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ShababLibya is reporting on Twitter that the Egypt-Libya border has been opened by activists on both sides at one of the border cities, and that anti-Ghadafi protests are ongoing in Tripoli with police standing down.
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Feb 18, 2011 21:54
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Has anyone put out a transcript of Ghadaffi's latest speech?
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Feb 22, 2011 20:51
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Slantedfloors posted:Someone more knowledgeable about the subject will be able to explain it better, but Libya's government (Jamahiriya) is basically unique in that it doesn't really exist - outside of tribal bonds, the only real concrete aspect of government is focused directly under Ghadaffi himself - there's no one else with even a fraction of his power. Once he was even remotely out of the loop, the whole thing fell apart like dead leaves. I'm curious as to why Ghadaffi didn't try to buy off/bribe/throw oil money at the people of Benghazi if he and his advisors knew that unrest was likely to spring up there. Why jump to brutal repression if he supposedly has oil money to toss around?
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Feb 22, 2011 21:42
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Ghetto Prince posted:I like how the news channels are acting like he's already dead, playing all this "life of the dictator" poo poo, and really, how could he cling on to power? Too many people have declared openly against him, and they know how bloodthirsty he is. Any confirmation on where Gadaffi is? I thought that the epic ramble which he delivered today was filmed at his bombed-during-the-Reagan-years house in southern Tripoli, and that means that he's still in the capital...
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Feb 23, 2011 03:14
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I can see Gadaffi ending up in some sort of a comatose state and having a long, drawn-out death just like Franco or Ariel Sharon. Who I'm not quite sure about are his sons. They're educated playboys whose lives seem to define nepotism...not brutal sociopaths like Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay.
Zappatista fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Feb 24, 2011 |
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Feb 23, 2011 23:59
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Rising food prices and a large number of educated young people who can't find jobs alongside years' worth of anger at brutally repressive regimes, just to name two quick reasons. When Gadaffi falls/flees, who's in place to take over the country? Does Libya have an ElBaradei or Wael Ghonim waiting in the wings around whom people can rally or else say 'so-and-so seems like an acceptable person to head a transitional government..." The only person whom I've heard talk of is one of the members of the former royal family. From what I'm seeing now, it looks like the one thing Gadaffi's been good at is preventing a military coup. Forgive me for sounding ignorant, but my impression of the Libyan situation based on what I've read recently is that it's a very potentially fractitious nation where tribal allegiances mean an incredible lot and that Gadaffi had managed to play a similar role to what Tito did in the Balkans in holding it together for so long. Zappatista fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Feb 24, 2011 |
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Feb 24, 2011 00:37
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It's the 1-2 punch of being tasteless and haraam...
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Feb 24, 2011 02:16
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I wonder if Venezuela could see more political unrest. It's had strikes, clashes between pro/anti-Chavez supporters and a lot of turmoil this past decade. There has been unrest in Bolivia over high fuel/food prices, and from what I know the Chavez govt is subsidizing about 90 percent of fuel costs.
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Feb 24, 2011 06:52
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Anyone know if there's a more up-to-date map than the ones Iyan al-Baghdadi's been making that's focused on Tripoli? I'm trying to follow along and get a sense of where Ghadaffi's base is, where the Khamis Brigade is stationed, and where protesters are marching on the city from...
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Feb 25, 2011 19:33
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I thought that reports out of Libya had Tripoli's military/civilian international airport falling to the opposition days ago. I'm trying to picture where Ghadaffi'll be able to send planes/helicopters out from...
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Feb 28, 2011 04:59
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ArchDemon posted:If I were a rebel leader, I'd be making large posters telling the opposing troops that they could enter a friendly zone and be welcomed into our side or something, allowing the loyalist troops a chance to defect without being shot. IIRC news out of Benghazi back when violence first started breaking out was filled with accounts of troops approaching protesters while saying "Don't worry, we're with you!" and then opening fire at close range.
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Mar 14, 2011 21:44
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ChaosSamusX posted:So, who exactly is winning in Libya? Every other post switches between: Seems to me like parts of both sides (well, maybe parts of whatever rebel army exists and all of Ghadaffi's high command) are encouraging the reporting of propaganda as fact.
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Mar 15, 2011 23:40
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Shageletic posted:Here's a great article I found that describes how the protest in Bahrain are not strictly about Sunni-Shia divisions.
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Mar 16, 2011 19:01
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And here I thought that some of the Arab States would start covertly arming the Libyan rebels... e: any updates on the health of Khamis Ghadafi? Zappatista fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Mar 17, 2011 |
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Mar 17, 2011 02:28
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Simtex posted:Who wants to bet that there's been a bit of quid pro quo deal making for that support. They give you an Arab stamp of approval while the west looks the other way in Bahrain, etc. While I want to see Khadaffi toppled and hopefully put on trial, I'm in full agreement with this statement. Although I wonder how much of a precedent this could set for similar situations (who am I kidding...what other brutally repressive pariah states not called North Korea are out there?)
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Mar 18, 2011 00:15
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ChaosSamusX posted:Man, do we have a single military aircraft that doesn't have that problem? (I hear out former fleet of Sea Kings is now a habitat for some of the remaining Cod in the Atlantic) Well, they're a nice complement to a submarine fleet that can't dive withhout hatches blowing and things catching on fire 
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Mar 18, 2011 05:09
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I hope I'm wrong, but part of me is still expecting the UN Security Council to be slow or lax in doing anything...I'm envisioning Benghazi burning for another day accompanied by pages' worth of posts like "Cmon your planes are right there bomb him already!"
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Mar 19, 2011 15:51
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Given the degree of control that he holds over the government, I wonder what'd happen if a special forces team could be sent in to capture him, get out of the country and send him up to the International Criminal Court.
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Mar 20, 2011 21:58
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Seems to me that Ghadaffi was trying to draw the USA into the conflict so as to have a chance to play the anti-imperialist card and make rhetorical speeches about oil wars and Christians killing Muslims. Rather than rant about rats and dogs and hallucinating drugs in Nescafe, he could hit on themes that are legitimate sources of anger in the Arab world and paint himself as the victim. Given the response from the Arab League to the air strikes, the  part of me is wondering whether Ghadaffi's plan has a chance of succeeding in keeping him in power, destabilizing the coalition and improving his stock in the Arab world. Maybe the bastard's a lot smarter than we've given him credit for.
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Mar 21, 2011 04:49
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Namarrgon posted:I think we can all wager a guess on what the content was. How important is Yemen in the oil/wealth/stability scale? Or in other words; any specific reason why the Saudis would care? Yemen is the home turf of one of the most active groups in the al-Qaida network, Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Given al-Qaida's Saudi origins and the hatred of its leadership for the House of Saud, I wouldn't be surprised if the message was something along the lines of "If I fall and al-Qaida takes over- which they will- remember that you had the chance to step in just like you did in Bahrain when suicide bombings are happening every day in Riyadh"
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Mar 21, 2011 19:48
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mrfart posted:good question. how about a waffle? 
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Mar 21, 2011 22:13
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ODC posted:I know this might sound a bit reactionary to the situation, but does anyone else see this as a possible WW3 scenario? Maybe should something truly inciting happen (like Israeli jets bombing Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities)...but as for now no.
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Mar 22, 2011 16:50
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Could what happened come from trying to bomb the wrecked plane to prevent Ghadafi's forces from stripping it of its weapons and/or using it for propaganda value? Isn't destroying wrecked aircraft that can't be retrieved standard USAF operating procedure?
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Mar 22, 2011 22:04
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Narmi posted:Is this by the same photog who did the crying Glenn Beck pic?
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Mar 27, 2011 04:50
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tetsul posted:I have faith that Gaddafi will find a way to gently caress it up. He could get a safe haven lined up and go in with the full intention of offering full resignation if allowed to safely leave, but once people are listening to him he'll go into some rambling tirade how Zionist Al-Qaeda members are forcing the US to use hallucinogenic chemtrails on his people under the orders of Swiss Al Jazeera reporters and he'll be stuck in Libya. I'd figure that the 'not knowing when to quit' thing could be worse for him. I don't see him as someone who'll go into exile and retire to a lakeside villa to gleefully spend the fortune he brutally extracted from his nation. Nope, he'll either want to keep giving speeches from exile or start crazily putting together a plan to take his country back the moment he settles in. Who would want to take in someone so potentially destabilizing?
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Mar 27, 2011 21:53
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Have any of the prominent al-Qaida spokesmen (Zawahari, Bin Laden, Adam Gadahn etc.) commented recently on the 'Arab Spring' events? I've been looking for articles or reports on the subject and the latest bit of news I can find is an analysis piece on how Zawahari's failure to comment on the Egyptian revolution is due to the failure of Al-Qaida's vision of change in Egypt. But not much else.
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Mar 28, 2011 01:09
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As to this whole genie thing, the djinn are mentioned frequently in the Koran and the Hadith. They're seen as sentient creations of the almighty just as humans are who will also face the Heaven/Hell judgement when that time rolls around. That Libyan State TV speech is part Charlie Sheen meltdown, part Patti Smith song intro though. Someone really needs to record themselves reciting a Gadaffi rant or Libyan TV speech in the manner of a Patti Smith stream-of-consciousness freestyle... Zappatista fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Mar 28, 2011 |
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Mar 28, 2011 05:31
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Slantedfloors posted:Uhh...Sudan actually has a huge oil deposit. It's even located mainly in the ethnically-distinct area the genocide was taking place in, so if securing resources was actually that much of a goal, a seperate puppet-state could have been set up pretty easily. Spheres of influence. Sudan's regime is backed by the Chinese government, whereas Gaddafi runs what's essentially a pariah state. Despicable human beings only ever get punished for their actions when they aren't strategically important to one of the super-powers.
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Mar 29, 2011 19:56
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As horrible as this sounds, this all has the feel of a soccer match where one team is spotted a lead at the beginning due to the mismatchedness of the teams. "OK, Team A will begin up 3-0"... (10 minutes later) "Hey, hey, timeout! Let's start again and put Team A up 4-0 this time"
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Mar 30, 2011 17:15
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/gadhafis-forces-pound-rebels-recapture-strategic-ground/article1963604/quote:Col. Gadhafi's forces also have adopted a new tactic in light of the pounding airstrikes have given their tanks and armored vehicles, a senior U.S. intelligence official said. They've left those weapons behind in favour of a “gaggle” of “battle wagons”: minivans, sedans and SUVs fitted with weapons, said the official, who spoke anonymously in order to discuss sensitive U.S. intelligence on the condition and capabilities of rebel and regime forces. Not only are Gadaffi's armies holding together,(as opposed to disintegrating and defecting en masse) but they are changing strategies too. It seems like this latest string of victories has been won without heavy armor and with weapons similar to what the rebels have. Then again if there's anyone crazy enough to turn soccer-mom minivans into technicals, it's Gaddafi.
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Mar 30, 2011 22:31
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Or "One rebel is still in hospital after accidentally flame-throwing himself in the torso"
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Apr 3, 2011 00:29
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kylejack posted:It seems entirely possible to me. Khalifa Hifter has been living a stone's throw from Langley for the past couple decades maintaining ties with Libyan opposition players. Reuters is reporting that CIA was in-country prior to Obama signing the 'secret' order authorizing covert action. The reporting that's going on about the CIA (in particular, how quickly news surfaced of Obama's possible executive order) seems to show that not all the top brass are happy with the way the conflict is progressing and that someone's trying to weaken domestic and international support for it by leaking documents. Reports about the USA turning loose the CIA won't go over all that well in the Arab world.
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Apr 6, 2011 04:30
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Pedrophile posted:Sheet metal is better than nothing, make do with what you got. It reminds me of what the Polish Home Army built to fight in the Battle of Warsaw. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubu%C5%9B  quote:the car had no design prepared on paper and instead all construction was improvised in situ.
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Apr 22, 2011 17:13
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Hekat posted:So what does this likely mean? There's something cruel about Gadaffi's forces leaving just so local tribes can crush Misrata (as is suggested in these articles), would these tribes really follow through with this? Or is it just a way for Gadaffi to get his forces the hell out of dodge without calling it a retreat. It means that paramilitaries or troops in civilian clothing are going into Misrata. A news report I heard quoted the Ghadafi regime press release as saying that while his army took 'measures to avoid civilian casualties', the 'tribes' would not do so.
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Apr 23, 2011 22:19
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:Yeah, but I remember whoever posted it said that it's only speculation that the chemicals even exist any more. But yeah, it seems the most likely reason. Possible CW gear plus nearby airfield = big fuckoff priority target. Isn't bombing CW bunkers a big no-no? This is probably one of the only situations which I can approve of cluster bombs being useful. Drop a shitload of 'em and the unexploded bomblets will make it too fuckoff dangerous for any govt attempt to get 'em outta the bunkers.
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Jul 19, 2011 19:37
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I've never trusted the NTC very much from the beginning. They seem to me like a sketchy group with a clearly neoliberal agenda who've stepped up and said "Yup, this rebel movement fighting Ghadaffi...we're its leaders". Call me naive but I'm looking at the Younes assassination and the subsequent NTC decree that all rebel groups have x number of hours to fall into line as a coup of sorts. Looks to me like a repeat of the ayatollahs snatching power in Iran or the Bolshevik vs. Menshevik showdown in St. Petersburg
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Aug 3, 2011 03:15
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What became of the TNC demand that all rebels recognize them as their leadership? Haven't heard anything of it since General Younes was murdered...it struck me as a potential seizure of power a la ayatollahs or Bolsheviks
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Aug 13, 2011 22:05
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We'd been hearing stories about how rebellion was brewing just under the surface in large parts of Tripoli...it'll be interesting to see if things start kicking off there again once Zawiyah is officially in rebel hands. I'm actually looking forward to another poorly-shot tape of Moammar gesticulating irationally and blaming drugs and a vast foreign conspiracy. e: looks like that scumbag Khamis Ghadaffi has been confirmed alive. His death or capture, when it happens, will be long overdue I know it's been full of speculations the whole time, but Twitter accounts are reporting protesters out in Tripoli neighbourhoods Zappatista fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Aug 14, 2011 |
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Aug 14, 2011 02:48
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Namarrgon posted:Isn't the whole idea of codenames for operations so that you can't figure out what they are about from the name alone? Code Names just aren't what they used to be. Back in WWII you had Operation Super Gymnast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gymnast . The invasion of Nicaragua? Operation Just Cause? (Hey guys, our cause is just) (Why are we doing this? Just 'cause http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coalition_military_operations_of_the_Iraq_War#2003 Then in OIF you had "Operation Northern Delay". C'mon...I mean a more competent army would've manhandled any forces who'd telegraphed their plans beforehand. Although "Operation All-American Tiger" was pretty  As far as I see it, the rebels are people fighting to overthrow a mad tyrant who'd neglected many of them for decades, but a lot of the TNC are opportunistic, privatization-hungry neoliberal scum of the kind who'd jump a sinking ship only to say to the captain of the rescue vessel "I've taken the liberty of drafting you a new economic plan". They're not the leaders of the rebellion, they just like acting like it. If that makes me LF as gently caress, so be it. e: what's Saif saying? I'd love to see this end Reservoir Dogs style with Saif, Moammar and Khamis, Zappatista fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Aug 21, 2011 |
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Aug 21, 2011 02:59
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Young Freud posted:Just for a point of reference, the Rixos is at the corner of the Nassar Park and Hai Demasheq. So, I updated your map. Where are Ghadaffi's several compounds located on that map, and where's he believed to be hunkered down?
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Aug 21, 2011 17:55
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