How very “bipartisan” of him.- WSJ (can’t be read entirely)
“A Russian-backed warlord (??) vying for power in Libya has hired a one-time senior aide to President Bill Clinton and a former Republican lawmaker to lead a nearly $1 million effort to lobby the Biden administration for political support, documents show”
Personally speaking I’ve never bought the “russian backed” claim. Nor has there ever been any reason, in my estimation, to believe Haftar is any sort of “friend” of Libya or the Libyan people. I can recall many who claimed that to be the case. Without any substantiation other then some bogus idea that Russia was behind him so he must ‘for Libya’ Such rubbish.
Haftar and the CIA go way back. Haftar and Israel are very chummy too. Israel wants Libya broken apart. Weak. Subordinate. Egypts okay with that too.
Haftar wants to win favour in Washington ahead of December elections, documents show.
He doesn’t really need to woo the political class. The political class has never met a war it didn’t love. He just needs to create this idea of democracy at work.. While greasing palms along the way.
Haftar has made a $40,000 advance payment to retain the services of former special counsel to President Bill Clinton, Lanny Davis and ex-Republican House lawmaker Robert Livingston, according to Foreign Agents Registration Act filings dated September 3.
The total fees Haftar will pay amount to some $960,000 over the course of six months, an engagement letter contained in the Justice Department documents indicates.
Davis and Livingston are to arrange meetings for Haftar between White House, Pentagon and State Department officials, as well as key members of Congress including the leadership in the House of Representatives and Senate, according to the documents.
The duo are also expected to arrange additional meetings with think tanks such as the left-leaning Center for American Progress and the United States Institute of Peace ahead of Libya’s general election in December. (gotta get the “left leaning’ think tanks when a democrat is in the white house, right?)
Haftar intends to travel to the US “to advocate for the December 24, 2021 elections in Libya” during meetings with US officials, the documents say.
Despite Haftar vowing to make peace and join the process, last month he changed his mind and stated that he and his forces would not submit to any authority in Libya.
The strongman is also running for the position of president in the upcoming elections in December this year, which the documents report is one of the primary reasons he has assigned Davis and Livingstone to lobby for him and regain his reputation.
Haftar – a US citizen –
That’s right. Haftar is a US citizen. Residing for many years in Virginia until peace President Obama decided to bomb Libya “into peace’
Related:
Israeli intelligence officials met privately this month with the son of Libya’s top warlord to discuss his 2021 presidential candidacy, a signal that Israel is supporting his bid.
A victory by Haftar could lead to closer relations between Israel and Libya, which doesn’t recognize the Jewish state.
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