In another contradictory message on the Libya intervention, the House of Representatives July 8 defeated 199-229 a bipartisan measure sponsored by Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Justin Amash (R-MI) to defund all US military operations in the North African country, but passed 225-201 a separate measure sponsored by Tom Cole (R-OK) to deny funding for equipment and training to the Libyan rebels. The second measure, which comes as an amendment to an annual Pentagon spending bill, forbids the Defense Department from providing "military equipment, military training or advice, or other support for military activities, to any group or individual, not part of a country's armed forces, for the purpose of assisting that group or individual in carrying out military activities in or against Libya."

Mauritanian security forces repelled a militant attack on an army base located in the southeastern town of Bassiknou near the border with Mali, authorities said July 6. The attack was reportedly carried out by militants of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Mauritanian military claimed the militants were pushed across the border into Mali, and that its troops had killed at least 10 of the attackers and captured several other.

For weeks all eyes have been on the Libyan rebels who have seized the coastal city of Benghazi in the east of the country from which they have repeatedly advanced on Tripoli—and repeatedly been driven back. Now a new advance has been launched on Tripoli from the interior Nafusa Mountains to the southwest, and reached the Gualish plains that flank the capital on the south. The army of Berber rebels has received air-drops of arms from France, and is apparently coordinating its advance with NATO air-strikes. "We waited before launching this assault and finally got the green light from NATO this morning and the offensive began," an unnamed rebel leader from the hilltown of Zintan told AFP. The rebels have gained strength and legitimacy from the recent defection to their ranks of Gen. Mohammed Ali Dhech, a key figure from Qaddafi's army. (Middle East Online, July 7; FT, July 1)

Thousands of protesters again took to the streets of Morocco on July 3 to push for democratic reforms despite voter approval two days earlier of a constitutional reform that curbs the near-absolute powers of King Mohammed VI. More than 5,000 protesters rallied in Morocco's main economic hub Casablanca, chanting "For Dignity and Freedom!" The February 20 Movement, which has organized weeks of demonstrations calling for reforms in the Arab world's oldest reigning monarchy, denounced the reform as inadequate and called its reported 98% approval a sham.

French officials announced June 29 that they have armed rebels in Libya, in an attempt to break the stalemate in a conflict that has stretched longer than many policy-makers anticipated. France dropped guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other munitions in Libya's western Nafusa Mountains (heartland of the Berber insurgency) in early June to help rebel forces who were at the time under threat from Qaddafi's military, a French military spokesman told reporters. (WP, June 29)

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on June 28 urged personal aides of Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi to implement the ICC arrest warrants issued the previous day. Moreno-Ocampo called on the aides to arrest Qaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the "de facto Prime Minister," and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi, the head of intelligence, for alleged crimes against the people of Libya, saying the aides could be "part of the solution."

Our last issue featured the story "The Two Wars in Libya: Revolutionary Struggle and NATO Intervention" by Art Young of Green Left Weekly, arguing that progressives in the West can support the first while opposing the second. We also ran the story "Libya and the Left" by Seth Weiss, special to World War 4 Report, who asks whether it is possible to support the rebels without supporting their call for military assistance. Our May Exit Poll was: "Is NATO's Libya war a necessary humanitarian intervention or bloody imperialist aggression?" We received the following responses:

The House of Representatives on June 24 voted 295-123 against a resolution authorizing US participation in the NATO campaign in Libya, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's decision to wage war without congressional approval. In the face of opposition from conservative Republicans and anti-war Democrats alike, the White House has maintained the Orwellian position that the bombing campaign does not constitute "hostilities" and therefore does not fall under the purview of the War Powers Resolution.