Libya Newsfeed

[Dimentio]

Might soon be over??
Are you serious?? Gaddafi is so stupid that he finished it when it first started, did it occur to you how on earth is Gaddafi going to rule after what he's done?
Or even better who is Gaddafi going to rule?
This is not a civil war, this is a war, and trust me Gaddafi is in his last days, the rebels are winning and you will see!

If he is brutal enough and has enough loyal followers, he could sit for several more years. Look at Franco, who began his reign like that.

[Luís Henrique]

This is not a civil war, this is a war, and trust me Gaddafi is in his last days, the rebels are winning and you will see!

Militarily, no. Gaddafy is on the offensive now, and it seems that the rebels don't have the means to fight and actual war against him. Maybe things will change a bit when Gaddafy comes near Bengazi - terrain there is more favourable to defence, with woods that provide cover to resistants, and Gaddafy's supply lines may be overextended. But even this doesn't seem to probable.

Politically, Gaddafy is lost - but this doesn't mean he's necessarily going to be toppled soon. He might as well endure several years, through an isolated regime of maddened repression and further destruction of Libya's bottom up organisations. He certainly has money (oil) to pay for such apocalyptical fantasies.

Luís Henrique

[Luís Henrique]

But I'm actually quite surprised to see we still have some supporters of the rebels.

Since the options seem to be either the rebel victory, or a semi-genocidal bloodbath, it doesn't take too much imagination to understand why there is such support.

Meh. It takes all types I guess.

Indeed... including "leftists" that are indifferent, or even openly support, a far-right third-positionist dictatorship onslaught on common people.

Luís Henrique

[Os Cangaceiros]

lol lol lol

"Sarkozy must first give back the money he took from Libya to finance his electoral campaign," Gaddafi's son said when asked about France, which has along with Britain been leading calls for military intervention in Libya.

"We funded it and we have all the details and are ready to reveal everything. The first thing we want this clown to do is to give the money back to the Libyan people.

"He was given assistance so that he could help them. But he’s disappointed us: give us back our money. We have all the bank details and documents for the transfer operations and we will make everything public soon."

[Luís Henrique]

lol lol lol

This could certainly help ending Sarkozy's carreer.

Luís Henrique

[Sasha]

i guess we are on a crucial point, khadaffi has said the assault and "purification" of benghazi will start tonight, the UN will vote on an resolution on a no-flyzone and "give Arab and other nations" (intresting word choice, maybe the egyptian militairy wants to asssert its "new" power) every option to protect the civilianpopulation excluding an occupation.
Kadaffi in turn threathend to retailate to any military interverance by hitting civilian targets (boats, airplanes) in the mediteranian sea. An threat that IMO will only increase the likelyhood of the resolution passing and an new scud rocket attack on him and his regime.
guess i will be glued to aljazeera again tonight.

[psgchisolm]

I'm not going to rule them out yet. Gadafi has the ability to defeat the rebels on the battlefield, but he will over-extend his supply lines eventually, and the only weapons he'll be buying with all the arms embargoes will be rusty obsolete weapons like the t-55s from sub saharan africa and a few other places. Certainly, traditional arms suppliers will shy away from giving him equipment for some time, and they have the best "goods".

This could also turn into a protracted insurgency if he does take all the cities (he'd be holding each city with a skeleton force).

Obselete weapons are shit against a half decent military. The rebels ARE NOT a half decent military. T-55s are a lot better than what the rebels have. He can replace equipment which the rebels don't have the option of. Some of them AREN'T even armed. Even if he did hold each city with a skeleton force. The rebels will have been defeated, they will likely have little to no weapons, and they will probably have suffered major casualties from the ensuing battles that happened there.

...and there it is:

US says measures needed may go beyond no fly zones


"We need to be prepared to contemplate steps that include, but perhaps go beyond, a no-fly zone at this point, as the situation on the ground has evolved, and as a no-fly zone has inherent limitations in terms of protection of civilians at immediate risk."



US strategy may have been ---> wait out what develops, situation will surely deteriorate, so that would make public opinion sway in favor of actual boots on the ground.

What forces do we exactly expect to use? National Guard? The only thing I can think of is Special Forces(including Airborne) that will be able to actually do something like hold Benghazi and attack the Gaddafi military. Even then they will be limited in the amount of attacking they can do.

[Artemis3]

An Spanish blogger Leonor Massanet said the rebel leaders have left the country, and Gadafi forces are already there in Bengazi. And the tribes are stating they are now "in favor" of the Government. http://leonorenlibia.blogspot.com/

The army is capturing many Egyptians who were fighting "the holy war". If Nato intervenes, it will be too late and will most likely backfire among the arab world.

[Who?]

Long live Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi! Leader and Guide of the Revolution of Libya!

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Long live Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi! Leader and Guide of the Revolution of Libya!

Are you being sarcastic?

[Luís Henrique]

It seems they have mustered resolve enough to put up a no-fly zone, after all. Now let's see if this is effective on the ground to the point of turning the tide against Gaddafy, or if it will result in a renewed stalemate, or if Gaddafy will still be able to continue his attacks regardless.

This probably signals that they have achieved some degree of trust and agreement with the rebel leadership. To what extent the leadership is representative of the rank and file, that's an interesting question.

Luís Henrique

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

His tanks will be exposed in the desert. Also, his AA units are probably fine, but dated compared to NATO weapons. Considering all he has going for him in this current offensive are a few old migs and sus, and a fancy tank division in the East, it will certainly hinder his efforts. Perhaps he will be forced to the negotiating table.

I imagine fighter jets are already scrambling if the paper has been signed. Prepare to see big news soon.

[PhoenixAsh]

What forces do we exactly expect to use? National Guard? The only thing I can think of is Special Forces(including Airborne) that will be able to actually do something like hold Benghazi and attack the Gaddafi military. Even then they will be limited in the amount of attacking they can do.

France + Arab league...

[PhoenixAsh]

UN vote passed 10 in favor; 0 against; 5 abstentions (ao. Russia and china)

Immediate seaze fire. No fly zones + protection of safe zones protected by sea, land and air. Arms embargo. Ban of all international flights from Lybian airlines. Freezing of assets of several individuals not yet frozen + all state owned companies.

[Dimentio]

Qadhafi is toast.

[Sasha]

Egypt denies they will be military involved, two other Arab nations are said to will be but its unclear wich, only country confirmed is France that said it will be more a question of hours instead of days before it takes action.

Al jazeera broadcasts huge jubilant crowds in benghazi.

On a personal level I'm deeply torn on this, like said before I don't principly oppose a no-fly zone esp now it doesn't seem to unilateral yet I'm also an anti-militarist and oppose armed adventurism and things like NATO.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Military hardware right away would have been the best way to aid the rebels. A no fly zone now is replacing the initial under reaction with an over reaction by NATO, with unpredictable results.

Also, the stink of hypocrisy from "foggy bottom" (I think they call it) over the innocents in Bahrain and Yemen has reached the West Coast. Obama's reaction in those states more or less mirrored Chavez's dumbfounded reaction at Gaddafi's collapse.

[Nolan]

Apparently Gaddafi has compared his entry into Benghazi to Franco's entry of Madrid. The fucker is full of himself.

[Dimentio]

Apparently Gaddafi has compared his entry into Benghazi to Franco's entry of Madrid. The fucker is full of himself.

WUT? Link plz

[Nolan]

WUT? Link plz

It's in Spanish.

El líder libio, Muamar el Gadafi, ha comparado en un discurso de audio difundido por la televisión estatal la entrada de Franco en Madrid durante la guerra civil española con la que él pretende llevar a cabo esta noche en Bengasi.

No habrá misericordia con los traidores "Vosotros sois la quinta columna en la ciudad", afirmó dirigiéndose a los habitantes del bastión rebelde en el este del país, a los que considera sus hipotéticos partidarios, y dijo que se apoyará en ellos para "liberar" la urbe de "los traidores y los perros".