Wednesday, February 23, 2011
"People Have Finally Found Their Voice”: Democracy Now!’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous on Egypt After Mubarak
"Democracy Now! Senior Producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous is back from Egypt after several weeks reporting on the uprising against the U.S.-backed President Hosni Mubarak. “I find it amazing that the whole world watched Egypt do this," Kouddous says. “Egypt is exporting democracy to the United States.”...."
Interventionists Target Libya
It's their only hope of salvaging our Middle East empire
AN IMPORTANT PIECE
by Justin Raimondo, February 23, 2011
"Outside of an asylum, is there anybody nuttier than Moammar Qadaffy? Well, yes: Marc Lynch, associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University – and non-resident smarty-pants at the Center for a New American Hegemony Security – who blogs at ForeignPolicy.com, where he writes:
“The unfolding situation in Libya has been horrible to behold. No matter how many times we warn that dictators will do what they must to stay in power, it is still shocking to see the images of brutalized civilians which have been flooding al-Jazeera and circulating on the internet. We should not be fooled by Libya’s geographic proximity to Egypt and Tunisia, or guided by the debates over how the United States could best help a peaceful protest movement achieve democratic change. The appropriate comparison is Bosnia or Kosovo, or even Rwanda where a massacre is unfolding on live television and the world is challenged to act. It is time for the United States, NATO, the United Nations and the Arab League to act forcefully to try to prevent the already bloody situation from degenerating into something much worse.”
This may seem like a crazy idea, an off-the-wall suggestion made in the heat of the moment. But when you think about it – and witness how widespread such sentiment is amongst our assembled “experts” and professional know-it-alls – you realize such a call to intervene was inevitable. It was only a matter of time before the War Party would find an excuse to intervene in the Middle Eastern upsurge, and make it all about us. We are, after all, a nation – nay, an empire – of narcissists, and so the pertinent question is: what can we do? What must we do? Benghazi is burning – don’t we have a moral obligation to preen on the world stage as we put the fire out?......
King Hamad and Hosni Mubarak – good: Qadaffy (and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad) – bad. This kind of moral calculus is determined by the degree of the dictator’s complicity with American (and Israeli) plans for the region.
The War Party hopes to make lemonade out of the enormous lemon handed to them by the youthful revolutionaries of the Middle East – and an alliance of neocons and liberal “humanitarian” interventionists will make it happen if and when it does.
US intervention in Libya would short-circuit the Libyan revolution, prolong Qadaffy’s inglorious career, and lead to more and not less anti-Americanism even in the short run. It would, in brief, be a disaster – just the sort of blunder that could suck us into yet another quagmire from which there is no early release. "
AN IMPORTANT PIECE
by Justin Raimondo, February 23, 2011
"Outside of an asylum, is there anybody nuttier than Moammar Qadaffy? Well, yes: Marc Lynch, associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University – and non-resident smarty-pants at the Center for a New American Hegemony Security – who blogs at ForeignPolicy.com, where he writes:
“The unfolding situation in Libya has been horrible to behold. No matter how many times we warn that dictators will do what they must to stay in power, it is still shocking to see the images of brutalized civilians which have been flooding al-Jazeera and circulating on the internet. We should not be fooled by Libya’s geographic proximity to Egypt and Tunisia, or guided by the debates over how the United States could best help a peaceful protest movement achieve democratic change. The appropriate comparison is Bosnia or Kosovo, or even Rwanda where a massacre is unfolding on live television and the world is challenged to act. It is time for the United States, NATO, the United Nations and the Arab League to act forcefully to try to prevent the already bloody situation from degenerating into something much worse.”
This may seem like a crazy idea, an off-the-wall suggestion made in the heat of the moment. But when you think about it – and witness how widespread such sentiment is amongst our assembled “experts” and professional know-it-alls – you realize such a call to intervene was inevitable. It was only a matter of time before the War Party would find an excuse to intervene in the Middle Eastern upsurge, and make it all about us. We are, after all, a nation – nay, an empire – of narcissists, and so the pertinent question is: what can we do? What must we do? Benghazi is burning – don’t we have a moral obligation to preen on the world stage as we put the fire out?......
King Hamad and Hosni Mubarak – good: Qadaffy (and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad) – bad. This kind of moral calculus is determined by the degree of the dictator’s complicity with American (and Israeli) plans for the region.
The War Party hopes to make lemonade out of the enormous lemon handed to them by the youthful revolutionaries of the Middle East – and an alliance of neocons and liberal “humanitarian” interventionists will make it happen if and when it does.
US intervention in Libya would short-circuit the Libyan revolution, prolong Qadaffy’s inglorious career, and lead to more and not less anti-Americanism even in the short run. It would, in brief, be a disaster – just the sort of blunder that could suck us into yet another quagmire from which there is no early release. "
Real News Video: Libya: Gaddafi vows "I will not leave this land"
Channel 4: After protests in which hundreds have died in Libya, Colonel Gaddafi pledges he will not leave and will "crush" protesters and die a martyr.
Gaddafi goes Tiananmen
A VERY GOOD PIECE
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
""The unity of China was more important than the people of Tiananmen Square."
"It's impossible for the youth to follow anyone else. If not Gaddafi, who else would they follow? Somebody with a beard?"
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
""The unity of China was more important than the people of Tiananmen Square."
"It's impossible for the youth to follow anyone else. If not Gaddafi, who else would they follow? Somebody with a beard?"
Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, February 22
Talk about The King's Speech; this was The African King of Kings' Speech. A furious, delirious, possessed, prophet-as-psychopath Muammar Gaddafi may have improvised the ultimate lunatic rant to send chills down the spines of the Libyan people and the whole world - delivered right from the family house bombed by the United States under president Ronald Reagan in 1986. His message: there will be blood.....
The blood on the regime's hands as well as the humbling courage of the Libyan people, are self-evident. The self-described "Liberated Eastern Region of Libya" - with the people in Benghazi, for instance, organizing themselves in civic committees - and great swathes of southern Libya have already fallen; the Gaddafi state does not apply anymore.....
Back to 1848
Talk about The King's Speech; this was The African King of Kings' Speech. A furious, delirious, possessed, prophet-as-psychopath Muammar Gaddafi may have improvised the ultimate lunatic rant to send chills down the spines of the Libyan people and the whole world - delivered right from the family house bombed by the United States under president Ronald Reagan in 1986. His message: there will be blood.....
The blood on the regime's hands as well as the humbling courage of the Libyan people, are self-evident. The self-described "Liberated Eastern Region of Libya" - with the people in Benghazi, for instance, organizing themselves in civic committees - and great swathes of southern Libya have already fallen; the Gaddafi state does not apply anymore.....
Back to 1848
Few may remember then-US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's 2008 northern Africa tour, when she said that US-Libyan relations were entering "a new era of cooperation". Libya left rehab only in 2003, when Gaddafi agreed to abandon his nuclear program and open up to salivating foreign investors in oil and gas; then in 2006 Gaddafi merrily embraced free market and geared up for the usual International Monetary Fund/World Bank "structural adjustment" prescription pills......
Blame it on that self-immolation in Tunisia. The great 2011 Arab revolt is very much like 1848 - the people's spring that in a few months took Europe by storm and turned the political system of the Congress of Vienna upside down. The problem is the "domino" revolutions of the time, from the Sicily of the Bourbons to the Paris of Louis Philippe, failed. But still - what a pleasure today to reread Karl Marx as a journalist and editor of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, expanding on revolution and counter-revolution. His ultra-sharp analyses still apply.
Would Marx be facebooking and tweeting today he would see Arabs, everywhere, fighting for their dignity and self-expression. He would see how the young protester in Tahrir Square in Cairo, the Shi'ite lawyer in the Pearl roundabout in Bahrain or the anti-Gaddafi teacher fighting for his life in Benghazi have erased the caricature of the bearded terrorist - which now only exists in Gaddafi's imagination (and the nightmares of US neo-conservatives).
No religious fanaticism; no single-minded nationalism. Just like the Europeans in 1848, the Europeans in the 1940s fighting fascism, the Europeans of 1989 getting rid of the Berlin Wall. And Marx would probably predict how those poor conscripts in Libya - just like in Egypt - would rather join their compatriots than smash them with a Tiananmen option. "
Blame it on that self-immolation in Tunisia. The great 2011 Arab revolt is very much like 1848 - the people's spring that in a few months took Europe by storm and turned the political system of the Congress of Vienna upside down. The problem is the "domino" revolutions of the time, from the Sicily of the Bourbons to the Paris of Louis Philippe, failed. But still - what a pleasure today to reread Karl Marx as a journalist and editor of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, expanding on revolution and counter-revolution. His ultra-sharp analyses still apply.
Would Marx be facebooking and tweeting today he would see Arabs, everywhere, fighting for their dignity and self-expression. He would see how the young protester in Tahrir Square in Cairo, the Shi'ite lawyer in the Pearl roundabout in Bahrain or the anti-Gaddafi teacher fighting for his life in Benghazi have erased the caricature of the bearded terrorist - which now only exists in Gaddafi's imagination (and the nightmares of US neo-conservatives).
No religious fanaticism; no single-minded nationalism. Just like the Europeans in 1848, the Europeans in the 1940s fighting fascism, the Europeans of 1989 getting rid of the Berlin Wall. And Marx would probably predict how those poor conscripts in Libya - just like in Egypt - would rather join their compatriots than smash them with a Tiananmen option. "
Rulers who still need our sympathy
By Mark Steel
The Independent
"The most worrying side to world events is if Gaddafi and Berlusconi both depart, there'll be hardly any world leaders left to offer Tony and Cherie Blair a free holiday. It only needs Murdoch to be overthrown and the Blairs will have to go to Pontins at Camber Sands.
Luckily, they seem to have instructed the current Government in how to deal with dictators, so the chairman of the parliamentary group that deals with Bahrain, Conor Burns, went on the radio to say that His Royal Highness the King and his son the Crown Prince of Bahrain are committed to democracy. Of course they are. The King believes in one man, one vote – him. They even use the AV system, with the King voting for himself as King, with his son second choice....."
The Independent
"The most worrying side to world events is if Gaddafi and Berlusconi both depart, there'll be hardly any world leaders left to offer Tony and Cherie Blair a free holiday. It only needs Murdoch to be overthrown and the Blairs will have to go to Pontins at Camber Sands.
Luckily, they seem to have instructed the current Government in how to deal with dictators, so the chairman of the parliamentary group that deals with Bahrain, Conor Burns, went on the radio to say that His Royal Highness the King and his son the Crown Prince of Bahrain are committed to democracy. Of course they are. The King believes in one man, one vote – him. They even use the AV system, with the King voting for himself as King, with his son second choice....."
Gaddafi raved and cursed, but he faces forces he cannot control
By Robert Fisk
"So he will go down fighting. That's what Muammar Gaddafi told us last night, and most Libyans believe him. This will be no smooth flight to Riyadh or a gentle trip to a Red Sea holiday resort. Raddled, cowled in desert gowns, he raved on.....
Dressed in brown burnous and cap and gown, Gaddafi's appearance last night raised some odd questions. Having kept the international media – the "dogs" in question – out of Libya, he allowed the world to observe a crazed nation: YouTube and blogs of terrible violence versus state television pictures of an entirely unhinged dictator justifying what he had either not seen on YouTube or hadn't been shown. And there's an interesting question here: dictators and princes who let the international press into their countries – Messrs Ben Ali/Mubarak/Saleh/Prince Salman – are permitting it to film their own humiliation. Their reward is painful indeed. But sultans like Gaddafi who keep the journos out fare little different.
The hand-held immediacy of the mobile phone, the intimacy of sound and the crack of gunfire are in some ways more compelling than the edited, digital film of the networks. Exactly the same happened in Gaza when the Israelis decided, Gaddafi-like, to keep foreign journalists out of their 2009 bloodletting: the bloggers and YouTubers (and Al Jazeera) simply gave us a reality we didn't normally experience from the "professional" satellite boys. Perhaps, in the end, it takes a dictator with his own monopoly on cameras to tell the truth. "I will die as a martyr," Gaddafi said last night. Almost certainly true."
"So he will go down fighting. That's what Muammar Gaddafi told us last night, and most Libyans believe him. This will be no smooth flight to Riyadh or a gentle trip to a Red Sea holiday resort. Raddled, cowled in desert gowns, he raved on.....
Dressed in brown burnous and cap and gown, Gaddafi's appearance last night raised some odd questions. Having kept the international media – the "dogs" in question – out of Libya, he allowed the world to observe a crazed nation: YouTube and blogs of terrible violence versus state television pictures of an entirely unhinged dictator justifying what he had either not seen on YouTube or hadn't been shown. And there's an interesting question here: dictators and princes who let the international press into their countries – Messrs Ben Ali/Mubarak/Saleh/Prince Salman – are permitting it to film their own humiliation. Their reward is painful indeed. But sultans like Gaddafi who keep the journos out fare little different.
The hand-held immediacy of the mobile phone, the intimacy of sound and the crack of gunfire are in some ways more compelling than the edited, digital film of the networks. Exactly the same happened in Gaza when the Israelis decided, Gaddafi-like, to keep foreign journalists out of their 2009 bloodletting: the bloggers and YouTubers (and Al Jazeera) simply gave us a reality we didn't normally experience from the "professional" satellite boys. Perhaps, in the end, it takes a dictator with his own monopoly on cameras to tell the truth. "I will die as a martyr," Gaddafi said last night. Almost certainly true."
Libyan protesters defiant after Gaddafi speech
AP
"Heavy gunfire broke out in Libya's capital today as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi opened fire in the streets a day after the longtime leader vowed to defend his rule and called on supporters to crack down on anti-government protesters.
The fighting in Tripoli came as the opposition reportedly seized control of Misurata, with witnesses saying people were honking their horns and raising pre-Gaddafi flags from the monarchy to celebrate.
Misurata would be the first major city in the west to fall to anti-government forces, which have mainly been concentrated in the east. Faraj al-Misrati, a local doctor, said six residents had been killed and 200 injured since January 18, when protesters attacked offices and buildings affiliated with Gaddafi's regime.
He said residents had formed committees to protect the city, clean the streets and treat the injured.
"The solidarity among the people here is amazing, even the disabled are helping out," he said in a telephone interview....."
"Heavy gunfire broke out in Libya's capital today as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi opened fire in the streets a day after the longtime leader vowed to defend his rule and called on supporters to crack down on anti-government protesters.
The fighting in Tripoli came as the opposition reportedly seized control of Misurata, with witnesses saying people were honking their horns and raising pre-Gaddafi flags from the monarchy to celebrate.
Misurata would be the first major city in the west to fall to anti-government forces, which have mainly been concentrated in the east. Faraj al-Misrati, a local doctor, said six residents had been killed and 200 injured since January 18, when protesters attacked offices and buildings affiliated with Gaddafi's regime.
He said residents had formed committees to protect the city, clean the streets and treat the injured.
"The solidarity among the people here is amazing, even the disabled are helping out," he said in a telephone interview....."
Steve Bell on Muammar Gaddafi
Reader's Comment:
"looking at this, I feel like I must be on one of those hallucinogenic drugs he says all his enemies are taking!"
Muammar Gaddafi: method in his 'madness'
Gaddafi has lost touch with his people, but though his actions may seem bizarre, there is a kind of logic to his behaviour
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 February 2011
"....In the four decades since he came to power, Gaddafi's behaviour has shocked and amused the world in roughly equal measures – from his bizarre sense of fashion to his appearance on Monday leaning out of something resembling a popemobile and holding a white umbrella. As a Jordanian psychiatrist once told me while we watched Gaddafi's televised performance at an Arab summit: "I meet people like him every day in my hospital."......
Gaddafi, of course, doesn't see himself in the Mubarak/Ben Ali mould. He doesn't see the uprising as a mass rebellion against his leadership but as a flare-up of old tribal rivalries – a reactionary movement bent on destroying the revolutionary spirit of the world's first and only people's jamahiriya...........
One of the key points in Tuesday's speech, emphasised by its symbolic setting, was that his regime had withstood bombing "by 170 aircraft under the leadership of nuclear countries like America, Britain and Nato" – implying that where they failed local rebels cannot succeed.
He also explained why – unlike Ben Ali and Mubarak – he cannot resign. Technically, this is correct since Libya has no president. Gaddafi constantly asserts that he is just an ordinary Libyan citizen (though of course very little happens without his approval). His title, "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution", is not a public office but a description of his historical role. Thus, it can never be taken away from him or bestowed on anyone else.
But Gaddafi does have one very important thing in common with Ben Ali and Mubarak. By continuing to bask in the glories of 1969, he has lost touch with his people......"
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 February 2011
"....In the four decades since he came to power, Gaddafi's behaviour has shocked and amused the world in roughly equal measures – from his bizarre sense of fashion to his appearance on Monday leaning out of something resembling a popemobile and holding a white umbrella. As a Jordanian psychiatrist once told me while we watched Gaddafi's televised performance at an Arab summit: "I meet people like him every day in my hospital."......
Gaddafi, of course, doesn't see himself in the Mubarak/Ben Ali mould. He doesn't see the uprising as a mass rebellion against his leadership but as a flare-up of old tribal rivalries – a reactionary movement bent on destroying the revolutionary spirit of the world's first and only people's jamahiriya...........
One of the key points in Tuesday's speech, emphasised by its symbolic setting, was that his regime had withstood bombing "by 170 aircraft under the leadership of nuclear countries like America, Britain and Nato" – implying that where they failed local rebels cannot succeed.
He also explained why – unlike Ben Ali and Mubarak – he cannot resign. Technically, this is correct since Libya has no president. Gaddafi constantly asserts that he is just an ordinary Libyan citizen (though of course very little happens without his approval). His title, "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution", is not a public office but a description of his historical role. Thus, it can never be taken away from him or bestowed on anyone else.
But Gaddafi does have one very important thing in common with Ben Ali and Mubarak. By continuing to bask in the glories of 1969, he has lost touch with his people......"
Libya in turmoil as Muammar Gaddafi's power slips away - video
Some Libyan cities celebrate victory over the Muammar Gaddafi regime as night-time battles continue in Tripoli. European countries attempt to evacuate their citizens
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 February 2011
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 February 2011
The Liberation of Palestine the Hamas Way: Gaza police order male hairdressers to quit working
Five men face arrest and fines if they carry on styling women's hair in crackdown blamed on Hamas
The Guardian
"Hatem Ghoul was on his way to work at his hairdressing salon in Gaza City earlier this week when he got word that his employees had been paid a visit by the police.
They had left a message for Ghoul: could he drop by the police station; there was something they wanted to discuss. And, it turned out, not just him. The other four male hairdressers in the city had similar requests.
Ghoul had been expecting this for almost a year, since reports that Hamas was cracking down on men cutting and styling women's hair. But Ghoul and his male colleagues in Gaza City continued to work, and no one stopped them.
This week he was left in no doubt. One by one, he told me, the men were called into a room where an unrelated detainee was chained to a wall by his wrists, and told to sign a pledge to give up their profession or face arrest and a 20,000 shekel (£3,400) fine.
"I said I didn't want to sign. They said, okay but we will take you to the cells because what you do is against Sharia [Islamic law]. Then I realised I had no choice."....."
The Guardian
"Hatem Ghoul was on his way to work at his hairdressing salon in Gaza City earlier this week when he got word that his employees had been paid a visit by the police.
They had left a message for Ghoul: could he drop by the police station; there was something they wanted to discuss. And, it turned out, not just him. The other four male hairdressers in the city had similar requests.
Ghoul had been expecting this for almost a year, since reports that Hamas was cracking down on men cutting and styling women's hair. But Ghoul and his male colleagues in Gaza City continued to work, and no one stopped them.
This week he was left in no doubt. One by one, he told me, the men were called into a room where an unrelated detainee was chained to a wall by his wrists, and told to sign a pledge to give up their profession or face arrest and a 20,000 shekel (£3,400) fine.
"I said I didn't want to sign. They said, okay but we will take you to the cells because what you do is against Sharia [Islamic law]. Then I realised I had no choice."....."
The King of Kings' speech
Al Jazeera's senior policy analyst says Gaddafi's threats were no different from those of any foreign occupier.
Marwan Bishara
"Muammar Gaddafi is dangerously in denial. Alas, he's been that way for a long time.
Gaddafi has ruled Libya for the past 42 years with iron fist, but insists he has no official role and therefore couldn't resign. Otherwise, he would have done that long ago!
He thinks of himself as Zaim - a guru leader - or the king of kings of Africa as referred to himself repeatedly the last couple of years.
How do you resign from greatness, he wondered! After recounting his heroism, sacrifice and courage over the last few decades.
In reality, he wasted his country's fortunes, misused its sources and violated its people. He misspent hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues from oil.
He commands the state budget along with his family, and yet he insists he has no money, no fortune and no belonging to give away.
Why would he need any of that when he de facto had claim on the whole country.
One is speechless listening to him telling Libyans: Go ahead take back your oil.
Like father like son
Gaddafi senior, like Gaddafi junior before him on Monday, went on rambling endlessly in Tuesday's televised address, with little coherence, many threats and more political blackmail.....
Worse, he threatened to burn the land, behaving as if his rule was a foreign occupation.
For many years, Qaddafi, his family and tribe have maintained their rule through the maintenance and deformation of the very tribal order he's been warning against.
He's used political blackmail and financial bribes and unveiled threats of force to stay at the helm of the regime.
In the process, much of the country's wealth was wasted. And so was any chance of development as his dictatorship suppressed pluralism, creativity and freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, unemployment in this "rentier economy" has shot from one-fourth to one-third unemployment year after year.
Gaddafi has turned a country rich in oil to a poor country in more than one way....."
Marwan Bishara
"Muammar Gaddafi is dangerously in denial. Alas, he's been that way for a long time.
Gaddafi has ruled Libya for the past 42 years with iron fist, but insists he has no official role and therefore couldn't resign. Otherwise, he would have done that long ago!
He thinks of himself as Zaim - a guru leader - or the king of kings of Africa as referred to himself repeatedly the last couple of years.
How do you resign from greatness, he wondered! After recounting his heroism, sacrifice and courage over the last few decades.
In reality, he wasted his country's fortunes, misused its sources and violated its people. He misspent hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues from oil.
He commands the state budget along with his family, and yet he insists he has no money, no fortune and no belonging to give away.
Why would he need any of that when he de facto had claim on the whole country.
One is speechless listening to him telling Libyans: Go ahead take back your oil.
Like father like son
Gaddafi senior, like Gaddafi junior before him on Monday, went on rambling endlessly in Tuesday's televised address, with little coherence, many threats and more political blackmail.....
Worse, he threatened to burn the land, behaving as if his rule was a foreign occupation.
For many years, Qaddafi, his family and tribe have maintained their rule through the maintenance and deformation of the very tribal order he's been warning against.
He's used political blackmail and financial bribes and unveiled threats of force to stay at the helm of the regime.
In the process, much of the country's wealth was wasted. And so was any chance of development as his dictatorship suppressed pluralism, creativity and freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, unemployment in this "rentier economy" has shot from one-fourth to one-third unemployment year after year.
Gaddafi has turned a country rich in oil to a poor country in more than one way....."
Gaddafi's Next Move: Sabotage Oil and Sow Chaos?
Time
"There's been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos.
Two weeks ago this same man had told me the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt would never touch Libya. Gaddafi, he said, had a tight lock on all of the major tribes, the same ones that have kept him in power for the past 41 years. The man of course turned out to be wrong, and everything he now has to say about Gaddafi's intentions needs to be taken in that context.
The source went on and told me that Gaddafi's desperation has a lot to with the fact that he now can only count on the loyalty of his tribe, the Qadhadhfa. And as for the army, as of Monday he only has the loyalty of approximately 5,000 troops. They are his elite forces, the officers all handpicked. Among them is the unit commanded by his second youngest son Khamis, the 32nd Brigade. (The total strength of the regular Libyan army is 45,000.)
My Libyan source said that Gaddafi has told people around him that he knows he cannot retake Libya with the forces he has. But what he can do is make the rebellious tribes and army officers regret their disloyalty, turning Libya into another Somalia. "I have the money and arms to fight for a long time," Gaddafi reportedly said.
As part of the same plan to turn the tables, Gaddafi ordered the release from prison of the country's Islamic militant prisoners, hoping they will act on their own to sow chaos across Libya. Gaddafi envisages them attacking foreigners and rebellious tribes. Couple that with a shortage of food supplies, and any chance for the rebels to replace Gaddafi will be remote.
My Libyan source said that in order to understand Gaddafi's state of mind we need to understand that he feels deeply betrayed by the media, which he blames for sparking the revolt. In particular, he blames the Qatari TV station al-Jazeera, and is convinced it targeted him for purely political motivations. He also feels betrayed by the West because it has only encouraged the revolt. Over the weekend, he warned several European embassies that if he falls, the consequence will be a flood of African immigration that will "swamp" Europe....."
"There's been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos.
Two weeks ago this same man had told me the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt would never touch Libya. Gaddafi, he said, had a tight lock on all of the major tribes, the same ones that have kept him in power for the past 41 years. The man of course turned out to be wrong, and everything he now has to say about Gaddafi's intentions needs to be taken in that context.
The source went on and told me that Gaddafi's desperation has a lot to with the fact that he now can only count on the loyalty of his tribe, the Qadhadhfa. And as for the army, as of Monday he only has the loyalty of approximately 5,000 troops. They are his elite forces, the officers all handpicked. Among them is the unit commanded by his second youngest son Khamis, the 32nd Brigade. (The total strength of the regular Libyan army is 45,000.)
My Libyan source said that Gaddafi has told people around him that he knows he cannot retake Libya with the forces he has. But what he can do is make the rebellious tribes and army officers regret their disloyalty, turning Libya into another Somalia. "I have the money and arms to fight for a long time," Gaddafi reportedly said.
As part of the same plan to turn the tables, Gaddafi ordered the release from prison of the country's Islamic militant prisoners, hoping they will act on their own to sow chaos across Libya. Gaddafi envisages them attacking foreigners and rebellious tribes. Couple that with a shortage of food supplies, and any chance for the rebels to replace Gaddafi will be remote.
My Libyan source said that in order to understand Gaddafi's state of mind we need to understand that he feels deeply betrayed by the media, which he blames for sparking the revolt. In particular, he blames the Qatari TV station al-Jazeera, and is convinced it targeted him for purely political motivations. He also feels betrayed by the West because it has only encouraged the revolt. Over the weekend, he warned several European embassies that if he falls, the consequence will be a flood of African immigration that will "swamp" Europe....."
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
This is an Arab 1848. But US hegemony is only dented
With western-backed despots being turfed out politics has changed for ever. So just how far can the revolution spread?
Tariq Ali
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 February 2011
"The refusal of the people to kiss or ignore the rod that has chastised them for so many decades has opened a new chapter in the history of the Arab nation. The absurd, if much vaunted, neocon notion that Arabs or Muslims were hostile to democracy has disappeared like parchment in fire.
Those who promoted such ideas appear to the most unhappy: Israel and its lobbyists in Euro-America; the arms industry, hurriedly trying to sell as much while it can (the British prime minister acting as a merchant of death at the Abu Dhabi arms fair); and the beleaguered rulers of Saudi Arabia, wondering whether the disease will spread to their tyrannical kingdom. Until now they have provided refuge to many a despot, but when the time comes where will the royal family seek refuge? They must be aware that their patrons will dump them without ceremony and claim they always favoured democracy.
If there is a comparison to be made with Europe it is 1848, when the revolutionary upheavals left only Britain and Spain untouched – even though Queen Victoria, thinking of the Chartists, feared otherwise. Writing to her besieged nephew on the Belgian throne, she expressing sympathy but wondered whether "we will all be slain in our beds". Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown or bejewelled headgear, and has billions stored in foreign banks.
Like Europeans in 1848 the Arab people are fighting against foreign domination (82% of Egyptians, a recent opinion poll revealed, have a "negative view of the US"); against the violation of their democratic rights; against an elite blinded by its own illegitimate wealth – and in favour of economic justice. This is different from the first wave of Arab nationalism, which was concerned principally with driving the remnants of the British empire out of the region....."
Tariq Ali
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 February 2011
"The refusal of the people to kiss or ignore the rod that has chastised them for so many decades has opened a new chapter in the history of the Arab nation. The absurd, if much vaunted, neocon notion that Arabs or Muslims were hostile to democracy has disappeared like parchment in fire.
Those who promoted such ideas appear to the most unhappy: Israel and its lobbyists in Euro-America; the arms industry, hurriedly trying to sell as much while it can (the British prime minister acting as a merchant of death at the Abu Dhabi arms fair); and the beleaguered rulers of Saudi Arabia, wondering whether the disease will spread to their tyrannical kingdom. Until now they have provided refuge to many a despot, but when the time comes where will the royal family seek refuge? They must be aware that their patrons will dump them without ceremony and claim they always favoured democracy.
If there is a comparison to be made with Europe it is 1848, when the revolutionary upheavals left only Britain and Spain untouched – even though Queen Victoria, thinking of the Chartists, feared otherwise. Writing to her besieged nephew on the Belgian throne, she expressing sympathy but wondered whether "we will all be slain in our beds". Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown or bejewelled headgear, and has billions stored in foreign banks.
Like Europeans in 1848 the Arab people are fighting against foreign domination (82% of Egyptians, a recent opinion poll revealed, have a "negative view of the US"); against the violation of their democratic rights; against an elite blinded by its own illegitimate wealth – and in favour of economic justice. This is different from the first wave of Arab nationalism, which was concerned principally with driving the remnants of the British empire out of the region....."
وزير داخلية ليبيا يستقيل ويؤيد الثورة Video
AN IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT:
Libya's interior minister resigns and asks the army to back the revolution!
This is a major blow to Gaddafi, since he mentioned the name of this interior minister several times in his latest rambling speech, as a backer of Gaddafi.
"أعلن وزير الداخلية الليبي اللواء الركن عبد الفتاح يونس العبيدي استقالته من جميع المناصب التي يتقلدها وتأييده لثورة الـ17 من فبراير/شباط.
ودعا العبيدي -في تسجيل حصلت عليه الجزيرة- القوات المسلحة للانضمام للثورة والاستجابة لمطالب الشعب.
وكان القذافي قد ذكر العبيدي عدة مرات في خطابه اليوم باعتباره قائدا إلى جانبه لمسيرة ليبيا على مدى سنين طويلة، وأنه قاتل معه الأميركيين والسادات، زاعما أن أهالي بنغازي قد اعتقلوه وأطلقوا عليه النار وأنه مجهول المصير.
وقال القذافي في خطابه إن محتجي بنغازي سألوه حين ألقوا القبض عليه: "ما الذي جاء بك يا عبيدي إلى بنغازي؟". فيما وصفه مراقبون بأنه محاولة من القذافي لإثارة صراع بين قبيلة عبد الفتاح يونس -الذي ينتمي إلى غرب ليبيا- وأهالي مدينة بنغازي أكبر مدن الشرق الليبي.
"
Libya's interior minister resigns and asks the army to back the revolution!
This is a major blow to Gaddafi, since he mentioned the name of this interior minister several times in his latest rambling speech, as a backer of Gaddafi.
"أعلن وزير الداخلية الليبي اللواء الركن عبد الفتاح يونس العبيدي استقالته من جميع المناصب التي يتقلدها وتأييده لثورة الـ17 من فبراير/شباط.
ودعا العبيدي -في تسجيل حصلت عليه الجزيرة- القوات المسلحة للانضمام للثورة والاستجابة لمطالب الشعب.
وكان القذافي قد ذكر العبيدي عدة مرات في خطابه اليوم باعتباره قائدا إلى جانبه لمسيرة ليبيا على مدى سنين طويلة، وأنه قاتل معه الأميركيين والسادات، زاعما أن أهالي بنغازي قد اعتقلوه وأطلقوا عليه النار وأنه مجهول المصير.
وقال القذافي في خطابه إن محتجي بنغازي سألوه حين ألقوا القبض عليه: "ما الذي جاء بك يا عبيدي إلى بنغازي؟". فيما وصفه مراقبون بأنه محاولة من القذافي لإثارة صراع بين قبيلة عبد الفتاح يونس -الذي ينتمي إلى غرب ليبيا- وأهالي مدينة بنغازي أكبر مدن الشرق الليبي.
"
Libya: Commanders Should Face Justice for Killings
Reports of "Random" Fire in Tripoli, At Least 62 Dead
Human Rights Watch
"....Statements from doctors working in two Tripoli hospitals obtained by Human Rights Watch by email confirmed that at least 62 people have been killed since February 20 but these are figures from only two hospitals. Other witnesses told Human Rights Watch there were at least 50 bodies in the morgue at Abu Salim Hospital, all casualties of clashes over the weekend. A doctor said that Tripoli's Central Hospital had received 12 dead, brought in by emergency services from the area around Green Square, the site of anti-government protests on February 21.
"Anyone, including Muammar Gaddafi, ordering or carrying out atrocities should know they will be held individually accountable for their actions, including unlawful killings of protesters," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "We fear the death toll will rise much higher unless Gaddafi ends his bloody attempts to suppress dissent. He should call his forces including mercenaries off immediately."...."
Human Rights Watch
"....Statements from doctors working in two Tripoli hospitals obtained by Human Rights Watch by email confirmed that at least 62 people have been killed since February 20 but these are figures from only two hospitals. Other witnesses told Human Rights Watch there were at least 50 bodies in the morgue at Abu Salim Hospital, all casualties of clashes over the weekend. A doctor said that Tripoli's Central Hospital had received 12 dead, brought in by emergency services from the area around Green Square, the site of anti-government protests on February 21.
"Anyone, including Muammar Gaddafi, ordering or carrying out atrocities should know they will be held individually accountable for their actions, including unlawful killings of protesters," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "We fear the death toll will rise much higher unless Gaddafi ends his bloody attempts to suppress dissent. He should call his forces including mercenaries off immediately."...."
Gaddafi tells Libyan TV he will die 'as a martyr' rather than quit
TO THE LIBYAN ARMY:
GRANT THE BLOODY BASTARD HIS WISH....
GIVE HIM THE NICOLAE CEAUSESCU TREATMENT.......
TODAY!
Al-Jazeera Video: Stories of "death and destruction" emerge from Libya
"Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal reaches the Egyptian side of the border with Libya and begins to receive reports from those fleeing the country in revolt.
Civilians have rushed to the Al Jazeera team with memory sticks, telling him they contain images of "horrific scenes": planes and helicopter gunships firing indiscriminately, and mercenaries breaking into homes and "slaughtering" people."
Why have things escalated so violently and quickly in Libya?
Ch4: Reports on today's developments in Libya
'Brother' Gaddafi, you're going down
A VERY GOOD COMMENT
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
"You know the fat lady is about to sing when a dictator unleashes hell from above over his own unarmed, civilian compatriots, and bombs parts of his capital city. That's a bridge too far even by the unspeakable standards of Western-backed dictators in the Arab world.....
You know the bells are ringing when your "Abu Omar Brigade", responsible for your protection, is still on a rampage; but your ambassadors around the world defect en masse; your own deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Omar al-Dabashi, says your government is carrying out genocide; your fighter pilots refuse to bomb your cities; your military officers, in a statement, ask all members of the army to head to Tripoli and depose you; a coalition of Islamic leaders tells all Muslims it is their duty to rebel against you because of your "bloody crimes against humanity"; and to top it off, people are calling for a "million man march" following the Egyptian model.....
Still, Gaddafi should not be underestimated. He controls all the hardware - defense, security, foreign affairs. Plus all those "black African" mercenaries/exterminators paid in gold. Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh said Yemen was not Egypt or Tunisia. Gaddafi said Libya was not Egypt or Tunisia. Mubarak said Egypt was not Tunisia.
They were all wrong; the entire Arab world now is Tunisia. The Libyan masses hate "their" leader. Even fellow Arab dictators - with the exception of the House of Saud - hate him. He has few expat options. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez would be crazy to offer him asylum and forever destroy his "champion of the poor" credibility.
Well, there's always Berlusconi. Nice villa near Milan, great pasta, and he can pitch his Bedouin tent in the luxurious gardens. And if Berlusconi is sent to jail in his "Rubygate"-related trial in April, Gaddafi may even move up to the main residence. But, after you bombed your own citizens from the air, and hired mercenaries to shoot them, there is only one choice destination: the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
"You know the fat lady is about to sing when a dictator unleashes hell from above over his own unarmed, civilian compatriots, and bombs parts of his capital city. That's a bridge too far even by the unspeakable standards of Western-backed dictators in the Arab world.....
You know the bells are ringing when your "Abu Omar Brigade", responsible for your protection, is still on a rampage; but your ambassadors around the world defect en masse; your own deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Omar al-Dabashi, says your government is carrying out genocide; your fighter pilots refuse to bomb your cities; your military officers, in a statement, ask all members of the army to head to Tripoli and depose you; a coalition of Islamic leaders tells all Muslims it is their duty to rebel against you because of your "bloody crimes against humanity"; and to top it off, people are calling for a "million man march" following the Egyptian model.....
Still, Gaddafi should not be underestimated. He controls all the hardware - defense, security, foreign affairs. Plus all those "black African" mercenaries/exterminators paid in gold. Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh said Yemen was not Egypt or Tunisia. Gaddafi said Libya was not Egypt or Tunisia. Mubarak said Egypt was not Tunisia.
They were all wrong; the entire Arab world now is Tunisia. The Libyan masses hate "their" leader. Even fellow Arab dictators - with the exception of the House of Saud - hate him. He has few expat options. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez would be crazy to offer him asylum and forever destroy his "champion of the poor" credibility.
Well, there's always Berlusconi. Nice villa near Milan, great pasta, and he can pitch his Bedouin tent in the luxurious gardens. And if Berlusconi is sent to jail in his "Rubygate"-related trial in April, Gaddafi may even move up to the main residence. But, after you bombed your own citizens from the air, and hired mercenaries to shoot them, there is only one choice destination: the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "
طيار ليبي: القذافي قام بتصفية عدد من الضباط رفضوا أوامره
عرب 48
"أكد طيار ليبي انشق عن النظام، أن الرئيس الليبي معمر القذافي قام بتصفية ضباط جيش رفضوا الانصياع لأوامره. ولم يذكر العقيد قاسم ناجعة في حديث مع قناة الجزيرة عدد الضياط الذين تمت تصفيتهم.
ويأتي ذلك في ضوء تطور لافت حيث تداعي عدد من كبار ضباط الجيش للتجمع وحشد قوتهم لتتحرير طرابلس العاصمة. وذكر ناشط سياسي نقلا عن ضابط ليبي أن القذافي رد على مجموعة من الضباط الليبيين طلبوا منه التنحي بالقول: «أنا من صنعت ليبيا وأنا سيبيدها».
....."
"أكد طيار ليبي انشق عن النظام، أن الرئيس الليبي معمر القذافي قام بتصفية ضباط جيش رفضوا الانصياع لأوامره. ولم يذكر العقيد قاسم ناجعة في حديث مع قناة الجزيرة عدد الضياط الذين تمت تصفيتهم.
ويأتي ذلك في ضوء تطور لافت حيث تداعي عدد من كبار ضباط الجيش للتجمع وحشد قوتهم لتتحرير طرابلس العاصمة. وذكر ناشط سياسي نقلا عن ضابط ليبي أن القذافي رد على مجموعة من الضباط الليبيين طلبوا منه التنحي بالقول: «أنا من صنعت ليبيا وأنا سيبيدها».
....."
ماذا يديرون للثورة في الخفاء؟
"إذا كنا قد أدركنا شيئا مما يرتبه فلول النظام السابق في الداخل، فإن ما يرتبه حلفاؤه في الخارج لا يزال خفيا عنا. ومع ذلك فبين أيدينا دليل يبين لنا كيف فكروا في الأمر وتحسبوا له قبل أن يقع، الأمر الذي يسلط ضوءا كاشفا على نواياهم بعد الذي وقع.
....
ديختر في عام 2008: عيوننا وعيون الولايات المتحدة ترصد وتراقب (مصر)، بل وتتدخل من أجل كبح مثل كل السيناريوهات، لأنها ستكون كارثية بالنسبة لإسرائيل والولايات المتحدة والغرب
....
ديختر:
انسحاب مصر من اتفاقية السلام وعودتها إلى خط المواجهة مع إسرائيل يعد خطا أحمر، لا يمكن لأي حكومة إسرائيلية أن تسمح بتجاوزه، وهى ستجد نفسها مرغمة على مواجهة هذا الموقف بكل الوسائل
....
إسرائيل بذلت جهدا كبيرا لمساندة نظام الرئيس مبارك، عن طريق دعوة الحلفاء الأميركيين إلى عدم تقليص حجم الدعم الذي يقدم إلى مصر لتمكين مبارك من مواجهة الضغوط الاجتماعية والاقتصادية المستفحلة التي يمكن أن تحدث انفجارات تهز نظامه
.....
القاعدة الحاكمة لموقف الدولة العبرية هي أن مصر خرجت من ساحة مواجهة إسرائيل ولن تعود إليها مرة أخرى، وهي قاعدة تحظى بالدعم القوي والعملي من جانب الولايات المتحدة
...."
....
ديختر في عام 2008: عيوننا وعيون الولايات المتحدة ترصد وتراقب (مصر)، بل وتتدخل من أجل كبح مثل كل السيناريوهات، لأنها ستكون كارثية بالنسبة لإسرائيل والولايات المتحدة والغرب
....
ديختر:
انسحاب مصر من اتفاقية السلام وعودتها إلى خط المواجهة مع إسرائيل يعد خطا أحمر، لا يمكن لأي حكومة إسرائيلية أن تسمح بتجاوزه، وهى ستجد نفسها مرغمة على مواجهة هذا الموقف بكل الوسائل
....
إسرائيل بذلت جهدا كبيرا لمساندة نظام الرئيس مبارك، عن طريق دعوة الحلفاء الأميركيين إلى عدم تقليص حجم الدعم الذي يقدم إلى مصر لتمكين مبارك من مواجهة الضغوط الاجتماعية والاقتصادية المستفحلة التي يمكن أن تحدث انفجارات تهز نظامه
.....
القاعدة الحاكمة لموقف الدولة العبرية هي أن مصر خرجت من ساحة مواجهة إسرائيل ولن تعود إليها مرة أخرى، وهي قاعدة تحظى بالدعم القوي والعملي من جانب الولايات المتحدة
...."
We can no longer live under Gaddafi's evil subjugation
Libya's oil has protected its regime from criticism abroad. But those who support democracy must back our fight for freedom
Mohamed Abdul Malek
(chairman of Libya Watch)
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 February 2011
".....The coming months will define a period of political change and uncertainty unlike any other in the living history of the Libyan people. One thing that is certain though is that the lethargic and submissive attitude of the people is a thing of the past. No matter what the future holds for Libya, its people have lost the fear that has been instilled in them for so long. They are no longer afraid to die for the country they hold dear, and it is this that will ensure that never again will they allow themselves to be subject to the oppression and subjugation they have lived with under Gaddafi....."
Mohamed Abdul Malek
(chairman of Libya Watch)
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 February 2011
".....The coming months will define a period of political change and uncertainty unlike any other in the living history of the Libyan people. One thing that is certain though is that the lethargic and submissive attitude of the people is a thing of the past. No matter what the future holds for Libya, its people have lost the fear that has been instilled in them for so long. They are no longer afraid to die for the country they hold dear, and it is this that will ensure that never again will they allow themselves to be subject to the oppression and subjugation they have lived with under Gaddafi....."
Cruel. Vainglorious. Steeped in blood. And now, surely, after more than four decades of terror and oppression, on his way out?
Robert Fisk on Muammar Gaddafi, tyrant of Tripoli
"So even the old, paranoid, crazed fox of Libya – the pallid, infantile, droop-cheeked dictator from Sirte, owner of his own female praetorian guard, author of the preposterous Green Book, who once announced he would ride to a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Belgrade on his white charger – is going to ground. Or gone. Last night, the man I first saw more than three decades ago, solemnly saluting a phalanx of black-uniformed frogmen as they flappered their way across the sulphur-hot tarmac of Green Square on a torrid night in Tripoli during a seven-hour military parade, appeared to be on the run at last, pursued – like the dictators of Tunis and Cairo – by his own furious people.
The YouTube and Facebook pictures told the story with a grainy, fuzzed reality, fantasy turned to fire and burning police stations in Benghazi and Tripoli, to corpses and angry, armed men, of a woman with a pistol leaning from a car door, of a crowd of students – were they readers of his literature? – breaking down a concrete replica of his ghastly book. Gunfire and flames and cellphone screams; quite an epitaph for a regime we all, from time to time, supported.
And here, just to lock our minds on to the brain of truly eccentric desire, is a true story. Only a few days ago, as Colonel Muammar Gaddafi faced the wrath of his own people, he met with an old Arab acquaintance and spent 20 minutes out of four hours asking him if he knew of a good surgeon to lift his face. This is – need I say it about this man? – a true story. The old boy looked bad, sagging face, bloated, simply "magnoon" (mad), a comedy actor who had turned to serious tragedy in his last days, desperate for the last make-up lady, the final knock on the theatre door........"
"So even the old, paranoid, crazed fox of Libya – the pallid, infantile, droop-cheeked dictator from Sirte, owner of his own female praetorian guard, author of the preposterous Green Book, who once announced he would ride to a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Belgrade on his white charger – is going to ground. Or gone. Last night, the man I first saw more than three decades ago, solemnly saluting a phalanx of black-uniformed frogmen as they flappered their way across the sulphur-hot tarmac of Green Square on a torrid night in Tripoli during a seven-hour military parade, appeared to be on the run at last, pursued – like the dictators of Tunis and Cairo – by his own furious people.
The YouTube and Facebook pictures told the story with a grainy, fuzzed reality, fantasy turned to fire and burning police stations in Benghazi and Tripoli, to corpses and angry, armed men, of a woman with a pistol leaning from a car door, of a crowd of students – were they readers of his literature? – breaking down a concrete replica of his ghastly book. Gunfire and flames and cellphone screams; quite an epitaph for a regime we all, from time to time, supported.
And here, just to lock our minds on to the brain of truly eccentric desire, is a true story. Only a few days ago, as Colonel Muammar Gaddafi faced the wrath of his own people, he met with an old Arab acquaintance and spent 20 minutes out of four hours asking him if he knew of a good surgeon to lift his face. This is – need I say it about this man? – a true story. The old boy looked bad, sagging face, bloated, simply "magnoon" (mad), a comedy actor who had turned to serious tragedy in his last days, desperate for the last make-up lady, the final knock on the theatre door........"
Sins of the father, sins of the son
While Gaddafi has relied on empty revolutionary slogans to maintain power, his son looks to oil money for his.
A VERY GOOD COMMENT
By Lamis Andoni
Al-Jazeera
"The sheer brutality of the Libyan suppression of anti-government protests has exposed the fallacy of the post-colonial Arab dictatorships, which have relied on revolutionary slogans as their source of legitimacy.
Ever since his ascension to power, through a military coup, in 1969, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has used every piece of revolutionary rhetoric in the book to justify his actions, which include consolidating power in the hands of his relatives and close associates and creating a network of security forces and militias to coerce Libyans into conforming to the whims of his cruel regime.
Through his support for revolutionary movements in different parts of the world - ones, of course, which did not endanger his own rule - he has sought to portray himself as the 'defender of the oppressed', earning the wrath of the West in the process. But the people now courageously defying his regime's savage suppression are sending the message that anti-Western slogans, even if occasionally backed up by support for just causes, can no longer sustain oppressive regimes in the region.
A new era is underway in which leaders will be judged on their ability to represent the aspirations of the people and in which they will be held accountable for their actions. Issuing rallying cries against a foreign enemy, even when that enemy is very real, while inflicting injustice on one's own people will no longer be permitted.
Post-colonial Arab regimes, including those that rode the waves of or even at one point genuinely represented anti-colonial resistance, have had to resort to a reliance on secret police and draconian laws to subordinate their subjects. The lesson is clear: Without a representative democracy, Arab republics have metamorphosed into ugly hereditary dynasties [Syria is another example.] that treat their countries like their own private companies.
While trampling over the interests of his own people, Gaddafi has modeled himself as the champion of the Palestinian cause, reverting to the most fiery verbal attacks on Israel. But this is a recurring theme in a region where leaders must pay lip service to the plight of the Palestinians in order to give their regime the stamp of 'legitimacy'. Gaddafi's 'support', however, did not prevent him from deporting Palestinians living in Libya, leaving them stranded in the dessert, when he sought to "punish the Palestinian leadership" for negotiating with Israel.
But even more cynical than his "pro-Palestinian" stand is his exploitation of the plight of the African people by anointing himself the leader of the continent. It is tragic, if reports prove to be true, that he used migrant sub-Saharan African labourers against the Libyan protesters. But it is, sadly, very believable that a ruthless dictator, driven hysterical by the prospect of losing his wealth and power, might pit the poor and marginalised against the poor and oppressed.
The darling of the West
Seif al-Islam, Gaddafi's son who appeared on Libyan state television to warn that the demonstrators threatened to sink Libya into civil war, unlike his father, does not need to pretend to endorse the world's underprivileged. For his power derives from something altogether different.
When Seif warned that "rivers of blood" would flow if the protests did not stop, he was giving himself the right, merely by virtue of being his father's son [Just like Bashar Assad in Syria!], to dismiss the grievances of millions of people and to issue outrageous threats.
Seif may look and sound more sophisticated [Again, just like the Rabbit of Syria!] than his erratic father, but his performance was one of a feudal lord unable to fathom why his serfs would defy his authority....."
A VERY GOOD COMMENT
By Lamis Andoni
Al-Jazeera
"The sheer brutality of the Libyan suppression of anti-government protests has exposed the fallacy of the post-colonial Arab dictatorships, which have relied on revolutionary slogans as their source of legitimacy.
Ever since his ascension to power, through a military coup, in 1969, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has used every piece of revolutionary rhetoric in the book to justify his actions, which include consolidating power in the hands of his relatives and close associates and creating a network of security forces and militias to coerce Libyans into conforming to the whims of his cruel regime.
Through his support for revolutionary movements in different parts of the world - ones, of course, which did not endanger his own rule - he has sought to portray himself as the 'defender of the oppressed', earning the wrath of the West in the process. But the people now courageously defying his regime's savage suppression are sending the message that anti-Western slogans, even if occasionally backed up by support for just causes, can no longer sustain oppressive regimes in the region.
A new era is underway in which leaders will be judged on their ability to represent the aspirations of the people and in which they will be held accountable for their actions. Issuing rallying cries against a foreign enemy, even when that enemy is very real, while inflicting injustice on one's own people will no longer be permitted.
Post-colonial Arab regimes, including those that rode the waves of or even at one point genuinely represented anti-colonial resistance, have had to resort to a reliance on secret police and draconian laws to subordinate their subjects. The lesson is clear: Without a representative democracy, Arab republics have metamorphosed into ugly hereditary dynasties [Syria is another example.] that treat their countries like their own private companies.
While trampling over the interests of his own people, Gaddafi has modeled himself as the champion of the Palestinian cause, reverting to the most fiery verbal attacks on Israel. But this is a recurring theme in a region where leaders must pay lip service to the plight of the Palestinians in order to give their regime the stamp of 'legitimacy'. Gaddafi's 'support', however, did not prevent him from deporting Palestinians living in Libya, leaving them stranded in the dessert, when he sought to "punish the Palestinian leadership" for negotiating with Israel.
But even more cynical than his "pro-Palestinian" stand is his exploitation of the plight of the African people by anointing himself the leader of the continent. It is tragic, if reports prove to be true, that he used migrant sub-Saharan African labourers against the Libyan protesters. But it is, sadly, very believable that a ruthless dictator, driven hysterical by the prospect of losing his wealth and power, might pit the poor and marginalised against the poor and oppressed.
The darling of the West
Seif al-Islam, Gaddafi's son who appeared on Libyan state television to warn that the demonstrators threatened to sink Libya into civil war, unlike his father, does not need to pretend to endorse the world's underprivileged. For his power derives from something altogether different.
When Seif warned that "rivers of blood" would flow if the protests did not stop, he was giving himself the right, merely by virtue of being his father's son [Just like Bashar Assad in Syria!], to dismiss the grievances of millions of people and to issue outrageous threats.
Seif may look and sound more sophisticated [Again, just like the Rabbit of Syria!] than his erratic father, but his performance was one of a feudal lord unable to fathom why his serfs would defy his authority....."
What next for the 'Mad Dog' of Libya?
A GREAT COMMENT
By Jamal Elshayyal
Al-Jazeera
"2011 has already proven lie to the idea that the Arab world ever needed foreign help in order to achieve democracy; and now it could prove false the notion that the American administration and other Western governments ever cared about human rights or self determination. Unfortunately, this will be done through the massacring of hundreds if not thousands of innocent Libyans.
It has already become apparent that fear and apathy no longer cripple the Arab world, the volcano that is the Middle East of today is no longer dormant, and as it begins to erupt, those who foolishly continue to try and suppress it eventually burn or melt away.
For decades, the Arab world has settled for corrupt, ignorant, treacherous despots as their leaders. For a generation, and in some cases two, Arabs lived in constant fear of expressing dissent, a fear so crippling it deemed them useless, incompetent and ultimately irrelevant . But the region has now been revived by its youth who have shown in Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya that they know no fear, that they would rather die standing than live on their knees.....
Gaddafi's son, Saif, has threatened to kill hundreds of thousands of Libyans - on TV. What was the reaction from "the free world"?
Despite the horrific barbarism used by Gaddafi to try and suppress his people, Libyans remain steadfast, determined to realise their dream of living in a democratic and free country. But they do this in spite of "the free world", they do this despite the best efforts of Washington, London and Rome, all of whom have and continue to prop up Gaddafi.
It amazes me why these governments fail to realise that we no longer live in a world where oppression is okay. I am baffled as to how those working in the State Department have yet to comprehend that the Middle East is no longer their playground, the Arab people will no longer be subjected to the dictatorial rule of puppet despots propped up by greedy, racist and corrupt regimes.
2011 is proving to be a turning point, a new beginning for the free people of this region, from what I hear, see and know about the Arab people, they want nothing more than to embark on this new beginning with their fellow free humans in the West; its a shame that Western governments seem to be as opposed to freedom and democracy as the despots who have ruled the Arab world for decades."
By Jamal Elshayyal
Al-Jazeera
"2011 has already proven lie to the idea that the Arab world ever needed foreign help in order to achieve democracy; and now it could prove false the notion that the American administration and other Western governments ever cared about human rights or self determination. Unfortunately, this will be done through the massacring of hundreds if not thousands of innocent Libyans.
It has already become apparent that fear and apathy no longer cripple the Arab world, the volcano that is the Middle East of today is no longer dormant, and as it begins to erupt, those who foolishly continue to try and suppress it eventually burn or melt away.
For decades, the Arab world has settled for corrupt, ignorant, treacherous despots as their leaders. For a generation, and in some cases two, Arabs lived in constant fear of expressing dissent, a fear so crippling it deemed them useless, incompetent and ultimately irrelevant . But the region has now been revived by its youth who have shown in Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya that they know no fear, that they would rather die standing than live on their knees.....
Gaddafi's son, Saif, has threatened to kill hundreds of thousands of Libyans - on TV. What was the reaction from "the free world"?
Despite the horrific barbarism used by Gaddafi to try and suppress his people, Libyans remain steadfast, determined to realise their dream of living in a democratic and free country. But they do this in spite of "the free world", they do this despite the best efforts of Washington, London and Rome, all of whom have and continue to prop up Gaddafi.
It amazes me why these governments fail to realise that we no longer live in a world where oppression is okay. I am baffled as to how those working in the State Department have yet to comprehend that the Middle East is no longer their playground, the Arab people will no longer be subjected to the dictatorial rule of puppet despots propped up by greedy, racist and corrupt regimes.
2011 is proving to be a turning point, a new beginning for the free people of this region, from what I hear, see and know about the Arab people, they want nothing more than to embark on this new beginning with their fellow free humans in the West; its a shame that Western governments seem to be as opposed to freedom and democracy as the despots who have ruled the Arab world for decades."
Live Blog - Libya Feb 22
Al-Jazeera
"As the uprising in Libya enters its ninth day, we keep you updated on the developing situation from our headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
AJE Live Stream
February 22
1:26 pm Within the past half-hour, Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal arrived at Sidi Barani, a town on the Egyptian side of the border with Libya, a little more than 500km east of Benghazi, the site of some of the biggest anti-regime protests and worst violence. Libyan emigrants have "rushed" to his crew to share memory sticks full of pictures and video from recent days. There is a "terrible" story to be told, Elshayyal says.
...
..."
"As the uprising in Libya enters its ninth day, we keep you updated on the developing situation from our headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
AJE Live Stream
February 22
1:26 pm Within the past half-hour, Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal arrived at Sidi Barani, a town on the Egyptian side of the border with Libya, a little more than 500km east of Benghazi, the site of some of the biggest anti-regime protests and worst violence. Libyan emigrants have "rushed" to his crew to share memory sticks full of pictures and video from recent days. There is a "terrible" story to be told, Elshayyal says.
...
..."
Libyan diplomats defect en masse
Envoys at key embassies across the world disown Gaddafi's regime in protest over violent crackdown against protesters.
Al-Jazeera
"Diplomats at Libyan embassies in the US, the United Nations, the Arab League, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Poland, India and Bangladesh, among others, have either resigned from their posts, or disavowed links to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's government.
Many say that they now stand with the protesters, and have called for international intervention into what at least one deputy ambassador termed a "genocide".
We present here a snapshot of their statements.....
Ali Aujali, Ambassador to the United States....
Ibrahim Dabbashi, Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations.....
Al-Jazeera
"Diplomats at Libyan embassies in the US, the United Nations, the Arab League, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Poland, India and Bangladesh, among others, have either resigned from their posts, or disavowed links to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's government.
Many say that they now stand with the protesters, and have called for international intervention into what at least one deputy ambassador termed a "genocide".
We present here a snapshot of their statements.....
Ali Aujali, Ambassador to the United States....
Ibrahim Dabbashi, Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations.....
......"
Monday, February 21, 2011
#Hamma #Syria
Comment by Zarathustra
Watching Al-Jazeera today while the Libya massacre was unfolding, and reports were coming in about the use of fighter jets and artillery and other heavy weaponry against the population of Libya by the psychotic Gadaffi I could not help but remember a forgotten massacre that occurred in Syria in February 1982.
While pundits, experts and eyewitnesses were describing the deadly scenes on the air taking place in Tripoli , and saying “we have never seen a president act so ruthlessly against the population before” I wondered how many people actually know or have heard of what Hafez Al-Assad and his regime did exactly 29 years ago.
One can argue that Syrians were the first to rise up and rebel against a tyrant back in 1982. Back then there was no Al-jazeera, smart phones, youtube or anything else to help the truth come out. So when the Syrian army and “special forces” besieged the city of Hama on February 3rd 1982 and bombed it from the air and land for 3 weeks before entering it and hunting down what the regime refers to as “terrorists” and executed them and their “sympathizers” there was no one to show the world what took place. Not a single report or news agency knew that the Syrian army and regime were conducting what came to be known as “the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East" (Robin Wright)
When the dust settled so to speak over 18,000 people were killed (per Robert Fisk) that is 858 people per day, or 36 person per hour or 0.6 people per minute. Others estimate the numbers to be much higher, somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000.
No one was spared, not a child, women, elderly, Christian or Muslim (whether he belonged the brotherhood or not). To put it in perspective in 3 weeks Israel with all its might and brutality killed 1400 in its savage campaign against the civilian population in Gaza and the USA -the standard of post world war 2 war crimes- killed 5000 in its 3 week campaign in Falujah.
The Regime responsible for that massacre still rules Syria today, and while Hafez Al-Assad is dead, his son Bashar inherited Syria from him 11 years ago as a president for life (he succeeded in giving his son the country something that Sadaam, Mubarak, Gadafi and Saleh failed to do). Most of the culprits are still around with enough blood on their hands to serve lifetimes in prison or be executed multiple times. The same regime that has been terrorizing Syrians with fear and its mukhabarat and the world’s latest torture techniques for over 40 years is still in charge, lying every day to the population about how it will “liberate” Occupied Golan when the right moment comes and denying the population every basic human right.
As we see one tyrant fall after the other let us not forget the brave Syrians who tried to rise up and were crushed like no other and let us hope the new generation will follow the foot steps of the Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans and bring an end to yet another tyrant and finaly punish those murderers of the people of Hama and Syria.
Gaddafi commits genocide: Libyan envoy
The Libyan deputy ambassador to the United Nations has called on the country's ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, to step down and face trial over "war crimes and genocide."
""He has to leave as soon as possible. He has to stop killing the Libyan people," Ibrahim Dabbashi told CNN on Monday.
"The Libyan people have been patient enough for the last 42 years and I think he has to give up and he has to leave the country as soon as possible," Dabbashi added.
Speaking to the state-funded BBC, the Libyan official also said, "I think it is the end of Colonel Gaddafi, it is a matter of days, whether he steps down or the Libyan people will get rid of him anyway.”
"Certainly the best scenario is to have him before the court, to prosecute him and to know from him everything about the crimes he committed before…or the genocide he is committing now or the disappearance of certain important personalities... and all the other crimes he has committed during the 42 years in power,” he went on to say.
The Libyan mission staff at the United Nations has already written a letter, calling on Gaddafi to renounce power, Dabbashi said.
"I call on all countries of the world also to not permit Gaddafi to escape inside their territories and I call on them to watch carefully any amount of money which may be flown outside of Libya," he urged...."
""He has to leave as soon as possible. He has to stop killing the Libyan people," Ibrahim Dabbashi told CNN on Monday.
"The Libyan people have been patient enough for the last 42 years and I think he has to give up and he has to leave the country as soon as possible," Dabbashi added.
Speaking to the state-funded BBC, the Libyan official also said, "I think it is the end of Colonel Gaddafi, it is a matter of days, whether he steps down or the Libyan people will get rid of him anyway.”
"Certainly the best scenario is to have him before the court, to prosecute him and to know from him everything about the crimes he committed before…or the genocide he is committing now or the disappearance of certain important personalities... and all the other crimes he has committed during the 42 years in power,” he went on to say.
The Libyan mission staff at the United Nations has already written a letter, calling on Gaddafi to renounce power, Dabbashi said.
"I call on all countries of the world also to not permit Gaddafi to escape inside their territories and I call on them to watch carefully any amount of money which may be flown outside of Libya," he urged...."
Libya's falling tyrant
Gaddafi reaps what he has sown during his four-decade rule: terror, nepotism, tribal politics and abuse of power.
A VERY GOOD COMMENT
Larbi Sadiki
Al-Jazeera
".....Why is the revolution that ousted Tunisia's Ben Ali proving to be infectious? The reasons can be summed up by the following factors: the presence of a Ben Ali-type hegemon; dynastic and nepotistic rot; monarchical republicanism; rampant corruption; the marginalisation of young people; human rights violations; information control and a police state.
All of these conditions apply to Libya. The only good in Gaddafi’s Libya is the absence of elections, which spared the Gaddafi’s revolutionary committees the additional misdemeanour of rigging them.
In addition to these factors, the eastern region, namely Benghazi, has been deprived of the dividends of petroleum. In a country with one of the longest stretches of coastline and high oil production, income and opportunity should be available to citizens. But this is has not been the case. Now, Gaddafi is reaping what he has sown."
A VERY GOOD COMMENT
Larbi Sadiki
Al-Jazeera
".....Why is the revolution that ousted Tunisia's Ben Ali proving to be infectious? The reasons can be summed up by the following factors: the presence of a Ben Ali-type hegemon; dynastic and nepotistic rot; monarchical republicanism; rampant corruption; the marginalisation of young people; human rights violations; information control and a police state.
All of these conditions apply to Libya. The only good in Gaddafi’s Libya is the absence of elections, which spared the Gaddafi’s revolutionary committees the additional misdemeanour of rigging them.
In addition to these factors, the eastern region, namely Benghazi, has been deprived of the dividends of petroleum. In a country with one of the longest stretches of coastline and high oil production, income and opportunity should be available to citizens. But this is has not been the case. Now, Gaddafi is reaping what he has sown."
Gaddafis warn their departure would lead to endless war in Libya. Why?
The Libyan leader claimed he was clinging to power to prevent tribal conflict
Hisham Matar
( Hisham Matar is the son of a prominent Libyan dissident and author of the Booker shortlisted novel In the Country of Men.)
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 February 2011
"The current pro-democracy uprising in Libya is not even a week old yet the scale of the carnage and loss of life is already greater than that in Tunisia and Egypt. Security forces and hired mercenaries have left hundreds dead and thousands injured. The internet has been down since last Wednesday. Many places have not had mobile phone coverage, and now it has become impossible to contact anyone anywhere in Libya.
It is under these circumstances that, in a desperate attempt to cling to power, Colonel Gaddafi decided to unveil his most presentable son, Saif al-Islam. The young Gaddafi gave a speech to rival the absurdity of all his father's speeches. Through a long and rambling stretch, during which he either wagged his finger at the camera or stared blankly at the table in front of him, a table that seemed to stand too high and too close, he offered one threat after another.
One of his most repeated warnings was that of civil war. According to Saif al-Islam, without the Gaddafis Libya would descend into an "endless war". Why? Because the tribal character of Libyan society exasperates and demands such a war, he claimed.......
And although these tribes, their traditions and nature, have promoted provincialism, Libyan history has not shown them to be a cause for civil wars. In fact, the opposite is the case, they have provided national stability through some of Libya's more turbulent chapters and created regional and national structures of power that weren't as aggressively hierarchical as Gaddafi's. It is for this reason, shortly after his military coup in 1969, that the colonel decided to play the tribes against each other.
Using the tribes to divide and rule is not the only trick the current heir to the blood-drenched throne has learned from his father. His PR-coached reformist jargon suddenly gave way to the familiar grammar of dictatorship: threats and rewards, barbarism and bribery.
And now we see the horrible finale unfold, exposing the grotesque nature of a regime that is willing to hold on to power regardless of the consequences. There are reports of planes firing on demonstrators in Tripoli and Benghazi. The death toll is rising.
The Libyan people are witnessing the last lashings of a dying beast. He has oppressed them for 41 years. Forty-one years of disappearances, summary executions, theft and corruption, and 41 years of humiliation."
Hisham Matar
( Hisham Matar is the son of a prominent Libyan dissident and author of the Booker shortlisted novel In the Country of Men.)
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 February 2011
"The current pro-democracy uprising in Libya is not even a week old yet the scale of the carnage and loss of life is already greater than that in Tunisia and Egypt. Security forces and hired mercenaries have left hundreds dead and thousands injured. The internet has been down since last Wednesday. Many places have not had mobile phone coverage, and now it has become impossible to contact anyone anywhere in Libya.
It is under these circumstances that, in a desperate attempt to cling to power, Colonel Gaddafi decided to unveil his most presentable son, Saif al-Islam. The young Gaddafi gave a speech to rival the absurdity of all his father's speeches. Through a long and rambling stretch, during which he either wagged his finger at the camera or stared blankly at the table in front of him, a table that seemed to stand too high and too close, he offered one threat after another.
One of his most repeated warnings was that of civil war. According to Saif al-Islam, without the Gaddafis Libya would descend into an "endless war". Why? Because the tribal character of Libyan society exasperates and demands such a war, he claimed.......
And although these tribes, their traditions and nature, have promoted provincialism, Libyan history has not shown them to be a cause for civil wars. In fact, the opposite is the case, they have provided national stability through some of Libya's more turbulent chapters and created regional and national structures of power that weren't as aggressively hierarchical as Gaddafi's. It is for this reason, shortly after his military coup in 1969, that the colonel decided to play the tribes against each other.
Using the tribes to divide and rule is not the only trick the current heir to the blood-drenched throne has learned from his father. His PR-coached reformist jargon suddenly gave way to the familiar grammar of dictatorship: threats and rewards, barbarism and bribery.
And now we see the horrible finale unfold, exposing the grotesque nature of a regime that is willing to hold on to power regardless of the consequences. There are reports of planes firing on demonstrators in Tripoli and Benghazi. The death toll is rising.
The Libyan people are witnessing the last lashings of a dying beast. He has oppressed them for 41 years. Forty-one years of disappearances, summary executions, theft and corruption, and 41 years of humiliation."
The Stooge Abbas Must be Terrified; He Does Not Want the Fate of Bin Ali, Mubarak, Gaddafi,....
Tempers flare in West Bank after 'decision against the people'
"RAMALLAH, WEST BANK: Palestinians gathered in the West Bank yesterday to protest against the US veto that nixed a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, as the Fatah Prime Minister proposed forming a unity government with militant group Hamas.
A crowd of thousands massed in Ramallah's Manara Square, a central roundabout in the West Bank city, waving banners and shouting slogans against the administration of Barack Obama.
"Obama, you despicable man, we want self-determination," shouted protesters, many of them members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party. Fatah committee member Mahmud al-Alul told the crowd: "This decision is against the Palestinian people and its freedom, and it supports Israeli injustice, oppression and occupation.
"We tell Obama that we are a people that doesn't bow to anyone," he said, before demonstrators cried "Get out Obama, get out you settler"....."
"RAMALLAH, WEST BANK: Palestinians gathered in the West Bank yesterday to protest against the US veto that nixed a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, as the Fatah Prime Minister proposed forming a unity government with militant group Hamas.
A crowd of thousands massed in Ramallah's Manara Square, a central roundabout in the West Bank city, waving banners and shouting slogans against the administration of Barack Obama.
"Obama, you despicable man, we want self-determination," shouted protesters, many of them members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party. Fatah committee member Mahmud al-Alul told the crowd: "This decision is against the Palestinian people and its freedom, and it supports Israeli injustice, oppression and occupation.
"We tell Obama that we are a people that doesn't bow to anyone," he said, before demonstrators cried "Get out Obama, get out you settler"....."
'Place Tahrir' (Tahrir Square) in the city of Nantes, France
City of Nantes renames it's Place de La Liberation, Tahrir Square!
Libya protests: 'Now we've seen the blood our fears have gone'
Mercenary attacks fail to deter anti-Gaddafi protests as people tell of bloodshed despite the news blackout
Angelique Chrisafis
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 February 2011
"As determined demonstrators against Gaddafi headed to the vast, palm-tree fringed Green Square in central Tripoli on Monday, protesters talked of the gathering as the "new Tahrir Square".
Inspired by Egypt's revolution, they vowed to sleep out in the centre of Libyan's Mediterranean port capital there until "the job was done" and the Libyan dictator had fled.
With the death toll estimated by Libyan rights groups to be more than 400 in five days, this seemed an almost impossibly dangerous challenge. But shocked by the scale of the violent repression of the protests, many felt they had nothing left to lose, according to exiled activists who described the scene.
With phonelines cut off all day, the internet connection patchy, and no foreign journalists allowed in, a news blackout on the ground disorientated residents who couldn't contact relatives. Reporters had to rely on accounts by human rights networks and exiled opposition activists.
But within hours, reports began to filter through about the deafening sound of military aircraft targeting demonstrators in what opposition groups warned was a "massacre". For the second night running, Gaddafi appeared to have deployed a shoot-to-kill policy to disperse the protests that had spread to the capital from the east of the country....."
Angelique Chrisafis
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 February 2011
"As determined demonstrators against Gaddafi headed to the vast, palm-tree fringed Green Square in central Tripoli on Monday, protesters talked of the gathering as the "new Tahrir Square".
Inspired by Egypt's revolution, they vowed to sleep out in the centre of Libyan's Mediterranean port capital there until "the job was done" and the Libyan dictator had fled.
With the death toll estimated by Libyan rights groups to be more than 400 in five days, this seemed an almost impossibly dangerous challenge. But shocked by the scale of the violent repression of the protests, many felt they had nothing left to lose, according to exiled activists who described the scene.
With phonelines cut off all day, the internet connection patchy, and no foreign journalists allowed in, a news blackout on the ground disorientated residents who couldn't contact relatives. Reporters had to rely on accounts by human rights networks and exiled opposition activists.
But within hours, reports began to filter through about the deafening sound of military aircraft targeting demonstrators in what opposition groups warned was a "massacre". For the second night running, Gaddafi appeared to have deployed a shoot-to-kill policy to disperse the protests that had spread to the capital from the east of the country....."
مصادر للجزيرة: طائرتان حربيتان تهبطان في بنغازي بعد رفض قائديهما قصف المدينة مصادر للجزيرة: قصف جوي في مدينة الزاوية غرب طرابلس الشيخ يوسف القرضاوي يفتي بقتل معمر القذافي مصادر للجزيرة: مجلس الجامعة العربية ينعقد الثلاثاء لبحث الوضع في ليبيا السفير الليبي بواشنطن للجزيرة يدين الطريقة التي يتم فيها قمع المتظاهرين في ليبيا، ويعتبر ما يجري عملا عدوانيا الجزيرة تسمح لجميع القنوات الراغبة في نقل بثها القيام بذلك نظرا للتشويش المتعمد على إشارتها النائب العام المصري يطلب تجميد أرصدة الرئيس السابق حسني مبارك وأسرته في الخارج الإخوان المسلمون بمصر يقررون تشكيل حزب سياسي نشطاء مصريون يدعون إلى مسيرة مليونية للمطالبة بإقالة الحكومة المؤقتة
Libya in crisis - live updates
• Reports of gunfire and navy bombing in Tripoli
• Eastern cities reported to be in opposition control
"7.04pm: An interesting development in London. Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 news has just tweeted that the Libyan embassy in London has replaced the official national flag with the pre-Gaddafi era version, favoured by many of those involved in the current uprising...."
• Eastern cities reported to be in opposition control
"7.04pm: An interesting development in London. Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 news has just tweeted that the Libyan embassy in London has replaced the official national flag with the pre-Gaddafi era version, favoured by many of those involved in the current uprising...."
LIBYA: Colonels defected to Malta rather than bomb protesters
"The pilots of two Libyan military jets that landed in Malta on Monday are "senior colonels" who were ordered to bomb protesters, Al Jazeera satellite network reports.
The colonels say they refused to bomb protesters demonstrating against Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and instead defected to Malta, according to Al Jazeera reporter Karl Stagno-Novarra in Malta.
The pilots reportedly told Maltese officials they were based in Tripoli and ordered to attack protesters in Benghazi. After seeing fellow pilots begin bombing, the colonels changed course and headed for Malta, according to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera has been relaying eyewitness reports of airstrikes Monday, but cautioned that the bombings could not be verified.
Clashes in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Monday left 160 dead, Al Arabiya network quoted eyewitnesses as saying Monday."
The colonels say they refused to bomb protesters demonstrating against Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and instead defected to Malta, according to Al Jazeera reporter Karl Stagno-Novarra in Malta.
The pilots reportedly told Maltese officials they were based in Tripoli and ordered to attack protesters in Benghazi. After seeing fellow pilots begin bombing, the colonels changed course and headed for Malta, according to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera has been relaying eyewitness reports of airstrikes Monday, but cautioned that the bombings could not be verified.
Clashes in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Monday left 160 dead, Al Arabiya network quoted eyewitnesses as saying Monday."
Military aircraft 'attack Libya crowds'
THE INDEPENDENT
"Deep cracks opened up in Colonel Gadhafi's regime after more than 40 years in power, with diplomats abroad and the justice minister at home resigning, air force pilots defecting and a fire raging at the main government hall after clashes in the capital Tripoli.
Meanwhile protesters called for another night of defiance in Tripoli's main square despite the government's heavy crackdown and Gadhafi's regime appeared to be preparing a new major assault in the capital in an attempt to crush unrest that has already swept the eastern parts of the country — leaving Libya's second largest city in protesters' control — and was now overwhelming the capital of 2 million people......
Military warplanes were seen swooping low over the city in the evening, and snipers had taken position on the roofs of buildings around Tripoli, apparently to stop people from outside the capital from joining the march, according to Mohammed Abdul-Malek, a London-based opposition activist in touch with residents....."
"Deep cracks opened up in Colonel Gadhafi's regime after more than 40 years in power, with diplomats abroad and the justice minister at home resigning, air force pilots defecting and a fire raging at the main government hall after clashes in the capital Tripoli.
Meanwhile protesters called for another night of defiance in Tripoli's main square despite the government's heavy crackdown and Gadhafi's regime appeared to be preparing a new major assault in the capital in an attempt to crush unrest that has already swept the eastern parts of the country — leaving Libya's second largest city in protesters' control — and was now overwhelming the capital of 2 million people......
Military warplanes were seen swooping low over the city in the evening, and snipers had taken position on the roofs of buildings around Tripoli, apparently to stop people from outside the capital from joining the march, according to Mohammed Abdul-Malek, a London-based opposition activist in touch with residents....."
شهود: مقتل 250 شخصاً في قصف جوي لطرابلس
شهود: مقتل 250 شخصاً في قصف جوي لطرابلس
عرب 48 ووكالات
تاريخ النشر: 21/02/2011 - ساعة النشر: 20:07
قال مقيم في العاصمة الليبية طرابلس لقناة الجزيرة في بث مباشر ان طائرات حربية قصفت كثيرا من المواقع في طرابلس مساء اليوم
الاثنين.
ونقلت القناة عن شاهد قوله ان 250 شخصاً استشهدوا في القصف الجوي للمدينة.
وقال عادل محمد صالح الذي يقيم في طرابلس ان ما شهدته المدينة مساء اليوم الاثنين امر لا يمكن تخيله فالطائرات الحربية وطائرات الهليكوبتر تقصف منطقة بعد اخرى بلا تمييز. وقال ان ثمة عددا كبيرا من القتلى.
وسئل ان كان القصف ما زال جاريا فقال انه مستمر وكل من يتحرك حتى ولو في سيارته يتعرض للقصف.
وقالت قناة الجزيرة مساء اليوم الاثنين ان طائرات حربية أطلقت نيران ذخيرة حية على حشود من المتظاهرين المناهضين لحكم القذافي في طرابلس.
وقامت وحدات من "المرتزقة" باستخدام الأسلحة النارية لتفريق المتظاهرين، المطالبين. وافادت الجزيرة بأن السلطات تستخدم الطيران الحربي ضد المتظاهرين، وأن الاتصالات الهاتفية في المدينة قد قطعت.
بالمقابل ذكر التلفزيون الليبي أن جماعات تخريبية منظمة تنشط في البلاد، ودعا المواطنين إلى التعاون مع الأجهزة الأمنية والشرطة في جميع أنحاء ليبيا للسيطرة على الوضع.
وأعلن التلفزيون الرسمي الليبي عن سقوط "عدة ضحايا" لدى قيام قوات الامن اللييبة بعملية استهدفت "الجهات التخريبية"، حسب توصيفهـ في ليبيا التي تشهد تظاهرات عارمة للاطاحة بنظام معمر القذافي. وأفاد عن "سقوط عدة ضحايا بسبب مداهمة أوكار الجهات التخريبية".
ولفت التلفزيون الرسمي إلى أن قوات الأمن "قامت بمداهمة أوكار التخريب والرعب المدفوع بالحقد على ليبيا، وعلى الأخوة المواطنين التعاون لبسط الامن". كما دعا المواطنين الى "الانتباه للعصابات التي تقوم بتخريب ليبيا وضرورة التعاون مع قوات الأمن والشرطة في كل مكان من ليبيا".
عرب 48 ووكالات
تاريخ النشر: 21/02/2011 - ساعة النشر: 20:07
قال مقيم في العاصمة الليبية طرابلس لقناة الجزيرة في بث مباشر ان طائرات حربية قصفت كثيرا من المواقع في طرابلس مساء اليوم
الاثنين.
ونقلت القناة عن شاهد قوله ان 250 شخصاً استشهدوا في القصف الجوي للمدينة.
وقال عادل محمد صالح الذي يقيم في طرابلس ان ما شهدته المدينة مساء اليوم الاثنين امر لا يمكن تخيله فالطائرات الحربية وطائرات الهليكوبتر تقصف منطقة بعد اخرى بلا تمييز. وقال ان ثمة عددا كبيرا من القتلى.
وسئل ان كان القصف ما زال جاريا فقال انه مستمر وكل من يتحرك حتى ولو في سيارته يتعرض للقصف.
وقالت قناة الجزيرة مساء اليوم الاثنين ان طائرات حربية أطلقت نيران ذخيرة حية على حشود من المتظاهرين المناهضين لحكم القذافي في طرابلس.
وقامت وحدات من "المرتزقة" باستخدام الأسلحة النارية لتفريق المتظاهرين، المطالبين. وافادت الجزيرة بأن السلطات تستخدم الطيران الحربي ضد المتظاهرين، وأن الاتصالات الهاتفية في المدينة قد قطعت.
بالمقابل ذكر التلفزيون الليبي أن جماعات تخريبية منظمة تنشط في البلاد، ودعا المواطنين إلى التعاون مع الأجهزة الأمنية والشرطة في جميع أنحاء ليبيا للسيطرة على الوضع.
وأعلن التلفزيون الرسمي الليبي عن سقوط "عدة ضحايا" لدى قيام قوات الامن اللييبة بعملية استهدفت "الجهات التخريبية"، حسب توصيفهـ في ليبيا التي تشهد تظاهرات عارمة للاطاحة بنظام معمر القذافي. وأفاد عن "سقوط عدة ضحايا بسبب مداهمة أوكار الجهات التخريبية".
ولفت التلفزيون الرسمي إلى أن قوات الأمن "قامت بمداهمة أوكار التخريب والرعب المدفوع بالحقد على ليبيا، وعلى الأخوة المواطنين التعاون لبسط الامن". كما دعا المواطنين الى "الانتباه للعصابات التي تقوم بتخريب ليبيا وضرورة التعاون مع قوات الأمن والشرطة في كل مكان من ليبيا".
The Arab Democracy Movement Reaches (NOT) Gaza!
Hamas orders male hairstylists out of lady salons
"GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A Gaza rights group says the ruling Hamas militant group has barred male hairdressers from working in women's salons.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said Monday that five male hairdressers were interrogated and forced to sign declarations that they wouldn't work in women's salons. Male hairdressers for women are rare in conservative Gaza where genders rarely mix in public.
Hamas tried to impose a similar ban last March, but backed down after an outcry.
It's the latest attempt by Hamas to impose its strict version of Islamic law on Gaza's 1.5 million people. The group took control of Gaza in 2007. It has also banned women from smoking waterpipes or riding behind men on motorbikes."
"GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A Gaza rights group says the ruling Hamas militant group has barred male hairdressers from working in women's salons.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said Monday that five male hairdressers were interrogated and forced to sign declarations that they wouldn't work in women's salons. Male hairdressers for women are rare in conservative Gaza where genders rarely mix in public.
Hamas tried to impose a similar ban last March, but backed down after an outcry.
It's the latest attempt by Hamas to impose its strict version of Islamic law on Gaza's 1.5 million people. The group took control of Gaza in 2007. It has also banned women from smoking waterpipes or riding behind men on motorbikes."
Massacre in Libya: Witnesses Say Protesters Have Taken Control of Benghazi Despite Gov’t Violence
"After a week of deadly unrest in the North African country of Libya, tens of thousands of people celebrated Sunday as they retook the streets of the eastern city of Benghazi. Residents say some soldiers joined the protesters and defeated a force of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s elite guard. Others say the military has left the city. This comes after days of brutal violence. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 300 people have been killed in Libya this week. Clashes have reportedly reached the capital city of Tripoli. For more on the situation in Benghazi, we spoke by phone to a protester named Haithem last night...."
“Libya is Forever Changed by These Events”: Libyan Poet and Scholar Khaled Mattawa on the Pro-Democracy Movement Amid Government Violence
"After a week of pro-democracy demonstrations in Libya that left more than 300 people dead, protesters have continued to demand an end to the 42-year regime of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. One of Gaddafi’s sons, Seif Islam Gaddafi, addressed the nation over Libyan State TV on Sunday, and threatened there would be civil war if the protests did not end. For more we are joined by the acclaimed Libyan poet and scholar, Khaled Mattawa. “I think the regime is over even if Gaddafi manages to survive,” Mattawa says. “Libyans are saying, ‘Yes we will have a new constitution, perhaps we will have a new flag. But we do not want you or your father or the rest of your plan, so get out of here.”..."
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