Libyan Revolution Week 27 part 3

[joshcryer]

Links to sites with updates: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya">AJE Libya Live Blog http://blogs.aljazeera.net/twitter-dashboard">AJE Twitter Dashboard http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/libya">The Guardian http://uk.reuters.com/places/libya">Reuters http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/">Telegraph http://feb17.info/">feb17.info http://www.livestream.com/libya17feb?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks">Libya Alhurra (live video webcast from Benghazi) http://libya-alhurra.tumblr.com/">Libya Alhurra archives and updates http://www.ustream.tv/channel/benghaziradio">Benghazi Free Radio, in Arabic (may have translators present at times) http://www.tributefm.com/">Tribute FM (English broadcast from Benghazi) http://www.libyafeb17.com/">libyafeb17.com

Twitter links: http://twitter.com/#!/aymanm">Ayman Mohyeldin, with AJE http://twitter.com/#!/bencnn">Ben Wedeman, with CNN http://twitter.com/#!/tripolitanian">tripolitanian, a Libyan from Tripoli http://twitter.com/#!/BaghdadBrian">Brian Conley, reporter in Libya http://twitter.com/#!/freelibyanyouth">FreeLibyanYouth, Libyan advocate http://twitter.com/#!/LibyaFeb17_com">LibyaFeb17.com twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/ChangeInLibya">ChangeInLibya, Libyan advocate https://twitter.com/#!/TheyCallMeSof">Sofyan Amry (arrived in Benghazi recently) http://twitter.com/#!/KiloFoot">KiloFoot (general Arab Spring news aggregation)

Useful links: http://audioboo.fm/feb17voices">feb17voices http://www.google.com/search?q=time+in+libya">Current time in Libya http://www.islamicfinder.org/cityPrayerNew.php?country=libya">Prayer times in Libya

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1782476">Week 27 part 2 here.

http://www.pogar.org/countries/theme.aspx?cid=10&t=2">The Oppressive Laws of Gaddafi's Libya
The government grants the right of association to official institutions by virtue of Law 71 of 1972, which regulates associational activity in Libya. Law 20 of 1991 on the Promotion of Freedom sanctions the death penalty for anyone whose continued existence would lead to the disintegration of Libyan society. The ‘Code of Honor�Eof March 1997 institutes a system of collective punishment for wrongdoing, whereby families, towns and municipalities are held responsible for the actions of individuals in their midst and are subject to punishment such as the dissolution of the local People’s Congress or the denial of government services, including utilities, water, infrastructure projects. Associations engaging in political activity are illegal in Libya. Further, political activity is defined by Articles 2 and 3 of Law 71 of 1972 as any activity based on a political ideology contrary to the principles of the Al-Fateh Revolution of September 1, 1969. The Law on Publications, No. 76 of 1972, as modified by Law 120 of 1972 and Law 75 of 1973, govern the operation of the press, reserving all rights to publish.

This is what the Libyan freedom fighters are fighting against. Each and every one, when they went into this, knew that it was all or nothing, they had no choice but to fight. For their very survival.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixwx_B38678">Marching On in Libya, for the revolutionaries!

Residents of Gharyan paraded through the streets in celebration after rebel fighters drove pro-Qaddafi forces from the city.

Bob Strong / Reuters


Day 177 August 13

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/08/201181215510690602.html">Opposition fighters control some residential areas outside of oil port city + capture Tawurgha
The rebels took over the residential zone of New Brega, located about 15km from the central oil terminal and port area, on Thursday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/13/us-libya-idUSTRE77A2Y920110813">Libyan rebels advance on Zawiyah
Rebels in western Libya advanced north to within 25 km (15 miles) of the coastal city of Zawiyah on Saturday after a six-hour battle with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/13/libya-war-rebels-zawiya_n_926214.html">Rebels Enter Zawiya, Heavy Clashes
Libyan rebels fought their way into the strategic city of Zawiya west of Tripoli on Saturday in their most significant advance in months, battling snipers on rooftops and heavy shelling from Moammar Gadhafi's forces holding the city.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_E_9y1_Mfs&feature=share">Az Zawiya Road Closed from Tunisia
Libyan rebels have been involved in a gun battle in the key town of AzZawiya, 18 miles from Tripoli

Day 178 August 14

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE77C01F20110813?sp=true">Rebels inside Zawiya report intense fighting, expect to liberate the town soon
A rebel spokesman, Mohammed Ezzawi, speaking from inside Zawiyah, said the rebel force was about 800 metres from Martyrs' Square in the city centre.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1146904/1/.html">Libyan rebels tighten grip on Tuarga
Rebels fighting east of Tripoli strengthened their grip on the town of Tuarga on Saturday, winning key battles against Muammar Gaddafi's forces and creating a buffer zone for the city of Misrata.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/13/libya.war">Rebels say they are gaining ground in Libya; government disputes claim
Rebels said Saturday that they were gaining traction in a series of offensives in several parts of Libya controlled by ruler Moammar Gadhafi -- claims that the Libyan government swiftly disputed.
http://news.yahoo.com/heavy-clashes-libyan-rebels-enter-zawiya-171327097.html">Heavy clashes as Libyan rebels enter Zawiya
Libyan rebels fought their way into the strategic city of Zawiya west of Tripoli on Saturday in their most significant advance in months, battling snipers on rooftops and heavy shelling from Moammar Gadhafi's forces holding the city.
http://news.yahoo.com/libya-rebels-fight-key-city-near-capital-121936569.html">Fighting around Zawiya forces convoy of foreign journalists to return to Tunisia
Fighting erupted late Saturday on the road leading to Zawiya, close to the Tunisian border. It forced a convoy of foreign journalists who had just crossed the border and were heading to Tripoli to turn back to Tunisia.
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE77D06920110814">Rebels say capture another town (Surman) west of Tripoli
"The revolutionaries today entered the centre of Surman. They are now in full control of the town. There is no fighting there now," the spokesman, called Abdulrahman, said.
http://libya-alhurra.tumblr.com/post/8882809317/personal-account-of-algerian-fleeing-tripoli-in">Personal Account of Algerian Fleeing Tripoli in February
On Sunday 20th of Feb 2011 I was teaching in Tripoli. I finished my classes at 8 00 pm. I was approached by three men in military uniforms, and I was asked to go with them. They called me by my name and were friendly and assured me that they needed my help and that I was recommended. I got into the car ( a gray Hyundai Sonata 2011 with no licence plates).
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/13/139600683/libyan-teens-news-site-hears-the-rebel-yell">Libyan Teen's News Site Hears The Rebel Yell
A Libyan teen is fast becoming a media star in rebel-held Benghazi. The 14-year-old has established his own online news outlet. His father drives him to press conferences in Benghazi, and he is increasingly well-known among rebel leaders. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports.

Day 179 August 15

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE77E00A20110815">Gaddafi urges Libyans to take up arms against NATO
Libyan state television early on Monday broadcast what it said was a live speech by Muammar Gaddafi calling on the Libyan people to arm themselves to liberate the country from "traitors and from NATO."
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=233838">Libyan interior minister arrives in Egypt with family
The Libyan Interior Minister arrived in Egypt with members of his family on Monday, official sources at Cairo airport said, amid reports that he was abandoning the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
http://news.yahoo.com/libyas-western-mountain-rebels-taste-success-094841713.html">Libya's western mountain rebels taste success
Rebels in the western mountains of Libya spent weeks meticulously organizing in the town of Zintan for what has now become the opposition's most successful advance in months against Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/08/rebels-advance-surround-tripoli-as-qaddafi-totters.html">Juan Cole: Rebels Advance, Surround Tripoli, as Qaddafi Totters
The long slow slog of the Libyan struggle to throw off the rule of Muammar Qaddafi, accelerated this weekend, possibly decisively, with rebel forces making major advances.
http://news.yahoo.com/gadhafi-forces-try-block-libyan-rebel-advance-140747299.html">Rebels say they have shut down all four main gas/diesel pipelines to Tripoli
"We shut down all four pipelines to Tripoli," said Nurial-Bouaisi, one of the rebels. He also said all coastal roads leading from Tripoli to the Tunisian border at Ras Ajdir were now under rebel control.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/15/no-stalemate-libya-gaddafi">No stalemate in Libya �Ethe writing is on the wall for Gaddafi
A quick exit for the colonel matters less than a well-managed transition, preparing the country for representative government
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/us-officials-gadhafi-fires-1111776.html">US officials: Gadhafi fires first scud missile
A U.S. military official says Libyan government forces fired a scud missile for the first time in this year's conflict with rebels, but it landed east of Brega and hurt no one.

Day 180 August 16

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7JG00920110816?sp=true">Rebels encroach, but Libya capital seems unruffled
Rebels may have fought their way into Zawiyah, a strategic city a half hour's drive from the Libyan capital, but for many supporters of Muammar Gaddafi here the battle that may be a turning point may as well be a million miles away.
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE77F0UM20110816">Sniper's bullet ends life-long friendship in Libya
Life-long friends Abdul Ghani and Majdi often played soccer and billiards together as youngsters, went to the same law school and then joined the rebel movement fighting to topple Muammar Gaddafi.
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLAE58476820110816">Africans stuck in Tunisia after fleeing from Libya
Five months after Sudanese worker Mohammed Hassan fled civil war in Libya he is still stranded in a tent city just across the border in Tunisia.
http://shabablibya.org/news/libya-seen-through-gadhafis-keyhole">Libya seen through Gadhafi’s keyhole
“Mia mia.�EIt is an extremely popular phrase, widely used in Libya, that translates roughly to �E00 percent.�ENine times out of 10, that is what Libyans said when I asked how they were coping with nightly bombardments by NATO warplanes, electricity blackouts that lasted days and rebel forces who were pressing forward on three fronts.

Day 181 August 17

http://news.yahoo.com/gadhafis-troops-hospital-doctors-185422331.html">Gadhafi's troops use hospital as base, doctors say
The day Libyan rebels advanced into the strategic city of Zawiya, Moammar Gadhafi's forces clamped down on the local hospital.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/08/16/uk-libya-zawiyah-scene-idUKTRE77E3NP20110816">Libya's Zawiyah on edge after rebel capture
Gaddafi's men have recaptured Zawiyah twice before so the rebels say they are being extra cautious and thorough.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1147451/1/.html">Libya rebels see victory by end of August
Libya's rebels were bolstered by fresh battlefield advances Wednesday, as leaders claimed the six-month-old civil war had entered a decisive phase and could end within weeks.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-16/misrata-once-besieged-relaxes-as-libyan-rebels-advance-against-qaddafi.html">Misrata Returns to Normal After Six-Month Siege as Libyan Rebels Advance
Libya’s rebel-held city of Misrata, under siege by forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi for the past six months, is experiencing something new: traffic jams.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44166967/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa">Unarmed, unmanned aircraft being used for surveillance missions
The United States stepped up its military assistance to the NATO mission in Libya slightly this week, sending in two additional Predator drones to fly combat air patrols, a senior defense official told NBC News.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iT0Xzr0RAGFGaXmDcTr8UoBP-7Yw?docId=01144f8bc3d549f188002675ce21822f">Rebels battle Libyan forces for Zawiya refinery
Rebels and Moammar Gadhafi's forces are fighting for control of the only functioning oil refinery in Libya in the western city of Zawiya.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/17/libya.war">Advancing rebels in western Libya face snipers, shelling
Rebel fighters in Libya, trying to take over a key western city, faced stiff resistance from Moammar Gadhafi's forces on Wednesday, a rebel commander said.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE77A2Y920110817?sp=true">A rebel spokesman said rebels had found the buried bodies of civilians
"We discovered a mass grave containing 150 bodies in Tawargha. These are the corpses of civilians kidnapped from Misrata by Gaddafi's loyalists," he said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8707413/Libya-Fierce-battle-underway-for-crucial-Zawiyah-oil-refinery.html">Fierce battle underway for crucial Zawiyah oil refinery
A fierce battle was underway on Wednesdy night for outright control of Libya's only functioning oil refinery as opposition forces took on Gaddafi loyalists entrenched in the complex.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/libyan-rebels-advance-stalls-in-zawiyah-as-refugees-stream-west/2011/08/17/gIQAnuZzLJ_story.html">Thousands of refugees from cities still under Gaddafi’s control stream west
Families fleeing Tripoli in new Korean-made sedans drove through the violence in Zawiyah in order to get to rebel-controlled areas.

Day 182 August 18

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904070604576514710263791554.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">Libyan Rebels Move Closer to Tripoli
Fighting raged for a fourth straight day in this strategic coastal city 30 miles west of Tripoli on Wednesday, as rebel fighters battled to mop up pockets of loyalist soldiers and laid siege to the regime's last working oil refinery.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-17/libyan-rebels-push-south-from-misrata-to-cut-road-radio-says.html">Libyan Rebel Forces Push South From Misrata to Cut Key Highway to Tripoli
A column of armed jeeps drove unopposed through the desert to the village of Bir Durfan and is heading for Beni Walid, 40 miles (64 kilometers) away, to link up to the highway to the capital, Libya Freedom Voice in Misrata reported.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpCbzcIugEE">Gaddafi loyalists resisting rebels advance in Az Zawiyah - video
In the battle for Libya, fighting has continued in Az Zawiyah between opposition fighters and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0818/breaking1.html">Libyan rebels fight for refineries
Rebels to the west and east of Libya's capital fought forces loyal to Muammar Gadafy for control of oil facilities vital to winning the six-month-old civil war.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2011/08/18/libyan_rebels_battle_for_last_oil_refinery/">Rebels besiege Libya’s last working oil refinery
Dozens of opposition fighters surrounded Libya’s last functioning oil refinery yesterday and laid siege to about 100 government troops, part of a push that brought them closer to seizing this strategic western city.
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE77H09I20110818?sp=true">Libya rebels take Garyan, south of Tripoli
Libyan rebel fighters are in control of Garyan, a town about 80 km south of the capital Tripoli, a Reuters reporter in the town said on Thursday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/aug/18/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest#block-7">Rebels capture Abu Qurayn, 85 miles west of Sirte
Rebels here say forces in west captured the refinery at Zawiyah, if so Gaddafi has lost his last refinery. Rebels here have captured Abu Qurayn, 65 miles south of here and 85 miles west of Gaddafi's birthplace, Sirte.
http://news.yahoo.com/zawiya-becomes-epicenter-libyas-civil-war-091027238.html">Zawiya becomes epicenter of Libya's civil war
Shops are shuttered. Makeshift roadblocks of scrap metal, sand piles and car wrecks block the streets every few hundred yards. Bursts of gunfire and the thud of mortars rattle the streets, sometimes distant, sometimes nearby.
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16052095">Alex Crawford: Rebels Get Closer To Gaddafi's Tripoli
Libyan rebels are closing in on the country's capital, unseating Colonel Gaddafi's supporters in the nearby port of Zawiyah.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14575444">Rebels 'take' key Zawiya oil refinery
An oil refinery outside the Libyan town of Zawiya, just 50km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, has been taken by opposition forces, according to reports.
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE77H0GU20110818?sp=true">Anxiety mounts in Tripoli as rebels advance
Libya's encircled capital is being painfully squeezed as rebel forces fight their way closer and battles along the coastal highway block the city's chief link to the outside world.
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7JI3X720110818">Libyan rebels say secure another western coastal city
Libyan rebel forces celebrated the capture of Sabratha on the coast road between the Tunisian border and the capital Tripoli on Thursday, after a four-day battle with pro-Gaddafi government troops.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/18/libya-rebels-zawiya-tripoli-assault">Libya: the importance of Zawiya to the rebels
Control of Zawiya and the road to Tunisia means the rebels have isolated Gaddafi and are well set for an assault on Tripoli
http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-capital-fearful-rebels-eye-tripoli-204039658.html">Libyan capital is fearful as rebels eye Tripoli
"We know he (Gadhafi) is finished," said Mohammed Said, a 50-year-old school teacher who fled Tripoli on Tuesday. "We just don't know when."
http://www.euronews.net/2011/08/18/former-libyan-minister-tells-euronews-of-corruption">Former Libyan minister tells euronews of corruption
Libya’s former energy minister has told euronews that Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif Al-Islam is the brains behind billions of euros-worth of embezzlement from the country;s oil industry.

Day 183 August 19

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/18/7407675-libyan-embassy-re-opens-under-new-flag-in-dc">Libyan Embassy re-opens under new flag in D.C.
The Libyan Embassy in Washington, D.C. re-opened under a new flag on Wednesday, the banner of Libya’s Transitional National Council.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/world/british-forces-sink-libya-ship-near-strategic-port-of-zawiyah/story-e6frg1p3-1226117855540">British forces sink Libya ship near Zawiyah
British warplanes sank a vessel being used by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi near the strategically vital port of Zawiyah, the defence ministry said.
http://news.yahoo.com/nato-strikes-boat-carrying-gadhafi-troops-100619174.html">NATO initiated rescue of Gaddafi troops after airstrike on their boat
A NATO spokesman says coalition warplanes have targeted a small boat carrying Moammar Gadhafi's troops off the coast of Zawiya as rebels advanced in the strategic city along the Mediterranean.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44192334/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa">NBC: Gadhafi making plans for leaving Libya
Moammar Gadhafi is making preparations for a departure from Libya with his family for possible exile in Tunisia, U.S. officials have told NBC News, citing intelligence reports.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/08/is-qaddafi-really-going-to-flee-to-tunisia.html">Juan Cole: Is Qaddafi Really going to Flee to Tunisia?
I fear that NBC is being used by US intelligence for psy-ops purposes, since the report strikes me as highly unlikely to be true.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/18/libya.war">Brother of Libya's information minister reported killed in NATO strike
A brother of Moussa Ibrahim, the spokesman for the government in Tripoli, was killed Thursday night by NATO aircraft, a government official here said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/201181814341888450.html">Rebels report all of Alargop, in Brega area, is liberated
"All of Alargop is now free, liberated," Musa Mahmoud al Mugrabi, the rebel spokesman, said of the area 6km south of Brega.
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16052748">Alex Crawford (Zawiya): Libyan Rebels Unleash New Foreign Weapons
Libyan rebels attempting to overthrow Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have launched a renewed assault on a town near the capital with newly supplied weapons and ammunition.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/qaddafis-soldiers-looting-foreigners-cars-homes-equipment">Qaddafi's soldiers looting foreigners' cars, homes, equipment
Libyan soldiers have been looting properties of foreigners in government-held areas around Tripoli, residents in Libya said yesterday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/19/c_131062061.htm">Gaddafi family members to be evacuated from Tunisia on board Venezuelan plane
A Venezuelan plane has landed on the island of Djerba to evacuate members of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's family, Tunisian radio, Mosaique FM, reported on Friday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/aug/19/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest#block-11">Analysis of NTC "Draft Constitutional Charter"
As might be expected, it contains things that would appeal to a variety of different elements. Parts of it have been copied from Gaddafi's 1969 constitution, and it is interesting to compare the two documents to see what has been included and what has been omitted. For example, the Arab and pan-Arab nationalism has gone. Libya is no longer described as an Arab state, though Arabic will remain as the official language "while preserving the linguistic and cultural rights of all components of the Libyan society". This is a major step towards de-marginalising the Amazigh (Berbers).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8709159/With-Muammar-Gaddafi-on-his-last-legs-we-must-prepare-for-what-comes-next-in-Libya.html">With Muammar Gaddafi on his last legs, we must prepare for what comes next in Libya
Suddenly, the omens do not look so good for Muammar Gaddafi. A dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of rebel fighters battling to end the Libyan dictator’s 42-year rule now sees them challenging for control of the strategically important oil port of Zawiyah, just 30 miles to the east of the capital Tripoli.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/08/18/libya-10-protesters-apparently-executed">Libya: 10 Protesters Apparently Executed
Libyan government forces appear to have executed 10 protesters following an anti-government demonstration in the town of Bani Walid on May 28, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Earlier on that day government forces fired on apparently peaceful protesters, killing at least two and wounding 10, in the government-controlled town about 170 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tripoli. After the protest a rebel sympathizer apparently killed a government paramilitary commander and two bodyguards.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/18/libya-gaddafi-rebels-tripoli-oil">Libya rebels jubilant as they secure grip on Tripoli's oil line
For Yusuf Hamad, it was a happy moment. Standing under the shadow of a giant oil cylinder, he conjured up a future for Libya without Muammar Gaddafi, where foreign investors would at last be able to renovate the country's largest oil facility. "This is a milestone. This is the biggest refinery in Libya. The Gaddafi regime didn't want us to revamp it. Now we can," he said.

Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Libyan_civil_war">here for updated map. The size of the circles show population, the color represents control, red for FFs, green for tyrants. Note, this week is an animated gif, to show gains made by the freedom fighters.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x594751">A topic on the women of the revolution, dispels myths about the treatment of women in Benghazi.

Videos to bring the Libyan Revolution into context
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0vChMDuNd0">The Battle of Benghazi. BBC Panorama on Libya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyaPnMnpCAA">Part 1, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMzwQvcx62s">Part 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwWwOeZqz6M">Video of the convoy sent to take Benghazi, taken from a dead soliders cell phone (shows how massive the operation was). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAclhhHv43s&feature=player_embedded">Arab Awakening: Libya: Through the Fire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD5tu5bJWKc">Tea of Freedom Song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z41kQvx4uKw">Libya: Part 2 - The Uprising http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vNWCGDkdWY">Benghazi - Backbone of the Libyan revolution

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-10-0">March 10 7:28pm Saif al Islam Gaddafi says "the time has come for full-scale military action" against Libyan rebels. He goes on to say that Libyan forces loyal to his family "will never surrender, even if western powers intervene".

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x677397">Text of UN resolution 1973. How will a no fly zone work? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWEwehTtK2k">AJE reports.

Belgium: http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/monde/2011-03-21/les-f-16-belges-dans-le-feu-de-l-action-829588.php">Six F-16 Falcon fighter jets of the Belgian Air Component. Bulgaria: The Bulgarian Navy Wielingen class frigate Drazki http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2011-03-23&article=35828">will participate in the naval blockade. Canada: Canadian Forces Air Command has deployed http://www.cefcom-comfec.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/mobile/index-eng.asp">a total 440 military personnel as well as the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Charlottetown are participating in operations. Denmark: The Royal Danish Air Force http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/ECE1227910/denmark-to-send-squadron-on-libya-op/">is participating with six F-16AM fighters. France: French Air Force which realizes 25% of NATO's strikes http://www.defense.gouv.fr/operations/autres-operations/harmattan/libye-debut-des-operations-aeriennes-francaises">is participating in the mission with 51 Mirage and Rafale Aircraft. Greece: The Elli-class frigate Limnos of the Hellenic Navy http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2011/03/20/greek-defence-ministry-no-participation-in-operations-outside-the-nato/">is currently in the waters off Libya as part of the naval blockade. Italy: Four Tornado ECRs of the Italian Air Force http://www.corriere.it/esteri/11_marzo_20/tripoli-bombardamento-chiesta-riunione-onu_2e95d102-52c0-11e0-a725-dbe20f0ba2b5.shtml">participated in SEAD operations. Jordan: Six Royal Jordanian Air Force fighter jets http://www.allheadlinenews.com/briefs/articles/90043651?After%20hesitation%2C%20Jordan%20joins%20in%20Libya%20no-fly%20campaign">landed at a coalition airbase in Europe on 4 April to provide "logistical support." NATO: E-3 airborne early warning and control (AWACS) http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/nordtrondelag/article1606878.ece">aircraft operated by NATO. Netherlands: The Royal Netherlands Air Force http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/dutch-f-16s-operational-over-libya">provides six F-16AM fighters and a KDC-10 refuelling plane. Norway: The Royal Norwegian Air Force has http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/libya/artikkel.php?artid=10091294">deployed six F-16AM fighters to Souda Bay Air Base. Qatar: The Qatar Armed Forces are http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123248695">contributing six Mirage 2000-5EDA fighter jets and two C-17 strategic transport aircraft. Romania: The Romanian Naval Forces http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-politic-8423876-traian-basescu-sustine-declaratie-presa-ora-21-00-dupa-sedinta-csat.htm">will participate in the naval blockade with the frigate Regele Ferdinand. Spain: The Spanish Armed Forces are http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Espana/intervendra/cazas/F-18/fragata/F-100/submarino/avion/vigilancia/maritima/elpepuint/20110319elpepuint_14/Tes">participating with four F-18 fighters. Sweden: The Royal Swedish Air Force will http://www.swedishwire.com/politics/9050-sweden-offers-eight-fighter-jets-for-libya-mission">commit eight JAS 39 Gripen jets for the international air campaign. Turkey: The Turkish Navy http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/03/24/general-libya-diplomacy_8373237.html">will participate with five ships and one submarine in the NATO-led naval blockade to enforce the arms embargo. United Arab Emirates: The United Arab Emirates Air Force http://www.wam.org.ae/servlet/Satellite?c=WamLocEnews&cid=1300255413630&p=1135099400124&pagename=WAM%2FWamLocEnews%2FW-T-LEN-FullNews">sent six F-16 Falcon and six Mirage 2000 fighter jets to join the mission. United Kingdom: The Royal Air Force has http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/TyphoonJoinsTornadoInLibyaGroundAttackOperations.htm">deployed 12 Tornado and 10 Typhoon fighters, surveillance aircraft, and air refuelling tankers. United States: The United States has http://www.webcitation.org/5xJ8qNGGe">deployed a naval force of 11 ships and are using MQ-1 Predator UAVs to strike targets in Libya on 23 April.

As of this week the National Trasitional Council has been formally recognized by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_the_Libyan_Republic#Recognition">34 countries. France (March 10), Qatar (March 28), Maldives (April 3), Italy (April 4), Kuwait (April 13), The Gambia (April 22), Jordan (April 24), Sengal (April 28), The United Kingdom (June 4), Spain (June 8), Australia (June 9), UAE (June 12), Germany (June 13), Canada (June 14), Panama (June 14), Austria (June 18), Latvia (June 20), Denmark (June 22), Bulgaria (June 28), Croatia (June 28), Turkey (July 3), Poland (July 9), Netherlands (July 13), Belgium (July 13), Luxembourg (July 13), United States (July 15), Japan (July 15), Albania (July 18), Slovenia (July 20), Montenegro (July 21), Portugal (July 28), Botswana (August 11), Gabon, Tunisia.

"One month ago (Western countries) were sooo nice, so nice like pussycats," Saif says in a contemptuous sing-song tone."Now they want to be really aggressive like tigers. (But) soon they will come back, and cut oil deals, contracts. We know this game." - http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2058389,00.html">Saif Gaddafi

(Yeah, Saif, as if you weren't "cutting oil deals, contracts" with western states. Who are the 'tigers' now? Bombing your own people.)

http://english.libya.tv/2011/04/25/eastern-libyans-believe-in-national-unity-distrust-au-and-turkish-mediation-survey-reveals/">The first free public opinion poll ever conducted in Libya reveals clues to Eastern Libyan sentiments
* 98 percent of the respondents do not support the division of Libya as a part of the political solution for the current conflict with the Gaddafi regime. Around 95 percent also don’t see any role for Gaddafi or his sons in a transitional period, and think it is impossible to implement any political reform in Libya if Gaddafi or one of his sons stays in power

* Around 96 percent of those polled, believe that the 17th of February revolution can consolidate the national unity of Libya and support the model of a democratic Libya based on a constitution which respects human rights

* Al-Qaeda has not played any role in the 17th of February revolution, say 94 percent of the Eastern Libyans, and 91 percent thinks it’s impossible for Al-Qaeda to play any political role in the new Libya

* The National Transitional Council is seen by 92 percent of those surveyed as “expressing the views and wishes of Libyans for change”

This is equivalent to 17% the entire population of Libya, doing the numbers very conservatively.

http://jenkinsear.com/2011/03/19/a-legal-war-the-united-nations-participation-act-and-libya/">A Legal War: The United Nations Participation Act and Libya
The above link is to an overview of why Obama's implementation of the NFZ and R2P is perfectly legal under the law. I will not post it entirely here, however, all objections come down to the misinformed position that Obama, by using forces in Libya, was invoking Article 43 of the United Nations. This is wrong. Obama invoked Article 42, which does not require congressional approval to implement. Proof of this is that Article 43 has http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/actions.shtml#rel5">never been used.

It goes like this: The US law (Title 22, Chap. 7, Subchap. XIV § 287d) grants the President the right to invoke UN Article 42 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode22/usc_sec_22_00000287---d000-.html">without authorization, the War Powers Act (Title 50, Chap. 33 § 1541) grants the President permission to act without authorization under http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/50/1541�E548.html">"specific statutory authorization" which, by definition, is what 287d does. § 1543 of the War Powers Act requires the President to report to Congress, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/obama_explains_libya_mission_to_congress/2011/03/03/ABU9377_blog.html">which he did. One can argue all day and night about the legality of the War Powers Act, doesn't change the fact that under the law as it is written, the President acted within the law.

Editorials and stories worth reading.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2011/03/2011328194855872276.html">Libyan Karzai? Chalabi? Forget it, http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2011/04/04/110404taco_talk_anderson#ixzz1HvS7iW22">Who Are the Rebels?, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/29/vision-democratic-libya-interim-national-council">A vision of a democratic Libya, http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/is-qaddafi-an-anti-racist/">Is Qaddafi an anti-racist?, http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2011/04/20/left-slipping-towards-qaddafi">The left: slipping towards Gaddafi?, http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2011/04/27/once-again-“stop-bombing”">Once again on "stop the bombing", http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/an-open-letter-to-the-left-on-libya.html">An Open Letter to the Left on Libya, http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/top-ten-ways-that-libya-2011-is-not-iraq-2003.html">Top Ten Ways that Libya 2011 is Not Iraq 2003, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/09/110509fa_fact_anderson">Sons of the Revolution http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/voices/?ref=main-menu">Voices from the Field

Mohammed Nabbous, killed by Gaddafi's forces while trying to report on the massacre in Benghazi

"I'm not afraid to die, I'm afraid to lose the battle" -Mohammed Nabbous, a month ago when all this began

I'm struggling to come up with something to say about this man. I was not aware of the Libyan uprising until I saw Mo's first report, begging for help, posted here on DU. I was stricken. Here was a man giving everything he had to explain a situation that clearly terrified him, I would not call him a coward in that moment, but you could see the fear in his eyes, and desperation in his voice. For 30 days Nabbous would spend many hours covering the uprising in Benghazi. For many nights I would go to sleep with the webcast of Benghazi live on my computer screen, looking to it occasionally to be sure it was still 'there.' Mo treated the chat room as if we were his friends, and in some way, we were. I never signed up to LiveStream to thank him for all his work and it seems somewhat shallow to do so now, given that I was a lurker for so long. Ever since I took over posting these threads "Libya Alhurra" has been linked as a source of information. It wasn't until last night, when I posted, and twitter posted on Mo's adventures out into Benghazi to try to determine the truth of the situation, that Mo's webchannel became a hit, over 2000 people were watching him stream live. This was curious to him because he'd done many reports like this in the past but he appeared somewhat bemused that the view count exploded as it did. Last night Mo became a star. This is a man who first started out with a webcast replete with fear and desperation finally overcoming that aspect of himself and losing that fear, to become someone who was a fighter for the resistance just as much as those who held the guns. Reporting on the front lines of Benghazi became his final act, and for that he should never, ever be forgotten. I'm so sorry Mo that I never got to know you better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAclhhHv43s&feature=player_ded">Arab Awakening: Libya: Through the Fire is a documentary about Mo's last days, please watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38EXALI60hg">Mo's first report, which many of you may remember, begging for help.

Mo leaves behind a wife and a newborn child she had http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/23/a_bright_voice_from_libyas_darkness">this to say about the No Fly Zone and R2P UN resolution:

We started this in a pure way, but he turned it bloody. Thousands of our men, women, and children have died. We just wanted our freedom, that's all we wanted, we didn't want power. Before, we could not do a single thing if it was not the way he wanted it. All we wanted was freedom. All we wanted was to be free. We have paid with our blood, with our families, with our men, and we're not going to give up. We are still going to do that no matter what it takes, but we need help. We want to do this ourselves, but we don't have the weapons, the technology, the things we need. I don't want anyone to say that Libya got liberated by anybody else. If NATO didn't start moving when they did, I assure you, I assure you, half of Benghazi if not more would have been killed. If they stop helping us, we are going to be all killed because he has no mercy anymore.

[pinboy3niner]

1. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 186: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 5:25 AM MONDAY, AUGUST 22

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[joshcryer]

3. You little...

:P

[pinboy3niner]

4. Nice try, "Quick Draw"

:rofl:

[joshcryer]

2. Capture of Gadhafi Son Seif al-Islam Ends a Highly Unusual Diplomatic Career

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903327904576523141869490026.html">Capture of Gadhafi Son Seif al-Islam Ends a Highly Unusual Diplomatic Career
Sunday's capture of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi by rebels appears to bring to a close the diplomatic career of a man widely seen as destined to succeed his father as leader of Libya and its vast oil wealth.

Mr. Gadhafi, 39 years old, just months ago was widely credited as the brains behind Tripoli's rapprochement with the West and Libya's efforts to shed its rogue-state image.

Mr. Gadhafi never held a formal government position and often was locked in intense power struggles with other members of Col. Moammar Gadhafi's family and inner circle, according to U.S. and European officials. But Seif al-Islam used his fluent English, British education and global charity, the Gadhafi International Foundation, to play a major role in events cross the Islamic world, Europe and U.S. for two decades.

He also developed a reputation as a renaissance man and international playboy before political crisis gripped his country this year. He worked as an artist and architect and was regularly spotted among the international jet set in Monaco, St, Tropez and Montenegro.

Saif's capture to me is more satisfying than Gaddafi (they don't have him yet), because Gaddafi appears to me to be mentally unstable. Saif is just pure evil.

[gateley]

12. Boy, this piece makes him sound like a good guy! Is this the

one who was on the phone with reporters when the rebels appeared at his home?

[tabatha]

14. No, that was the eldest Mohammed.

[gateley]

16. Thanks! nt

[joshcryer]

5. Libyan state TV studio abandoned

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1787875">Libyan state TV studio abandoned

Thanks to Tx4obama for the find. :rofl:

[gateley]

13. Heard a few minutes ago (maybe a bit longer) that for most

of the day they were running pro-Gaddafi stuff, then it became a soap opera! The reporter wryly said "which probably not one person in the country is watching right now". :7

[pinboy3niner]

15. For lulz, here is the brief video of the anchor vowing to defend station with gun:

Here is the brief video (0:36) with an english translation:

Libyan presenter waves gun and vows to defend station (0:36)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKQioEHZz0Q&feature=player_embedded


:rofl:

[ellisonz]

40. An analogy

Gaddafi Security is to Lulz Security as a Radish is to a Tomato. :toast:

[pinboy3niner]

42. LOL!

:toast:

[joshcryer]

6. Oil Prices Set to Slip if Rebels Win Libya

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903327904576523142192923086.html">Oil Prices Set to Slip if Rebels Win Libya
A rebel victory in Libya would likely put added downward pressure on oil prices, which are already falling amid concerns about the slowing economy, experts say.

But the impact may be limited until Tripoli's new leaders manage to get the crude flowing again after prolonged fighting, which could take months.

Libya is a major oil exporter, and produces a type of crude that is particularly coveted—and has been in limited supply since the popular uprisings that swept the Arab world early this year reached the North African nation, cutting off supplies.

The rebel-controlled Arabian Gulf Oil Co. could restart up to 180,000 barrels a day within a two-week period after security is guaranteed for the facilities, a spokesman for the company said Sunday.

Behind Wall Street Jacked-up-paywall, Google title to read the full article.

[Tx4obama]

7. K&R n/t

[joshcryer]

8. Libyan Rebels Control Much of Tripoli, Gadhafi Whereabouts Unknown

http://abcnews.go.com/International/libyan-rebels-seize-tripoli-gadhafis-sons-captured/story?id=14349513">Libyan Rebels Control Much of Tripoli, Gadhafi Whereabouts Unknown
Rebel forces took control of much of Tripoli tonight, and thousands flooded the streets of the Libyan capital and other cities around the country to celebrate what they hope will be the end of Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year reign.

"We were waiting for the signal and it happened," said Nour Eddin Shatouni, a 50-year-old engineer celebrating the apparent collapse of the strongman's regime, told The Associated Press. "All mosques chanted 'God is great' all at once. We smelled a good scent, it is the smell of victory. We know it is the time."

The Transitional National Council (NTC), the administration set up by the rebel forces, claimed that three of the Libyan strongman's sons have either been captured or surrendered.

Muhammad Gadhafi, son of the Libyan leader, told Al Jazeera in a weepy phone call that he had surrendered to opposition forces. Crying on the phone, he said that his house was surrounded by gunfire.

[pinboy3niner]

9. Poll question: Do you think the United States was justified in supporting regime change in Libya?

Posted in GD by Cali_Democrat:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1787860

[Tx4obama]

23. Yes, we were justified in enacting the NFZ and eliminating the possibility of a massacre n/t

[tabatha]

10. Tunisia and Egypt recognize the TNC

Juan Cole mentioned that in the recent article.

[joshcryer]

11. The Battle for Tripoli's Internet

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-cowie/the-battle-for-tripolis-i_b_932680.html">The Battle for Tripoli's Internet
As dawn broke in Libya on the morning of Sunday 21, August, it appeared that the battle for control of Tripoli was underway. Throughout the night, a steady stream of tweets and retweets emerged from Libyan sources, painting a confusing, often contradictory picture of the evolving situation.

Renesys is still piecing together the data that can confirm or deny much of what was reported through the course of the day Sunday, but one thing is clear: something very strange was going on with Tripoli residents' Internet access. Service was restored suddenly in Tripoli, flickered on and off for a couple of hours, and then died, with the majority of the country's international BGP routes withdrawn from service for good measure. By midmorning the routes were back in Tripoli, but ADSL service was still blocked.

For several months, our picture of the Libyan Internet has been essentally static. The Libyan national connection to the Internet consists of 16 blocks of IP addresses, each routed to the outside world through Libyan Telecom and Technology. That basic routing footprint has been advertised to the world, with few interruptions, since the end of the March Internet blackout.

But average people in Tripoli still haven't had much access to the Internet, because DSL services have been largely blocked for the last three to five months, depending on where you live. The few people who did retain their official Internet service continued to access Google and YouTube, as measured by Google's excellent Transparency Report. When LTT's international Internet connection started to show sporadic signs of failure a couple weeks ago, it only affected 11 of 16 blocks, leaving intact the neighborhoods who appear to have been generating the majority of the country's surviving Google traffic.

Here's a screencap I took after the internet got cut:

[pinboy3niner]

17. WRAPUP 5-Rebels sweep into Tripoli as Gaddafi forces crumble

Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:01am GMT


* Rebels take over Green Square, call it "Martyrs Square"

* Resistance to rebels evaporates

* Two Gaddafi sons detained (Adds vox pop quotes)


By Missy Ryan


TRIPOLI, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Jubilant rebel fighters swept into the heart of Tripoli as Muammar Gaddafi's forces collapsed and crowds took to the streets to celebrate what they saw as the rapidly approaching end of his four decades of absolute power.


Rebels waving opposition flags and firing into the air drove into Green Square, a symbolic showcase the government had until recently used for mass demonstrations in support of the now embattled Gaddafi. Rebels immediately began calling it Martyrs Square.


U.S. President Barack Obama said Gaddafi's rule was showing signs of collapse and called on him to quit now to avoid further bloodshed.


Laila Jawad, 36, who works at a Tripoli nursery, said: "We are about to be delivered from the tyrant's rule. It's a new thing for me. I am very optimistic. Praise be to God."

...


Only five months ago Gaddafi's forces were set to crush the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the leader warning then that there would be "no mercy, no pity" for his opponents. His forces, he said, would hunt them down "district to district, street to street, house to house, room to room".


The United Nations then acted quickly, clearing the way for creation of a no-fly zone that NATO, with a campaign of bombing, used ultimately to help drive back Gaddafi's forces.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7JL0LD20110822?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

18. Tunisians come out to congratulate and celebrate with Libyans (PHOTO from Tunis)

From AJE's live blog:

Libyan opposition supporters in the Tunisian capital are celebrating in the streets, and Tunisians have come out to congratulate and share the moment with them, according to Stephen McInerney, the executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy, who is there:





http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-0719

[pinboy3niner]

19. Libyan rebels take most of Tripoli

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/c0OfzBVKjh5SYi3ioopQ6g--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/
(AP/Alexandre Meneghini)


By BEN HUBBARD and KARIN LAUB - Associated Press | AP – 12 mins ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Euphoric Libyan rebels took control of most of Tripoli in a lightning advance Sunday, celebrating the victory in Green Square, the symbolic heart of Moammar Gadhafi's regime. Gadhafi's defenders quickly melted away as his 42-year rule crumbled, but the leader's whereabouts were unknown and pockets of resistance remained.


State TV broadcast Gadhafi's bitter pleas for Libyans to defend his regime. Opposition fighters captured his son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, who along with his father faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. Another son was under house arrest.


"It's over, frizz-head," chanted hundreds of jubilant men and women massed in Green Square, using a mocking nickname of the curly-haired Gadhafi. The revelers fired shots in the air, clapped and waved the rebels' tricolor flag. Some set fire to the green flag of Gadhafi's regime and shot holes in a poster with the leader's image.


The startling rebel breakthrough, after a long deadlock in Libya's 6-month-old civil war, was the culmination of a closely coordinated plan by rebels, NATO and anti-Gadhafi residents inside Tripoli, rebel leaders said. Rebel fighters from the west swept over 20 miles (30 kilometers) in a matter of hours Sunday, taking town after town and overwhelming a major military base as residents poured out to cheer them. At the same time, Tripoli residents secretly armed by rebels rose up.


When rebels reached the gates of Tripoli, the special battalion entrusted by Gadhafi with guarding the capital promptly surrendered. The reason: Its commander, whose brother had been executed by Gadhafi years ago, was secretly loyal to the rebellion, a senior rebel official Fathi al-Baja told The Associated Press.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-rebels-most-tripoli-034039732.html

[pinboy3niner]

20. "There are no rebels in Tripoli"

Posted by jberryhill in another thread.

:rofl:

[pinboy3niner]

21. K&R

[Waiting For Everyman]

22. K&R I'm happy for the people of Libya!

They certainly have had a tough struggle gaining their freedom. And not just this year, but for so many years past. I'm critical of lots of things Obama has done, but I think standing up for the Libyanas was 100% the right thing to do.

This is a dedication to the Libyan peole, and to you DUer stalwarts of these Libya threads...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixwx_B38678&feature=player_embedded

[Waiting For Everyman]

24. Also... some great photos from "The Atlantic" magazine.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/qaddafi-losing-grip-on-libya/100133/

[pinboy3niner]

25. A salute to the team

Josh, tabatha, Iterate, albupp, Turborama, Catherina, and all who contributed to keep the Libya Revolution threads alive--both to help keep us all up-to-date on events and to provide a historical archive.

It was a labor of love, and we should all be proud of what we did here. :grouphug:

:patriot:

[al bupp]

62. And a salute right back at you, sir!

You and Josh certainly lead the charge. :fistbump:

[pinboy3niner]

26. A few dozen non-Libyan "mercenaries" remain at the capital's Mitiga air base, some snipers also

From AJE's live blog:

Al Jazeera just spoke with Nasser, a Tripoli resident in the Souq al-Jomaa area, which rose up against Gaddafi on Saturday night and has remained free ever since.

He said that a few dozen non-Libyan "mercenaries" remain at the capital's Mitiga air base - which was reportedly seized by the opposition earlier in the day - and that snipers are still positioned atop some buildings.

Residents have formed security battalions but are not going to take revenge on regime loyalists, Nasser said. They expect the National Transitional Council to "take care of everything".

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-0758

Here's Nasser, a Tripoli resident, describing the latest situation in Tripoli (5:52):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-0830

[pinboy3niner]

27. BREAKING: Tanks from Gaddafi compound shell Tripoli area -TV

Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:04am GMT

DUBAI Aug 22 (Reuters) - Tanks were seen leaving the compound of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and shelling an area in the capital, a rebel source told Al Jazeera television on Monday.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7JM04T20110822

[pinboy3niner]

28. Clashes near Gadhafi compound in Libyan capital

By BEN HUBBARD and KARIN LAUB - Associated Press | AP – 9 mins ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Heavy clashes have broken out near Moammar Gadhafi's compound in the Libyan capital.


Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman says that tanks emerged from the complex, known as Bab al-Aziziya, early Monday and began firing.


An Associated Press reporter at the nearby Rixos Hotel where foreign journalists are staying could hear gunfire and loud explosions that have been going on for more than 30 minutes.


No further details were immediately available on the fighting.


http://news.yahoo.com/clashes-near-gadhafi-compound-libyan-capital-060928948.html

[pinboy3niner]

29. Heavy fighting near Gaddafi's residence

Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Updated August 22, 2011 16:26:29


The sound of heavy fighting has been heard near the residence in central Tripoli of embattled Libyan leader Moamar Gaddafi, after rebel forces surged into the capital a day earlier, taking over many districts.


Fighting was also heard in the south of the capital in the early hours of Monday (local time), with heavy weaponry and automatic rifle fire being deployed.

...


The dictator's Bab al-Aziziya compound has been blasted regularly since the start of the international military intervention in Libya on March 19 and most of the buildings in the complex have been flattened.


The strongman's whereabouts are unknown, although he broadcast three audio messages on Sunday as rebel forces swept through the capital and took over the symbolic Green Square in the heart of the city.


Early Monday the crackle of Kalashnikov fire could be heard near the Hotel Rixos, which houses most of the foreign media.

...


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-22/heavy-fighting-in-central-tripoli/2850532

[pinboy3niner]

32. Battle around Gaddafi compound intensifying

Sara Sidner, CNN, just reported live from within a mile of the Bab al-Aziziya compound. She can hear gunfire and explosions intensifying, and can also hear chanting in the distance but impossible to make out what is being chanted.

[joshcryer]

33. He's pulling a Laurent Gbagbo.

I would be surprised if NATO hasn't taken out all of the western built tunnels (showing that Gaddafi's tunnels were built to protect him from his own people as opposed to a foreign entity), no way out.

[pinboy3niner]

35. Hard to believe his tank commander agreed to such a suicide mission

Rebel fighters will take care of the tanks in short order.

I wonder if Gaddafi's sitting tight--and deep--or if the tanks are a diversion to cover an escape attempt.

[pinboy3niner]

30. LIBYA: Rebels still meeting resistance in Tripoli

Source: L.A. Times blog

August 21, 2011 | 11:36pm


As thousands of Libyans celebrate the rebel advance into Tripoli, opposition leaders say they are still meeting sporadic resistance from forces loyal to leader Moammar Kadafi.


"I warn you, there are still pockets of resistance in and around Tripoli," senior rebel leader Mahmoud Jibril said on the opposition Al Ahrar television channel, according to Agence France-Presse. "The fight is not over yet. God willing, in a few hours our victory will be complete."


He urged Libyans not to take revenge against Kadafi supporters, saying the world is watching.

...


Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, who was with rebel fighters, reported that they met no opposition when they swept into Tripoli’s main square, the symbolic heart of the city. But CNN’s Sara Sidner later tweeted that the square emptied when rumors spread that forces loyal to Kadafi were approaching.


"Green square nearly empty," she said in a tweet. "We were warned to get out. Rebels say Gadhafi troops advancing toward square."

...


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/08/as-thousands-of-libyans-celebrate-the-rebel-advance-into-tripoli-opposition-leaders-say-they-are-still-meeting-sporadic-resi.html

[pinboy3niner]

31. Jibril calls on rebels to show restraint, compassion in dealing with captured loyalists

From AJE's live blog:

Mahmoud Jibril is a senior member of the opposition the National Transitional Council.


He called on rebel fighters and Libyans to show restraint and compassion when dealing with captured Gaddafi loyalists.


"I call on your conscience, responsibility, to come to the fore to prevent you from taking any vengeance in these happy moments, or damaging property, or mistreating foreigners or prisoners."


View Jibril's address on Al Jazeera here (0:58):


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-0935

[joshcryer]

34. Wow, Jibril really standing up there, that's a great video, thanks!

[pinboy3niner]

36. Gaddafi tanks emerge after rebels sweep into Tripoli

(Reuters WRAPUP 8)

Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:24am GMT


• Gaddafi tanks reported to be shelling parts of Tripoli

• Rebels take over Green Square, call it "Martyrs Square"

• Reports that loyal Gaddafi units continue fighting

• Two Gaddafi sons detained


By Missy Ryan


TRIPOLI, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Libyan government tanks shelled parts of central Tripoli on Monday after rebels swept into the heart of the city and crowds took to the streets to celebrate what they saw as the end of Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power.


Tanks emerged from Gaddafi's stronghold in the centre of the Libyan capital and were firing shells, a rebel spokesman said. Sporadic gunfire could be heard as world leaders tried to assess how long Gaddafi's forces might hold on and how the fractious rebel alliance might run the oil-rich desert state.


Nouri Echtiwi, a rebel spokesman in Tripoli, told Reuters: "Four hours of calm followed the street celebrations. Then tanks and pick-up trucks with heavy machineguns mounted on the back came out of Bab al-Aziziya, the last of Gaddafi's bastions, and started firing and shelling Assarin Street and al-Khalifa area.


"They fired randomly in all directions whenever they heard gunfire."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7JL0LD20110822?sp=true

[joshcryer]

37. Cost of oil drops sharply as Libya rebels storm Tripoli (3% drop)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2028725/Libya-conflict-Cost-oil-drops-sharply-rebels-storm-Tripoli.html?ito=feeds-newsxml">Cost of oil drops sharply as Libya rebels storm Tripoli
Oil prices fell today as Colonel Gaddafi's regime appeared to be on the verge of collapse after 41 years in power.

The price of Brent Crude oil in London plunged more than 3 per cent to $105.5 a barrel this morning.

But there is unlikely to be respite at the pumps for beleaguered motorists because it takes weeks for a plunge in the price of fuel to filter through.

The oil markets will be watching carefully with a smooth transition of power in Tripoli likely to send prices falling further.

[pinboy3niner]

38. Brent crude drops more than $3, US oil falls more than $1 on potential exports from Libya

@BreakingNewsBreaking News

Brent crude drops more than $3, US oil falls more than $1 on potential for resumption of exports from Libya - Reuters http://t.co/zlKjjKR

3 minutes agovia breakingnews.com

You beat me to it. :toast:

[joshcryer]

39. Journalists "trapped" inside Rixos hotel

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/war/conflict-zones/110822/libya-news-journalists-rixos-hotel">Journalists "trapped" inside Rixos hotel
Foreign journalists are reportedly trapped inside Rixos hotel in Tripoli as fighting rages in the city. Rebel forces stormed into the heart of the Libyan capital Monday, marking a traumatic shift in the six-month civil war.

"They are not allowed to leave the hotel because there are Gaddafi men in the area and around the area," Al Jazeera's correspondent Zeina Khodr reportedly said from Green Square.

"We have been in contact with some of them, and they are telling us basically they were held there almost as human shields."

The Libyan government has insisted foreign journalists stay at the Rixos hotel while reporting on the conflict.

I kinda wish Christiane Amanpour was still there, but that's just mean, I hope they're safe.

[pinboy3niner]

41. That's why they've nicknamed it the "Hotel California"

"...but you can never leave."

[joshcryer]

43. Inside Tripoli's Rixos hotel as rebels close in

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14611043">Inside Tripoli's Rixos hotel as rebels close in
No-one predicted how fast Libya's rebel forces would, indeed could move into the capital unopposed.

But 24 hours after the first heavy fighting erupted in Tripoli - on Saturday night - the signs were there for all to see.

First there were the children and the wives of Col Muammar Gaddafi's officials packing and leaving the five-star Rixos hotel.

The Rixos is the place where the government has obliged foreign journalists to stay when reporting on this conflict.

edit: actually it was Aug 21 but that was 3 hours ago, so it's not that old... :P

Got it from Mathew Price's twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/matthewwprice

[pinboy3niner]

44. Libya's gritty mountain rebels may have turned tide in Tripoli

NEWS ANALYSIS

With attention focused on important cities and bigger battles to the east, Moammar Kadafi may have underestimated the tenacity of the uprising in the western mountains.

By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times

August 22, 2011


The revolt against Moammar Kadafi was born in the eastern city of Benghazi, long a caldron of discontent with the autocratic ruler.


The uprising gained traction during bloody spring battles in coastal Misurata, Libya's third-largest city, where residents barricaded streets with shipping containers in ferocious urban warfare.


But it is a rebel thrust from the west that may prove decisive in bringing an end to Kadafi's more than four-decade reign.


The push by guerrilla fighters from Libya's isolated Berber highlands, the rugged Nafusa Mountains near the Tunisian border, was one front too many for Kadafi's depleted and sometimes demoralized forces.

...


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-turning-point-20110822,0,3765497.story

[pinboy3niner]

45. Rebel fighter reports on clashes in Tripoli

From AJE's live blog:

Nasser, a rebel fighter from Tripoli, has just been on the line with AJE.

He says that he can hear NATO aircraft flying overhead, but it is unclear whether they are on strike or surveillance missions. There were reports of clashes between rebels and pro-Gaddafi mercenaries near al-Hani area, he said, but that situation "has been taken care of".

He also said that the rebels had recently secured a "huge amount of artillery from an airbase nearby".

Shelling is being heard from the area directly behind Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizya compound, where Nasser said the rebels are "in a weaker position" and that pro-Gaddafi battalions had heavier weapons.

He said that about 40 minutes ago a firefight had occured at the Mitiga air base.

On the subject of how Gaddafi supporters were to be treated, Nasser said that the rebels "did make plans", and that people had gone to their neighbours who they knew to be pro-Gaddafi, asking them to surrender their weapons.

"We have asked them to surrender their weapons and no-one is going to harm them. We want the Libyan National Council to deal with such things, because we are basically rebels, we do not have any party," he said.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-1144

[joshcryer]

46. Hala Misrati interview (gun toating female for Libyan State TV):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcC2KMArsNY

Claims she surrendered when she realized the rebels were Libyan according to translators I talked to, not sure about that bit.

[pinboy3niner]

47. Translation:

"I didn't know any better because I was drinking this..."





:evilgrin:

[joshcryer]

48. HAHAHA

I was wondering when you'd get a chance to use that again. :evilgrin:

[pinboy3niner]

49. Wait 'til Iterate sees it :)

:rofl:

[Iterate]

72. knew it immediately; have an RSS feed to the bell in me head

Really, don't spare them. You still have a warehouse full, have nearly cornered the market, and have made a bloody fortune in the Nescafe futures market. Spend 'em, share 'em, live it up. :toast:

[joshcryer]

50. China says it respects the will of Libyan people

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL4E7JM1D420110822">China says it respects the will of Libyan people
BEIJING Aug 22 (Reuters) - China respects the choice of the Libyan people and hopes the situation in the war-torn country will stabilise as soon as possible, China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, as Libyan rebel fighters clashed with government forces in Tripoli.

[pinboy3niner]

51. Rebels hold most of Tripoli, Gaddafi out of sight

(Reuters WRAPUP 9)

Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:34am GMT


• Gaddafi tanks reported to be shelling parts of Tripoli

• Rebels take over Green Square, call it "Martyrs Square"

• Britain calls on rebels to bring order

• Gaddafi location unknown, two sons detained (Edits throughout, adding foreign officials, Tripoli scene)


By Missy Ryan and Ulf Laessing


TRIPOLI, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Libyan government tanks and snipers put up scattered, last-ditch resistance in Tripoli on Monday after rebels swept into the heart of the capital, cheered on by crowds hailing the end of Muammar Gaddafi's 42 years in power.


The 69-year-old leader, urging civilians to take up arms against rebel "rats", said in an audio broadcast that he was in the city and would be "with you until the end". But there was little sign of popular opposition to the rebel offensive, two of Gaddafi's sons were seized and it was unclear where he was.


"Gaddafi is finished. Now we are free," one rebel, named Abdullah, told a Reuters reporter over the sound of gunfire and shelling, as his group consolidated its position to the west of the city centre after an overnight dash into the capital.


World leaders were in no doubt that, after six months of an often meandering revolt backed by NATO air power, the disparate and often fractious rebel alliance was about to take control of the North African desert state and its extensive oil reserves.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7JL0LD20110822?sp=true

[ellisonz]

52. He'll be hunted alley to alley like the rat he is.

[pinboy3niner]

53. So Gaddafi was right, in a sense...

There WILL be an "alley-to-alley" hunt, after all. And there IS a rat! :)

[pinboy3niner]

54. OT: Better brace yourself, Josh

Long before you get home from work, the posts in this thread are gonna be...




:evilgrin:

[pinboy3niner]

55. Al Jazeera reports clashes and violence continue in Tripoli

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reporting live from Tripoli now, says that clashes and violence is continuing in the capital, with the rebels pushing towards Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizyah compound, but facing resistance.

Rebel armed groups are also being deployed to maintain law and order in various neighbourhoods.

Forty international journalists are now trapped in the Rixos Hotel, Khodr reports.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-1327

[pinboy3niner]

56. Gaddafi loyalists defend compound with tanks - rebels

Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:13am GMT


ALGIERS Aug 22 (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have stationed tanks near his compound in central Tripoli and are resisting rebel attacks, a rebel official told Reuters by telephone.


"The situation is not stable. There is gunfire everywhere. Gaddafi's forces are using tanks at the port and Al Sarine street near (Gaddafi's compound at) Bab al-Aziziyah," said the rebel official in Tripoli, who gave his name as Abdulrahman.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE77L0B320110822

[pinboy3niner]

57. Libyan minders flee reporter hotel

The minders bug out while the foreign press remains trapped in the Rixos Hotel, which they've dubbed the "Hotel California ("...but you can never leave").

Added On August 21, 2011

CNN's Matthew Chance reports from a hotel in Tripoli as Libyan government security agents abandon the hotel (4:23):

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/08/21/gorani.chance.hotel.cnn

[pinboy3niner]

58. NATO reported to be planning strikes against walls of Gaddafi compound

Libyan rebel sources have told Al Jazeera that NATO is planning on launching strikes against the walls of Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound, in order to break into it.

The rebels are calling for all residents of the area to stay away from the compound.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-1438

[pinboy3niner]

59. Libyan ambassador to Kuwait defects, will now represent NTC

The flag of Muammar Gaddafi's government has been lowered and burnt by Libyans at the Libyan embassy in Kuwait.

A group of about 30 people came to the embassy in Dueya.

Libyan ambassador Mohammad Al-Mubarak said he has joined the National Transitional Council (NTC), and recognised it as the sole and legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

Mubarak told Kuwait's KUNA news agency that as of Monday "the embassy will operate as a representative of the Libyan people under the NTC."


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-1509

[pinboy3niner]

60. Arab Parliament congratulates Libyan people and NTC on liberating Libya from 'tyrant Gaddafi'

The speaker of the Arab Parliament, which is made up of 88 MPs from various Arab countries and meets in the Arab League, has issued a statement congratulating the Libyan people and the NTC for "the success of liberating Libya from the rule of the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi."


Ali Salem Al Duqbasy said "the ruler who does not listen to his people's demands of freedom and peaceful circulation of power will have the fate of tyrants," adding that Libya will witness a civilised period of transition based on principles of democracy, rule of law, and human rights.


Nabil al-Araby, the Arab League secretary-general, has also issued a statement expressing his full support for the NTC.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-1515

[pinboy3niner]

61. Statement by the NATO Secretary General on the situation in Libya

22 Aug. 2011





The Qadhafi regime is clearly crumbling. The sooner Qadhafi realises that he cannot win the battle against his own people, the better -- so that the Libyan people can be spared further bloodshed and suffering.


The Libyan people have suffered tremendously under Qadhafi’s rule for over four decades. Now they have a chance for a new beginning. Now is the time for all threats against civilians to stop, as the United Nations Security Council demanded. Now is the time to create a new Libya – a state based on freedom, not fear; democracy, not dictatorship; the will of the many, not the whims of a few.


That transition must come peacefully. It must come now. And it must be led and defined by the Libyan people.


NATO is ready to work with the Libyan people and with the Transitional National Council, which holds a great responsibility. They must make sure that the transition is smooth and inclusive, that the country stays united, and that the future is founded on reconciliation and respect for human rights.


Qadhafi's remaining allies and forces also have a great responsibility. It is time to end their careers of violence. The world is watching them. This is their opportunity to side with the Libyan people and choose the right side of history.


We will continue to monitor military units and key facilities, as we have since March, and when we see any threatening moves towards the Libyan people, we will act in accordance with our UN mandate.


Our goal throughout this conflict has been to protect the people of Libya, and that is what we are doing.


Because the future of Libya belongs to the Libyan people. And it is for the international community to assist them, with the United Nations and the Contact Group playing a leading role. NATO wants the Libyan people to be able to decide their future in freedom and in peace. Today, they can start building that future.


http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-7512249C-447F31A9/natolive/news_77345.htm

[pinboy3niner]

63. Tipping point in Tripoli (CNN's Ben Wedeman reflects on the 6-month struggle by rebels)

Added On August 21, 2011

CNN's Ben Wedeman reflects on the six-month struggle by rebels in Libya as the battle reaches Tripoli (3:27):


http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/08/21/gorani.wedeman.libya.cnn

[pinboy3niner]

64. Libyan diaspora celebrates fall of Tripoli

Source: Al Jazeera

Libyan communities around the world come out in force to sing and chant, anticipating an end to Muammar Gaddafi's rule.

Last Modified: 22 Aug 2011 11:45


Celebrations have spilled over from Tripoli and Benghazi into cities around the world, as the Libyan diaspora gathered to celebrate the advance of opposition forces.


At least a hundred Libyans gathered outside the White House on Monday to celebrate the rebel's assault on Tripoli, waving the country's flag and chanting "Libya is free" and "Thank you, Obama".


"Tonight for the first time in our lives we are very proud to be Libyan," Rania Swadek, a 33-year-old Libyan-American, told the AFP news service. Swadek was waving a sign showing the red, black and green rebel flag with the words "Thank you, NATO! Thank you, Obama!"


The mother of two, who arrived in the US in 1984 with her brothers and sisters after receiving political asylum, also had kind words for France, which was among the first countries to call for international intervention in Libya.


"We want to say thank you to President Nicolas Sarkozy and the French people who were the first, even before the Americans, to support the Libyans in their struggle," she said.

...


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/201182282315305270.html

[pinboy3niner]

65. Libya state TV news anchor who showed gun on-air, vowed to defend station, arrested by rebels

CNN's Sara Sidner just reported live that the presenter, Hala Misrati, has been detained by NTC authorities.

This is Ms. Misrati:

Libyan presenter waves gun and vows to defend station (0:36)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKQioEHZz0Q&feature=player_embedded

[pinboy3niner]

66. Sky News in the frontline as Libyan rebels advance

Correspondent Alex Crawford scoops rivals by broadcasting live from within rebel convoy using satellite technology

Patrick Foster
guardian.co.uk, Monday 22 August 2011 14.08 BST




Sky News: Alex Crawford reporting live from the Libyan capital, Tripoli


As the Libyan rebels swept into Tripoli last night and Muammar Gaddafi's regime began to disintegrate, Sky News emerged as the runaway winner in the battle of the broadcasters.


While journalists from the BBC and other networks were contained within the city's Rixos Hotel by armed guards loyal to Gadaffi, Alex Crawford, Sky's special correspondent, scooped all her rivals by broadcasting dramatic live footage from within the advancing rebel convoy.


Her bravery won legions of fans. At one point on Sunday night, Crawford was trending worldwide on Twitter, while Baroness Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, said her reporting was "quite astonishing".


Sky said that Crawford, a three-time Royal Television Society journalist of the year, was able to transmit the footage, including scenes of the rebels celebrating in Green Square, via an ingenious marriage of old and new technology.

...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/22/sky-news-libyan-rebels

[pinboy3niner]

67. UK to unfreeze funds in assist to Libya rebels

August 22, 2011 7:43 AM


(CBS/AP) LONDON - As Libyan rebels gained further traction in Tripoli, world leaders have been quick to voice their support and urge long-time leader Muammar Qaddafi to step down.


But perhaps more important than the moral support from the international community is the material support the rebels stand to gain. British Prime Minister David Cameron said Libyan assets frozen during Qaddafi's reign would soon be released to aid the rebels establish order in the country.


Cameron said that Britain "soon will be able to release frozen assets that belong to the Libyan people," after imposing financial sanctions against Qaddafi's regime.

...


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/22/501364/main20095354.shtml

[al bupp]

68. Top Ten Myths About the Libya War

This is not news, but I thought it deserved posting here nonetheless.

Top Ten Myths About the Libya War
August 22, 2011
Posted in August 2011, News | 11:32

I have taken a lot of heat for my support of the revolution and of the United Nations-authorized intervention by the Arab League and NATO that kept it from being crushed. I haven’t taken nearly as much heat as the youth of Misrata who fought off Qaddafi’s tank barrages, though, so it is OK. I hate war, having actually lived through one in Lebanon, and I hate the idea of people being killed. My critics who imagined me thrilling at NATO bombing raids were just being cruel. But here I agree with President Obama and his citation of Reinhold Niebuhr. You can’t protect all victims of mass murder everywhere all the time. But where you can do some good, you should do it, even if you cannot do all good. I mourn the deaths of all the people who died in this revolution, especially since many of the Qaddafi brigades were clearly coerced (they deserted in large numbers as soon as they felt it safe). But it was clear to me that Qaddafi was not a man to compromise, and that his military machine would mow down the revolutionaries if it were allowed to.

...

1. Qaddafi was a progressive in his domestic policies. While back in the 1970s, Qaddafi was probably more generous in sharing around the oil wealth with the population, buying tractors for farmers, etc., in the past couple of decades that policy changed. He became vindictive against tribes in the east and in the southwest that had crossed him politically, depriving them of their fair share in the country’s resources. And in the past decade and a half, extreme corruption and the rise of post-Soviet-style oligarchs, including Qaddafi and his sons, have discouraged investment and blighted the economy. Workers were strictly controlled and unable to collectively bargain for improvements in their conditions. There was much more poverty and poor infrastructure in Libya than there should have been in an oil state.

2. Qaddafi was a progressive in his foreign policy. Again, he traded for decades on positions, or postures, he took in the 1970s. In contrast, in recent years he played a sinister role in Africa, bankrolling brutal dictators and helping foment ruinous wars. In 1996 the supposed champion of the Palestinian cause expelled 30,000 stateless Palestinians from the country. After he came in from the cold, ending European and US sanctions, he began buddying around with George W. Bush, Silvio Berlusconi and other right wing figures. Berlusconi has even said that he considered resigning as Italian prime minister once NATO began its intervention, given his close personal relationship to Qaddafi. Such a progressive.

3. It was only natural that Qaddafi sent his military against the protesters and revolutionaries; any country would have done the same. No, it wouldn’t, and this is the argument of a moral cretin. In fact, the Tunisian officer corps refused to fire on Tunisian crowds for dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and the Egyptian officer corps refused to fire on Egyptian crowds for Hosni Mubarak. The willingness of the Libyan officer corps to visit macabre violence on protesting crowds derived from the centrality of the Qaddafi sons and cronies at the top of the military hierarchy and from the lack of connection between the people and the professional soldiers and mercenaries. Deploying the military against non-combatants was a war crime, and doing so in a widespread and systematic way was a crime against humanity. Qaddafi and his sons will be tried for this crime, which is not “perfectly natural.”

More at: http://shabablibya.org/news/top-ten-myths-about-the-libya-war

[tabatha]

71. Yes, this was an article by Juan Cole, doing a great job as usual.

http://www.juancole.com/2011/08/top-ten-myths-about-the-libya-war.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29

I like his come-uppance to that godawful columnist Alexander Cockburn

6. Libya is not a real country and could have been partitioned between east and west. Alexander Cockburn wrote,

“It requites no great prescience to see that this will all end up badly. Qaddafi’s failure to collapse on schedule is prompting increasing pressure to start a ground war, since the NATO operation is, in terms of prestige, like the banks Obama has bailed out, Too Big to Fail. Libya will probably be balkanized.”


7. There had to be NATO infantry brigades on the ground for the revolution to succeed. Everyone from Cockburn to Max Boot (scary when those two agree) put forward this idea. But there are not any foreign infantry brigades in Libya, and there are unlikely to be any. Libyans are very nationalistic and they made this clear from the beginning. Likewise the Arab League. NATO had some intelligence assets on the ground, but they were small in number, were requested behind the scenes for liaison and spotting by the revolutionaries, and did not amount to an invasion force. The Libyan people never needed foreign ground brigades to succeed in their revolution.

[Iterate]

77. The exagerated role of "the tribes" might be added.

At least to this point their role was of little consequence and did not effect the outcome. The times and places where it did impact events were localized and eventually negotiated or bypassed.

For a time it seemed that the "distance" from the core Gaddafi argument could be precisely measured by the frequency that the word "tribes" was used. And yet the only thing anyone needed to know to dispel the myth was that 78% of Libyans are urban and cosmopolitan. In fact, the Arab Spring itself has been described as a cosmopolitan revolution.

Repeating or exaggerating the myth hasn't been without consequence. Besides appealing to an odd sort of leftist romanticism, it served to mask a much greater influence -Gaddafi patronage.

Myth #4, the stalemate, may have been beneficial. It may have helped the FFs get more aid more quickly, but at least it irritated lazy journalists and others who could not read past a headline or remember what happened two weeks ago. It's another one that's easy to dispel.

I thought every first-year student of 19th and 20th history understood that in a war winning needs more attackers than defenders, and better armed ones at that. The ratio is too often quoted as 3:1. Even though it's not that precise or even necessary (plenty of variables come into play, like ability to maneuver), the ratio is not that far off.

If you don't have the advantage, you need to play defense or concentrate forces on a small-scale for attack until you can build an army. It might have been simpler just to tell everyone who was impatient with the pace to check back later after an army was built.

[al bupp]

83. I think that's extremely well put

And entirely justifies my (unknowingly) having reposted w/o proper attribution (thanks Tabatha!) this Juan Coles piece.

[Iterate]

69. Rebels take Tripoli; Dale apologises…

Rebels take Tripoli; Dale apologises…
Mick Fealty, Mon 22 August 2011, 10:58am

I keep an eye on Twitter rather than live ‘there’. It can be a pretty febrile place, even when discussing less important matters than a bona fide Arab revolution.

At one stage last night, one Syrian broadcast journalist had Gadaffi dead; shot near Rixos Hotel where many of the world’s journalists reporting from the government side of the Libyan conflict were stationed. It turned out to be mistaken identity.

There was much discussion of how the Beeb had been caught out, and lost the UK coverage game to SkyNews. Although the BBC News Channel had some good interviews at the start of the night, the fact their main man Matthew Price (@matthewwprice) was on the government side, holed up with the CNN and other correspondents inside the Rixos, meant they simply had no feed from the rebel side that was less than four or five hours old.

By contrast, Sky News’ Alex Crawford (@AlexCrawfordSky), with the critical advantage of being on the right side when the story broke, took the brave – and, it turns, out intelligent – decision to move into Tripoli with the rebels, and accordingly beat even Al Jazeera (whose coverage was otherwise excellent) into Green (now renamed Martyrs) Square.

more... http://sluggerotoole.com/2011/08/22/rebels-take-tripoli-dale-apologises/

[pinboy3niner]

70. Continuing sporadic gunfire reported in Tajoura neighborhood, east of Tripoli

Nasser, a Libyan opposition fighter in Tajoura, east of Tripoli, says the area is locked down and sporadic gunfire is still ongoing in the area.

He said one person was shot in the head and almost 38 people injured on Sunday. Nasser told Al Jazeera that they had encountered mercenaries about two kilometres from Tajoura in the al-Haniya area.

Video at link (5:46):
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-1746

[tabatha]

73. TRIPOLI SLANDER

TRIPOLI SLANDER: I'm getting sick of the media 's patronizing nonsense - from fruitcakes like #NabilaRamdan - & various other UK & USA so called ME 'experts' - that for some reason the people of #Tripoli - don't have the will or capacity to restore order to their city - once the tyrant is deposed - and the conflict is over.

Take a look at #Benghazi civil society since liberation.

Boy scouts directing traffic - teenagers cleaning streets - mothers preparing community meals - policemen and civil servants turning up for work even if not always paid - parents forming education committees for their children - citizens establishing charities to provide food, housing, and medical services for displaced African and Arabic foreign workers stranded in the city during the uprising - intellectuals forming political and philosophical discussion groups - newspapers and media outlets opening up like there's 42 years of lost expression to make up for!.

And all this 'civilization' has happened - during a major military conflict - in which the city's very existence was under threat - by the massive military might of #Gaddafi goons and Regime contract killers.

Is there something about the citizens of the nation's capital - regarded by Libya people themselves - as among the most innovative and energetic in the country - that sets them apart from Benghazi citizens? - that dictates that they could not replicate the stable, secure, and commendable civil society of the East Libya cities?

The experience of #Iraq - has no logical or probative bearing on Libya.

The only foreign army in Libya is the collective of paid contract killers #Saif #Gaddafi imported from African and Eastern European countries - and most of them are now dead or imprisoned - or are soon about to be.

Moreover the #USA had no prepared occupation plans for Iraq - whereas the #NTC have already published a detailed blueprint for re-establishing order in Tripoli - including co-opting the existing Tripoli police and lower ranks of the Regime - to maintain order during the interregnum between the fall of the dictator - and the election of a new democratic Government.

There is nothing to warrant this slander against the character and social and intellectual capacity of the citizens of the nations capital.

Its just lazy, ignorant, ill informed, journalism - to overlook these facts - to refuse to accept the reality of the video and print evidence below - and I for one have had enough of it!

"Libya explores Open Media": :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj62PNOigBc

"The Women of Benghazi" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SaSjAzz_6E

Check out these Benghazi citizens forming a medical magazine – do they look like #AlQueda operatives to you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LrtzlkyYuE

"Benghazi Boy Scouts help fill the wartime vacuum": :

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Benghazi-Boy-Scouts-Fill-Vacuum-of-Libyan-Social-Services--117668589.html

"School’s out for Libyan children of the revolution":
http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/12/schools-out-for-libyan-children-of-the-revolution.html

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/ci1ge4

[pinboy3niner]

74. FACTBOX-Defections from Gaddafi's Libya

Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:00pm GMT


Aug 22 (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was a hunted man on Monday as the remains of his forces made a last-ditch stand in the capital, Tripoli.

Gaddafi's hold on power has been slipping since the revolt started last February and his ministers and associates have gradually left the regime.

Here are details on some of the major figures who have defected:

AL BAGHDADI ALI AL-MAHMOUDI:

-- Libya's prime minister arrived on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba late on Aug. 21. He has been in the job since 2006.

NASSER AL-MABROUK ABDULLAH:

-- A senior Gaddafi security official, Nasser al-Mabrouk Abdullah, arrived in Cairo with nine relatives on Aug. 15, telling Egyptian officials he was on holiday.

ALI AL-AMIN MANFUR:

-- Labour Minister Manfur told delegates at a Geneva conference of the International Labour Organisation on June 7 that he was defecting.

SHOKRI GHANEM:

-- Shokri Ghanem, former chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the OPEC country's top oil official, defected in Rome on June 1, citing daily bloodshed.

-- Ghanem, had the high-profile job of representing Libya at OPEC meetings. He has been NOC chairman since 2006.

ALI ABDUSSALM TREKI:

-- On March 31, Treki, a former foreign minister whom Gaddafi had appointed U.N. ambassador, refused to take up any official position and condemned the "spilling of blood."

...

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7JF0UP20110822?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

75. **** BREAKING: Gaddafi's son Mohammed flees house arrest-Jazeera ****

Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:32pm GMT


CAIRO Aug 22 (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi helped his son Mohammed flee house arrest on Monday, Al Jazeera television reported, as rebels sought to secure full control of the capital Tripoli.


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFC6E7JA01G20110822

[al bupp]

84. AJE: Saadi Gaddafi captured

No further details at this time.

[pinboy3niner]

76. Guess what's in the trash bin outside the Libyan Embassy in Brasilia...

From the twitter feed of Al Jazeera's correspondent in Brazil:

[pinboy3niner]

78. Gaddafi hunted as loyalists fight on in Tripoli

(Reuters WRAPUP 13)

Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:14pm GMT


• Last-ditch fightback by tanks, snipers after rebels sweep capital

• Gaddafi, wanted for war crimes, unaccounted for; three sons held

• Gaddafi's prime minister has been in Tunisia since Sunday

• Rebel council says working with former foes to ensure security

• Oil firms eye deals amid concern for cohesion under new rulers (Adds report of son escaped, detail)


By Ulf Laessing and Missy Ryan


TRIPOLI, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi was a hunted man on Monday as loyal remnants of his forces made last-ditch stands in the capital and world leaders rushed to embrace the fractious rebel movement as new masters of Libya's oil riches.


Two days after their irregular armies launched pincer thrusts into Tripoli in tandem with an uprising in the city, Gaddafi's tanks and sharpshooters appeared to hold only small areas, including his Bab al-Aziziya headquarters compound.


Civilians, who mobbed the streets on Sunday to cheer the end of dictatorship, stayed indoors as machinegun fire and explosions punctuated some of the heaviest fighting of the Arab Spring uprisings that have been reshaping the Middle East.


Reuters correspondents witnessed firefights and a clash with heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, as rebels tried to flush out snipers and pockets of resistance. Hundreds appear to have been killed or wounded since Saturday.

...


A U.S. official said there was no evidence he had fled the country. He has few friends left. His prime minister turned up in Tunisia. More Libyan embassies hoisted the rebel flag. And foreign governments which had hesitated to take sides, among them Gaddafi's Arab neighbours, Russia and China made clear they now felt his 42 years of absolute power were over.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7JL0LD20110822?sp=true

[Iterate]

79. Zintan Media Group: al-Aziziya is liberated.

Alexblx Alexblx
7/9 Soon to fall is #Aziziya – already #FF from #Gharyan have seized the #Heera main junction of #Aziziya - (cont) tl.gd/cfd1q7 18 Aug

emmaomo2011 emmaomo
Large army of FF are preparing to launch an attack on Aziziya. Large numbers of ambulances and doctors on standby via Gharyan channel #Libya 21 Aug

emmaomo2011 emmaomo
FF now combing Al Aziziya, city north of Gharyan after entering it this morning via zintan FB #Libya #Feb17 8 hours ago

LibyaNewMedia LibyaNewMedia
The town of Aziziya, south of Tripoli, has been liberated. Confirmed to reliable Zintan FB page by someone on the front. #Libya #NATO @NATO 7 hours ago

emmaomo2011 emmaomo
Al Aziziya north of Gharyan has been liberated. FF convoy of 100 vehicles made their way to tripoli through Al Alziziya via Ian Woods #Libya
7 hours ago

[pinboy3niner]

80. Children Shot Amid Sniper Attack In Libya (by Alex Crawford)

Source: Sky News

5:25pm UK, Monday August 22, 2011

Alex Crawford, special correspondent, in Tripoli


Two children are among those fighting for their lives in Tripoli's only working hospital after being caught up in violence in Libya's capital.

...


An 11-year-old girl has a wound to the head where a sniper bullet entered.


And around the corner from her, a three-year-old toddler has been treated for a bullet wound to her stomach.


The hospital is stretched beyond belief and it is crumbling under the pressure.

...


"Please, please tell the world we need help," one doctor told me.

...


http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16054621

[pinboy3niner]

81. Libyan army colonel claims Gaddafi sent him to Tunis to bomb an Arab embassy

A Libyan army officer allegedly sent by Muammar Gaddafi to Tunis to bomb an Arab embassy has turned himself in to Tunisian authorities, the Tunisian defence ministry said on Monday.


The officer, Colonel Abdelrazak Rajhi, crossed into Tunisia on July 30 to carry out the attack on the embassy of an Arab country using 16kg of explosives, which have been seized, a Tunisian defence ministry official told a press conference.


"The planned attack was commissioned by the military top brass, therefore by Muammar Gaddafi. He aimed to derail the Tunisian revolution," said Rajhi, who took part in the conference.


Tunisia's Colonel Major Mokhtar Ben Nasser told journalists Rajhi handed himself in to the Tunisian army on Friday.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-22-2011-2108

[Amonester]

85. And to think the rebels are the terrorists for some here....

lost.for.words

(ok, good thing he turned himself in)

the loyalists to the terrorist should 'accept' defeat, lay down their weapons, and go eat their lunch before dawn

[pinboy3niner]

82. Alex Crawford is our new journalistic hero

The Sky News reporter's dispatches from Libya were universally admired

Leo Hickman
guardian.co.uk, Monday 22 August 2011 20.30 BST


...


Following her dramatic reports of the rebel assault on Tripoli this week, it now appears that Sky News's Alex Crawford will forever be the journalist linked to the Libyan rising of 2011. As she and her crew rode into Tripoli on the back of a rebel pickup truck, with the vehicle's cigarette lighter socket powering the live satellite linkup, viewers admired her bravery and tenacity in seemingly being the first broadcast journalist to enter the city with the rebels. .... A few hours later she was reporting from the "horrendous conditions" inside Tripoli's only functioning hospital.


Crawford's name was soon trending globally on Twitter, with other journalists doffing their caps in admiration. Piers Morgan commented: "I know I work for a rival network, but Alex Crawford's live reporting is heroic journalism."

...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/22/alex-crawford-sky-reporter-libya

[Iterate]

86. #Tripoli prisons

ceoDanya Danya B Mohammed
Aljazeera sources confirm thousands of political prisoners are freed from Al-Jadida prison in #TRIPOLI 21 Aug

feb17voices Feb 17 voices
Alarabya: eyewitness: opposition fighters trying to free the prisoners in Ein Zara prison #Tripoli #Libya 21 Aug
AJA: more than 900 were freed from Ein Zara Prison today, most were political prisoners. #Tripoli #Libya 17 hours ago

LIBTRIP LIBYA TRIPOLI
All my captive relatives have been freed today from Abu Slaim prison today. They re heading home now. #Tripoli #Libya 21 Aug

NadiaMaddox Nadia
Al Jazeera correspondent says officers in Bou Slm prison in Tripoli free all prisonners..#tripoli #mermaiddawn #libya 21 Aug

moooonlight22 Libya Free Forever.
#Aja: Thousands of prisoners were freed by #FF from the prison of Gedeeda in #Tripoli #Feb17 #Libya 21 Aug

libyaoutreach Libya Outreach
BREAKING: #TRIPOLI FFs have attacked&liberated OVER 5,000 political prisoners from Jdaida prison. HUGE celebrations #libya v @ChangeInLibya 21 Aug

mouita Mona.O
OMG the caller on AJA has just been freed today from prison, been there since Feb16. </3 #Libya #Tripoli 23 hours ago

libyanproud libyanandproud
#Tripoli : AynZarra : Some prisoners released too fragile to home being attended by families in neighboring houses. #Feb17 #Libya 16 hours ago

C4NForeign Sarah Corp
just met man who escaped from prison in #Tripoli last night - prisoners broke out when they heard the mosques announcing free Tripoli (cont) 6 hours ago

malvernchela Suzanne
RT @ceoDanya: Many people are still in prison in #TRIPOLI some guards have let INNCOENT kidnapped prisoners out but many are still inside 4 hours ago

[ellisonz]

87. Should have fled into exile....

[Iterate]

88. Sky Man: Struggles Of Reporting From Tripoli

Sky Man: Struggles Of Reporting From Tripoli
9:52pm UK, Monday August 22, 2011

Sky's Mark Stone spent five weeks at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli and describes what it was like for journalists there.

Stone said Libyan authorities controlled where the media could go and they were often misled about what was going on in the city.

There were many Nato airstrikes during his time in Tripoli but he said it was often hard to ascertain the truth about what the bombings were targeting.

Stone recalled an argument with someone, who later turned out to be a government minder, about whether Nato had been aiming for a staircase that possibly led to a secret bunker.

The confrontation turned abusive as the man denied the stairwell, which was being protected by Gaddafi loyalists, was the target.

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16054970

[pinboy3niner]

89. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 187: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM TUESDAY, AUGUST 23

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[pinboy3niner]

90. Gadhafi's regime teeters on collapse in Libya

By BEN HUBBARD and KARIN LAUB - Associated Press | AP – 1 hr 48 mins ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was nowhere to be found Monday as his 42-year rule teetered on the brink of collapse. Months of NATO airstrikes have left his Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli largely demolished. Most of his security forces fled or surrendered when rebel forces rolled into the capital Sunday night and took control of most of the city. And three of his sons are under arrest.

...


Around midday Monday, rebel fighters took over a women's police college near the Mediterranean and declared that they would set up their new headquarters there.

...


But the rebels' optimistic mood of the morning quickly changed. By mid-afternoon, the college came under heavy fire. Snipers from nearby high-rises aimed at motorists speeding by. An anti-aircraft gun pounded the compound, creating a deafening noise. A handful of rebel fighters inside seemed jumpy and unsure what to do.


Gadhafi loyalists also launched attacks in two other areas of Tripoli, said Ashraf Hussein, a rebel fighter who sat pressed against an inner wall of the compound for safety.


Drivers trying to evade sniper fire ducked into side streets, or stopped at rebel checkpoints to find out whether the next stretch was safe. Booms of mortar rounds and small rockets reverberated across the city, mixed with battle cries of "Allahu akbar," or God is Great.


Later Monday, another battle erupted around a school where rebels and journalists had set up camp. Rebels fired small rockets, and Gadhafi troops responded with mortar shells.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/gadhafis-regime-teeters-collapse-libya-205608125.html

[tabatha]

91. PHOTOS: Libyans Applaud President Obama And International Allies With Large Thank You Sign

By Faiz Shakir on Aug 22, 2011 at 11:41 am

At the main square in Benghazi, people have been gathering to celebrate the end of the rule of Muammar Qaddafi. As euphoric Libyan rebels advanced into Tripoli on Sunday, there were scenes of jubilation in the rebels’ de facto capital, Benghazi, where thousands celebrated in the streets. One large sign in the middle of the square in Benghazi features a picture of the “Fantastic 4” (from right to left): Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and U.S. Ambassador the U.N. Susan Rice. The text on the sign reads: “God Bless You All. Thanks For All.” The signs were photographed by the AP’s Alexandre Meneghini:



http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/08/22/300927/photos-libyans-applaud-president-obama-and-international-allies-with-large-thank-you-sign/

This photo (actually 2-in-1) is the book-end to the no-fly-zone photo in the OP.

[pinboy3niner]

92. Libya government launches second Scud missile

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press


WASHINGTON -- U.S. military officials say Libyan government forces have once again fired a Scud missile, but it's unclear where it landed.


The short-range missile was launched from near Sirte, the hometown of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and one of the remaining cities still under his control.

...


http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/22/2370502/libya-government-launches-second.html

[pinboy3niner]

93. BREAKING, CNN: Saif Gaddafi seen in Tripoli at Rixos Hotel-- not in rebel custody

Matthew Chance just gave a live report describing his encounter with Saif, who was in the back seat of a large white Land Cuiser at the hotel.

Saif told Chance that his father and the whole family are still in Tripoli. He said that luring the rebels to the capital was a trick and they would soon be destroyed--and then his armed convoy sped off into the night.

Saif had previously been reported captured and under detention by the rebels.

[tabatha]

94. There are two Saifs in the Gaddafi family.

However, I was wondering about the easy entrance into Tripoli - whether it was a trap or not.

So they are prepared to destroy 1 million people for their own benefit?

[pinboy3niner]

95. Chance identified him as Saif al-Islam

He is the eldest son, one reported to have been captured. The ICC even confirmed being notified that Saif was in rebel custody.

The NTC is going to have some serious explaining to do. First one son escapes (or is 'hijacked') from rebel custody, then another 'captive' son is found to be running around, free.

CNN is now showing video of Chance's encounter with Saif on the AC/360 show. That was the opening summary, more of the story and video will be coming up.


:hi:

[tabatha]

96. Is there a picture of Saif?

[pinboy3niner]

97. There is video footage of him by his car outside the Rixos

This show normally repeats at least twice, and at some point the segment video will be posted at CNN's website.

[pinboy3niner]

98. Screen grab posted at AJE:

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-23-2011-0248

[al bupp]

101. This is real freaking twist on the story

The wanna-be novelist in me takes a perverse sort of pleasure, the daunting implications notwithstanding, in the detail that the CNN reporter's name "happens" to be Chance.

In my best Ricki Ricardo voice, I say, "Jabril you got some 'splaining to do".

[pinboy3niner]

105. It was truly a Chance encounter :)

What a weird story--you just can't make this stuff up. And the NTC better get its act together--this really damages their credibility.

[al bupp]

107. Either they are really inept liers...

or they were badly had. Either way it doesn't look good. If I'm advising them (yeah, right) I say the only way out is full disclosure.

Makes the whole easy entry in Tripoli look like being drawn into the spider's lair. Explains the puzzling lack of resistence initially encountered. They fall back into the warrens of the city, where given the close quarters w/ a large civilian population NATO can't do too much. Takes away the rebel air force (except for the drones!) and evens back up the odds a bit.

If true, one has to stand in awe at the sheer evil genius of it. Although, maybe they simply realized was their only viable option. I suppose the outcome now mostly depends upon just how many core volunteers Gaddafi has, and how much support (willing or not) they can find among the population, and for how long. Wow, just wow.

[al bupp]

108. OK, there's (at least) one more possibility...

Saif succeeded in bribing his way out, thus turning capture into opportunity and big-time egg in the face of the TNC.

He certainly has the means, and likely would be prepared to offer such, especially as a last recourse. In fact, it's pretty much in character for his family.

I'm just not convinced it's plausible as a preconceived part of a "draw them into the trap" plan, given what it seems it would have taken to pull it off, not to mention the stakes, that is his own person, in the gambit.

Sorry for cluttering the thread w/ my speculations.

[al bupp]

104. Get ready to be creeped out...

From: https://twitter.com/#!/mchancecnn/status/105801089168842752/photo/1/large



(Twitter link on edit.)

[tabatha]

100. Muhammed, is the eldest.

Saif al-Islam is the eldest Saif.

[al bupp]

102. Right, there's a little talked about 2nd Saif in the family

Saif al-Arab, the younger of the two "Saifs", "The Sword of the Arabs", I've read it means. Is this common in Arabic give the same 1st name to two children, or is it another of Gaddafi's little eccentricities, I wonder?

(On edit, added the relative age of the Saifs.)

[pinboy3niner]

103. Saif al-Arab is the son the regime claims was killed in NATO strike in April

That claim is unsubstantiated, and I think it was Italy's Burlusconi who said intel indicated that Saif al-Arab was not even in Libya at the time of the airstrike.

[pinboy3niner]

109. Some of Saif's comments to the press:

AJE posted these snippets from AFP and Reuters on its live blog:

Saif al Islam, the son of Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi who rebels and the International Criminal Court had been arrested, arrived in the early hours of Tuesday at the Tripoli hotel where foreign reporters have been staying, reports Reuters.

BBC correspondent Matthew Price said Saif told another journalist, when asked if his father was safe and well in Tripoli, "Of course."

According to AFP, Saif al-Islam told reporters:

Tripoli is under our control. Everyone should rest assured. All is well in Tripoli.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-23-2011-0332

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi:

I am here to disperse the rumours ... This is a war of technology and electronics to cause chaos and terror in Libya. They also brought in armed gangs by sea and by road.

He was referring to a text message sent to mobile phone subscribers in Tripoli on Monday congratulating them on the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

Saif also said he did not care about an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague seeking him and his father for crimes against humanity. - Reuters


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-23-2011-0351

[tabatha]

110. These effing Gaddafis are so bloody arrogant.

Their family OWNS Libya in their eyes.

I wish NATO would take them out with a MOAB.

[pinboy3niner]

113. AJE VIDEO: "Saif al-Islam 'not captured' by rebels"

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on Aug 22, 2011


Saif al-Islam appeared relaxed and unharmed in front of cameras at the hotel where foreign reporters were staying in Tripoli, refuting claims that he had been captured by the rebel forces.

He stated that NATO waged "an electronic war" against the people, and that they had "sent gangs and armed groups to Tripoli by sea and civilian vehicles."

He promised to take the journalists on a tour of Tripoli to show them "all the hot-spots".

Saif al-Islam not captured by rebels (0:52):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXUSwT62goo&feature=player_embedded#!

[pinboy3niner]

99. Video: Rebels battle to secure Libyan capital (3:15)

Uploaded by telegraphtv on Aug 22, 2011

Savage battles with Col Gaddafi's forces take place on the streets of the Libyan capital Tripoli.


Rebels battle to secure Libyan capital (3:15):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIG4Ce3yhG8&feature=player_embedded

[tabatha]

106. FF source says Saif arrested but ran away.

WldSougAlJumaa
ears2dgrwnd WldSougAlJumaa
LeFigaro now says FF source says Saif arrested but ran away. What an exciting nite. No Sleep again. #Libya #MermaidDawn whats next??
11 minutes ago

[pinboy3niner]

112. CNN reported that Saif denied ever being in custody

Piers Morgan wondered aloud who is telling the truth.

The FF source probably is right--the notion of the TNC putting out a false story that could easily be disproved is highly unlikely.

More credible is that the TNC might have been reluctant to reveal they lost Saif so soon after letting his brother slip away, so they kept mum about his escape.

[joshcryer]

114. If they were both under house arrest, that is incredible.

I would've expected any of Gaddafi's inner circle to be swept away to a secure location. The house arrest for the eldest son indicates to me they felt it was the best way to keep reprisals from happening. But having escaped now there's going to be a serious level of distrust.

[pinboy3niner]

111. AJE's live blog has posted images of leaflets being dropped by NATO in Tripoli area

Some warn civilians to stay away from military sites and activities, but the majority (like the one below) encourage Gaddafi troops and mercenaries to stop fighting.





More images at link:

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-23-2011-0433

[joshcryer]

115. Week 27 part 4 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1794365