Libya govt planes destroy Misrata fuel tanks-rebels

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Reuters

BEIRUT May 7 (Reuters) - Libyan government forces dropped bombs on four large oil storage tanks in the contested western city of Misrata, destroying the tanks and sparking a fire that spread to four more, a rebel spokesman said on Saturday.

Government forces used small planes normally used to spray pesticides for the overnight attack in Qasr Ahmed close to the port, said rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan.

Rebels notified NATO about the planes before the attack but there was no response, he said. (Writing by Matthew Bigg; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Read more: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE74605020110507

[Poll_Blind]

1. I just recced this to 0. I don't get why a story like this would be un-recced.

PB

[TheWraith]

2. Probably someonewho thinks that any story about the Libyan government doing something bad...

...is a propaganda front for the Evil American Imperial Colonization War of Aggression.

[Turborama]

4. I just rec'd it from 8 to 10

So I appear to have magically cured that one for you... ;-)

[Poll_Blind]

5. !

:rofl:

I'm not going to be asking any questions about that one!

:thumbsup:

PB

[Turborama]

6. I think I know what happened, it seems like it was the one I lost here...

I just rec'd this one and it stayed at 0: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4843183

:shrug:

[PurityOfEssence]

7. It messes with the interventionists' narrative

Anything that shows that Qaddafi isn't whipped or that he does something tactically sensible must be destroyed. Anything that messes with the tidy narrative of his being without any support at all or the rebels doing well is to be righteously quashed by the peace-loving warmongers of certainty. When you're on the side of moral surety, facts may be ignored, and questionable reports that one likes lauded as gospel.

Sounds like a clever little operation. I wonder what the massive popular army of liberation thinks. Maybe Allah isn't so all-fired Akbar after all, even with all of the infidel help.

It'll be "a matter of days, not weeks", so I guess we should just remind ourselves that it's merely been 50 days, not 7 weeks...

[Baclava]

12. "50 days, not 7 weeks" - Is that... blasphemy?

Careful Heretic

The Inner Sanctum will not be pleased

[PurityOfEssence]

15. As usual

Once one's found one's savior, all else is irrelevant.

We are so fucked.

Somehow I'll muddle on, but the vulnerable will have a much less pleasant time.

Thanks for the missive.

[Turborama]

3. Libyan rebels say city will be starved of fuel after light aircraft drop bombs on oil tanks

Gaddafi destroys Misrata rebels' fuel supply in air raid
Libyan rebels say city will be starved of fuel after light aircraft drop bombs on oil tanks

Amy Fallon and agencies | guardian.co.uk, Saturday May 7 2011 14.02 BST


Libyan rebel fighters run across a street in Misrata,
which has been under siege for two months.
Photograph: Str/AP

Libyan government forces have bombed four large oil tanks in Misrata, destroying the city's only source of fuel, according to rebels.

Light aircraft normally used for spraying pesticides were deployed for the overnight attack in Qasr Ahmed, close to the port, rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan said today.

Bombs were dropped on four large storage tanks, destroying them and sparking a huge blaze that spread to four more, he said.

"We cannot extinguish it because we do not have the right tools," Hassan told Reuters. "Now the city will face a major problem. Those were the only source of fuel for the city. These tanks could have kept the city for three months with enough fuel."

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/07/gaddafi-destroys-misrata-rebels-fuel

[Igel]

9. You'd have to wonder what the city would look like without NATO defense.

We're defending civilians against the threat of showing no mercy to any rebel that didn't lay down his arms (getting us back to those odd armed partisan-civilians) compared with the hundreds of civilians killed and houses/lives ruined.

Sours the narrative.

[Turborama]

8. Sky News: Rebels Claim Gaddafi Using Planes In Misratah

6:00pm UK, Saturday May 07, 2011
Mark Stone, Sky Reporter in Tripoli



=snip=

Misratah is Libya's third city and has been a centre of heavy fighting for more than two months.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4842273">Yesterday Amnesty International said that the siege in the city amounted to a possible war crime.

"The scale of the relentless attacks that we have seen by Gaddafi forces to intimidate the residents of Misrata for more than two months is truly horrifying," Amnesty senior adviser Donatella Rovera said.

"It shows a total disregard for the lives of ordinary people and is in clear breach of international humanitarian law," she said.

Full article: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Libya-Colonel-Gaddafis-Forces-Have-Ignored-No-Fly-Zone-And-Bombed-Oil-Storage-Tanks-In-Misratah/Article/201105115987491?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15987491_Libya:_Colonel_Gaddafis_Forces_Have_Ignored_No-Fly_Zone_And_Bombed_Oil_Storage_Tanks_In_Misratah

[Baclava]

10. Onward Christian Soldiers! Why aren't the French calling for ground troops?

What is taking so long?

There's a Holy Oil War to win here!


"Gawd Save British Petroleum!" - - signed, The Queen


...to the shores of Tripoli

[Posteritatis]

13. Because they read the resolution they wrote, I'd imagine.

Emote emote emote.

[Baclava]

14. Won't the rebels all die?

Libyan city of Misurata pleads for NATO ground forces

Misurata, the only rebel-held city in western Libya, has asked that NATO troops be sent to fight alongside the rebels holding off Libyan forces, a local government representative said Tuesday.

"If they don't come, we will die," Nouri Abdul Ati, a member of the 17-member ruling body in Misurata, told reporters as heavy machine gun fire, rockets and mortar rounds exploded in the near distance. "Grad rockets don't leave anybody alive," he said, referring to the truck-mounted rockets used by the Libyan military.

'If they don't come, we will die,' Nouri Abdul Ati, a member of the local government, says as the rebel-held city is pounded by Moammar Kadafi's forces.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/20/world/la-fg-libya-plea-20110420

[Turborama]

17. A lot of civilians have died since April 20

When that article was written.

[Iterate]

11. NYT reports no aircraft was used, just more Grad missiles

Libya Strikes Fuel Supply in City Held by Rebels
By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: May 7, 2011

...

The impact craters and twisted remains of other ground-to-ground rockets were visible around the remaining tanks.

The tail section of one variant of a Grad rocket — a cold war-era munitions made in the 1980s in what is now Slovakia, and one of the most common fired on this city — was visibly stuck in the soil near the fire.

...

Complete:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/world/middleeast/08libya.html?_r=1

[soryang]

16. Once all the capital assets in the country are destroyed...

...the IMF will order an end to the conflict so they can either buy or mortgage everything.