Libyan Revolution Week 18 part 2

[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=439x1320673">Week 18 part 1 here.

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

Libyan children sat atop a pickup truck armed with a rocket launcher ahead of the Friday noon prayer in the Libyan rebel-stronghold city of Benghazi.

Photograph: Gianluigi Guarcia / AFP

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 126 updates below, current time in Libya, 4:02am Thursday, June 23

[pinboy3niner]

35. What, no free kitteh gif?

:evilgrin:


:hi:

[joshcryer]

2. China praises Libya rebels as important political force

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/uk-china-libya-idUKTRE75L1N820110622">China praises Libya rebels as important political force
(Reuters) - China's foreign minister lavished praise on Libya's rebel National Transitional Council on Wednesday, calling it an "important dialogue partner" which has become a major political force.

China has taken no firm side in the war between Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces and opposition groups and it abstained in March when the U.N. Security Council authorised NATO-led air strikes against Gaddafi's forces.

But it has been in contact with both sides in the conflict to encourage a political settlement.

"The National Transitional Council's representation has been growing stronger daily since its establishment, and it has step-by-step become an important domestic political force," Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the rebels' diplomatic chief, Mahmoud Jibril.

And so it begins. Gaddafi has no one significant now.

[joshcryer]

3. Libyan minister travels to Tunisia; more Libyan troops flee their nation's civil war

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/libyan-minister-travels-tunisia-more-libyan-troops-flee-204859465.html">Libyan minister travels to Tunisia
TUNIS, Tunisia - Libya's foreign minister has crossed into neighbouring Tunisia but his final destination is not known.

The official TAP news agency says that Abdelati al-Obeidi headed to the Tunisian island of Djerba, a launching point for other destinations, as he has done many times in the past to seek a diplomatic solution to Libya's civil war.

In another development Wednesday, TAP said a boat carrying 38 Libyans fleeing combat in their homeland, including soldiers and some ranking officers, arrived at the Tunisian port of Ketf.

[joshcryer]

4. Denmark recognizes Libyan opposition NTC as legitimate representative

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-06/23/c_13944542.htm">Denmark recognizes Libyan opposition NTC as legitimate representative
BENGHAZI, Libya, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Denmark announced Wednesday that it recognizes the Libyan opposition National Transitional Council (NTC) as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

"In the current transition period, Denmark regards the NTC as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people, and we will support it and hope it will be able to include all people in Libya," visiting Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen said at a press conference in Benghazi.

"I will convey the Danish government's condolences to the Libyan people for the tragic loss of life resulting from the fighting campaign with the (Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi regime. With that behaviour, the brutal Gaddafi regime has lost all legitimacy to rule this country," she said.

Denmark previously only acknowledged the NTC as one of Libya's authorities. Espersen's announcement brought Denmark's position in line with the NATO members, such as France, Spain, Britain and Germany, which are launching an intensified military campaign against Gaddafi's forces.

[joshcryer]

5. Boehner says Obama lacks House support for Libya

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18333848?nclick_check=1">Boehner says Obama lacks House support for Libya
WASHINGTON -- Setting up a showdown on Libya, House Republicans agreed on Wednesday to vote on dueling measures, one to give President Barack Obama limited authority to continue U.S. involvement in the NATO-led operation against Moammar Gadhafi and the other to cut off funds for military hostilities.

Officials said the measures -- a resolution and a bill -- most likely would come to a vote Friday, a timetable that reflects widespread dissatisfaction with Obama's decision not to seek congressional consent for the 3-month-old war.

"The fact is the president has not made his case to the members of Congress," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters. "He's not made his case to the American people. We've been in this conflict for 90 days and the president hasn't talked to the American people for four or five weeks about why we're there, what our national interest is and why we should continue."

Emerging from a closed-door meeting on the resolution and the competing legislation, rank-and-file Republicans indicated a growing consensus for the bill, which would bar funds for Libya except for money spent this year on search and rescue, aerial refueling, operational planning, intelligence and surveillance and non-combat missions.

Plenty of support for wars 500x-1000x more costly though, right Boehner? :puke:

[tabatha]

6. Cynthia McKinney: Gaddafi’s Useful Idiot

If that was not enough, McKinney praised the promises about Libyan “direct democracy” that are found in the infamous “Green Book” — a deranged manifesto written decades ago by Gaddafi himself. She made known (and not for the first time) that she favors Gaddafi’s democratic philosophy. Worse still, McKinney suggested that other Americans ought to do the same.

Yet, the people of Libya have never enjoyed any semblance of democracy supposedly afforded them by the “Green Book.”

Instead, they have been subject to the sadistic and vicious whim of one man for 42 years, who remains in power by the butt of a gun — now aided readily by mercenary thugs and the willfully malicious words of Cynthia McKinney.

Did I mention she intends to run for Congress again?

http://feb17.info/editorials/cynthia-mckinney-gaddafi%E2%80%99s-useful-idiot/

[joshcryer]

8. Gaddafi has a lot of useful idiots. GOP congress is one...

...the same congress that authorizes 1000x more money spent on two illegitimate wars.

[tabatha]

16. Anti-McKinney Protest / Chicago

Anti-McKinney Protest / Chicago. 0001
http://youtu.be/e91bSNZJeS8

Anti-McKinney Protest / Chicago. 0002
http://youtu.be/2-s0Me5iGHc

Anti-McKinney Protest / Chicago. 0003
http://youtu.be/fh2Lknd2SYM

Anti-McKinney Protest / Chicago. 0004
http://youtu.be/b7t2eEycd_8

Anti-Mckinney Protest / Chicago. 0005
http://youtu.be/a-bh5D9pV80

[inna]

39. perfect commentary on the whole mentality of the crowd

- and thanks for the insight; it really takes a *certain* (trying to be polite here!) mindset to publish low and fucked up crap like that. talk about "willfully malicious". :shrug:

[tabatha]

54. Typical

A true, open-minded, fair, honest progressive would seek the truth from all sides. McKinney has not done that.
Even the Palestinians are disgusted with her, and would not welcome her back in Gaza.
I guess that they have a fucked up mentality as well.
http://yansoon.net/2011/06/21/open-letter-to-pro-gaddafi-cynthia-mckinney-from-disappointed-palestinians/

She does not allow Libyans into a presentation about Libya. That is not democratic by any stretch of the imagination.
She is truly a tool of Gaddafi, and I wonder how much she is being paid. I wonder how she sleeps at night.
I would go so far as to say it is blood money.

[joshcryer]

7. Juan Cole: Top Ten Mistakes in the Libya War

http://www.juancole.com/2011/06/top-ten-mistakes-in-the-libya-war.html">Top Ten Mistakes in the Libya War
In the post-World War II international legal regime, there are only two grounds for going to war, according to the United Nations Charter. One is self-defense. The other is if the United Nations Security Council authorizes war for the preservation of international order or (with the passage of the Genocide Convention) for the prevention of crimes against humanity.

The UNSC authorized intervention in Libya, and “deputized” any nations that felt the inclination to step up to this international obligation. The Libya intervention, in and of itself, is therefore legal in international law in a way that the Iraq War was not.

I personally believe that the UN attempt to forbid unilateral aggressive war is absolutely central to our survival on earth, and although it has had many failures, it is an ideal worth reaching for. Its corollary is that there are occasionally justified uses of force, but only a UNSC resolution can make them legal. Given this situation, it is desirable that the UNSC be expanded, with the addition, at the least, of India and Pakistan (you can’t add just one, and the Muslim world needs permanent representation) and of Brazil and a major African country.

That the Libyan intervention is legal does not mean that the war has been prosecuted wisely. I urged after the UNSC resolution that it be a limited intervention aiming at protecting civilians from Muammar Qaddafi’s vicious attacks on innocent crowds and reckless endangerment of non-combatants in the tenement buildings being shelled by his tanks and cluster bombs, and from his forces’ relentless rolling of tanks on Free Libya cities.

[tabatha]

9. Libyans are NOT just a number

Aisha was 26 yrs old, she was newly wed, she was married to Mohammed 27, they just moved recently to Misurata after Mohammed found a job as a welder there..She was from Tripoli, he was from Benghazi..They met 2 years sooner during one of Mohammed trip to Tripoli..He fell madly in love with Aisha...

Mohammed was my friend, we sudied together in Canada, we where verry close he was a little brother to me..I loved him like you love a brother..He so many times shared with me his aspiration 4 Libya..telling me how he was wishing 4 Libya to become a free country like Canada..a place where he can talk openly about his views and aspiration, where he can be free to be whatever he wanted to be without risking jail and torture or even worst death..

When the uprising started Mohammed wanted to join but was also scared 4 his wife knowing she was alone in a city where they knew almost no one..But when the uprising became a bloodbath and reach Misurata, Mohammed felt the call and joined the #FF and went to the front..He sadly never came back alive from the front..he died with honor trying to save his city from Gadaffi forces missile and attack..

Aisha was devastated and called me to let me know of the news and reach to me for help..she was using a neighbour satellite phone her call was short and was a plea of help..she was scared alone in a city where she knew no ones..The city was under heavy bombing and told me she had no money and they where too much bombing that she would not be able to burry Mohammed..She was crying and it touched me deep inside..the call cut at the moment i swear to her to get her out of there..I promess to get back in touch with her...

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/b9omha

[tabatha]

10. Status and recognition of the NTC - map

[joshcryer]

12. They've been recognized by Latvia, Austria and Denmark just this week alone.

Gaddafi's government is clearly illegitimate and every day only underscores that fact.

[tabatha]

11. Mankind (some) are stark raving mad

Day 126 and 11,000 + sorties and Gaddafi's weapons have not yet been destroyed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MwVYvRczmM&NR=1

[Iterate]

13. Chivers Part III. Down the Rabbit Hole: Qaddafi’s Cluster Munitions and the Age of Internet Claims

Following Up, Part III. Down the Rabbit Hole: Qaddafi’s Cluster Munitions and the Age of Internet Claims
June 23, 2011, 10:32 am
By C.J. CHIVERS

This month At War has revisited in detail the attacks this spring by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces on Misurata, Libya with cluster munitions. The blog has retraced the steps that led to the identification of the Spanish-made MAT-120 munitions, and documented the sale and transfer of these munitions from Spain to Libya from 2006 through early 2008, addressing, in the process, the Qaddafi government’s claims of not possessing any of these rounds.

All of this was straightforward and methodical enough. But the verification processes took odd turns when readers began asking me about the strange claims about the MAT-120 that materialized, as if from nowhere, and began multiplying on-line. Extra, Extra, Read It Here: The Qaddafi Military Did Not Use MAT-120s in Miusrata, the U.S. Navy Did!

Behold one of the accompaniments to reporting in the Internet age: the invented counter-narrative, presented as if a credible report from an organization with chops. Today we will examine how, via a website that strung together innuendo, misinterpretation and unrelated facts, this came to pass. Like the Qaddafi government denials, that red-hot claim fizzled under scrutiny. And if nothing else, the work involved in examining the claims carefully was a reminder of the unusual shapes conflict reporting can take in the Internet Age, and how precision counts.

Ready to finish this strange ride? Let’s jump in.

more... http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/following-up-part-iii-down-the-rabbit-hole-qaddafis-cluster-munitions-and-the-age-of-internet-claims/?ref=world

I expect apologies from conspiracy theorists.

[al bupp]

14. Though apologies would be nice...

I would not suggest holding your breath. Thanks for these updates from Chivers, they're very interesting.

[joshcryer]

44. What's sad about this is that 1) DUers bought the lies hook line and sinker and 2) Chivers...

...wasted his time debunking said lies when there are better things to be done. The lies will perpetuate (indeed, "cluster munitions libya" returns only the lying results, don't believe me? try it, it's depressing), the truth will be buried. Why waste your time when the internet creates its own "truths" all by itself?

It's good that Chivers debunked it as I too thought that the cluster munitions were classified as category 4, but after I compiled a long post to that effect, I decided it wasn't worth it because no matter how I argued the case, conspiracy theorists would chose to believe the untruths.

[tabatha]

55. I am beginning to believe that

there are many on the left that digest information in the same manner as those on the right - find the articles/opinions/"facts" that support your own point of view, and ignore anything that is actually fact-based.

The most balanced people are those that can look at a set of facts on the merits no matter whether the outcome is "left" or "right" or "neither".

[tabatha]

15. Head-banging in Benghazi: ‘Guys Under Ground’

Under Gaddafi’s regime, they had to rehearse in the storage room of a pharmacy and import even their guitar picks from Egypt. Now they’re one of Benghazi’s hippest rock bands: meet Guys UnderGround.

I actually met them in Cairo. Four young Libyan rock musicians sat in the three-star hotel lobby waiting while I set up my equipment. Before I was even finished, they had already clutched their guitars and started playing. It was an impromptu jam that attracted the hotel’s other guests, and proved to be the interview’s perfect icebreaker.

“We are here to perform as part of ‘Libya from a Different Perspective’ cultural festival held in Cairo. If someone had told me this, six months ago I would have definitely laughed my head off”, said Yehia El Maghrabi, a university undergrad studying Italian language and the bands founder and lead guitarist.

Under Gaddafi’s totalitarian regime, freedom of expression was a distant dream, lurked deep underground.

“It is not because we haven’t signed to a record label that we are an underground band, it is the whole setup from jamming to recording to live performance that we had to stay underground. No wonder we are called Guys Under Ground,” said physician-to-be Marwan Gargoum, the band’s bassist and vocalist.

http://english.libya.tv/2011/06/23/head-banging-in-benghazi-%E2%80%98guys-under-ground%E2%80%99/

(reported on the underground portion of Democratic Underground :-)

[pinboy3niner]

17. ICC to decide Monday on issuing warrants for Gaddafi, son and intel chief

The international criminal court says a panel of judges will announce on Monday whether it will issue arrest warrants for the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Seif, and his intelligence Abdullah al-Sanoussi

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accuses them of commanding forces who attacked civilians in their homes, shot at demonstrators with live ammunition, shelled funeral processions and deployed snipers to kill people leaving mosques as part of the violent crackdown on rebels seeking to depose him after four decades in power.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/23/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live#block-15

[pinboy3niner]

18. Turkish rations feeding Gaddafi troops--Al Jazeera

Libyan rebels have been fighting Gaddafi's forces for weeks in the Nafusa mountain range in western Libya. They are slowly making gains, though, and as Gaddafi's forces flee, they leave behind much of their equipment.


Among the supplies at three different bases, Al Jazeera discovered military rations which - according to their labels - were manufactured in Turkey. Bread packets some of inside the rations were produced in March, according to their labels - meaning they were shipped to Libya after the fighting began.


Turkey, of course, is a member of NATO, which has been carrying out a bombing campaign against Gaddafi's forces for months.


VIDEO report (4:33) at link:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-23-2011-1924

[pinboy3niner]

19. House to vote on bill cutting funds for Libya

(Note: The second story has hotlinks to the text of each bill.)

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON | Thu Jun 23, 2011 7:28am EDT


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on a proposal to cut off funds for U.S. military hostilities in Libya, lawmakers in the Republican majority said on Wednesday.

The measure, which is still being drafted, would ban funding for U.S. participation in combat missions such as drone attacks in the NATO-led air war, said Representative Howard McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

...


A vote is likely on Friday. It is unclear if the measure can pass and Senate approval is unlikely. But criticism has been building in Congress, especially in the Republican-led House, of U.S. involvement in the Libya campaign and President Barack Obama's refusal to ask Congress for its consent.

The House measure would allow U.S. funding to continue until October 1 for "non-hostile' actions such as search and rescue, aerial refueling, operational planning, and intelligence, Republican aides said.

They said the intent was to let Washington maintain support for the NATO-led operation, while stopping further U.S. involvement in combat missions in Libya.

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/23/us-usa-libya-funds-idUSTRE75M25J20110623

House Republicans set Libya vote for Friday

By David A. Fahrenthold, Thursday, June 23, 9:21 AM


The House now appears likely to vote Friday on at least one— and maybe up to three—resolutions relating to Libya, as restive legislators seek new ways of rebuking President Obama for the military operation there.


Three Libya resolutions have been posted on the Web site of the House Rules committee: one would authorize the limited use of military force there (a vote set up to fail). Another would direct the president to withdraw forces engaged in offensive operations. And a third, sponsored by Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), would strip funding for those offensive operations.


A GOP aide said the Rules Committee would decide later Thursday how many of the resolutions would actually get a vote on the House floor Friday.

...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-republicans-set-libya-vote-for-friday/2011/06/23/AGCqzUhH_story.html

[pinboy3niner]

20. Libya: Renewed rocket attacks target civilians in Misratah (Amnesty International)

23 June 2011


Forces loyal to Libyan Colonel Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi are once again targeting civilians in Misratah by firing rockets, some containing ball bearings, into the city’s residential areas, Amnesty International said today.


At least two civilians, a 14-year-old boy and two women were killed and several others, including children, were injured in recent days when “Grad” rockets struck their homes in the port city’s residential neighbourhoods.


These rockets are indiscriminate weapons which cannot be directed at a particular target and their use may amount to war crimes.


“Families in Misratah are once again living in fear of being killed as rockets rain down on their homes and it’s impossible for the terrified residents to find safe shelter,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser.


Fourteen-year-old Ibrahim ‘Ali Boushiba was killed and his mother, father and 12-year-old brother Faraj were injured on 20 June when several rockets struck their home in the Rweissat neighbourhood. Images of the rockets’ remains examined by Amnesty International show that it had been packed with ball bearings to maximize injuries.


On 17 June, Halima ‘Omar Dabbur, a 46-year-old mother of eight, was killed and her nine-year-old daughter Nada was injured by a rocket strike on their home, in the Zarrouq neighbourhood. Three days earlier, another rocket struck a nearby house, injuring her five-year-old nephew, ‘Omar, and her seven-year-old niece, Fatma.


Mabrouka Yusef Musa, a 55-year-old mother of seven, was also killed and her husband injured in two recent rocket strikes on and near their home in the same neighbourhood.


Amnesty International is receiving more reports of casualties from other rocket attacks but with telephone and internet connections to Misratah still cut off, it is very difficult to obtain and verify information.


Misratah, the only opposition-held major city in western Libya, suffered weeks of relentless and indiscriminate shelling by al-Gaddafi forces in April and early May. Scores of Misratah residents and several African migrants were killed and many other people were injured in the attacks.


“Such attacks much cease immediately. Colonel al-Gaddafi and those around him and in his armed forces responsible for ordering and launching indiscriminate rocket attacks on Misratah’s residential neighbourhoods know full well that the victims will be civilians not involved in the conflict,” said Donatella Rovera.


“They must realize that their actions may result in their being made to answer one day to the most serious of charges, of having perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity."


http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/libya-renewed-rocket-attacks-target-civilians-misratah-2011-06-23

[pinboy3niner]

21. Gaddafi "may leave within a few weeks"--former regime official

A former Libyan foreign minister who has defected to the opposition said on Thursday he believed Muammar Gaddafi has realised he could no longer stay in Libya and may leave within a few weeks.

Abdurrahaman Shalgam, one of the highest-ranking Libyan defectors, told Corriere della Sera TV he believed Gaddafi was negotiating for asylum with either another African country or Belarus.

Shalgam, who still serves as Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, said:

He is manoeuvring for three things - to leave the country, to have money and to be shielded from the International Criminal Court.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-23-2011-2049

[tabatha]

22. My personal opinion is that he should be captured

and spend the rest of his life in prison at the Hague.

[pinboy3niner]

23. Libya rebel council prepares for the day after Qaddafi (* Good preview of post-G plans)

Source: Christian Science Monitor

The council, responding to grumbling that they'll make a power grab once Muammar Qaddafi is deposed, says it's preparing for a democratic transition that's fair for all Libyans.


By Gert Van Langendonck, Contributor / June 23, 2011


Benghazi, Libya

...



The rebel council that sprang up in Libya's liberated eastern cities in February and March has done an admirable job of presenting a united face to the world of the country's rebellion against Muammar Qaddafi.


The group has racked up a string of diplomatic victories, with a dozen countries recognizing them as the "legitimate" representatives of the Libyan people. This week, the group even received praise from China.


But there has also been growing unease that the collection of regime defectors, lawyers, and businessmen, most with roots in the country's east, could be setting themselves up for a power grab once Qaddafi goes.


Rebel fighters in the west of the country have been grumbling that they have little voice with the Transitional National Council (TNC), and others have worried that months of talk about drafting a new Libyan constitution could lead to a document that favors eastern Libyan, not national, interests. The rumblings of dissent – faint to be sure – have had some analysts worried about a war after the war.


Now the council says it hears those concerns, and is taking steps to address them. Fathi Mohammed Baja, head of political affairs for the TNC, says that while a "provisional constitution for the transitional period" was agreed to by the TNC's members on Sunday, that it is neither permanent or binding. He insists TNC leaders won't seek power in a post-Qaddafi Libya, and is taking steps to reach out to and coordinate with resistance figures in the west of the country.

...


MUCH MORE DETAIL HERE:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0623/Libya-rebel-council-prepares-for-the-day-after-Qaddafi

[tabatha]

24. Libya Song, Kids cleaning, Jadu's freedom fighters, Libya the green mountain

Libya Song - Palestine Heart. "We will stay here" سوف نبقى هنا
http://youtu.be/YuKpV1FCEQM

Kids cleaning the streets in Zintan Libya. June 21, 2011
http://youtu.be/JZWXTH60zTg

Jadu's freedom fighters part 2 - Jadu Nafusa Mountains - Libya
http://youtu.be/TdJ-2ylEm3o
(A mix of clips - interesting. Don't know where part 1 is)

Libya the green mountain
http://youtu.be/X7bZweS6hBU

[pinboy3niner]

25. White House Appeals To Democrats Ahead Of Libya Vote

JUNE 23, 2011, 3:22 P.M. ET

By Siobhan Hughes
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Obama administration on Thursday made a case for continuing the current U.S. role in Libya, a day before a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at cutting funding for Predator drones being used in the bombing campaign.


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a pitch to a closed-door meeting of Democrats, aiming to shore up a caucus that is divided over whether to endorse the action. A poll of Democrats leaving the meeting suggested that her appeal had bolstered supporters and created some sympathy even among Democratic critics.


"Any time you have the Secretary of State come to Capitol Hill to make an appeal to the caucus, that certainly can have impact," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D, Ohio), who wants the U.S. to withdraw from Libya. He called for "caution" that "we not make this a purely partisan issue ... that actually causes our ability to analyze what's going on to be diminished."


A pair of votes are set for Friday. One measure would limit funding to intelligence and surveillance; aerial refueling; operational planning and search and rescue activities. Funding would be cut off for the unmanned drones that the administration uses in Libya--potentially undercutting the effort because it us unclear that other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization could come up with replacements.

...


http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110623-710766.html

[pinboy3niner]

26. More Gaddafi troops, police defected today

A ship carrying 49 people fleeing the conflict in Libya arrived at a Tunisian port Thursday, including 19 police and soldiers who defected from the regime in Tripoli, AFP quoted the TAP news agency.

The ship docked at the southern El Ketef port, the landing spot for many Libyans who have fled the unrest in recent months, Tunisia's official news service reported.

Three defectors told TAP they quit the security services of embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi because they did not want to shoot at their compatriots.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-23-2011-2301

[Iterate]

30. Officer's statement as tweeted

4Adam Adam
Tunis-Afrique Presse : 19 of Gaddafi's Army fled cross the sea to #Tunisia on Thursday morning 6/23/2011 http://is.gd/BoAzxT #Libya #Feb17

The following tweets will be on the 3 Gaddafi officers who defected & fled #Libya according to Tunisian News Agency (TAP) on 6/23/11
<1/4> They said “We're at the crossroad either to kill our brothers or to flee, both were very difficult thing to do by Military personnel"
<2/4> They added“The decision to flee was also taken b/c of the fear of death if we refuse to kill the Libyan people” #Libya #gadadficrimes
<3/4> They said,w/ bitterness ”Libyans r facing all types of #humanrights violations. Added"the death toll has exceeded 15k, 30k in prisons”
<4/4> They appeal to the world for help"remove Gaddafi fr power b/c every day that passes brings more deaths and destruction to the country"
vor 1 Stunde

TAP translation
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tap.info.tn%2Far%2Far%2F2011-05-12-16-34-29%2F300-2010-12-17-16-30-30%2F4540-2011-06-23-17-13-55.html&sl=ar&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

Thank to everyone, especially you and tabatha over the last week for being so thorough and coming up with so many great finds. I ended up with pneumonia and haven't been up much (Tacitus was right -this is sometimes a dark, cold, and godforsaken place. No wonder the Romans hated it).

I noticed today we're coming up on the 800 year anniversary of Magna Carta, only 32 generations ago.

It's been about 400 generations since we started this city/state/civilization experiment way back in the BC. So it took about 368 of those generations to realize the King's rule is not absolute, and 394 of them went by before we agreed that neither the King nor any petty sovereign had the right to enslave us. A whopping 398 of them went by to decide genocide was not a Right of Kings or sovereigns. And now we tentatively claim that the King of All Kings of Africa doesn't have the Right to mass slaughter or imprisonment of his subjects, oppose it by force as necessary, and the idea is seen by some as far too radical. That kind of progress doesn't give me hope.

[pinboy3niner]

31. Take care of yourself and get well soon

Don't let "some" dampen your hope. You know better--it's just your illness messin' with your head.

Man, some people will do ANYTHING to get off work. :evilgrin:

Feel better soon, cuz. :hug:

[tabatha]

34. Pneumonia is pnasty - hope you get it fixed soon.

It seems to be a waiting time as the end gets closer. I go to bed at night and wake up in the morning thinking of the poor Libyans who are dying and being injured because of one man's ego. What a nightmare. I hope it all ends soon, and that Gaddafi is taken alive and is taken to the Hague.

But what is very depressing, is seeing the side-liners who have no idea what is going on making the most ridiculous statements, and saying it is all about oil. It is insulting to charge people who are concerned about the welfare of people under a monster that they have superficial reasons for their actions. It is beyond disgusting.

I have to believe that the Yahoo boards are the worst in the world.

I take comfort in reading the AJE blogs where there is an enormous amount of support for the FF (freedom fighters). It is somewhat reassuring to find that there are decent people in the world.

Otherwise, get well, Iterate - and if you have time to kill reading blogs wander over to AJE, and the satellite story about Libya - it is not in the blogs section.

[joshcryer]

46. Irony about the Yahoo boards is that those boards are typically populated with right wingers.

I've had a suspicion for months now that at least a good chunk of anti-Libyan posts on the internet are by right wingers who are using "left wing arguments" in order to look good. It's a new kind of psyops.

[joshcryer]

45. Please be well Iterate. Your contributions are so eye opening.

You always provide the best stuff as far as editorials and scoops are concerned. I'm sorry I've been so lax with posting daily, I'm trying to remedy it but life is moving very fast and as usual I get caught up in other threads here.

Again, hope you get better soon!

[tabatha]

27. Coming Home - David Clay

A few days ago I caught up with the guys working at Tribute FM, an English language radio station. The station has been set up by a group of young enthusiastic Libyans, some born and bred in Libya, and others who have returned home for the first time after many years in the UK or Canada. The station is operating on a shoestring budget out of a dusty half-built office block that has been commandeered as Benghazi’s media centre but already it seems to have established a sizable following in Libya. Looking at their Facebook page they also seem to have an incredible diversity of listeners tuning in through the internet from abroad. It’s a great combination of music, news and chat. I was struck by the fact that the staff at the station are very much one team, regardless of their different backgrounds, and they were united in their support for the revolution and passion for their radio station.

There are also returning exiles in the National Transitional Council Executive Committee as well as among the ordinary people trying to defend the towns and cities from attack by Qadhafi’s forces. I have met British Libyan businessmen and Swiss Libyan humanitarian workers, all eager to help make a success of the revolution. Last week I also attended a conference at which a long-exiled opposition group were re-introducing themselves to the Libyan people. Judging by the packed lecture theatre, there was plenty of interest in these newcomers and a great appetite for political discussion.

The return of exiles to Libya has accelerated since the start of the revolution but it began some years ago when many took advantage of the thaw in the Qadhafi regime’s relationship with the West and amnesty programmes which allowed them to come home. But before I arrived in Benghazi, I wondered what role newly returning exiles could play in the revolution - whether they would be accepted or treated with suspicion.

http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/clay/entry/coming_home

[pinboy3niner]

28. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 127: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM FRIDAY, JUNE 24

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

[pinboy3niner]

29. WRAPUP 6-NATO chief says alliance will finish job in Libya

Thu Jun 23, 2011 5:32pm EDT

• NATO Secretary General says air campaign will go on

• Gaddafi says will avenge civilian deaths

• Oil consuming nations release reserves

• Rebels hail latest NATO attack major success


By Nick Carey

...


Rebels hailed the latest NATO strike on pro-Gaddafi positions as a boost to their cause, saying over 200 of his men had been killed in bombing that took out weapons being used to pound the rebel-held coastal town of Misrata.


Asked about Italy's ceasefire call, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a newspaper interview: "No, on the contrary. We shall continue and see it through to the end."


"We will take the time needed until the military objective is reached: end all attacks against Libyan civilians, return armed forces to barracks and freedom of movement for humanitarian aid," he told France's Le Figaro newspaper.

...


The defence bloc said it delivered a blow to Gaddafi forces near Zlitan, a town about 170 km (105 miles) east of Tripoli, with an air and naval strike on Wednesday that took out 13 armed vehicles, an armoured personnel carrier and a rocket launcher.

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/23/libya-refileuse-this-idUSLDE75L21P20110623

[pinboy3niner]

32. Facing setbacks, Libyan city sees enemies all around

By Matt Robinson

MISRATA, Libya | Thu Jun 23, 2011 11:13am BST


MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - The sheep were already dying, cut down by the ball bearings and twisted metal of the rocket that slammed into Salah Abdulrahman's backyard on the outskirts of this rebel-held Libyan city.


So in accordance with Islamic custom, he cut their throats for the meat to be considered halal.


Residents in this Mediterranean coastal city had thought they were finally beyond the range of Muammar Gaddafi's artillery when, weeks ago, they pushed his forces out of the city and went on the offensive.


The rocket strike Wednesday in al-Araidat neighbourhood, near Misrata's port, was the latest in a series of attacks over the past 10 days that have dispelled any notion that the city is out of danger.

...


http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/23/uk-libya-misrata-blame-idUKTRE75M1OV20110623

[pinboy3niner]

33. Lieberman and Rubio on Libya Debate: Get Over It and Move On

By Olga Belogolova

Updated: June 23, 2011 | 10:00 a.m.
June 23, 2011 | 9:59 a.m.


As the House continues to challenge the administration on the U.S. engagement in Libya, Sens. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., say it’s time to accept reality and move on to ending Muammar el-Qaddafi’s regime.


“The deepening confrontation between the White House and Congress over Libya is both counterproductive and unnecessary,” the two write in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday, saying that we are engaged whether we like it or not now.


House members have been criticizing the U.S. involvement in Libya for weeks now, going so far as filing a lawsuit against President Obama as well as threatening to defund the operation due to their concerns over the lack of congressional approval under the War Powers Act.


But Lieberman and Rubio argue that Congress is wasting time with such actions and that the priority should be taking down Qaddafi.


“To guarantee the mission's success, it is vital that the U.S. officially recognize the Transitional National Council, provide additional resources to support the council, and intensify strike operations to target the regime,” they write.

...


http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/lieberman-and-rubio-on-libya-debate-get-over-it-and-move-on-20110623

[inna]

36. US-NATO out of Libya! This blatantly imperialist aggression needs to come to a screeching

halt, now!! :nuke: :nuke: :patriot:


(ok, civic duty fulfilled for the moment... strong opposition to militarism expressed... who says these threads are useless, lol!)

[tabatha]

37. Some commentary on Chivers debunking of the HRI nonsense.

SecularLibya MargBar Khamenei
See how lousy neo-progressive Leftwing pro-G site HRI is demolished by NYT Chivers for conspiracy theory goo.gl/KqXY9 #Libya #Feb17
1/2 www.humanrightsinvestigations.org thanks to cjchivers is now a discredited online publication peddling Pro-G propaganda
2/2 globalresearch.ca is a similar Pro-G propaganda machine publishing articles that intentionally manipulate the truth.
http://twitter.com/#!/SecularLibya

Comments on the Chivers Report
"This piece eloquently demonstrates why we still need well-trained, well-supported professional journalists. It's a story with international political and human importance, compellingly written, and researched with persistence and accuracy. Congratulations on a job extraordinarily well done."

"Good work. Too bad you aren't as happy to do this type of work as war reporting. The Arab world of all places needs it more than anywhere - at least while the dictators are still in power, and probably for some time after."

"I thought at first HRI Mark must have been from that ever present class of Americans who live for US-is-evil conspiracy stuff. But I guess they are everywhere."

[pinboy3niner]

38. Doctors tackle mental toll of Libyan war

Source: Agence France-Presse

June 23, 2011


BENGHAZI, Libya — Twenty-five mostly veiled-female doctors and medical students look nervously toward a projection screen deep in the bowels of Benghazi's newest hospital.


With little sign that Libya's four-month old war will end quickly, the class is learning how to help patients — and themselves — identify and treat the psychological trauma caused by conflict.


The city around them is now a rebel stronghold, but its residents were terrorized by Moamer Gadhafi's snipers and shells just months ago, and the detritus of war is everywhere.


And the eastern front is still a 80 minute drive away, too close for comfort. Only NATO aircraft and a rag-tag rebel army are keeping loyalist fighters at bay.

...


http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/MENTAL+TOLL+LIBYAN/4992454/story.html

[pinboy3niner]

40. Libyan rebels broadcast free radio to the cities of Misurata and Benghazi

Source: Radio Survivor (blog)

June 23rd, 2011 by Paul Riismandel in international


It has been a while since I’ve written about radio in Libya. The popular revolt in that country started back in February, and there were reports that opposition protestors were taking over radio stations in regions where the central government was losing control. Some four months later the uprisings and struggle against Muammar Qaddafi are still going on, as Qaddafi shows no sign of giving up power and rebels continue their fight.


A recent article published by the African telecoms website Balancing Act, sourced from the Inter Press Service, reports that the city of Misurata is being served by rebel broadcasters. Radio Free Libya Misurata has been on the air since Feb. 21, featuring “news on the latest frontline fighting, interviews with rebel council members, and the availability of food, water and other city logistics.”


Station founder Ahmed Hadia says, “Who controls the media, controls the country. If the radio waves had gone silent (when Gaddafi was pushed out of Misurata), it would have given the impression that there was no control.”


The station itself was targeted by Libyan government airstrikes before the NATO no-fly zone was implemented, and has also been targeted by government loyalists. Still, the station now broadcasts on both the AM and FM dial, and reportedly can be heard as far away as in Europe.

...


http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2011/06/23/libyan-rebels-broadcast-free-radio-to-the-cities-of-misurata-and-benghazi/

[tabatha]

41. No Libyans allowed at ANSWER Libya Forum

The ANSWER Coalition sponsored nationwide speaking tour of Cynthia McKinney: Eyewitness Libya started in Los Angeles on Saturday, 18 June 2011. This was at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Wilshire where many progressive events take place. Almost two hundred people showed up. Among them was a group of about two dozen Libyans and Libyan-Americans, some of which clearly associated themselves with the Free Libya movement, the tricolor flag of the Libyan opposition was much in evidence not only as flags but as hats, scarfs and jackets. All these Libyans were clearly anti-Qaddafi.

While the Libyans said they had liked Cynthia McKinney in the past, especially her work in support of Gaza, they were here to set her straight about Qaddafi and Libya. I had seen some of these Libyan activists before, at the first LA rallies in support the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. This was before ANSWER took up those struggles.

I didn't see any pro-Qaddafi Libyans that evening, either outside or inside the church. No Libyans were on the program and the green flag of Qaddafi's Libya was nowhere to be seen. If there were any pro-Qaddafi Libyans in attendance, they never revealed themselves. As far as I could make out, all of the pro-Qaddafi people in attendance, including Cynthia McKinney, were non-Libyans and all the Libyans who showed up were anti-Qaddafi.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/23/987886/-No-Libyans-allowed-at-ANSWER-Libya-Forum

[pinboy3niner]

42. U.S. Says Gadhafi Might Flee Tripoli

Source: Wall Street Journal

JUNE 24, 2011

BY ADAM ENTOUS AND JULIAN E. BARNES


WASHINGTON—New U.S. intelligence shows Col. Moammar Gadhafi is "seriously considering" fleeing Tripoli for a more secure location outside the capital, according to U.S. officials, raising the prospect that the Libyan leader's hold on power is increasingly fragile.


The intelligence depicts a Libyan leader who "doesn't feel safe anymore" in Tripoli because of stepped-up strikes by North Atlantic Treaty Organization aircraft and by battlefield gains by rebel forces, according to a senior U.S. national-security official briefed on the recent reports that the intelligence community has shared with the White House and other agencies.

...


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304569504576403953211942410.html?mod=rss_asia_whats_news

[joshcryer]

48. They're going to find him one day in a hole somewhere.

I predict that actually once Tripoli goes to the rebels and he goes into hiding he'll be caught as he tries to escape to Venezuela.

[inna]

43. LOL! I don't usually joke about matters of life and death... but!! this is funny as hell.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/us-libya-nato-uprising-idUSTRE75L2T320110622

Analysis: NATO counts on Tripoli uprising to break deadlock
(Reuters) - NATO is trying to lay the groundwork for an armed uprising inside the Libyan capital to oust Muammar Gaddafi because it has lost hope that rebels elsewhere in the country can advance on Tripoli any time soon.

The pattern of NATO air strikes on Tripoli indicates that the alliance is trying to reduce Gaddafi's ability to defend himself at the moment when his opponents in the city, who for the time being are underground, decide to rise up.

Geoff Porter, of North Africa Risk Consulting, said NATO's true objective was now becoming clear. "The official NATO policy is to protect civilians from Gaddafi's troops. The unstated goal is to create conditions in Tripoli whereby the local population can achieve 'military breakout' and topple Gaddafi," he said.

It is a high-risk strategy, but one the alliance has been forced into because, three months into a military campaign that most of its supporters thought would take only a few weeks, it has no other real options.

....
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/us-libya-nato-uprising-idUSTRE75L2T320110622



keep reading, it gets better! (for those capable of critical thinking, at least!)


- so, after one hundred days (today is day 100, i believe) of bombing this tiny country of 4 million people into nearly oblivion (over 5,000 fully-loaded bombs, by official NATO data as of yesterday), NATO admits that their real, primary goal/mission - regime change - is far from being done and might even be at risk!

(And.... Who would've thunk that??? Brilliant, NATO, just brilliant!! Keep blitzkrieging sovereign nations under completely bogus pretexts, and you might very well see global insurrection at some point. Or, at very least, massive, grass-roots resistance. )


What's interesting about this article though is that they pretty much say (in so many words) that their best (and perhaps the only) option right is to basically engineer a coup, classical CIA-style subversion. (Not as if they weren't openly trying to assassinate him (Gaddafi) - with complete disregard for "collateral damage", too; including children.)


,,, Anyway, several very interesting developments (and articles!) in the last week or so; I'd like to start a new thread.... but probably won't have time to do it.

[joshcryer]

47. Yes.

It has always been about regime change.

The person doing the murdering under R2P must be gone if one is to expect a society to go back to normal. That is, by definition, regime change. It's the natural result.

Really, one bullet to Gaddafi's head (and a few of his highest henchmen including Saif) would end it in short order.

People are taking orders from someone and until those orders stop they'll continue attacking the rebels and laying siege to the cities.

You'll note that the now liberated Misrata is no longer undergoing cluster bombing, though Gaddafi thugs are still trying to send in grad rockets for whatever reason (no idea what that could accomplish nor how the guys doing it think it is accomplishing anything, but they're following orders).

Enjoy making a new Libya bashing thread. No doubt it'll attain dozens of recs and everyone will nod in agreement with the nonsense.

[bhikkhu]

49. ...hardly worth pointing out, but looking at the numbers for Vietnam, for instance

Just one operation in Vietnam - Rolling Thunder - dropped about 850,000 tons of bombs. I don't know exactly how many that was, but assuming the average was 2 tons, that makes about 400,000 bombs dropped, in an area much smaller that Libya. "Oblivion" probably applied then to some towns and villages and infrastructure, but generally speaking the operation didn't have nearly the planned effect and the war dragged on...

Not that its a great or uplifting point, but to exaggerate the size of the NATO effort while minimizing the size of Libya for effect is a cheap rhetorical trick.

[joshcryer]

51. France's contribution is ... concrete.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/04/france-dropping-non-explosive-bombs-libya/37197/">France Is Dropping Concrete Chunks on Libya
French planes have started dropping bomb-shaped chunks of concrete instead of actual bombs on Muammar Qadaffi's tanks in Libya. The idea is that a 600-pound concrete training bomb, dropped from thousands of feet up, can crush a tank without creating a huge explosion that kills a lot of people.

The move was rumored early on to be the result of a munitions shortage within NATO, but that's been debunked. Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday that "ilitary spokesman Thierry Burkhard denied rumours the use of the 300-kilo (660-pound) training devices was prompted by a shortage of real bombs. He said the first such strike crushed an armoured vehicle on Tuesday."

It's worth pointing out that the story hasn't gotten much traction in the U.S. press. While foreign agencies from the Middle East's Zawya to the Philippines' ABS-CBN to Chinese state agency Xinhua have run the story, only blogs appear to be picking it up domestically. Maybe the idea of essentially throwing rocks isn't that impressive.

Those 'rocks' helped free Misrata of the tanks (NATO was reluctant to strike in civilian neighborhoods where Gaddafi had parked his tanks as a purposeful hostage situation).

[tabatha]

53. Critical thinking on an article based on supposition and guessing.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[pinboy3niner]

50. Libya rebels 'in secret talks' with Tripoli underground

24 June 2011 Last updated at 00:05 ET

By Bridget Kendall
BBC News, Benghazi


The Libyan rebels in the east are in close contact with an underground network of opponents of Col Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli, the BBC has learnt.


A member of the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) in Benghazi revealed they were holding secret talks to prepare for the regime's fall.


The member said the talks were being held via Skype and satellite phones.

...


This time the rebel leadership hopes that their contacts with the Tripoli underground will ensure better co-ordination, so that a planned military push against Gaddafi troops from the south, west and east will be matched by an insurgency from within the capital, which - they hope - his loyal forces will be too thinly stretched to put down.


"We will all do it together," says Mr Belhaj.

...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13898754

[pinboy3niner]

52. UN, Canada, Britain, U.S. allow Libyan students abroad to receive regime funds

The US State department says that the hundreds of Libyan students who are in the United States on Libyan government scholarships will be allowed to continue their studies, despite the sanctions imposed against that country.

The United Nations, Canada, Britain and the US have all approved special authorisations for the transfer of funds from a Libyan government education committee to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, the State Department says.

According the US, the funds will allow more than 1,900 Libyan students at schools across the country to continue their studies until at least May 2012. Exchange students who are facing economic hardship because of the imposition of sanctions will also be allowed to look for work in the US, the department said.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-24-2011-0640

[pinboy3niner]

56. Libya's money for Libyans (Op-Ed)

The world community is holding billions of dollars in Libyan assets. Now is the time to unfreeze those assets, grant the Libyan people some of their own money and alleviate the suffering.


By Ali Al-Isawi
June 24, 2011

...


As I write this, Kadafi is systematically trying to destroy all those who dare oppose him. His brigades, by most estimates, have massacred more than 10,000 of their own people, devastated cities, towns and villages such as Misurata and Zawiya and displaced more than 50,000 people to camps in Tunisia and eastern Libya.


The world knows there is no future for democracy in Libya while Kadafi remains in power. The Libyan opposition's Transitional National Council, recognized by more than a dozen European nations, is generally considered the only legitimate ruling interim authority in Libya until stability can be restored and full, free elections can be held.

...


I appeal to the international community to urgently consider Libya's critical situation. Do not make us double victims: to Kadafi's fire on one side and to the sanctions designed to implode the regime on the other.


To have been double victims once was difficult enough. To experience such needless suffering again is simply not an option.


Ali Al-Isawi is the vice president of the executive office of Libya's Transitional National Council in Benghazi, Libya.


http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-alisawi-libyaassets-20110624,0,7777019.story

[joshcryer]

60. I've been listening to TributeFM, and they're talking about the form of economic government.

They want socialism as far as health care and oil money is concerned. It's very very awesome.

I hope Libya does it, and blows the minds of "liberals" everywhere.

Slightly OT to your post, but it made me think of this episode of Tribute.

[tabatha]

62. Yes, the people on TributeFM are awesome as are their discussions.

If all ends well, I think Libya will become a shining light in the Arab world. Which means that other countries will want to be like them. Which means a much better future for MENA. I just cannot wait for this all to be over, and for the suffering to end - and their new life to commence.

[tabatha]

57. Tweets of interest

AmnestyInternational
#Libya: Renewed rocket attacks target civilians in #Misratah http://owl.li/5oKLL

UN United Nations
Tunisians open doors to Libyan refugees: 1 family without shelter is too many: http://bit.ly/lX1Nu4 via @refugees

RRowleyTucson Robert Rowley
4 High ranking #Gaddafi officers from #Ghazaya #Nafusa have surrendered to #Freedomfighters. #Libya #feb17

Tripolitanian Libyan
Many thanks to all those who have stood by #Libya for so long, when this is over, we won't forget you. <3

dovenews Libyan™
#Sibratah Caller: Alkaweldi Hamedi forces R patrolling the streets & arresting even young boys. #Sibratah is suffering in silence.#Libya

Redress Editor
@Tripolitanian Gaddafi is already an international criminal. We don't need ICC to know this. #Libya #feb17

4Adam Adam
Gaddafi's Major General Khweldi Hamidi (mentioned in G audio msg) is responsible for the killing of more that 700 Libyan in #AzZawyia #Libya

SecularLibya MargBar Khamenei
@SimonDubois2 @baldtarhuni My cousin Abdullah ws kidnaped by G thugs yesterday, they shot his legs & poured (cont) tl.gd/ba6v8c @TabascoTom

SecularLibya MargBar Khamenei
@SimonDubois2 @TabascoTom Mass grave in Darna , it's not the ONLY ONE There MANY hidden we'll never know //j.mp/k7FS1I 5 Mass graves so far

wheelertweets James Wheeler
@Worldloverpeace @LVview btw, that tank was not spoiled by Nato or by FFs. Gaddafi forces did that before they left.

[pinboy3niner]

58. Turkey denies providing military rations for Gaddafi forces

9:30am: Turkey has dismissed a suggestion that it may be breaching United Nations sanctions on Libya after Al Jazeera reported that Turkish food rations were feeding forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The Turkish foreign ministry said on Thursday it has no knowledge of any Turkish company exporting food rations or any other supplies to the Libyan government since UN Security Council sanctions were imposed on March 17.

Among the supplies at three different bases, Al Jazeera discovered military rations which – according to their labels – were manufactured in Turkey.



The rations are produced by UNIFO, a Turkish company which specialises in portable rations and meals ready-to-eat, according to its website. Labels show that bread packets from inside the rations were produced in March.

Turkey is a member of NATO, which has been carrying out a bombing campaign against Gaddafi’s forces for months, and which participates in the UN sanctions.


http://feb17.info/

[pinboy3niner]

59. Gaddafi's weakness – oil

The media has focused on front lines in the Libyan conflict, but fuel supplies are far more likely to be the decisive factor


Oliver Miles
guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 June 2011 11.06 BST



According to a Reuters report on 20 June, the Libyan rebels in Jebel Nafusa, south of Tripoli, have shut off the pipeline that brings crude oil from the far south-west to the refinery at Zawia, on the coast just west of Tripoli. This report, which seems to be confirmed, is important.


Media coverage of the fighting in Libya has concentrated on various front lines which are themselves of not much significance, given that most of the country is desert. It makes more sense to think in terms of lines of supply. The recent blacklisting of six Libyan ports is far more significant than quite dramatic movements up or down the desert road.

...


It is, as usual, not simple to predict the outcome. I would expect more serious fighting in the Jebel Nafusa area and along the western border, with Gaddafi's forces seeking to regain control of the pipeline and to reopen the second pipeline; they will probably find both impossible. I would also expect more draconian controls on civilian use of fuel in Tripoli, which will increase the pressure on the population.


But this may be the endgame. It is possible that lack of fuel will be the decisive blow against Gaddafi, and that it may not take more than a matter of weeks to be effective.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/24/gaddafi-fuel-libyan-conflict

[pinboy3niner]

61. Poll: GOP support for Libya action drops sharply

Source: Politico

By REID J. EPSTEIN | 6/24/11 7:00 AM EDT


As the House prepares to vote on defunding American military actions in Libya, a new poll finds support for U.S. engagement there falling sharply, particularly among Republicans.


Just 39 percent of people polled by Gallup Wednesday said they approve of U.S. participation in the NATO-led military action against dictator Muammar Qadhafi, a 12 percentage point drop from a March survey.


The poll found support has dropped precipitously among Republicans. In March, 57 percent of Republicans Gallup surveyed supported Obama sending troops to Libya to try to oust Qadhafi. Now, it found, just 39 percent do.


Among independents, support fell from 38 percent to 31 percent, while support has increased slightly among Democrats, from 51 percent to 54 percent.

...


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57696.html

[tabatha]

63. Amnesty slams African Union for failing to prioritise the protection of civilians in conflict

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT

23 June 2011
AI Index: IOR 63/002/2011

African Union must prioritize the protection of civilians in conflict situations

As the African Union (AU) meets for its 17th Ordinary Heads of State and Government Summit in Malabo,
Equatorial Guinea, Amnesty International calls upon the AU to prioritize the plight of civilians in the armed
conflicts in Libya, Somalia and Sudan.

In Libya, serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law have taken place in the
context of the ongoing armed conflict. Amnesty International found that pro-al-Gaddafi forces committed
serious violations, in some cases amounting to war crimes - including indiscriminate attacks against
civilians and civilian areas - leading to casualties among civilians including women and children. Pro-al-
Gaddafi forces used inherently indiscriminate weapons including those banned internationally such as antipersonnel
mines and cluster bombs, and artillery, mortars and rockets in residential areas. Pro-al-Gaddafi
forces have also mounted a campaign of enforced disappearances against perceived opponents; leading to
the disappearances of hundreds or possibly more individuals, mostly men, across the country. Pro-al-
Gaddafi forces have also committed torture or other ill-treatment, and even extra-judicial executions, of
captured fighters or others in their custody. At the inception of the unrest, in late February 2011, pro-al-
Gaddafi forces were responsible for the excessive use of force including lethal force against antigovernment
protesters. Such violations are taken place against the backdrop of severe constraints imposed
on independent media, including the arrest, intimidation and harassment of Libyan and foreign journalists.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/IOR63/002/2011/en/88c5f4d2-c622-4529-866b-bf85a3556dca/ior630022011en.pdf

Sickening read.

[tabatha]

64. Libya: Renewed rocket attacks target civilians in Misratah

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Libya: Renewed rocket attacks target civilians in Misratah

23 June 2011

Forces loyal to Libyan Colonel Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi are once again targeting civilians in Misratah by firing rockets, some containing ball bearings, into the city’s residential areas, Amnesty International said today.

At least three civilians, a 14-year-old boy and two women were killed and several others, including children, were injured in recent days when “Grad” rockets struck their homes in the port city’s residential neighbourhoods.

These rockets are indiscriminate weapons which cannot be directed at a particular target and their use may amount to war crimes.

“Families in Misratah are once again living in fear of being killed as rockets rain down on their homes and it’s impossible for the terrified residents to find safe shelter,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/libya-renewed-rocket-attacks-target-civilians-misratah-2011-06-23

[tabatha]

65. Libya Hurrah

June 24, 2011
By Tala
http://www.libyahurra.info/2011/06/deutsch-nafusa-june-24/

Friday 24 June 03:12
Djerba: Tunisian National Guard has detained 25 people from the armed forces Gaddafi. These were sent to the region to cause problems and undermine the security. In last night's clashes took place between the troops and the Libyan freedom fighters of the "Free Tripoli" in Djerba.

Friday 24 June 03:11
Nafusa Mountains: Gharyan: There are reports of overflows of 45 soldiers from the Battalion Sahbaan.

Friday 24 June 03:02
Nafusa Mountains: Gharyan: The actor Abdul Baset Bugandah (originally from Taghrannah in Gharyan) has a statement in a Tunisian newspaper added. In this he condemned the actions of the regime. His family was in trying to join him to Tunisia, was arrested. This concerns his wife, his two sons and two daughters. Abdul Baset, the regime also send messages in which he threatened to kill his family if it does not return.

Friday 24 June 03:01
Nafusa Mountains: Gharyan: The Gaddafi troops had surrounded the city limits and are armed with rockets and Grad missiles. They keep themselves in the areas of Al-Hira and Al-Gaddhamah so on like other districts. In the city itself, one meets on tundra vehicles, which are full of soldiers who harass civilians. Could the atmosphere in the city is very tense and the mood of each moment and have completely overturn the result of an outbreak.

Friday 24 June 01:16
Nafusa Mountains: arrival of the Red Crescent and the scouts of Benghazi in the refugee camps of Dheiba. Video:
http://youtu.be/QRF_HhIKtg0
Volunteers visit the Libyan Red Crescent branch Nalut Zhabh to the camp of the Libyans and Ajian happened to a team scout who Benghazi Mhkouran distribute toys to children and inspire the spirit of humor and joy in their hearts. They also teach the children songs, poems and songs to alleviate the stress of war and inappropriate, the children .. Greetings to you from us Thanked ... Libyan Red Crescent - Branch Nalut

[tabatha]

66. Libyan swap of detainees may signal broader talks

Libyan swap of detainees may signal broader talks
BENGHAZI, Libya, June 24 (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has released dozens of rebel supporters and allowed them to sail back to Benghazi on Friday in a move that could mark the beginning of broader talks between the adversaries.

In a transfer facilitated by the Red Cross, a ship carrying about 50 men detained by Gaddafi forces in western Libya docked in Benghazi’s harbour alongside hundreds of other refugees.

“These are mainly civilians…Among them there are 51 people who were detained in Tripoli but were released by the government there so we brought them back,” said Dibeh Fakhr, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Benghazi.

Pointing at the vessel, festooned with opposition flags and a Red Cross banner, she said a total of several hundred people, including 66 former detainees, were scheduled to come back from Tripoli in two rotations.

In the other direction, 110 Tripoli residents trapped in the east would be allowed to sail to the capital, she said.

Rebel sources said the swap underlined Gaddafi’s weakness and willingness to discuss ways out of a war in the oil-rich North African nation that has been deadlocked since February.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=439&topic_id=1347495&mesg_id=1347495


Libyan rebels held by Gadhafi returned to Benghazi
BENGHAZI, Libya — Dozens of detained rebels returned Friday on a Red Cross ship to their eastern stronghold, detailing how they were tortured at the hands of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces.

The ship carrying 51 prisoners also brought back 249 people who wanted be reunited with family in eastern Libya, Red Cross spokeswoman Deepa Fakhir said. It was not immediately clear whether there had been a prisoner swap with the Gadhafi government.

"They electrocuted us, they tortured us in every possible way," said Yousef al-Fetori, who had been detained in the capital of Tripoli. "They broke my ribs, hand and leg."

The Red Cross spokeswoman denied that there were any prisoners from Benghazi being swapped on board.

However, a spokesman for the rebels' transitional government said five prisoners had previously been sent back to Tripoli, though the rebels had not been aware the Red Cross was returning people to Benghazi.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110624/ml-libya/

[tabatha]

70. First link error in above post.

Correct link:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/24/uk-libya-east-exchange-idUKTRE75N3R020110624

Thanks Pinboy for finding that.

[meow mix]

67. k&r

go rebels

[pinboy3niner]

68. Diplomats draw up plans for post-Gadhafi Libya

By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press


LONDON (AP) — International officials and Libya's opposition have drawn up detailed plans to rebuild the North African nation's economy and society following the removal of Moammar Gadhafi, British diplomats said Friday.


Preparations for maintaining law and order, resuming oil production and the potential deployment of U.N. peacekeepers as cease-fire monitors have all been drafted during talks over the last month, which have also discussed how officials currently tied to Gadhafi's regime could be integrated into an interim administration.

...


British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had faith in the ability of the Libyan opposition to guide the country toward democratic elections.


"I believe we need to show real support for the Transitional National Council, who I believe are demonstrating they are not extremists, they are not Islamists, they are not tribal. They want a united Libya, but a more democratic Libya," he said, speaking at a European Union summit in Brussels.

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ijORHEp5DuVURM2_FlrcswfM-euw?docId=4c0a72d77574446ab4d9671c94319db8

[pinboy3niner]

69. NATO warships have begun shore bombardment of Gaddafi forces around Misrata

News from Libya. Nato warships have begun shore bombardment of pro-Gaddafi forces in the latest attempt by the alliance to break the stalemate around Misrata, writes Chris Stephen from the besieged Libyan rebel-held city.

The warship started bombing yesterday morning. Chris writes:

Despite reports that Nato intends to concentrate on hitting targets in Tripoli in its bid to topple the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, Nato bombardments have hit government lines around Misrata for three nights in a row. Loud detonations echo across the city accompanied by the sound of jet engines in the air.

Today there was silence from Gaddafi's front line; previously Fridays were the time for an unusually heavy bombardment of the enclave by rockets and mortars.

Rebel sources say Nato has instructed them not to deploy a handful of tanks which have been salvaged and repaired for fear of being hit by alliance planes. The same fear saw Nato tell the rebels to abandon an advance westwards and retreat behind a so-called red line, which the rebels say has been designated by Nato as the place beyond which jets can strike any target they see.

At the front itself, troops have begun digging deep defensive positions and establishing trench lines, seemingly a recognition that a long war is in prospect.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/24/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest-live?commentpage=all#block-25#block-24

[tabatha]

71. Gaddafi's weakness – oil

(Note, this is opinion only. No one knows what NATO's plans are - there is lot of speculation, etc.)

Gaddafi's weakness – oil
The media has focused on front lines in the Libyan conflict, but fuel supplies are far more likely to be the decisive factor

According to a Reuters report on 20 June, the Libyan rebels in Jebel Nafusa, south of Tripoli, have shut off the pipeline that brings crude oil from the far south-west to the refinery at Zawia, on the coast just west of Tripoli. This report, which seems to be confirmed, is important.

Media coverage of the fighting in Libya has concentrated on various front lines which are themselves of not much significance, given that most of the country is desert. It makes more sense to think in terms of lines of supply. The recent blacklisting of six Libyan ports is far more significant than quite dramatic movements up or down the desert road.
...

It is, as usual, not simple to predict the outcome. I would expect more serious fighting in the Jebel Nafusa area and along the western border, with Gaddafi's forces seeking to regain control of the pipeline and to reopen the second pipeline; they will probably find both impossible. I would also expect more draconian controls on civilian use of fuel in Tripoli, which will increase the pressure on the population.

But this may be the endgame. It is possible that lack of fuel will be the decisive blow against Gaddafi, and that it may not take more than a matter of weeks to be effective.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/24/gaddafi-fuel-libyan-conflict?INTCMP=SRCH

[pinboy3niner]

72. Gaddafi's movements closely monitored, says Nato

MoD stresses it will not violate UN mandate by targeting Gadaffi, while some EU countries remain frustrated by slow progress

Nick Hopkins
guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 June 2011 15.46 BST



Nato forces are confident they are successfully tracking Colonel Muammar Gaddafi as he moves from hideout to hideout in Tripoli, the Guardian has learned.


But the coalition is abiding by the UN mandate, which does not permit the military to target the Libyan leader directly – commanders are still hoping that he will be removed by a revolt from within his circle of closest associates.

...


A senior Whitehall source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Gaddafi's movements were being monitored closely, and that the military had been able to track him "racing from one place to another" over recent weeks.

...


Without giving details, a senior Foreign Office official claimed that Gaddafi was now displaying signs of "paranoid and erratic behaviour".


The official said that the regime was being hit by a "steady stream of defections. Ambassadors, ministers – over 120 military officers including five generals left the country in May alone".

...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/24/libya-gaddafi-movements-monitored-nato

[tabatha]

73. I think this is the most probable outcome:

"commanders are still hoping that he will be removed by a revolt from within his circle of closest associates."

Heinz has said that half of Gaddafi's staff are NATO spies. However, everything should be taken with a grain of salt until anything materializes.

[pinboy3niner]

74. Libyan officers defecting to Libya describe mutinous army and climate of fear

By Bouazza Ben Bouazza, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press


TUNIS, Tunisia - Libyan army officers defecting to Tunisia described on Thursday a country ruled by fear in which many soldiers are trying to leave.

...


"We came here not to escape death but because of the massacre of the Libyan people. We refuse to kill the children of our country," an officer, who refused to give his name for fear of retribution, told The Associated Press.


"Some of our colleagues just couldn't handle it any more and turned their weapons on themselves," the officer said. "Some died while others were severely wounded."


He said he and his fellow officers found the pressure to be unbearable and waited two months for the opportunity to flee.

...


"We are living a tragedy every day, with new victims falling by the hour," said another of the three officers interviewed by the AP., He estimated that some 15,000 people had died so far in the civil war.
...


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/libyan-officers-defecting-tunisia-describe-mutinous-army-climate-174415244.html

[pinboy3niner]

75. House rejects move to cut funds from Libya mission

Source: Los Angeles Times

By Kathleen Hennessey
June 24, 2011, 12:19 p.m.


The House of Representatives refused to authorize U.S. involvement in the NATO mission in Libya on Friday but also rejected an effort to cut off partial support for mission, sending contradictory messages in a pair of votes that demonstrated the deep divisions in both parties over the use of American forces in the conflict.


Despite growing frustration in Congress over the White House's handling of the Libya mission, the failure of the back-to-back votes in the House will preserve the status quo for now, allowing the U.S. military to continue operations in Libya.

...


Earlier, an attempt to authorize the current level of military force in Libya for one year failed. That measure, identical to one with bipartisan support in the Senate, was overwhelmingly rejected by a vote of 123-295. Seventy Democrats joined with Republicans to reject the measure, and eight Republicans voted for the measure.


The funding bill failed 180-238. It would have cut all U.S. financial backing for the mission until authorized by Congress. It makes an exception for a short list of specific activities not directly related to a typical definition of "hostilities," including intelligence gathering, search and rescue, aerial refueling and planning.

...


http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-congress-libya-20110624,0,1213107.story

[tabatha]

76. The role of Libyan women in political life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekt2I_zwySI&

[Iterate]

77. Libya and the Responsibility to Protect

Libya and the Responsibility to Protect
June 23rd, 2011 by Erin Black
CC BY-NC-SA

N.A.T.O. intervention in Libya simultaneously averted mass atrocities in Benghazi and raised questions about the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine. This was the main sentiment coming out of last Thursday’s event, Libya and the Responsibility to Protect, held at the Brookings Institute in conjunction with the United States Institute of Peace, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Humanity United.

Introductory remarks were by made by Peter Rundlet of Humanity United. Panelists included Richard Williamson of The Brookings Institution, Sarah Sewall of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Manal Omar of the United States Institute of Peace. The event was moderated by Mike Abramowitz, director of the Committee on Conscience at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The recent crisis in Libya has brought increasing attention to the issue of the “responsibility to protect” civilians from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing. The Responsibility to Protect Doctrine – often shortened to R2P – was adopted by all of the world’s governments in 2005 and appeared explicitly in the 2010 U.S. National Security Strategy. Proponents of R2P have lauded the fact that U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1973 and 1975 invoked the responsibility to protect as part of its argument for action in Libya.

Main themes of the afternoon included:

Panelists agreed that the world is still in the learning process about how to best execute such interventions. R2P is an emerging norm in which the menu of options for policy makers is still being built.

It is difficult to draw a line between civilian protection and regime change. There is wide belief that the longer Qaddafi is in power the greater the chance is for a humanitarian disaster.

Manal Omar, who recently returned from Libya, said that there is excitement in Benghazi that the city is free thanks to N.A.T.O. intervention but an appreciation for the fact that rebels are leading the fight on the ground.

Intervention can be unpredictable and difficult to plan for. One reason intervention in Libya is a step forward for R2P was that it was cited by the U.N. Security Council and had it had international and regional consensus. Panelists agreed that Libya was part of a broader regional political change that was internationally supported.

A transcript and recording are available online.
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2011/0616_libya_responsibility/20110616_libya_responsibility.pdf

Multimedia Downloads Full Audio
June 16, 2011 Length: 1:22:50
http://www.brookings.edu/handlers/MultimediaDownload.ashx?ref=%7b79BA650A-C06C-4706-8C4A-26EEF40D8096%7d&type=audio&flb=

Site... http://blogfordarfur.org/archives/11475
Event... http://www.brookings.edu/events/2011/0616_libya_responsibility.aspx

If I can quibble for a moment, the R2P intervention is often credited as was here with averting "mass atrocities in Benghazi". That may have been an useful description back in late March or early April, but given what we know now, Benghazi would have been the least of the tragedies.

With about half of the population liberated, there are still between 650,000 and 800,000 refugees, with an unknown number internally displaced. Without an intervention, those numbers could easily have doubled and remained at that level for decades.

No one doubts the humanitarian impulse of a refugee camp, but it doesn't take long for them to become anti-humanitarian concentration camps full of despair and rage. To expect they would all just "return home" to a welcoming nation is hopelessly unrealistic and ignores the truth of the historic Libyan diaspora of the Gaddafi era. It also ignores Libyan history under Mussolini.

There are between 27,000 and 40,000 imprisoned in Tripoli alone. Not only would those numbers likely have doubled, it's unimaginable that a large part would ever be released, as that hasn't been the pattern of the Gaddafi regime.

Multiple sources testify that the order was given to the Gaddafi brigades to level both Misrata and Yefren, and both had serious destruction of infrastructure. Several sources at different times have reported that Zawara is depopulated. There is no reason to believe that without Nato the FF could have held out indefinitely and this order wouldn't have been carried out in those places and other cities as well. Don't forget that some of the eastern cities north of Benghazi are even more adamantly anti-Gaddafi and would have been targets for the same fate.

Finally, is there anyone left who's been paying attention who still thinks the Nafusa would not have been ethnically cleansed and turned over to Algerian and Chadian loyalists as Rayanya was? Or that a low-level guerrilla campaign would not have continued for decades? Weapons trade and black-market oil deals? Cascading effects across the region?

Ah, well, I've gone on and didn't mean to preach to the choir, but just had to say it once and in one place.

Doing nothing is not free.

[tabatha]

78. Well said. A mature and sensible reflection.

Apparently, there are already problems in Italy in a camp for Libyan refugees.

Gaddafi has absolutely no regard for the life of anyone else but his own. As the head of Sudan, on refusing to join with Libya, said Gaddafi has a split personality, both sides evil.

"Doing nothing is not free" - it is also immoral.

Elie Wiesel quotes:
"A destruction, an annihilation that only man can provoke, only man can prevent."
"Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies."
"Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil."
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest."

[pinboy3niner]

79. +100

There have also been serious problems--including fatalities--at a refugee camp in Tunisia (UNHCR has reported on this).

"We must always take sides."

[tabatha]

80. Awesome call from Diane in CA on TributeFM.

[pinboy3niner]

81. House Libya Vote: Smell of Victory for Moammar Gadhafi

Source: ABC News

By JEFFREY KOFMAN (@JeffreyKofman)
TRIPOLI, Libya, June 24, 2011


It had the sound of a victory celebration: Machine guns rat-a-tat-tatting in the air. Crowds of young supporters swathed in Moammar Gadhafi green celebrating, cheering.


"What's the news," I ask one young man with a machine gun slung over his shoulder.

"Gadhafi has won!" he tells me emphatically.


It did not take long for news from the U.S. House of Representatives to make its way here to Green Square in the heart of Tripoli. By a vote of 295-123 the House voted down a measure that would have given President Obama the authority to continue the U.S. military operations in Libya.


What the jubilant crowd in Green Square did not understand is that the vote by the House is not binding and will not become law because it is certain to be defeated in the Senate.


But that will not take away the huge of boost of morale the vote has given Gadhafi's supporters. As they see it from here, it is evidence that the NATO coalition fracturing. The incentive to hang in and wait out the bombing campaign just got a lot sweeter.

...


http://abcnews.go.com/International/house-libya-vote-smell-victory-moammar-gadhafi/story?id=13925246

[pinboy3niner]

82. Photographing Libya's violent conflict

BBC video interview (2:44), including dramatic photos from the photographer's work in Libya:

24 June 2011 Last updated at 15:39 ET

For most of Col Muammar Gaddafi's decades in power, foreign journalists had been blocked from entering Libya.

But now, amid the months of conflict, the country's story is being broadcast to the world.

Among those capturing the powerful images is photographer Sebastian Meyer who covered the early days of the conflict and has plans of returning.


VIDEO and photos (2:44):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13912339

[pinboy3niner]

83. Freedom of the Press? Libya Says 'Not Ready'

Source: CBS News

Jun 24, 11:13AM by John Bentley


TRIPOLI -

...


Maintaining this media blackout is Moussa Ibrahim, Qaddafi's spokesman. A member of the same Qadhadhfa tribe as the Libyan president, Ibrahim is the regime's mouthpiece. He enjoys talking about how he was educated in England ("I know every street in London," he boasted to Britain's Sky News) and pays a great amount of lip service to democratic ideals. "We all know that we need to change, and the freedom of the press is just an element of the change," Ibrahim said recently. "I accept the idea that the press need as much freedom as possible to report freely."


But in practice, press freedom is almost non-existent in Tripoli. Reporters are forbidden to leave the grounds of the Rixos Hotel for reporting purposes without a member of the Ministry of Information. The lucky ones who do get out and are caught are thrown out of the country; the unlucky ones are beaten and subjected to a mock execution.


Ibrahim justifies this crackdown on the press by saying that the Libyan culture doesn't understand the media's role. "Libya is not ready for a free press," Ibrahim said when asked why reporters can't leave the hotel on their own, adding that the civil war here has stopped the democratic changes that were allegedly right around the corner. "To ask us to now come at a time of war to just let journalists free and not be able to guarantee their security is absurd for me."

...


The larger problem, however, is the stories journalists here aren't able to tell. Stories about those sympathetic to the rebels but too afraid to stand up because of Qaddafi's history of torturing and killing his own people, stories about women and children being used as human shields against attack, stories of weapons hidden in mosques and playgrounds so NATO won't destroy them. These are all stories reporters have had whispered to us, but are unable to prove because of the dictatorial regime. While Qaddafi's Libya may be dangerous for journalists, it is deadly for its citizens.

...


It has become a standard line among crumbling dictatorships to tell the world that their country is not ready for democracy, and the freedoms that come with it, as a last ditch effort to try and maintain their grip on power. But as Libya's neighbors Tunisia and Egypt have shown, democracy can take hold whether the countries are ready for it or not. And that's not something Moussa Ibrahim, or Qaddafi himself, will be able to explain away.


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20074031-503543.html

[pinboy3niner]

84. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 128: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:02 AM SATURDAY, JUNE 25

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

[pinboy3niner]

85. Tea party reps split on war cash for US in Libya

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press – 2 hours ago


WASHINGTON (AP) — The House's tea party caucus split on a major foreign policy vote Friday — whether to cut off money for air attacks in Libya — revealing a divide on the philosophical question of how often and under what terms the U.S. should intervene in foreign conflicts.


The tea party Republicans overwhelmingly oppose President Barack Obama's decision to participate in the NATO-led operation in Libya without consulting Congress. But 27 of the caucus' 59 members voted against a GOP-led bill to strip federal dollars from part of the
American effort there.


The group's chairwoman, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, was among those who voted no. The GOP presidential hopeful said she opposed the bill because it stopped short of halting all United States spending on the conflict.


"There was an opportunity today to limit funding to a Libyan operation, but I could not support it because it does not go far enough. Funds must be fully cut off to the president's involvement in Libya," she said in a statement.


Her role in the failure of the GOP bill was sorely noted by tea partiers outside the Beltway.

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJ7XfugB5uXdSfPKbV6F_lSkAcww?docId=2366fe9506984d35bfc76c64a7cf84ba

[Iterate]

88. I suppose none of them have thought so far ahead as Monday or so,

when the ICC warrants are issued, much less the looming moment when 4 million Libyans all begin telling stories of atrocities at the same time. Or does that not matter anymore?

I have no idea why Obama has mishandled this so badly, why he hasn't used it to reset American foreign policy. From here it looks like the whole country has gone insane and there's no one left who can even prescribe bed-rest and give counseling.

[tabatha]

89. Post on AJE

With latest house bull #%^& --- 2 winners 1 loser.
Republicans won
Obama won
Daffy lost

[pinboy3niner]

86. NATO strikes target key command and control nodes near Brega

5:30pm: Today NATO struck several key command and control nodes in the vicinity of Brega. Brega has been the scene of significant Qadhafi regime military activity.

Qadhafi regime forces have occupied buildings in an abandoned, built-up area of Brega, for use as military compounds. From these, they control their campaign to conduct attacks against the civilian population, threatening Ajdabiya and Benghazi.

These command and control nodes have been monitored by NATO with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets over time, in order to determine and confirm their exact location. Once assessed as clear military targets, precision-guided munitions were employed to end the use of this abandoned civilian neighbourhood as a command and control hub to direct attacks against civilians.

http://feb17.info/

[pinboy3niner]

87. Libyan Rebels, Loyalists Clash In Tunisia Town

Source: NPR (All Things Considered)

by Corey Flintoff
June 24, 2011


Until several months ago, the Tunisian town of Djerba was a placid, sun-bleached stretch of the Mediterranean coast with whitewashed hotels that catered mainly to vacationers from Europe.


But the Tunisian revolution that began last December scared away the foreign tourists. And now the fighting in Libya is spilling over the border and turning the town into a place of intrigue.


The Libyans coming to Djerba in growing numbers include ordinary civilians fleeing the turmoil in their homeland. Libyan rebels have also come here, hoping to find a safe haven as they pursue their uprising against Libyan leader Mommar Gadhafi. But the rebels say that Gadhafi's agents have followed them to the Tunisian town, and are attacking them.

...


Earlier this week, there was an attack against the office of a Libyan refugee aid group, the Libyan Freedom Headquarters. The group is associated with the rebel side. That office is now closed, and its leaders were gathered on the balcony of a posh cafe that overlooks the sea.

...


Read and listen to the story (4:26):
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/24/137401156/libyan-rebels-loyalists-clash-in-tunisia-border-town

[pinboy3niner]

90. Libyan's western front joins the battle

Fighting is flaring in the rugged mountain region, where the minority Berber community sees its own chance to throw off Kadafi's yoke and they are increasingly in contact with rebels in the east.


By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times

June 25, 2011


Reporting from Nalut, Libya— Graffiti on a wall in the center of Nalut has a message for Moammar Kadafi: "Let us be free."


Though much of the focus on the rebellion has centered on Tripoli and the large rebel-held cities of Benghazi and Misurata, the uprising is also playing out in rugged mountain communities in the west, near the Tunisian border, where Libya's long-oppressed Berber minority sees its own chance to shake off Kadafi's four-decade rule.


The fighters here, who are increasingly in contact with rebels in Benghazi and elsewhere, also view it as an opportunity to help stretch Kadafi's forces: the more troops tied down in the west, the fewer available to control Tripoli or attack other rebel-held areas, primarily in eastern Libya.


Kadafi's forces, meanwhile, see Nalut as strategically important for cutting off supply lines from Tunisia to the rest of the rebel-controlled mountains. As in larger cities, Kadafi's men have launched ferocious attacks on residential areas here, with mixed success.

...


Kadafi's men have for months been tormenting Nalut, a staging ground for protecting the Tunisian border crossing. They sneak into canyons along the foothills and fire Grad rockets from lowlands to the north. Rebel leaders acknowledge that the fear of NATO airstrikes keeps Kadafi's men from moving even more aggressively toward the mountains.


"They've been hitting Nalut almost every day," said Funas, who defected to the opposition in the Nafusa Mountains after the uprising began. "Kadafi wants no one left in that city."

...


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-west-20110625,0,3449446,full.story

[tabatha]

91. New video section at feb17.info - amazing

http://feb17.info/videos/

[pinboy3niner]

92. Fighting and need for aid increase in north-western Libya – UN

Source: UN News Centre

24 June 2011 –


Fighting has intensified in north-western regions of Libya and the United Nations has stepped up its effort to help wounded civilians in the area, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.


Elizabeth Byrs, a spokesperson for OCHA, told a press briefing in Geneva assistance provided in the Nafusa Mountains has predominantly been in the health sector, “especially the treatment of the injured.”


Ms. Byrs said that throughout the country some 530,000 persons had received food assistance from the UN and its partners, including about 20 non-governmental organizations working in Libya.


She said the port of Khums in the northwest received its first humanitarian assistance vessel on 19 June with 546 tons of food delivered to 106,000 beneficiaries in the area, in cooperation with the UN World Food Programme (WFP).


Ms. Byrs said an appeal for $407 million for Libya was currently 55 per cent funded.


OCHA reported today that more than 650,000 people have left the country since the start of the conflict earlier this year, with the majority non-Libyan. More than a quarter million non-Libyans are also temporarily in countries not of their origin. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that about 243,000 Libyans are internally displaced because of the fighting.


Libya is one of many countries across North Africa and the Middle East where popular uprisings and widespread protests have taken place this year.


http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38845&Cr=libya&Cr1=

[pinboy3niner]

93. Libya unrest: Football stars defect to rebels

24 June 2011 Last updated at 23:54 ET

By Mark Doyle
BBC World Affairs Correspondent, in Jadu, Libya



A group of 17 leading Libyan football figures have announced their defection to the rebels.


They include the nation's goalkeeper, Juma Gtat, three other national team members, and the coach of Tripoli's top club al-Ahly, Adel bin Issa.


Mr Gtat and Mr bin Issa announced the group's defection to the BBC during a late night meeting in the rebel-held Nafusa Mountains in western Libya.

...


In football-mad North Africa, the defections are clearly a propaganda blow for Col Gaddafi. But he has always resisted any pressure, political or military, to leave office.

...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13913954

[pinboy3niner]

102. Libyan national goalkeeper Juma Gtat poses on top of a rebel gun truck in Zintan

(Reuters)

Libyan national goalkeeper Juma Gtat poses on top of a rebel gun truck in the city of Zintan. Four members of Libya's national football team and 13 other Libyan football figures have defected to rebels, in a propaganda blow to Muammar Gaddafi, the BBC reported on Saturday. It said Gtat and Adel bin Issa, the coach of Tripoli's top club al-Ahly, announced the defections in the rebel-held Nafusa Mountains in western Libya.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-25-2011-2153

[pinboy3niner]

94. Rebels Arm Tripoli Guerrillas and Cut Resources to Capital

Source: New York Times

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: June 24, 2011


ROGEBAN, Libya — Having consolidated control over almost all of Libya’s western mountains, rebel leaders here say they are now pursuing a two-pronged strategy to bring down the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi: starving it of resources while covertly arming a growing guerrilla force within Tripoli itself.


Though the rebels consolidated their hold on most of the Nafusa mountains only about two weeks ago, officials from the opposition stronghold of Benghazi and the operatives from the underground network in Tripoli were all here on Friday night discussing strategies already under way. The mountain rebels showed a reporter an oil pipeline they had recently cut off to Colonel Qaddafi’s last working refinery, in Zawiya.


Now rebels have their sights on Gharyan, a city of about 85,000 that is the last Nafusa mountain town under Colonel Qaddafi’s control. It is widely known as a hotbed of opposition to Colonel Qaddafi and rose up swiftly at the start of the uprising, and if the rebels can take it within the next three weeks, as they hope to do, they will block a crucial supply route from Algeria and the south.


Meanwhile, the rebels say, they have been appealing with increasing success to the Tunisian government to choke off the supply of fuel coming through the Qaddafi-controlled coastal border crossing at Ras Jedir. “It is very painful for the people of Tripoli but unfortunately we need to do that,” said Anwar Fekini, a French-Libyan lawyer and rebel organizer who recently visited Tunis to help press the case, following a visit for the same purpose by the leader of the rebel’s National Transitional Council, Mustafa el-Jalil.

...


Already, the rebels say, they are in contact with apolitical or disaffected officials in the Tripoli police force, the Interior Ministry and other government departments to make plans to secure the city in the days after a potential ouster of Colonel Qaddafi. “In every ministry of the government we have people who will be going to their offices in the days after Qaddafi falls, so the government will not collapse,” Mr. Fekini said.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/world/africa/25libya.html

[ellisonz]

95. Tripoli Rebel: “A few thousand men with guns can’t control two million people."

[pinboy3niner]

96. Nato lacks firepower to ensure collapse of Gaddafi regime, experts claim

Source: The Telegraph

Nato lacks the firepower to ensure the collapse of Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime, defence experts warned on Friday after the Libyan army inflicted a sustained rocket attacks on the western city of Misurata.


By Ruth Sherlock, Misurata, and Damien McElroy
4:33PM BST 24 Jun 2011

...


Residents thought that the weeks of sustained bombardment they endured was over when rebels drove regime troops at least 20 miles beyond the city outskirts, where the front lines have since remained.


Shelling of the city began again this week, with salvos of rockets falling daily and hitting at least four residential neighbourhoods.


The Grad rockets have been adapted to have a longer range so that they may once again hit the city centre said rebel military commanders. "Gaddafi men are using long range, very accurate rockets, possibly from China or Iran. The head is modified with explosive ball bearings," said Salah Badi, commander for the Misurata military forces.


"Families in Misurata are once again living in fear of being killed as rockets rain down on their homes and it's impossible for the terrified residents to find safe shelter," said Donatella Rovera, an Amnesty International researcher. "They must realise that their actions may result in their being made to answer one day to the most serious of charges, of having perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity."


The shelling has triggered sharp criticism of Nato. "Every day they target a different area of the city. Now we are all wondering; the mission of Nato is to protect civilians. But every day they bomb, everyday there is at least one victim," said Abdulla Jawid at Misurata's main medical centre. "We are not protected. I haven't left the hospital since Feb. 19 as there are just too many casualties."

...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8597107/Nato-lacks-firepower-to-ensure-collapse-of-Gaddafi-regime-experts-claim.html

[pinboy3niner]

97. Tunisia joins international war crimes court

Sat Jun 25, 2011 8:15am GMT

By Louis Charbonneau


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Tunisia, whose demonstrations inspired the so-called 'Arab Spring' uprisings across the region, on Friday became the first North African state to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).


Tunisia is the 116th country to sign the Rome Statute, which established the world's first permanent war crimes court in The Hague. Having signed the necessary documents to join the ICC, Tunisia will become a party to the treaty on September 1, which will subject it to the court's jurisdiction.

...


Even though Libya is not a party to the ICC, the U.N. Security Council referred the violence in Libya to the court in February. ICC chief prosecutor asked ICC to indict Gaddafi, his son and Senussi for crimes against humanity in May.


Analysts say that the Arab Spring and the Security Council's referral of Libya could mark a pivotal shift in support for the ICC. Another Arab country that is considering joining the court is Egypt, diplomats say.


http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE75O00X20110625

[tabatha]

98. Graffiti from Benghazi:

"I was born in Tunisia, I grew up in Egypt, I’ve fought in Yemen, now I’m sacrificing myself in Libya with hopes of victory – my name is Freedom."

Libya’s United Force
Since arriving here, the best word to describe the situation in Nafusa Mountain is dire. Muammar Gaddafi’s regime has constantly attempted to bring about the eradication of the Amazigh culture for the past 42 years. Now after the February 17th revolution has come about in Libya, Nafusa Mountain has been under concentrated bombardment. How do the people of the western mountain cope and respond?

They came through with freedom fighters who’ve shown astonishing resilience. Despite resisting with light weaponry, few heavy guns acquired after battle and little experience or in many cases no experience at all. They’re learning fast and are proving to be more difficult for Gaddafi’s forces with each passing day.

Under the suppressive green themed regime, people have always been divided not just in Nafusa Mountain but in fact all of Libya. This has allowed the regime to control and keep people in check. Yet even after the tremendous effort exerted people have found their way to unity.

One night there was a report of a brigade trying to enter one of the routes up the mountain. Just as the night fell, looking around there weren’t many fighters. Not enough to handle Gaddafi’s heavily armed forces. Almost out of no where, about an hour later as darkness took over the day many vehicles appeared lined up on the road from Cabao to Nalut. It was completely dark, let alone the vehicles had their lights turned off. Vision slowly improved adjusting to the night. Looking front and back was a long convoy of freedom fighters. It was composed of people from Zintan, Jadu, Cabao, Nalut and other areas of Nafusa Mountain.

With that, the Nafusa Mountain United Force was born. If one area is being threatened a freedom fighter convoy will be there in nearly no time at all. “Our unity is important in our resistance against Gaddafi” one freedom fighter said.

http://live2tripoli.tumblr.com/post/6898430499/libyas-united-force

[ellisonz]

99. ...

And Syria is already forgotten.

[tabatha]

100. The common problem at the core of all of these countries

is the sales of weapons to them, where they are being used against their citizens instead of for defense of the country.
Weapons need to be banned and not improved.
The money should be spent on the welfare of citizens.
Mankind has reached a very bad place.
I cannot say that I am sorry to see Gaddafi's weapons go up in smoke. I hope they are never replaced.
But, guess what, weapons manufacturers will be knocking on their doors before the ink is dry on the new constitution.

[ellisonz]

101. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

The international organizations are just not potent in deterring such activity.

[tabatha]

103. Yes, because they armed the people who are doing evil.

[pinboy3niner]

104. Western Libya Earns a Taste of Freedom as Rebels Loosen Qaddafi’s Grip

Source: New York Times

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: June 25, 2011


ROGEBAN, Libya —Until a few weeks ago, the rebellious towns in the Nafusah Mountains were struggling to survive on dwindling supplies of barley, water and gas during a long siege by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s soldiers.


But after an improbable series of military victories over the past three weeks — with fewer than 100 rebel fighters killed, their military leaders say — residents of a broad area in this mountain region are celebrating virtual secession from Colonel Qaddafi’s Libya. While there have been defeats, and the Grad rockets of Colonel Qaddafi’s forces still menace the outskirts of Nalut near the Tunisian border and Yafran to the east, rebels point hopefully to the growing stability of the towns under their control as evidence of how tenuous Colonel Qaddafi’s grip may be.


“This is the new Libya,” said Anwar Fekini, a Sorbonne-educated French-Libyan lawyer, rebel organizer and local tribal leader who returned for a weekend trip to his ancestral home to strategize with local allies. “It feels good.”

...


The Nafusah Mountains have emerged as a strategically significant front in the battle for Libya, in part because the rebels there are closest to Colonel Qaddafi’s stronghold in the capital, Tripoli, and in part because they have the potential to cut off vital supply lines from the border. And though barely trained and few in number — one rebel leader estimated that there were about 2,000 armed fighters — they have used their knowledge of the terrain and the sympathies of much of the local population to expand their territory as the fighting around Benghazi to the east and Misurata on the central coast has moved toward a stalemate.

...


Standing at the last checkpoint, Hisham al-Gibali, 33, showed a bullet wound in his leg that he suffered near Yafran a few weeks ago. He said he had left a life in the Netherlands to return to Libya to join the fight, and he contended that the rebels would soon take Gharyan, despite their inferior numbers, because of the strength of their morale.


“We are fighting for truth, and they are not,” he said. “The fighters from Zintan and Jadu will come here, and we will all go together. We are all Libyans. We are not alone.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/world/africa/26libya.html

[pinboy3niner]

105. How Libya push tripped the GOP

Source: Politico

By JONATHAN ALLEN | 6/25/11 4:16 PM EDT


Republicans had a chance to issue a ringing rebuke of President Barack Obama’s intervention in Libya on Friday, but instead mixed their message because they couldn’t quite agree on what it was they were voting for — or against.


Eighty members of the House GOP voted against a bill prescribing limits on the U.S. military engagement in Libya just an hour after also voting not to authorize the war at all. Some said they couldn’t bear to cut off funding for American forces abroad while others argued that the bill amounted to a backdoor approval of the Libya operation because it would have allowed for spending on certain non-combat activities.

...


The split among Republicans leaves open the question of whether the House will take a more significant whack at Obama’s policy when it returns from a weeklong recess to debate amendments to the Defense Appropriations bill. While that measure won’t take effect until Oct. 1, Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Scott Rigell (R-Va.) have said they want the House to vote on whether to prohibit Obama from spending any money at all on Libya operations.

...


Democrats were split, too: Of the 70 who voted against authorizing operations in Libya, 33 also voted to limit funding. But that should have made it harder for Obama to win the second vote. Now, the House has considered — and failed to adopt — any legislation clamping down on the mission, a potentially important factor in the lawsuit that 10 House members have filed to stop the war. A court could find that because Congress appropriated money for the Pentagon this year and never sought to limit its expenditure, the legislature has, in fact, empowered the president to conduct military operations in Libya.

...


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57764_Page2.html

[joshcryer]

107. This will be the second time the GOP can't get their votes straight.

And look like fools in the process (to anyone paying attention).

Almost have the new thread ready... sorry for being late pinboy3niner. :(

[pinboy3niner]

108. You're not late, Josh

The rest of us are early. :)

The last sentence of that excerpt made me think of you, for some strange reason... :)


:hi:

[tabatha]

110. yep, they can't reconcile

their love for war and their dislike of Obama.

[pinboy3niner]

106. Misrata: Some shelling Saturday, but quieter since recent NATO strikes there

In rebel-held Misurata, 200km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, a rebel spokesman called Abdelsalam said Gaddafi's forces shelled the city on Saturday but that things were quieter since a NATO strike on Wednesday which took out pro-Gaddafi positions. A local doctor told Reuters there had been no serious injuries.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-25-2011-2210

[joshcryer]

109. Week 19 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1363052