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| Africa North |
| Days ago the rebels were advancing; now they need more than Allah |
| 2011-03-12 |
| The shelling began 18 minutes after the end of Friday prayers, round after round crashing in off the coast, the first time the navy has been used in this conflict and a fresh sign of how Colonel Gaddafi's forces had prepared themselves for the battles ahead as they attempt to re-conquer the land lost to the revolution. The attack from the sea was followed by air strikes; a warplane streaking across the sky with the rebel forces opening up with everything at hand at the target above with loud cries of "Allah hu Akhbar". A little later two missiles came down, flashes of fire followed by black plumes of smoke spread rapidly by a gusting wind into a clear blue sky. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 The glory is his to be had. "Kathathfa" a tribal name among many variants. He will emerge again like a phenix from the ashes. G, Q or K. His name is spelled correctly different ways. He will have gained respect from his allies and consternation among the impotent. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-03-12 21:45 |
| #6 The reality is that, if his regime survives, Gaddafi will attack the West. He will sponsor terror attacks on Europeans and Americans that will cost hundreds of lives as he did in the past. Gaddafi had already explicitly renounced the conditions of his 'rehabilitation,' lenient as they were. That was well before this insurrection. Now the Western political class is telling Gaddafi that they want him dead, in principle, and that the West will do absolutely nothing militarily to actually bring about his death. Nuts! Nothing will be done about Gaddafi now. We'll have to see how TSA style security will fare against a state sponsor willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in an attack. |
| Posted by: Jineng McCoy3833 2011-03-12 16:21 |
| #5 It looks too much like a larger version of the Bloods v. the Crips. Backing one against the other doesn't look like a winning strategy. Posted by: AlanC Clearly a subset of the entire Arab world and it's legacy to date. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-03-12 13:16 |
| #4 Steve, wouldn't that require a declaration of war as the interdiction zone would have to be way inside Libya's terretorial waters? As bad as this all is I'm not sure what we should do about it. I don't see an overwhelming US interest unless you want to go in and occupy Libya and set up and run a new government in the way we did to Japan after WWII. It looks too much like a larger version of the Bloods v. the Crips. Backing one against the other doesn't look like a winning strategy. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2011-03-12 10:22 |
| #3 Even if one didn't want to enforce a no-fly zone, you'd think the US and the Euros could enforce a naval interdiction zone, and keep the Libyan gunboats tied to piers. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-03-12 09:54 |
| #2 why won't obama help these guys out. He sure put his big mouth into the mix as soon as Egypt just rioted. Hell these guys are being blown too shit |
| Posted by: chris 2011-03-12 08:49 |
| #1 Libyan rebels brace for government attack on Misrata The last rebel holdout in western Libya was bracing for a government attack today, with signs rebel morale was faltering after they were defeated or forced to retreat in other parts of the country. Libyan troops forced rebels to retreat with a sustained bombardment and the front line moved back 12 miles overnight from the outskirts of the Ras Lanuf oil town, 380 miles southeast of the capital, Tripoli, a rebel officer said today. |
| Posted by: tipper 2011-03-12 08:40 |