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Yes his act is very appropriate.
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Feb 19, 2011 09:16
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randombattle posted:Wait isn't that the definition of sparking something? Like he was literally the spark that lit the already gas soaked nation to create flames of rebellion? Not to sperg out or anything, but he was the symbolic spark that ignited the protests. Literal means he was actually a spark. More apropos: Metaphorically, he was the spark that lit the already gas soaked nation to create flames of rebellion.
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Feb 19, 2011 09:21
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He totally was both metaphorically and literally the spark that light the fire of revolution.quadratic posted:Add Djibouti to the list. (AJE) It's just a shame there isn't a way to help everyone fight for what they want with out mass slaughter.. There isn't any way a nation will step in to help and with out that the only support that can be given is after the revolution is over. It's just awful though that all the nations with the ability to actually do something care more about maintaining their loving image with the people murdering protesters in the street then actually stepping up doing whats right.
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Feb 19, 2011 09:22
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Neato, one of the Wikileaks cables says that the US was looking for derogatory information on the Bahraini King's sons:quote:The office of Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, wanted to know if Prince Nasir bin Hamad al Khalifa or Prince Khalid bin Hamad al Khalifa took drugs, drank alcohol or "caused problems" within the monarchy. The article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8331374/WikiLeaks-US-wanted-derogatory-information-on-Bahrain-kings-sons.html and the cable: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wikileaks-files/8331622/SNF-BAHRAIN-EMERGENT-PRINCES-NASIR-AND-KHALID.html I find it interesting that Wikileaks has slowed down on posting the cables so much that if the newspapers want to talk about a specific cable, they've got to release it themselves.
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Feb 19, 2011 09:28
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Apology posted:
A bit simplistic... Not entirely wrong, but painting it in solely sectarian terms misses the point.
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Feb 19, 2011 09:31
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New Guardian Live Blogquote:Good morning, this is David Batty with today's liveblog on the continuing unrest in the Arab world and Middle East. The death toll is spiralling as security forces in Libya and Bahrain crack down on popular protests. quote:Libyan special forces have stormed a protest camp in the eastern city of Benghazi, the Associated Press reports. At 5am special forces are said to have attacked hundreds of protesters, including lawyers and judges, who have been camped out for the past two days in front of the courthouse in city, which has been a focus for the anti-government unrest. Last night Libya started closing down the internet, and cutting off outside communication, much like the Egyptian government did before it tried to murder the protesters, and it looks like this morning they are doing so. AJE also has a Live Blog
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Feb 19, 2011 11:16
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An article on the civilian massacre: Click here for the full 667x500 image. quote:"We decided to walk to the hospital because we knew there was a demonstration. Some of us were carrying tree branches as a token of peace which we wanted to give to the soldiers near the square, and we were shouting 'peace, peace. There was no provocation – nothing against the government. Then suddenly the soldiers started shooting. One was firing a machine gun from the top of a personnel carrier. There were police but they just left as the soldiers shot at us. But you know, the people in Bahrain have changed. They didn't want to run away. They faced the bullets with their bodies." With regards to the Saudis, quote:Why has the royal family of Bahrain allowed its soldiers to open fire at peaceful demonstrators? To turn on Bahraini civilians with live fire within 24 hours of the earlier killings seems like an act of lunacy. source The article also mentions how the government/royal family is getting Sunnis from around the region to come in and hold pro-government rallies. They even had a truck with the logo of the interior ministry handing out bottles of water. I know it's been said before, but they really are using the same playbook as Mubarak to deal with the protesters, except that the army is taking side here.
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Feb 19, 2011 11:30
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The videos of the protesters being murdered in Bahrain should be at the top of the OP, they are loving disgusting.
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Feb 19, 2011 11:32
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Brown Moses posted:The videos of the protesters being murdered in Bahrain should be at the top of the OP, they are loving disgusting. I heard on the BBC World Service that the protesters returned to the spot shortly afterwards, to pray for the dead, and the army shot into the crowd again while they were praying  . 50 people wounded, death toll not yet known. A loving travesty. It's a shame that our government is not completely denouncing this behavior. I mean, I realize that the geopolitical situation is more complex than many people like to think, but it's so god drat sad and frustrating to see these far away people spilling their blood so that they no longer live under the thumb of autocracy, from the perspective of a country where people once had to do the same and have seemingly forgotten.
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Feb 19, 2011 12:37
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Brown Moses posted:The videos of the protesters being murdered in Bahrain should be at the top of the OP, they are loving disgusting. Some asshat royal douche said in a statement (clip on AJE) that there had been no fiering of weapons.
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Feb 19, 2011 12:46
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Dabadu posted:Some asshat royal douche said in a statement (clip on AJE) that there had been no fiering of weapons. Was this the same asshat royal douche who said that the king would be willing to open dialogue with the protesters if they would clear the streets, only hours after slaughtering scores of unarmed citizens with assault rifles?
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Feb 19, 2011 12:48
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That royal douche has told the army and police to back off though, so protestors have taken back pearl r/a edit: some libyan army supporting protestors, libya importing soldiers from other african countries to kill protestors. what happened to the twitter page of IckyEtardo/middle-east-news, anyone know? Fo3 fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Feb 19, 2011 |
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Feb 19, 2011 14:05
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Apology posted:
I think Wikileaks is dead in the water. I think someone behind closed doors must have done some damage to prevent the BoA files release. Between the cut in funding and assange's trial, it all seems to have spluttered into nothing.
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Feb 19, 2011 15:09
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People are trying to organize in China now. It's going to be pretty hard there with the internet issues. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41678825/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
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Feb 19, 2011 15:17
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Jut posted:I think Wikileaks is dead in the water. I think someone behind closed doors must have done some damage to prevent the BoA files release. Between the cut in funding and assange's trial, it all seems to have spluttered into nothing. Dunno about the BOA thing but they are still churning out embassy cables daily.
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Feb 19, 2011 15:17
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So, from reading this link: http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=227130&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter I stumbled upon this news article: http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=227205 quote:(AhlulBayt News Agency) - A Cairo court on Saturday approved the establishment of an Egyptian political party that has been trying to secure an official license for 15 years, judicial sources said. So I became curious and decided to look for more information about the Wasat Party. I found this: http://egyptelections.carnegieendowment.org/2010/09/16/center-al-wasat-party It seems as though it might be an ok sort of political party that would, on the face of it, have the best interests of all Egyptians (not just Muslims) towards the top of their "to-do" list.
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Feb 19, 2011 15:41
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Jackie Roland is getting a well deserved rest in Paris covering G20 after her adventures in Cairo 
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Feb 19, 2011 16:30
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Quote of the day from Libya:quote:I saw with my own eyes a tank crushing two people in a car. They hadn't done any harm to anyone.
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Feb 19, 2011 16:48
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I may be concerned over the US getting hosed out of an important base, but you know what? An entire nation gaining democracy is more important. Go Bahrainian people. Christ, the video of the dudes getting shot.  I really hope this leads to a new era of peaceful, non-fundamentalist democracies in the middle east, but I doubt that will happen.
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Feb 19, 2011 16:52
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Caught this here. Gadhafi's regime, however, has sought to portray a different picture of events and sent out tacit warnings via mobile phone texts to Libyans planning to make their voices known. "The inappropriate use of telecommunications services contradicts our religion ... our customs ... and our traditions," said a text from the General Communications Body. Yes, the shame those protesters should feel for all that inappropriate texting and tweeting.
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Feb 19, 2011 17:07
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 From Kristof's twitter who's in the square right now.
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Feb 19, 2011 17:36
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Spiky Ooze posted:People are trying to organize in China now. It's going to be pretty hard there with the internet issues. Hmmm... https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150103856062290&id=105759983026 One of these places is near me. Tempted to go and look... probably won't amount to much, but I'm curious.
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Feb 19, 2011 18:40
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Fo3 posted:what happened to the twitter page of IckyEtardo/middle-east-news, anyone know? It's still there, it's just been renamed a little: http://twitter.com/#!/list/IckyEtardo/middle-east-africa-news Edit: Apparently the unrest has spread to Kuwait: quote:KUWAIT Feb 19 (Reuters) - Kuwaiti police fired teargas at hundreds of stateless Arabs demanding citizenship in a second day of protests in a village outside the OPEC member's capital on Saturday, a human rights activist said. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE71I0GT20110219?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter And apparently Algeria is active: quote:@Dima_Khatib Unfortunately most of the news about Algeria is in Arabic, so this terse little note is the best I can provide. And video of a dead African mercenary found in Libya: WTH THIS IS SO GROSS-->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GEeWlPel-o&feature=player_embedded <--DON'T WATCH THIS GROSS poo poo SRSLY MAN
Apology fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Feb 19, 2011 |
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Feb 19, 2011 19:04
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Updates!guardian posted:• Libyan security forces killed 35 people in the eastern city of Benghazi last night, according to Human Rights Watch. This brings the death toll from three days of protests in the east of Libya to 84, according to the New York-based group. Eyewitness accounts given to news agencies suggest the total could be significantly higher. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/feb/19/libya-bahrain-protests-live-updates Also, NY times posted:CAIRO - Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians poured into downtown Cairo's main square Friday to celebrate the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak and press the country's military chiefs to steer the country toward democratic reform. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/18/AR2011021801336.html I'm kind of surprised by the protests spreading to Djibouti, a city state, while being very much Muslim and Arab influenced, but solidly seen as African as well. This spotlights the shakiness of neighboring autocracies Eritrea and Ethiopia.
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Feb 19, 2011 19:19
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It's spreading to everywhere now: add Kashmir to the list.quote:Srinagar: To press the demand of job regularization, members of All Jammu and Kashmir, technical and non-technical HDFC association, Saturday, held protest demonstrations, here at city centre Lal-chowk. A temp for EIGHT YEARS?!? Yeah, uh, that really sucks. Good luck Kashmiri dudes.
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Feb 19, 2011 19:25
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A captured, well I'm not exactly sure, some sort of "anti-tank" weapon, in al-Bayda, Libya. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz2ZkHP1s-I
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Feb 19, 2011 19:30
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Apology posted:Unfortunately most of the news about Algeria is in Arabic, so this terse little note is the best I can provide. There's a website called Algeria-Watch that seems pretty useful. There's been a ton of articles posted recently in the French section, but the English one seems to have been largely ignored for the past few days unfortunately. e: Apparently there's an Algerian group called Mothers of the "Disappeared"
Narmi fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Feb 19, 2011 |
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Feb 19, 2011 19:39
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Xandu posted:A captured, well I'm not exactly sure, some sort of "anti-tank" weapon, in al-Bayda, Libya. Looks like a recoilless rifle technical.
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Feb 19, 2011 19:43
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Xandu posted:I added a bunch of pictures and videos in the D&D thread, Here's the post. This video especially is worth watching. Very graphic at end, clash between protesters and army in al-Badya, Libya. gently caress ME GENTLY WITH A CROWBAR.
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Feb 19, 2011 19:47
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Ogive posted:gently caress ME GENTLY WITH A CROWBAR. I'll wait until youtube gets this, I don't have a facebook account. Or is it on liveleak yet? Had to be the first site to get it, right?
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Feb 19, 2011 19:58
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SoroScrew
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Shageletic posted:I'm kind of surprised by the protests spreading to Djibouti, a city state, while being very much Muslim and Arab influenced, but solidly seen as African as well. This spotlights the shakiness of neighboring autocracies Eritrea and Ethiopia. Djibouti isn't really arab influenced, the population consists of Somalis and an Afar large minority, both being African ethnic groups. Their grievances are mainly the huge unemployment rate (over 50% afaik) with many jobs going to western expats instead of locals, and the widespread government corruption. In Eritrea I don't think theres any chance for protests since the regime there is north korea level repressive, all media is state owned and president Afewerki uses the hate towards Ethiopia to keep the population united under him. In Ethiopia a revolution would turn into a civil war and the country would disintegrate since it's a country made up of about 80 very different ethnic groups that would rather join countries inhabited by their own people (Ogaden would join Somalia, Gambela would go to South Sudan) or declare independence rather than staying under the current Tigrayan/Amharic rule. And in both Eritrea and Ethiopia internet penetration is very low even by African standard (Ethiopia has 500.000 internet users for a population of 80 million, while for example Nigeria has 50 million internet users out of ~150 million) so you won't see the same facebook/twitter coordination as in Tunisia or Egypt.
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Feb 19, 2011 19:59
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Paradox Personified posted:I'll wait until youtube gets this, I don't have a facebook account. Here you go, but again, it's pretty awful.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkDcrb-EwbM
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Feb 19, 2011 20:01
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Xandu posted:Here you go, but again, it's pretty awful. XausF1 posted:
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Feb 19, 2011 20:04
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lil sartre posted:Djibouti isn't really arab influenced, the population consists of Somalis and an Afar large minority, both being African ethnic groups. Their grievances are mainly the huge unemployment rate (over 50% afaik) with many jobs going to western expats instead of locals, and the widespread government corruption. Isn't there a large Yemeni population there? As well as sheesha places and other things emblematic of Arabic countries? I wasn't saying that they were Arabs, but you see pieces of Arabic culture floating there, down to Oman chips (which are delicious, by the way) and Arabic television. As far as your read on Ethiopia and Eritrea, I think you're correct. Having just left the region (last fall), I can tell you that people there (city dwellers lucky enough to have internet) are practically glued to Facebook. And a lack of internet access didn't do anything to stop the student protests of 05 in Ethiopia (brutally suppressed). Its PM and the rest of his party must be sweating in their boots right now.
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Feb 19, 2011 20:11
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Samurai Sanders posted:My god this event is everything right and wrong with humanity at the same time. Why, what's wrong with it?
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Feb 19, 2011 20:13
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ChaosSamusX posted:Why, what's wrong with it? Protesters being shot to death and crushed to death by tanks.
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Feb 19, 2011 20:14
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Xandu posted:A captured, well I'm not exactly sure, some sort of "anti-tank" weapon, in al-Bayda, Libya. SPG-9 73mm recoilless rifle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc9-MkCxq5c
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Feb 19, 2011 20:26
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Nenonen posted:SPG-9 73mm recoilless rifle. Too small. It's probably a M40 105mm recoiless rifle, note the spotting rifle on top. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M40_recoilless_rifle Here's hoping nobody is actually getting anything like that shot at them. Warbadger fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Feb 19, 2011 |
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Feb 19, 2011 20:45
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Bahrain: Protesters retake the main square of Manama, Pearl Roundabout. Government is reneging on it's position and voicing the same rhetoric that Egypt's Sulaman stated: that those responsible for the peaceful protest deaths will be held accountable. Apparently the govt is retracting from it's hostile stance and taking a diplomatic position. Whether or not this is pandering to world press is unclear. Time will tell. It's possible that these regimes are learning, and rather than squashing the revolt, which Egypt learnt was not a possibility due to media observance and global pressure, they are considering accepting that democracy in some form is inevitable so they are embracing it out of fear. (Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic.) Imagine you are an autocrat, all these similar and nearby countries falling to demonstrations and the determination of the people, only growing stronger through violence of the govt, and the fortitude the people present; you would think, 'oh poo poo'. Self preservation is key to these dictators. Especially when they have no true ideals, shown through their eagerness to kill their own people for power. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/world/middleeast/20protests.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast...+Top+Stories%29 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011...nternational%29 http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/201121914336940622.html I'm glad the US, and similar democratic nations that have a somewhat free media are able to, both through diplomatic and economic ties, pressure these countries into not outright participating in genocide of its people, for what would certainly be a solution if not for these factors, a truth no matter how much people rightfully or extraordinarily defame the US and co. Lascivious Sloth fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Feb 19, 2011 |
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Feb 19, 2011 20:53
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One thing I want to know is, how many police officers will refuse to fire on unarmed civilians if they are ordered to? Surely a whole lot of them can look at that crowd and not see a faceless crowd, but rather a bunch of people who could easily be their family and friends. It's a small country after all.
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Feb 19, 2011 20:58
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