Owlkill posted:

'Hey' I thought, 'I'll just check in on the middle east thread before I hit the sack'. Goddamnit.

quote:

Huge Bahraini counterprotest reflects rising sectarian strife
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By NANCY A. YOUSSEF
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: Monday, Feb. 21, 2011 - 12:00 am
MANAMA, Bahrain -- Tens of thousands of Bahrainis rallied in support of their beleaguered government Monday, dwarfing the opposition's movement and raising new questions about whether the calls for major reforms will lead instead to more sectarianism for a key American strategic ally.

What began a week ago as a call by Shiite Muslims for a constitutional monarchy has instead opened a rift between the majority Shiites and Sunni Muslims in a nation that up until now enjoyed some the best relations between the sects in the region.

Sunnis said they didn't talk to their Shiite colleagues anymore about the protests because it led to arguments and broken friendships. The Sunnis also said they resented the Shiite tactics, and that they thought reforms already were happening at a reasonable pace.

Meanwhile, Shiites complained that the deaths of six protesters, allegedly by government forces, have forever marred relations with the Bahraini leadership. Rather than calling for a new constitution, some have chanted for death to the king.

Both sides bemoaned that their nation increasingly was divided along sectarian lines.

quote:

Iraq: Vulnerable Citizens at Risk
Women, Journalists, Detainees, Marginalized Groups Under Threat 8 Years After Invasion

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

Abed Mahsan fled his house in 2006, the day after his Shi`a neighbor was killed and two hours after he and his family received a death threat for living in a Sunni neighborhood north of Baghdad. Because of his displacement, none of his six children is able to attend school.
© 2010 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Eight years after the US invasion, life in Iraq is actually getting worse for women and minorities, while journalists and detainees face significant rights violations. Today, Iraq is at a crossroads - either it embraces due process and human rights or it risks reverting to a police state.

Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch
(Beirut) - The rights of Iraq's most vulnerable citizens, especially women and detainees, are routinely violated with impunity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch conducted research in seven cities across Iraq during 2010 and found that, beyond the country's continuing violence and crimes, human rights abuses are commonplace.

The 102-page report, "At a Crossroads: Human Rights in Iraq Eight Years After the US-led Invasion," calls on the government to protect the rights of vulnerable groups and to amend its penal code and all other laws that discriminate against women and violate freedom of speech. The report also urges Baghdad to open independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of abuse against detainees, minorities, and journalists.

"Eight years after the US invasion, life in Iraq is actually getting worse for women and minorities, while journalists and detainees face significant rights violations," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Today, Iraq is at a crossroads - either it embraces due process and human rights or it risks reverting to a police state."

Vladimir Putin posted:

The Jeri Curls pretty much kills his whole look.

Nckdictator posted:

Ham posted:

Plus: The Egyptian Air Force is mostly trained by the US Air Force so it's not like they lack the training, however they definitely lack in air superiority capabilities as they're limited to the AIM-9X missile.

Ashmole posted:

I'm kind of shocked at the lack of coverage of this whole Libya disaster. It's definitely 1,000 times worse than any of the other revolutions going on in the region, yet I'm not hearing as much about it as I did about Egypt - especially from the Facebook politico crowd.

This thread has done an excellent job informing me of what's going on. This is horrible. gently caress Qaddafi.

quote:

By ELAINE GANLEY | 0 comments
Pro-democracy protesters in Algeria vowed to hold a march Saturday even though thousands of police blocked their path a week ago.
The new march comes amid weeks of strikes and scattered protests in the North African country, which has promised to lift a 19-year state of emergency by month's end in a nod to the growing mass of disgruntled citizens.
University students and nurses are among those who have held intermittent strikes, joined by the unemployed. Even the richest region, around the gas fields of Hassi Messaoud, was not spared as around 500 jobless youth protested Wednesday, the daily El Watan reported.
Rising food prices led to five days of riots in Algeria last month that left three people dead.
An estimated 25,000 police blocked marchers from their route in a similar protest in Algiers a week ago. But organizers, the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, still called it a success, claiming 10,000 people took part. Officials put the number at 1,500.

quote:

God have mercy on the martyrs of Libya, O you who wronged
O God, raise their scourge
God and that tears in the eyes of the heroes are you, Libya
Brother Omar Al-Masri

Kowkowl 25 minutes ago two

quote:

The Perils of a “No Fly Zone” for Libya

February 21, 2011
Mark Leon Goldberg
Category: Security
Topics: Libya, No Fly Zone, Security Council
The crisis in Libya is shaping up to be what those in the industry call a mass atrocity event. Marc Lynch captures the mood among several commentators who are rightly calling for some sort of intervention to halt the ongoing atrocities.
We should not be fooled by Libya’s geographic proximity to Egypt and Tunisia, or guided by the debates over how the United States could best help a peaceful protest movement achieve democratic change. The appropriate comparison is Bosnia or Kosovo, or even Rwanda where a massacre is unfolding on live television and the world is challenged to act. It is time for the United States, NATO, the United Nations and the Arab League to act forcefully to try to prevent the already bloody situation from degenerating into something much worse.
By acting, I mean a response sufficiently forceful and direct to deter or prevent the Libyan regime from using its military resources to butcher its opponents. I have already seen reports that NATO has sternly warned Libya against further violence against its people. Making that credible could mean the declaration and enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya, presumably by NATO, to prevent the use of military aircraft against the protestors. It could also mean a clear declaration that members of the regime and military will be held individually responsible for any future deaths. The U.S. should call for an urgent, immediate Security Council meeting and push for a strong resolution condeming Libya’s use of violence and authorizing targeted sanctions against the regime. Such steps could stand a chance of reversing the course of a rapidly deteriorating situation. An effective international response could not only save many Libyan lives, it might also send a powerful warning to other Arab leaders who might contemplate following suit against their own protest movements.
There has been a sort-of coalescing around the idea that a No Fly Zone is useful way to intervene to stop the killing. I am not so sure. While it is true that some of the slaughter has been perpetrated by Libyan air force, air assets alone are not responsible for the killing. If Qaddafi and his inner circle are intent on violently suppressing this revolt, they will use their superior ground forces as well.
A No Fly Zone is a humanitarian half measure. It would let the international community say that it is doing something, but there is very little a No Fly Zone can actually do to stop ongoing slaughter. Using Lynch’s comparisons to slaughters of the 1990s, people need to ask themselves: would a no-fly zone have stopped the Machete wielding Interhamwe from perpetrating the Rwandan genocide? Definitely not. In Bosnia, there was an effective NATO enforced no fly zone over in 1995 when Srebrenica occurred. During the 1999 Kosovo air campaign, as NATO was bombing Serbia, Serb forces accelerated their ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. No Fly Zone’s may be good at enforcing a stalemate like interwar Iraq, but it is lousy at preventing slaughter.
This is not to say there is no utility in trying to enforce one over Libya—as Marc Lynch says, it could be one of several demonstrations of the resolve of the international community (along with multilateral sanctions and, perhaps, a Security Council referral to the ICC.) But we should not delude ourselves into thinking that a no-fly zone is an effective humanitarian response to a mass slaughter event. It is a gesture. Not a response.
If stopping a slaughter is our top priority, then a more robust response is probably required. That means not just preventing airplanes and attack helicopters from flying over Libya, but defeating the Libyan military infrastructure that is perpetrating the violence. The word for that is war.
While a U.S/NATO backed military intervention might be effective at halting the ongoing violence, it may also undermine some of the longer-term goals of a nascent democracy movement in Libya. After all, the United States/NATO would be intervening on behalf of one side of a civil war (that’s true, even if the level of intervention is only to enforce a No Fly Zone). Given the level of mistrust of the United States, such overt support for the anti-Qaddafi side may backfire — not to mention the fact that people generally don’t like to be bombed by foreigners.
This is the big policy dilemma facing the international community—and especially the United States. Intervene forcefully to stop the slaughter and risk undermining the long-term prospects for democracy, or “stand by” and watch the Libyan military massacre hundreds or even thousands of people.
That’s probably why half measures like a No Fly Zone seem so attractive right now. But we are deluding ourselves if we think that this alone will stop the slaughter or serve the long term interests of Libyan democrats.

Apology posted:

Basically it voices the concern that I had about the idea of a no-fly zone, mainly, that there are enough people on the ground to keep the massacre going strong, and that enacting a no-fly zone would be a feel-good measure that would allow the West to sit back, feel like they've done something to help, and do nothing else to stop the massacre. Jeez that was a long sentence. Anyway, that's not a very good reason to pass on the no-fly zone idea and do nothing at all to help, but I do hope that the international community will enforce the no-fly zone and do even more to help the citizens of Libya who are being massacred in such a hideous fashion.

Apology posted:

The video is also a bit longer than what's been played in the Western media, and shows Gaddahfi's secret bunker hideout in the background:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoovQJkx4tI

This makes me think that he is still in Libya, but he's not at his private residence as has been reported.

SauceNinja posted:

When I saw this

I immediately thought about this.

http://static.manolith.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/starmax219799-rourke-8010509dpaad-mickey-rourke-1.jpg

quote:

Saudi Arabia: Political Prisoners Released, New Ones Arrested
Authorities Offer No Reforms, Recycle Critics in Detention

FEBRUARY 22, 2011
Recycling political prisoners won't appease demands for democratic change. While Arab rulers topple and reforms get underway elsewhere in the region, Saudi princes have offered no concessions.

Christoph Wilcke, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch
(Munich, February 22, 2011) - Saudi authorities have released four political prisoners and lifted a ban on foreign travel on a blogger, since February 15, 2011, but arrested other critics, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities are also keeping other dissidents in long-term detention or under long-term travel bans.

"Recycling political prisoners won't appease demands for democratic change," said Christoph Wilcke, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. "While Arab rulers topple and reforms get underway elsewhere in the region, Saudi princes have offered no concessions."

On February 20 Saudi authorities released three Shi'a activists held solely for publicly demanding equal rights for Shi'a Saudis. The Saudi domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Investigations, had arrested Munir al-Jassas in November 2009, and Muhammad Al Libad in January 2010 and detained them without charge since. A third, Ramzi Jamal, was held since November 2010.

On February 15 the intelligence service released Dr. Muhammad al-‘Abd al-Karim, arrested on December 6, apparently for an article he posted on his Facebook page analyzing the political fault lines of the ruling family. Al-‘Abd al-Karim, a professor of Islamic jurisprudence at Riyadh's Imam Muhammad University, wondered aloud whether the kingdom would remain a political entity if the Saud family ceased to rule. He had also served for the past year as a part-time consultant for the Human Rights Commission, a government ministry. The commission did not publicly comment on his arrest.

Also on February 15, the well-known blogger Fu'ad al-Farhan, whom intelligence forces arbitrarily detained from November 2007 until April 2008, tweeted that his ban on foreign travel had been "officially" lifted. Earlier in February al-Farhan met the governor of Mecca Province, Prince Khalid al-Faisal, to discuss the repercussions from the recent deadly floods in Jeddah.

On February 16 the General Directorate for Investigations arrested six of the founders of Saudi Arabia's first political party.

Still in detention since June 2010 is human rights activist Mikhlif al-Shammari, whom officials locked up for "annoying others."

translated from arabic by Google Chrome posted:

Interview Saif al-Islam receives universally decried and rejected children of Benghazi

Not one of the Libyan citizens are expected to be a modern Islam, which was broadcast recording after long hours of its announcement to this effect which was brought by.
This was strong reactions around him, and candid, all in the box boos and grumbling and discontent.
Some citizens Adsth much the tone of the threat, which came in the speech and commented saying that Muammar Gaddafi wants to burn everything and everybody paid for his stay at the helm.
A number of citizens, that the speech did not come too late but after that they felt a loss of control on their sites.
The citizens, that the letter came as a reaction to violent and non-calculated on the fall of the battalion security area of the pond in Benghazi, while others Asthjnoa described the protesters as heroes Hacasheun and drug users.
Censure
The large number of citizens about their disapproval of the severe lack of Saif al-Islam said a single word in memory of the martyrs.
He said the citizen, Mohammed Saad, said Seif al-Islam did not recognize that the system is a mercenary who came from abroad to kill people, expressing surprise at the governor who did it with his people.
He added, Saad, Saif al-Islam fake facts and talking about the Army Libby while the Libyan army has been filtered and eliminate it because of the fear of it and that the existing force is the Brigades armed security a good track and one of Gaddafi's sons, and expected speakers do an armed conflict between these battalions .
And what's more Astahjnth masses of the Libyan people is playing use the sword of Islam on the tribal structure to terrorize the people by inciting the explicit and implicit war tribal and regional, and that his father lead the battle himself, and that this war would make him and his traveling by virtue of the western region of Libya.
Intimidation
Saif al-Islam and threatened during his televised address yesterday evening, Libyans living in the East and their families in the western region is not possible to meet their families again, citing the example of South and North Korea.
He was astonished that a threat to citizens Saif al-Islam the return of colonialism to the extent that his carries in the core calls for Western countries occupation of Libya.
He said that this citizen did not say Saif al-Islam is that Israel will not allow the demise of the rule of Libya, Muammar.
At the beginning of surprising for an interview, said a citizen he gives thanks to Saif al-Islam because it is talking Asamj and unexpected, which broke through the two red lines which he had set himself provided a great service to the people's revolution through provocation Liberals in Tripoli to get out and call for the overthrow of the regime in a major step means a loss Saif al-Islam to bet on the fact tribal configuration in Libya and the fact that Libya was before independence consists of three separate states.
Others went as far as saying, what has been said about the conflict between the brothers had actually happened and that the sword of Islam has been shot by his brother Thurs after recording of the speech, which was said to have been at seven in the evening was made public as it is known only after five hours of it.
Cyrene - Benghazi

quote:

by Southwest Initiative for the Study of Middle East Conflicts on Monday, February 21, 2011 at 4:14pm
Multiple news sources reported that a pair of Libyan Air Force jets landed at Malta's main airport in Valletta on Monday morning (02/20/2011), local time.SISMEC has identified the aircraft from serial model numbers (502 and 508) as French-manufactured Dassault Mirage F1ED fighter-bombers from a squadron stationed at the enormous Uqba ibn Nafi airbase (the former Wheelus Air Base under US control from 1943 to 1970), east of Tripoli.

The pilots, a pair of senior colonels, had been reportedly ordered to bomb civilian protesters in Benghazi and refused.

From photographs it is also clear that each of the two aircraft was equipped with a pair of what appear to be French Matra rocket pods, each in turn fully loaded each with twenty-four 68mm SNEB rockets. Although the exact target is unknown at this time, a weapons load of 96 rockets with high-explosive or armor-piercing warheads would have caused immense carnage amongst any crowd caught in open or even sheltering in buildings such as mosques.

Airstrikes by helicopters and aircraft have been reported from Tripoli and Benghazi, although the extent of casualities are not clear.

Cjones posted:

Little kid martyred in Benghazi by sniper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj3dtz1-EF0&feature=related&skipcontrinter=1

MJB posted:

Christ. How the hell can a person carefully aim a rifle at a kid's head and take a shot? That would give most people pause even if it was war and the kid was armed with intent.

This poo poo in Libya is depressing beyond belief.

MJB posted:

Christ. How the hell can a person carefully aim a rifle at a kid's head and take a shot? That would give most people pause even if it was war and the kid was armed with intent.

This poo poo in Libya is depressing beyond belief.

quote:

Libya unrest: Gaddafi's warplanes bomb protesters in Tripoli

Libyan warplanes were bombing indiscriminately across Tripoli on Monday, a resident of the Libyan capital told al Jazeera television in a live broadcast.

"What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Adel Mohamed Saleh said.

Saleh, who called himself a political activist, said the bombings had initially targeted a funeral procession.

"Our people are dying. It is the policy of scorched earth." he said. "Every 20 minutes they are bombing."

Asked if the attacks were still happening he said: "It is continuing, it is continuing. Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car they will hit you."

Cjones posted:

Little kid martyred in Benghazi by sniper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj3dtz1-EF0&feature=related&skipcontrinter=1

Sivias posted:

In all likeliness, 'sniper' is probably a stray round, or in-discriminant fire. Which doesn't make the event any less traumatic, but I doubt there are bell tower guys taking calm careful shots at individuals in a gigantic crowd.

Banano posted:

More likely a Chadian merc shooting from the hip.

MJB posted:

As grotesque as it feels for me to say, I certainly hope so. The alternative is even worse to think about.

Heran Bago posted:

So is every dictator snapping and trying to outdo the last or something?

"Oh hey we're going to end our 19-year-long state of emergency. Just kidding! Sniping kids."

Heran Bago posted:

So is every dictator snapping and trying to outdo the last or something?

"Oh hey we're going to end our 19-year-long state of emergency. Just kidding! Sniping kids."

Cjones posted:

Little kid martyred in Benghazi by sniper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj3dtz1-EF0&feature=related&skipcontrinter=1

Apology posted:

Shame on you, France. Shame.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/21/in-eastern-libya-citizens-bouyant-and-cautious-as-they-await-gadhafis-move/ posted:

In eastern Libya, citizens bouyant and cautious as they await Gadhafi's move – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

Editor's note: CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from eastern Libya after crossing into that country from Egypt. He is the first Western television correspondent to enter and report from Libya during the current crisis.

"Your passports please," said the young man in civilian clothing toting an AK-47 at the Libyan border.

"For what?" responded our driver, Saleh, a burly, bearded man who had picked us up just moments before. "There is no government. What is the point?" He pulled away with a dismissive laugh.

On the Libyan side, there were no officials, no passport control, no customs.

I've seen this before. In Afghanistan after the route of the Taliban, in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Government authority suddenly evaporates. It's exhilarating on one level; its whiff of chaos disconcerting on another.

The scene on the Libyan side of the border was jarring. Men - and teenage boys - with clubs, pistols and machine guns were trying to establish a modicum of order.

Hundreds of Egyptian workers were trying to get out, their meager possessions - bags, blankets, odds and ends - piled high on top of minibuses.

Egyptian border officials told us that 15,000 people had crossed from Libya on Monday alone.

"Welcome to free Libya," said one of the armed young men now controlling the border.

"Free Libya" was surprisingly normal, once we got out of the border area. We stopped for petrol - there were no lines - and saw some stores were open. The electricity was working. The cell phone system is still functioning, though you can't call abroad. The internet, however, has been down for days.

On the other hand, we did see regular groups of more armed young men in civilian clothing, stopping cars, checking IDs, asking questions. All were surprised, but happy, to see the first television news crew to cross into Libya since the uprising began February 15.

They were polite, if a tad giddy. Having thrown off the yoke of Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule (longer than most Libyans have been alive), it's understandable.

As we made our way westward from the border, driver Saleh gave me a running commentary on all the sins of the Gadhafi family and its cronies:

"You see all the potholes in this lousy road? This should be a four-lane highway. Gadhafi spent hardly a dinar on this part of the country."

"You see that rest house? Gadhafi's son built it, and overcharged the government."

"You see that house? It was stolen from its owner and given to one of Gadhafi's sons."

"You see those flashes? That's an ammunition dump an army officer loyal to Gadhafi set on fire before fleeing to Tripoli."

Saleh was also full of useful advice, I think.

"If you get stopped by forces loyal to Gadhafi, tell them you're a German doctor. Don't say you're a journalist. And say your colleagues are doctors, too."

When we finally reached our destination - which I can't disclose - we drove up to a nondescript villa and were greeted by a dozen men who could barely contain their excitement.

After endless handshakes, embraces and greetings, a man in his 50s wearing a dark overcoat and red sweater pushed through the crowd.

"You must show the world what has happened here. We will show you everything, everything!" I'll call him Ahmed, and he described himself as one of the leaders of "the resistance." He had studied briefly in the United States, but his academic career was cut short when he was imprisoned for three years for leading student protests against Gadhafi in the 1970s.

He accompanied us to our accommodations, asking us about American football, baseball, the American university where he studied. I was able to get a few questions in sideways. He told me the army in the east had joined the
anti-Gadhafi movement, that there were still pro-Gadhafi elements operating in the east (and therefore we needed to be very careful).

He and many others in eastern Libya are well aware their struggle against Gadhafi's regime is going to be tough, and bloodier still. They may be buoyed by their success so far, but they're under no illusion that Gadhafi isn't willing to use everything in his arsenal - aircraft, mercenaries, whatever it takes - to stay in power.

At the border, a man asked me, "Did you see he used helicopters and war planes against protesters in Tripoli today? This is genocide."

Delta-Wye posted:

I think you guys are vastly overestimating the moral trappings of a group of people (African mercs) who have helped thrust terms like "child soldier" into common use.

Suntory BOSS posted:

It just occurred to me that these protests would certainly have taken down Saddam Hussein by now, had the US not invaded.

It makes the loss of trillions of dollars and several hundred lives that much more appalling, knowing that with a little historical foresight we could have let the Iraqi people pursue their own freedom (likely with far less bloodshed and probably a more stable, less corrupt end result).

randombattle posted:

In all honesty I don't think anyone expected these to be as massive as they ended up being.