Libya - civil unrest & now NATO involvement
- Thread starter ernestolynch
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wemakeyousoundb
hopefully not gimboid
french planes indeed, which could be weird were I not cynical about the arms trade as france was supporting the chad government back when they were having their dispute with libya
I guess if you sell weapons to both side it's a win win situation though
I guess if you sell weapons to both side it's a win win situation though
lopsidedbunny
Active Member
elbows
Well-Known Member
Most of the news from Tripoli recently speaks of a strange calm, although of course there may be areas in that city where it is not.
Im not getting much of a sense of quite how bad today was, either in Tripoli or elsewhere. Clearly there was some very bad stuff going on, but for once during this uprising the news on the telly seemed more frenzied and blood-soaked than the news coming from the net. I can only hope that some of the worst fears about strikes from the air have not materialised. Maybe they did target munitions stores more than protesters, hard to know at this stage. Completely unclear to me what has happened to the variety of anti-regime forces rumoured to be heading for Tripoli. Evidence is clear of horrible deaths caused by heavy-arms in a couple of locations in recent days, scale of things is not, especially in Tripoli. Does seem likely that the regime has managed to keep terrible fear in the hearts of the people far more effectively than Egyptian regime did.
For all we know today & tonight in Tripoli may have been more about arrests than planes, but news on such matters has understandably been far less available than it was in Egypt.
Im not getting much of a sense of quite how bad today was, either in Tripoli or elsewhere. Clearly there was some very bad stuff going on, but for once during this uprising the news on the telly seemed more frenzied and blood-soaked than the news coming from the net. I can only hope that some of the worst fears about strikes from the air have not materialised. Maybe they did target munitions stores more than protesters, hard to know at this stage. Completely unclear to me what has happened to the variety of anti-regime forces rumoured to be heading for Tripoli. Evidence is clear of horrible deaths caused by heavy-arms in a couple of locations in recent days, scale of things is not, especially in Tripoli. Does seem likely that the regime has managed to keep terrible fear in the hearts of the people far more effectively than Egyptian regime did.
For all we know today & tonight in Tripoli may have been more about arrests than planes, but news on such matters has understandably been far less available than it was in Egypt.
Tankus
Amused OAP
government accounts abroad will get frozen .... If they haven't done so already .....due to the number of embassies defecting ....
Tankus
Amused OAP
frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
ugh. do you think that thats true?
moochedit
I'm not feeding seagulls
BBC news had a report from someone they said was in tripoli earlier. She was anonymous for obvious reasons.
AKA pseudonym
Well-Known Member
EARLIER....
Gaddafi's Mercenaries Stationed in Tripoli Libya
Gaddafi's Mercenaries Stationed in Tripoli Libya
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
There was a good article I read recently about the US military's ability to provide internet coverage using ships off shore or planes...
quimcunx
imprimeo, lamino, distribuo
It would be niave to tell ourselves that Libya (alone in the world) doesn't have some form of bigotted undercurrent towards particular sets of people, foreigners, and, as we know from this country, these racist bogeymen are exploited as and when it's useful. So it is more than possible that '....RAPING OUR WOMEN!!11!' has been one of the fears/accusations.
I've seen a couple of things saying they have just been let loose to cause chaos. And I'm not sure they could have been deployed within army ranks. I'm not sure that would have been acceptable to the army at any level, which leaves them to deploy themselves with minimal guidance. And instructions to cause chaos, instil fear, attack anyone and everyone, and yes, rape the women, is hardly beyond the realms of possibilities when it comes to Gadafi. Otherwise why bother bringing them in? And who becomes a mercenary? 1. People desperate enough to accept the money and 2. Deeply psychologically damaged ex soldiers/ combatants is my guess. So if reports of plane loads of mercenaries being flown into the country are true, they are probably not behaving in a very honourable way.
Saif himself stoked them. He acknowledged their presence in his speech but blamed the int'l interferers for bringing them in, IIRC, or he might have been blaming the druggie children. I can't remember what else he said about them; if he mentioned things they'd done.
Wait and see. same as usual.
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
Col. G. has fucking lost the plot, it's like the last days of Cloughie.
Divisive Cotton
Now I just have my toy soldiers
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
Divisive Cotton
Now I just have my toy soldiers
Tripoli now seems to be in total lock down with anybody on the streets considered a legitimate target. Is Libya like Tunisia with low gun ownership or does the tribal structure keep its own arsenal?
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
Friend of mine is in Turkey and many people he speaks to are of the opinion this is just the US Government re-arranging their puppets.
Lo Siento.
Second As Farce
They're wrong. It's pretty obvious that the US Govt doesn't want any of this shit.
Lemon Eddy
Disliked by dwyer
And American right-wingers will say it's the work of Iran/Islamic brotherhood, and Iran will say it's a zionist plot, and Xes will probably blame it on immunisations. Confirmation bias has never been in short supply.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
you're a bit of a johnny-come-lately, aren't you? the circus has packed up and gone home and you've only just got to the big top.
teqniq
DisMembered
I think the world has had quite enough American "interventions" in other nations: let the Libyans overthrow their government if they want to, and choose who they want after that.
Giles..
Libya produces around 2% of the world's oil, so I very much doubt that whatever transpires there in the next few weeks will totally disrupt the world'd oil supplies, or cause a massive price hike that lasts very long. If Gaddafi goes, it is likely that whoever replaces him will want to keep selling oil, just to keep their economy going.
If there was a popular revolt in somewhere like Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, that would be major.
Giles..
Maurice Picarda
Actually, might as well flounce.
You should post more.
pk
drink flounce rinse repeat
I imagine the Saudi subjects are keen to join the 21st century too, having watched their neighbouring countries kick out the greasy criminals in charge. Libya may not supply the oil but the general instability has already pushed crude to the highest level in two years...
elbows
Well-Known Member
Yes Saudi would have more major implications for oil supply, but in this day and age the balance between global oil supply and demand is very tight, there is not a large buffer anymore, so it doesnt take much to make the price change considerably. So I wont be playing down the effects that a loss of 1 million barrels a day from the likes of Libya could have.
Anyways not a lot of news yet today, sounds like Tripoli is in lockdown for the most part.
This youtube user has some interesting videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mukhtaralasad#p/u/
Including this one which reportedly shows green square after Saif's speech:
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