saying:

"Al Jazeera's liar in chief Tony Birtley just appeared in front of....about 20 (TNC) actors and claimed he is in the middle of Bani Walid."

He gave no proof. His location wasn't verified. Instead, "(t)he camera was deliberately placed below his head," showing only TNC "actors" (props), nothing else.

Like US TV and BBC, Al Jazeera dubs in stock footage unrelated to reported stories. Viewers aren't told. They're deceived and manipulated to believe falsified accounts are real.

In fact, Al Jazeera's alleged Bani Wali "pictures show no traces of fighting, no bullets on the street and houses with shooting marks, and despite (daily) NATO" bombing and ground attacks, evidence of conflict was absent.

Wherever Al Jazeera's footage was shot, it wasn't in Bani Walid. Again, it was caught red-handed, falsifying reports to give NATO a victory it desperately wants - even it is has to be faked.

TNC forces aren't in Bani Walid. They "just shell the city with long range weapons from outside," then fabricate reports of victory.

"Diana" tweeted from Bani Walid about "heavy shelling by NATO and rebel artillery after attack failed."

Last August, Al Jazeera reported another elaborate hoax, airing fake Tripoli liberation footage. Fabricated euphoric scenes, in fact, were shot in Doha, Qatar at a Hollywood-like sound stage replica of Green Square and Gaddafi's compound. It was theater, not real.

Once credible Al Jazeera today is fast becoming a laughing stock. Nothing it reports can be believed. Increasingly, it's little more than an imperial mouthpiece like BBC and America's media.

On October 10, Pravda.ru contributor Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey headlined, "Libya: The Other News - Khamas (Gaddafi) a XXI Century Marshall Zhukov," saying:

Normality won't return "until the marauding bunch of terrorists which NATO is trying to impose as Libya's Government wholly and entirely against the will of the vast majority of the population ceases to rape women and children, ceases to torch buildings, ceases to decapitate people in the street, ceases to loot, to rob, to steal....to behave like terrorists."

Moreover, Western media reports are scandalous. They ignore growing Libyan Armed Forces (LAF) successes, "the tribes and masses loyal to" Gaddafi, and green flags displayed from East to West across the country.

Loyalists, in fact, routed rebel mercenaries "in battle after battle" to liberate their country and live free.

"How many times was Khamis (Gaddafi) killed?" Still believed to be alive, he's now a legend. "Killed by NATO five times, and resurrected," he symbolizes loyalist resistance.

Bani Walid and Sirte have been "graveyard(s) for NATO, its mercenaries, (and) special forces....(T)errorist chief in Misurat, Nuredin el Gener," was killed in early October when his "military vehicle was struck successfully."

Courageous loyalists are holding their own and besting NATO's ferocity. They won't quit and why should they. They're determined to live free and rebuild.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

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