Yesterday the United Nations Security
Council voted by 10 votes in favour against 5 abstentions to impose a
no-fly zone over Libya. The resolution authorises UN member states "to
take all necessary measures… to protect civilians and civilian
populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,
including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any
form on any part of Libyan territory".

To say that a revolution has begun is
not to say that it has been completed, much less that victory is
assured. It is a struggle of living forces. Revolution is not a one-act
drama. It is a complicated process with many ebbs and flows. The
overthrow of Mubarak, Ben Ali and Gannouchi marks the end of the first
stages, but the Revolution has not yet succeeded in completely
overthrowing the old regime, while the latter has not yet succeeded in
re-establishing control.

In the first instance the demands of the Revolution are democratic. Of
course! After 30 years of a brutal dictatorship the youth long for
freedom. Naturally, their desire for democracy can be abused by
bourgeois politicians who are only interested in their future careers in
a “democratic” parliament. But we are obliged to take up the democratic
demands and give them a sharply revolutionary content. This will
inevitably lead on to the demand for an even more fundamental change in
society.