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[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

As long as we don't intervene in the political reconstruction of Libya, then I don't see any problems.

Arabs around the world need to make up their minds: It's either we intervene and they get pissed, or we don't intervene while Gaddafi commits genocide, arabs still get pissed at us.

I'm sorry but I don't think you can lump all Arabs (and all situations) into one like that. And why just talk about Arabs?

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

They hate us because we support Israel, neocolonialism, and the West continues to make sure autocratic regimes remains stable and in power so that the oil continues to flow without interruption.

BTW, which arab countries have a highly favorable opinion of the U.S.?

EDIT-Google already confirmed my question. Yup, not highly favorable.

 

[LQX]

They hate us because we support Israel, neocolonialism, and the West continues to make sure autocratic regimes remains stable and in power so that the oil continues to flow without interruption.

BTW, which arab countries have a highly favorable opinion of the U.S.?

Really? You don't watch news or read news sites?

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

Really? You don't watch news or read news sites?

It was a rhetorical question. And the edit sarcasm. I already gave specific reasons as to why they hate us.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Why is it so hard for you to understand that Libyan situation has completely different context to the situation in other conflicts? You want an intervention in Sudan? Fine, tell me how you want to go about it because frankly I'd love to hear how one would work. Do you want to isolate Bashir and intervene in a conflict that has absolutely no scope for foreign intervention? We have no Arab backing, no EU backing and no African backing. Not a single global body has asked for a UN mandate enforced by western military. We already have AU and UN troops in Sudan and ICC has issued arrest warrant for Bashir, and intervening with military in Sudan will result in negative outcome, something you're wrongly worried about here. There is no backing for intervention in Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia. There was no backing for intervention in Tunisia and Egypt. For pete's sake, there could have been a bloody massacre on UN's hands had US failed to assume leadership role. The Libyan deputy minister to UN who switched sides fiercely advocated for a NFZ, including Arab League, OIC, EU and host of other countries. It was USA who was dithering. So tell me how the intervention in Sudan works without pissing off the rest of the world and including Sudanese and I'm all ears, and tell me about YOUR moral compass which says that we shouldn't stop an easily stoppable massacre in one instance because the forces in the universe didn't align for us properly to stop massacres in every other instance.

I realize the situations are different, but the initial arguments here never rested on Libya being the perfect candidate for US intervention. It rested on the idea that a military/government murdering its own people was unjust and required intervention. Syria is currently doing the exact same thing and the US won't raise a finger. If the Arab nations were hesitant or outright opposed to our actions, I doubt you and others would be demanding the US stay out.

 

[RustyNails]

I realize the situations are different, but the initial arguments here never rested on Libya being the perfect candidate for US intervention. It rested on the idea that a military/government murdering its own people was unjust and required intervention. Syria is currently doing the exact same thing and the US won't raise a finger. If the Arab nations were hesitant or outright opposed to our actions, I doubt you and others would be demanding the US stay out.

When Syria starts using its fighter jets to bomb protesters, tanks to fire artillery rounds at demonstrators, and Bashar Al Asad promises the civilian population of Dara'a a merciless campaign where his forces will 'hunt rebels door to door' and 'show no mercy', then we can start comparing Syria to Libya. When the actions of Al-Asad turn the entire Arab opinion against him, including the international bodies of Arab League and OIC, then we can start comparisons. Otherwise, the comparisons are premature.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

EDIT: Nvm posted earlier.

 

[xbhaskarx]

I can't post an exerpt because I'm on my phone:

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links
bit.ly/fFU2vg

 

[Rikyfree]

Well shit. Fuck this shit.

 

[Stinkles]

Well shit. Fuck this shit.

.

Not that I thought Libya was going to become some magical democracy that loved us. Look at Egypt. Army kidnapping people. Second verse, same as the first.

 

[goomba]

Hah so Gaddafi wasnt lying when he said the rebels were linked to Al Quaida.

 

[qcf x2]

I can't post an exerpt because I'm on my phone:

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links
bit.ly/fFU2vg

Media is gonna have a field day with this if true. Good thing(for him) Obama isn't addressing the situation til Monday.

 

[Rubenov]

Eastern Lybia has always been more Islamic extremist than the rest of the country, but we knew that going in.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Eastern Lybia has always been more Islamic extremist than the rest of the country, but we knew that going in.

indeed.

 

[nyong]

Wow. Once Fox gets ahold of the al-Qaeda link all hell is going to break loose. From killing American soldiers in Iraq to receiving aid from American soldiers in Libya. The enemy of my enemy is my friend indeed. If we arm these people, we had better make damn sure we're not going to find them turned against us shortly thereafter.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Wouldn't be the first time the US took down regimes that had stiffed the growth of Islamic-extremists (Afghanistan, Iraq, possibly Egypt and now possibly Libya?).

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Wouldn't be the first time the US took down regimes that had stiffed the growth of Islamic-extremists (Afghanistan, Iraq, possibly Egypt and now possibly Libya?).

all of these countries will be disaster areas if their future governments can't make economic empowerment happen for their people.

at the end of the day, this is about economic empowerment. if they can't feed themselves and their families or get some education, elements with bad intentions will fill the holes.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Yeah I wonder how it will develop.

But I was thinking about things and I think I figured why France did the first strike and wants to take over rather than let NATO do so: France must know something we don't, something along the lines of if they try to make themselves the biggest player in "liberating" Libya, they'll be able to establish close ties with whoever will lead the country and get advantageous oil deals.

This whole thing probably cut off everyone else's oil deals with Libya in favor of whoever takes the lead from here. US, UK, France, whoever, probably see it as an opportunity to start things over while cutting off the competition (Russia, China, each other?).

 

[KingK]

I can't post an exerpt because I'm on my phone:

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links
bit.ly/fFU2vg

Well shit. That's not good news if true.

 

[joseph1594]

That could be very terrible if true to see such a man have important sway in the Libyan opposition.

However, the article calls him the Libyan rebel leader, which is utter bullshit. The guy mentioned in the article isn't even on the Transitional National Council. First off, the head of the Libyan rebels (of the Transitional National Council) is a guy by the name of Mustafa Mohammed Abdul Jalil, who was the Justice Minister before defecting to the opposition. His prime minister is named Mahmoud Jibril, who was the former Interior Minister before defecting. The commander of the actual Libyan Rebel army is named Omar El-Hariri, who was one of Gaddafi's original associates in the coup against the monarchy. He has had a falling out with Gaddafi through the decades and tried to overthrow Gaddafi in an army organized coup. Also, I don't think the President of Chad is a very reliable source, considering he is an ally of Gaddafi.

I don't see the name Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi in any of the big figures of the Transitional National Council. However, I will say he could be known by a different name. It is also very possible that I am missing something about the Transitional National Council's political makeup. However, for the time being, I would be cautious about the validity of that article. We should be definitely wondering what government the opposition should bring, but at the same time it is foolish to automatically assume they are all radical Islamists due to some of the parties involved in the opposition. I guess we will find more about the opposition as the civil war continues.

 

[RustyNails]

This will be a tricky situation. I think what has happened is that after peaceful demonstrations were crushed, it gave opportunity for Al Qaida types to start swinging their guns around. I wouldn't worry too much about it though, since I doubt Libyans would stand for another totalitarian state. Use them as cannon fodder

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

this isn't as big as a deal as it looks. it's more likely a very very small number of fighters that were in Iraq and now they have something else to do.

 

[lo escondido]

I think this rebellion def. helps some islamic radicals but we knew that going in. I still think that this is a good think seeing that they know we don't automatically hate them and it still convinces the masses (who are not terrorists or extremists) that we are not the evil bad guys we are made out to be which takes away much of the islamists recruting power.

We can't just get rid of islamic radicalism like that. It will take time and economic growth but to do that the people need to be empowered and these rebellions are doing that. There will be setbacks and the muslim brotherhood might even take power in egypt but the arc of history has given these people freedom and as long as the islamists preach against that very idea the people will keep on demanding it. Once you get a taste of freedom you're not giving it up.

So while of course the media will have a field day with stuff like this (the NYT also had a story about how powerful the brotherhood is getting in egypt today) I don't think this should change our commitment to empowering people to have a say in their government and way of life. It will all turn out for the best. Maybe not now but eventually this will be looked at as the beginning for a free, peaceful, even liberal middle east.

Spoiler

(I could be completely wrong)

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

The rebels have retaken Ajdabiya.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12869658

Libyan rebels backed by allied air raids say they have seized control of the frontline oil town of Ajdabiya from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

The BBC's Ben Brown in Ajdabiya says there are scenes of jubilation among the insurgents.

Gaddafi loyalists seized the town last week as they advanced east to quell an uprising now in its fifth week.

Saturday's breakthrough came after a seventh night of bombardment by allies enforcing a UN-mandated no-fly zone.

There were a series of massive coalition air strikes around Ajdabiya overnight, targeting Gaddafi forces.

Gaddafi 'promotions'

Our correspondent counted about 20 Libyan government tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery pieces which have been either abandoned or destroyed.

He says the rebels have been chanting "Thank you, Obama", "Thank you, Cameron" - references to the US president and British prime minister.

A correspondent for the AFP news agency also reported that Ajdabiya was back under rebel control.

Defensive positions previously held by pro-Gaddafi forces stood deserted as rebels advanced into the town celebrating, the agency reported.

The insurgents were seen sounding car horns and flashing V for victory signs.

Large explosions were also heard in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Saturday morning.

Witnesses said a military radar site was on fire in that city's suburb of Tajura, a previous target of the air raids.

Col Gaddafi is meanwhile said to have ordered a universal promotion for everyone in the army and police, and proposed arming civilian volunteers.

The BBC's Kevin Connolly in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi says the administration's latest move smacks of desperation.

Pro-Gaddafi forces are still trying to recapture Misrata, the last major western Libyan town in rebel hands, and residents reported shelling continuing there late on Friday.

According to the insurgents, the Gaddafi forces have scattered in all directions, and the rebels are giving chase. The rebels are saying they will move west to their next target, Brega.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201132681812362552.html

Libyan opposition rebels have taken the strategic eastern city of Ajdabiya from government control, Al Jazeera's correspondent there reported.

"There is no doubt about it, you can probably hear some of the celebrations behind me, Ajdabiya is in opposition hands," Al Jazeera's James Bays said from the city on Saturday.

"Gaddafi forces have been controlling the ring road that goes around Ajdabiya ... that has been the situation for six days, but they have now been cleared from that position."

"The opposition forces tell me their may be some pro-Gaddafi forces hiding, snipers possibly on buildings, they are telling us to take care," Bays said, but he added that Ajdabiya was "firmly back under the control of opposition fighters".

Rebel fighters were now reportedly on their way to the key oil port town of Brega, Bays said.

"The road is open beyond Ajdabiya, and [the rebels] are heading, streaming along that road ... they are on the road and they are moving forward."

Earlier on Saturday, rebels reported having entered Ajdabiya in a bid to wrestle control of the strategic area.

Old map that shows the key cities:

Looks like after Brega comes Sirte. That will be a key battleground because it's Gaddafi's hometown and part of his power base.

 

[Phantast2k]

wow..

U.S., allies ponder arming Libyan rebels

The United States and its allies are considering whether to supply weapons to the Libyan opposition as coalition airstrikes fail to dislodge government forces from around key contested towns, according to U.S. and European officials.

France actively supports training and arming the rebels, and the Obama administration believes the United Nations resolution that authorized international intervention in Libya has the “flexibility” to allow such assistance, “if we thought that were the right way to go,” Obama spokesman Jay Carney said. It was a “possibility,” he said.

Gene Cretz, the recently withdrawn U.S. ambassador to Libya, said administration officials were having “the full gamut” of discussions on “potential assistance we might offer, both on the non-lethal and the lethal side,” but that no decisions had been made.

The coalition has stepped up its outreach to the opposition, inviting one of its senior leaders to a high-level international conference in London on Tuesday, called to determine future political strategy in Libya.

Increased focus on aiding the rebels came as NATO reached final agreement on taking over command and control of all aspects of the Libya operation, including U.S.-led airstrikes against forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi. Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, at NATO’s Joint Forces Command headquarters in Naples, Italy, is expected to take command of the operation early next week.

The NATO decision, made late Thursday, followed days of debate over the scope of alliance participation and came in time for President Obama to brief a bipartisan group of nearly two dozen congressional leaders in a call Friday afternoon.

Obama has scheduled a speech at the National Defense University on Monday night “to update the American people” on actions taken “with allies and partners to protect the Libyan people . . . the transition to NATO command and control, and our policy going forward,” the White House announced.

Unlike a week ago, when the White House discouraged questions during a briefing for lawmakers as the Libya mission began, Obama entertained queries from lawmakers during an hour-long call Friday. He was asked repeatedly about the goal of the operation and how long it would take.

His emphasis on the mission’s humanitarian objectives, and plans to decrease U.S. involvement as other nations increase their roles, appeared to satisfy some, but not all.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) called Obama’s presentation “very clear, very strong” and said he expected strong bipartisan support. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ind.) said through a spokesman that he appreciated the update but wanted more clarity “on the military objective in Libya, America’s role, and how it is consistent with U.S. policy goals.”

The United States has flown the majority of the combat air sorties over Libya since strikes began last weekend. The administration has been eager to hand off both its lead combat role and overall operational command in keeping with Obama’s portrayal of the operation as an international humanitarian mission.

Arab support for the effort has been a key selling point, and the Pentagon announced that fighter planes from Qatar had participated for the first time Friday in no-fly patrols over Libya. The United Arab Emirates also announced it would send F-16s for the patrols.

The Arabs are not expected to participate in ongoing combat strikes being flown by U.S, French and British forces. In a Pentagon briefing, U.S. Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, director of the Joint Staff, said that allied warplanes had flown 153 missions and launched 16 additional Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan forces and installations in the past 24 hours.

But Gortney said that so far the attacks had not had a discernible impact on the ability of Gaddafi’s forces to fight and attack Libya’s cities.

“We have seen a degradation in [Libya’s] ability to command and control their forces as a result of the fires we are putting out there,” Gortney said. “But we haven’t seen it have a large enough effect that is changing the total effect on the battlefield.”

As U.S. and allied forces bring in more surveillance aircraft, he said, they should be able to mount more lethal attacks on Gaddafi’s ground forces.

Officials have said that no consideration is being given to the use of allied ground forces to push out Gaddafi loyalists. But if the current stalemate on the ground continues, the U.S. could bring in slower-moving AC-130 gunships, attack helicopters or armed drones that can mount more discreet strikes and are better suited to battles in urban terrain.

“Those are all weapons in our toolbox that are being considered,” Gortney said.

Rebel officials said that coalition airstrikes against pro-Gaddafi forces partially surrounding the contested eastern Libyan town of Ajdabiya failed to dislodge them, although al-Jazeera reported Friday night that government forces on the eastern side of the town had been overwhelmed and either been taken prisoner or retreated to the west.

The two sides have been shelling each other for a week. Rebel forces have been using the reprieve brought by the airstrikes to regroup and ask for additional weapons from “friendly nations,” said Mustafa Gheriani, spokesman for the Benghazi-based opposition Interim National Council.

A number of officers and soldiers from Gaddafi’s army and air force have defected to the rebels, some taking their weapons with them — including aircraft — and the opposition has seized munitions from captured government bunkers. But the bulk of the rebel force is largely untrained and disorganized, without anti-tank or long-range weapons.

International opponents of arming the rebels have said that both the identity and the aims of the opposition are too uncertain, or that the arms embargo authorized by the United Nations applies to both the Gaddafi government and the rebels.

“I think I am right in saying that the resolution is clear,” British Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament on Monday. “There is an arms embargo, and that arms embargo has to be enforced across Libya.” Legal advice “suggesting that perhaps this applied only to the regime,” Cameron said, “is not in fact correct.”

A Western diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity about disagreements within the coalition, said there is a “legal debate about whether we can or not [arm the rebels]. . . . It would be a big step to go down that route,” the diplomat said.

Both the United States and France, in closed-door discussions, have cited legal “flexibility.” Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council that the language in U.N. resolution authorizing international action to protect Libyan civilians “is not specific,” one council diplomat said.

Portuguese U.N. Ambassasor Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral, who heads the U.N. Security Council’s Libya sanctions committee, agreed Friday that the applicable wording of the resolution was “open to a lot of interpretation,” Reuters reported. Asked whether it allowed arms shipments to the rebels, Cabral said “I would not interpret it that way.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...rebels/2011/03/25/AFJP9mYB_story.html?hpid=z1

 

[JayDubya]

It's like the last decade or so never happened.

Yes, let's give the militants with unclear ties and motivations weapons, I'm sure the enemy of our enemy is our...

I can't post an exerpt because I'm on my phone:

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links
bit.ly/fFU2vg

...


...

 

[Ikael]

The people claiming about how hypocrital is to do not intervene into every single autocrat - ruled country really do not know what the hell realpolitik is. About the rebels, it is a realy fucked up situation of danmed if you do, damned if you don't. One one hand, Qadafi not only is a murderer, but he has showed several times over that he is more than willing to fund terrorist groups and using terrorism as a mean to retaliate over countries that attacks him (or that he simply don't like for whichever assassine reason). In the other hand, east Lybia has always been more religious than the west, and many mujaideen fighting in Irak came from that region. So really, there is barely any good guy here. The uprising was meant to cause more terrorism regardless of who wins this fight, me thinks.

 

[Veidt]

I can't post an exerpt because I'm on my phone:

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links
bit.ly/fFU2vg

I can't believe people are honestly surprised by this.

Some of us having been saying this for a while now, Afghanistan 2.0.

 

[Yamauchi]

Rebels are now preparing to continue their march west and liberate Brega, according to the BBC.

 

[HawksEye]

A female managed to sneak into the Tripoli hotel where the foreign journalist are located, to tell the story of her torture by Gaddafi forces there.

TRIPOLI, March 26 (Reuters) - A weeping Libyan woman made a desperate plea for help on Saturday, slipping into a Tripoli hotel full of foreign journalists to show bruises and scars she said had been inflicted on her by Muammar Gaddafi's militiamen.

As reporters gathered to hear her story, security guards grabbed the woman, bundled her into a car and drove her away following a brawl in which several journalists were beaten.

The woman, Eman al-Obaidi, said she was arrested at a checkpoint in Tripoli because she is from the city of Benghazi, the bastion of a rebel insurgency against Gaddafi's rule.

Reuters Source

Here is another link with a Video of the women, I can't even imagen what they will do to her now

Video of the women

 

[Luckyman]

In the ensuing scuffle, one hotel staff member grabbed a table knife

I don't really get how those journalist can be there, under gaddafi gov control. Gaddafi can order to take them anywhere he wants and they will never be seen after that

 

[Roude Leiw]

a few journalists tried to help her and tried to prevent those security guards get to her. while others just kept taking pics. sigh.

 

[RustyNails]

The rebels have retaken Ajdabiya.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12869658




http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201132681812362552.html



Old map that shows the key cities:

Looks like after Brega comes Sirte. That will be a key battleground because it's Gaddafi's hometown and part of his power base.

This is a big, big, big BIG development. Things can only snowball from here.

 

[Lesiroth]

This is a big, big, big BIG development. Things can only snowball from here.

Yep. Pretty happy about this. Sirte will be a very tough one though.

And BTW, why do I get the feeling most of the people in this thread are just waiting for the opportunity to jump on and criticise everything? I mean, the "We should help Syria and Yemen and Bahrain too!" scapegoat gets tiring when it has been mentioned and disproved for the 100th time.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

a few journalists tried to help her and tried to prevent those security guards get to her. while others just kept taking pics. sigh.

To be far it would be the only thing that would help get her story out. They couldn't protect her from a hotel filled the Gaddafi supporters and plain clothed police. I think that woman knew that fact before going in there.

 

[scorcho]

Coming into this late, but what a shit show the US and NATO dragged itself into. No clear exit strategy or plan after the initial fireworks, and a host of questionable actors to deal with should the regime fall.

 

[Ikael]

The thing that makes this whole affair different to say, Irak, is that there is barely, if any need for ground forces. The rebels are doing the dirty work for the coalition, so to speak.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Coming into this late, but what a shit show the US and NATO dragged itself into. No clear exit strategy or plan after the initial fireworks, and a host of questionable actors to deal with should the regime fall.

I think they have a plan. it's just that some aspects of conflict can't be given an exact date.

the surrender of the enemy, for example.

 

[Funky Papa]

4:16pm

.Rebels tell the AFP news agency they have retaken the eastern town of Brega, and a journalist confirms their forces are in the town centre. "We are in the centre of Brega," rebel fighter Abdelsalam al-Maadani told AFP by telephone.

"Gaddafi's forces are on the retreat and should now be at Al-Bisher (30km, 20 miles) west of Brega," he said.

That was pretty fast if true.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

That was pretty fast if true.

I'd bet that the Gadaffi forces are preparing for a showdown in Sirte.

If Sirte falls, I'm not sure there's anything preventing them from reaching Misrata, which could desperately use some help.

 

[TacticalFox88]

This war is pretty much over. Gaddafi SHOULD do the right thing and just surrender, but no if he's going down, he's going to take as many Libyans with him as possible.

 

[AlimNassor]

This war is pretty much over. Gaddafi SHOULD do the right thing and just surrender, but no if he's going down, he's going to take as many Libyans with him as possible.

we said that the first time and then the Rebels were pushed back all the way to Benghazi. It isn't over till Tripoli falls or is completely surrounded.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

Oh, and it looks like they nabbed a big shot.

Many fighters belonging to forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi were also taken hostage by rebels. Among them, according to reports in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, is one of Gaddafi's most senior soldiers, General Bilgasim Al-Ganga, said Al Jazeera's Sue Turton.

"We're hearing reports that the number three in Gaddafi's army, Bilgasim Al-Ganga, has been captured overnight in fighting in Ajdabiya. He has a fierce reputation among the opposition who accuse him of committing many atrocities under the Gaddafi regime," our correspondent said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201132681812362552.html

He is lucky to be taken alive. I wouldn't have expected that.

 

[Slurpy2k20]

we said that the first time and then the Rebels were pushed back all the way to Benghazi. It isn't over till Tripoli falls or is completely surrounded.

There was a small difference in the equation the 'first time'. Can you guess what that is?

 

[RustyNails]

we said that the first time and then the Rebels were pushed back all the way to Benghazi. It isn't over till Tripoli falls or is completely surrounded.

Yeah, its either Tripoli or bust. Success of the rebellion on the whole can be judged based on their success of capturing Tripoli (known as Bride of Mediterranean in Arab world). Sirte is just a small town where Gaddafi was born so it holds a symbolic value. But if Tripoli is not captured, there's every possibility that Libyan future will be plagued with civil strife and warfare.

He is lucky to be taken alive. I wouldn't have expected that.

I might be hoping too much but I hope they treat him with dignity and hand him over to ICC if they have doubts over his record. Giving him a trial in their own courts will result in bad blood.

 

[Clevinger]

They sure love to waste ammo.

 

[RustyNails]

8:45pm

Pro-democracy activist Ahmed Al Misrati in Misurata tells al Jazeera:


The city of Misurata is besieged from all sides. Gaddafi's troops had laid siege to the city and after the no-fly zone [was imposed] Gaddafi troops who were stationed in certain [areas] are now spreading out around the city.Some of them are also positioned inside the city in the main road called Tripoli Street. As a matter of fact, the city of Misurata since morning has been under heavy gunfire and heavy bombardment ... by tanks or mortar shells. This bombardment is indiscriminate and arbitrary, sometimes targeting residential plots and one entire family was killed - the father and his children.They are also stationed in other rooftops, especially the high buildings ... Anybody in the street comes under heavy gunfire and now the situation is exacerbating and is very, very dire.

It just rages me when I read stuff like that...then I become depressed. Man...if the tanks had rolled into Benghazi on March 17th and a No Fly Zone didn't pass, I would have gone into severe depression.

They sure love to waste ammo.

You gotta admit, shit looks badass and makes you feel like mothafuckin boss!
Rambo shot into air too, remember?

 

[mAcOdIn]

It just rages me when I read stuff like that...then I become depressed. Man...if the tanks had rolled into Benghazi on March 17th and a No Fly Zone didn't pass, I would have gone into severe depression.

Lol, well I guess it's good you aren't aware of all the other people being killed right this moment.

Although to go off on an older tangent, I wouldn't worry too much about Al-Qaeda links. Of course it's troubling to a degree but I don't think it necessarily means anything deeper either. Considering the size of Al-Qaeda and the amount of shit they have their fingers in I imagine almost every opposition group in the region has links to Al-Qaeda, so I'd imagine Al-Qaeda gets used about the same as Al-Qaeda uses these opposition groups, so long as a few of their missions align and the important thing is what happens after the two groups goals no longer meet.

 

[RustyNails]

President Obama's address on Libya.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

The reports make it sound like the rebels just move to each town and chill on the outskirts while ducking artillery fire until the coalition bombs Gaddafi's forces to bits.

I mean look at their equipment.

Fortunately if the bombardment continues they won't have to do more.