More than 110 cruise missiles fired at Lybia

ninky_2

FTBFun wrote: »

Are you sure?

It appears the protests in 2006 were originally against the cartoons, but turned into protects against Gaddafi, and the ones in 2011 were in memory of this particular action not the cartoons one.

I somehow doubt civil war has developed from the cartoons fiasco.

i'm not suggesting civil war has developed from the cartoons alone. however i am saying that the nclo who seem to be one group at the centre of the rebel cause contain previous allies of bin laden and have also criticized gaddafi for criticized the islamic veil and various other "unislamic" acts on their website.

it seems that the west's support of the rebels is merely due to having a common enemy (gaddafi) rather than any sense that the rebels are more pro-western.

http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/03/war-with-libya.html

A Time-line of Western meddling in Libya:

1980's: US-CIA backed National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL) made multiple attempts to assassinate Qaddafi and initiate armed rebellion throughout Libya.
1990's: Noman Benotman and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) wage a campaign of terror against Qaddafi with Osama Bin Laden's assistance, as well as MI6.
2005: NFSL's Ibrahim Sahad founds the National Conference of Libyan Opposition (NCLO) in London England.
2011: Early February, the London based NCLO calls for a Libyan "Day of Rage," beginning the "February 17th revolution."
2011: Late February NFSL/NCLO's Ibrahim Sahad is leading opposition rhetoric, literally in front of the White House in Washington D.C. Calls for no-fly zone in reaction to unsubstantiated accusations Qaddafi is strafing "unarmed protesters" with warplanes.
2011: Late February Senators Lieberman and McCain and UK PM David Cameron call for providing air cover for Libyan rebels as well as providing them additional arms.
2011: Early March; it is revealed UK SAS special forces are already operating inside Libya
2011: Mid-March; UN adopts no-fly zone over Libya, including air strikes.

As we can see, the attempt to oust Qaddafi, barring unsubstantiated reports from the BBC, Al Jazeera, and the Israeli media, form a continuous, linear time-line of attacks, interference, and the backing of rebel groups including the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LFIG) which received the "auspicious" support of both Al Qaeda and British MI6. One of the leaders of the LIFG, Noman Benotman, now resides happily in London after admittedly consorting with Bin Laden. He divides his time between "fighting extremism" within the ranks of the Quilliam Foundation and giving the Libyan rebels rhetorical support throughout the mainstream media.

It should also be no surprise that Benotman's "Quilliam Foundation," despite being opposed to extremism, has been great supporters of the armed Libyan rebellion and has published a paper specifically addressing building a coalition against Qaddafi. It appears that while Benotman allegedly disbanded the LIFG, he is now merely backing another group of armed militants (including recently released LIFG fighters) carrying on his mission to oust Qaddafi.

ninky_2

US Nato commander admits Al qaeda links among libyan 'rebels'.

http://www.darkpolitricks.com/2011/03/us-nato-commander-admits-al-qaeda-linked-to-libyan-rebels/

A top ranking NATO Commander has admitted that intelligence has uncovered elements of “al qaeda” amongst Libyan rebel fighters currently receiving tactical military support from US and European led operations inside the country.

The admission serves as yet more confirmation that radical Islamic fundamentalists are part of the opposition groups attempting to oust the nationalist dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi, with the help of the US and its NATO allies.

“We are examining very closely the content, composition, the personalities, who are the leaders of these opposition forces,” Admiral James Stavridis, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, and also the commander of U.S. European Command, said during testimony at the U.S. Senate.

“…we have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al Qaeda, Hezbollah, we’ve seen different things.” Stavridis said, while adding that the rebels leadership appeared to be comprised also of “responsible men and women”.

vivatifosi

Tbh I'm not sure where I stand on this one ninky. I was vehemently opposed to the war in Iraq but agreed with the instigation of the no fly zone over Benghazi because I was concerned about the imminent destruction of the city and loss of lives having heard Gaddafi's rhetoric. However I am very disturbed by the elasticity of the no fly zone rules and where it goes from here. I can see good grounds for intervening in conflicts to avoid genocide, but taking one side over the other in a war that is none of our business. That I can't see. I do find the thought of Al Qaeda in Libya chilling given that it is a hop skip and a jump from Malta and Italy, but I find Gaddafi and his thuggish regime equally repellant given that both are prone to massive acts of terrorism.

ninky_2

vivatifosi wrote: »

I do find the thought of Al Qaeda in Libya chilling given that it is a hop skip and a jump from Malta and Italy, but I find Gaddafi and his thuggish regime equally repellant given that both are prone to massive acts of terrorism.

not surprising at all however. the term 'Al qaeda' is pretty elastic also. tbh i just see this release of concern over al qaeda as an excuse for US / West to become more involved in any takeover government - i.e. we couldn't trust the al qaeda infested libyans to run things themselves. i am deeply cynical and distrustful of our foreign policy and its true motivation. i guess however we are lucky to be on the 'winning' side.

providing arms to the 'rebels' i just see as one way of us allowing others to take the biggest hit in terms of ground offensives against a common enemy. it also puts money in the bank for arms manufacturers / dealers.

ninky_2

vivatifosi wrote: »

I was concerned about the imminent destruction of the city and loss of lives having heard Gaddafi's rhetoric. .

there will now be more loss of life and destruction. as much as some libyans may have been against gaddafi i sense that the majority would have rather had their own dictarorial leader than become a western puppet state churning out oil goodies for others.

ninky_2

how are they planning on spinning this one to the British public...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8407047/Libyan-rebel-commander-admits-his-fighters-have-al-Qaeda-links.html

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against 'the foreign invasion' in Afghanistan Photo: AFP







By Praveen Swami, Nick Squires and Duncan Gardham 5:00PM GMT 25 Mar 2011

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited "around 25" men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are "today are on the front lines in Adjabiya".

Mr al-Hasidi insisted his fighters "are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists," but added that the "members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader".

vivatifosi

Oh my. News channels reporting Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa has defected to the UK. Wikipedia reporting "Kussa worked as a security specialist for Libyan embassies in Europe before being appointed as Libya's Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1980. He was expelled from the United Kingdom later in 1980, after stating his intention to eliminate political opponents of the Libyan government who were living in the UK". Sounds a great bloke.