"War crimes prosecutor seeks the arrest of Khadafy; Leader’s son, Libyan intelligence chief are also targeted" May 17, 2011|By Diaa Hadid, Associated Press
TRIPOLI, Libya — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor sought arrest warrants yesterday for Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, his son, and the country’s intelligence chief on charges of authorizing the killing of civilians in a crackdown on antigovernment rebels....
Yeah, that will get him to give up.
The call for the inquest was the first such action in the Netherlands-based court linked to the Arab uprisings. It opened another potential front against Khadafy’s regime even as the autocratic leader stands firm against widening NATO airstrikes and rebels with growing international backing.
At least two explosions could be heard in Tripoli early today, indicating more NATO airstrikes. It was not immediately known what was targeted or whether there were any casualties....
The international warrants could further isolate Khadafy and his inner circle and potentially complicate the options for a negotiated settlement.
I've come to believe that the newspaper, U.N., and U.S., are not interested in peace. If we had peace there would be no need for them. If anything, they sabotage peace whenever they can. They certainly don't keep peace wherever they are.
But they also could harden Khadafy’s resolve to stand and fight, since the legal action has been seen in Libya as giving NATO more justification to go after him.
Of course, NATO claims they are not doing that.
Because the United Nations Security Council ordered the ICC investigation, UN member states would be obliged to arrest him if he ventured into their territory....
Regimes in Egypt and Tunisia — which eventually were overthrown — were accused of human rights violations in their efforts to end street demonstrations. Similar charges have been leveled at the rulers of Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria.
In London yesterday, a British defense minister, Nick Harvey, told legislators he believed it was likely the court would seek to charge Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his government’s violent crackdown on protests.
He said the court was “highly likely to arrive at a similar conclusion’’ in the case of Assad as it had with Khadafy....
Selective prosecutions let you see the agenda for yourself.
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"Another Khadafy official flees Libya; Oil minister takes shelter in Tunisia" May 18, 2011|By Diaa Hadid and Bouazza Ben Bouazza, Associated Press
TRIPOLI, Libya — Another high-ranking Libyan official has defected and fled the country amid a widening NATO campaign of bombings as well as leafletting and other psychological warfare to persuade Moammar Khadafy’s troops to stop fighting....
Your tax dollars at work!
The defections suggest Khadafy’s political structure is fraying, but it’s unclear whether there is enough internal strife to seriously undermine his ability to fight rebel forces as NATO air strikes pound Libyan military targets. Khadafy appears to retain the backing of his core of military commanders.
Still, support for Khadafy seems to be waning in the capital, Tripoli. Proregime demonstrations are sparsely attended, even when heavily advertised in advance.
That's because they are hiding in their homes and don't want NATO planes dropping a bomb on them by "accident."
And rebel forces have reported some gains in recent days....
Yup, we are ALWAYS WINNING!
Do you know HOW SICK I AM of the BROKEN RECORD?!!
NATO said yesterday that it would step up psychological warfare operations to try to persuade troops loyal to Khadafy to abandon the fight.
Did you know newspapers are a psychological warfare operation meant to manipulate thought and opinion with their clever use of euphemisms?
You see, I did learn some things in college.
Wing Commander Mike Bracken, speaking in Naples, said NATO planes have been dropping leaflets and broadcasting messages to Libyan forces urging them “to return to their barracks and homes.’’
Reminds one of the opening days of Iraq.
And WHEN are AmeriKan troops gonna do that, hanh?!!
Bracken did not provide further details on the psychological operations. But the United States has been using a modified Air Force C-130 transport to broadcast messages to Libyan forces in AM, FM, high-frequency radio, television, and military communications bands....
YOUR TAX DOLLARS at WORK, Americans!
On Monday night, British aircraft bombed the intelligence agency building in the capital as well as a training base for bodyguards protecting members of Khadafy’s regime, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defense.
Major General John Lorimer said the targets were “at the heart of the apparatus used by the regime to brutalize the civilian population.’’
What do you think airstrikes are doing, a**hole?
The International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday that fighting in Misurata and other cities is denying medical aid to civilians and causing casualties among health personnel. It cited reports by the Libyan Red Crescent that three of its ambulances were hit over the past four days. A nurse was killed and a patient and three volunteers were wounded, it said.
Khadafy, who has ruled Libya for more than 40 years, has been using his military and militias to try to put down an uprising that began in February. The protests are aimed at ousting him from power....
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"Khadafy steps up attacks in mountains" May 19, 2011|Associated Press
TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy’s forces intensified their campaign to take strategic heights in a western mountain range and targeted a road that many people have used to flee the fighting in Libya, forcing the temporary closure of a border crossing to Tunisia....
I thought we were winning.
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"Libyan forces rocket rebels; Khadafy attacks strongholds in Nafusa mountains" May 20, 2011|By Michelle Faul and Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press
BENGHAZI, Libya — Moammar Khadafy’s forces rocketed rebel fighters yesterday in the formidable strongholds and training camps they have built up in the strategic mountain heights southwest of the Libyan capital, rebels said.
The two sides appeared to be fighting for control of the two highways to the north and south of the Nafusa mountain range, which slices across the desert south of Tripoli to the western border with Tunisia.
Rebels in particular have used the roads, bringing in supplies for camps to train fighters for what they hope will be a push on the capital....
Ever notice we are always winning but the wars never end?
The long highways on either side of the mountain range are key to both sides. The government needs easy passage without harassment from the ridgeline above if it wants to keep control of a huge swath of the west.
The rebels run supplies from the border. Also, they have used the passageway to smuggle back fighters who had fled battles in other parts of the country and ended up in Tunisia, said Omar Hussein, a spokesman for the Nafusa mountain rebels.
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"NATO planes strike military vessels in three Libyan ports" May 21, 2011|By Diaa Hadid and Michelle Faul, Associated Press
TRIPOLI, Libya — NATO warplanes bombed Libyan naval vessels in three ports yesterday, leaving ships partially sunken and charred and showering docks with debris in the military alliance’s broadest attack on Moammar Khadafy’s navy....
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"NATO widens strikes against Khadafy as Libyans grow restive" by Diaa Hadid and Slobodan Lekic, Associated Press / May 22, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya — NATO widened its campaign to weaken Moammar Khadafy’s regime with airstrikes on desert command centers and sea patrols to intercept ships, the military alliance said yesterday, amid signs of growing public anger over fuel shortages in government-held territory.
We are so winning!!!
In the coastal town of Zawiya, crowds apparently outraged by dwindling fuel supplies tried to stab reporters in a minibus on a state-supervised trip to the Tunisian border.
The journalists — a Chinese news correspondent and two Britons: a BBC technician and a Reuters video producer — were not harmed in the attack, the first of its kind targeting foreign reporters covering the Libyan conflict.
The assailants also attacked the government official accompanying the reporters — once unimaginable in Libya and a sign of the growing frustrations of residents struggling to cope with rising food prices and gasoline shortages.
Khadafy has remained defiant against the widening NATO attacks and international pressure to step down.
At the same time, however, NATO has come under increasing criticism that it is overstepping the UN Security Council’s mandate, which provides for the protection of civilians but not for wider attacks.
Say what?
The Pan-African Parliament, the legislative body of the African Union, plans an emergency session next week to discuss what it calls NATO’s “military aggression.’’
And I NEVER SAW ANOTHER WORD!
Of course, THEY are worried because THIS COULD HAPPEN to THEM!
Africans ain't stoo-pid!
************
Also yesterday, Amnesty International said hundreds of men have disappeared from Misurata, the rebels’ main toehold in western Libya. The London-based human rights group said Libyan forces seized the men in house raids, from mosques, and from the front line where some of them were fighting.
I now recognize that AI and HRW are simply part of the agenda-pushing war promotion. Yeah, they issue reports about Israel and U.S crimes, but they are always a one-and-done.
When the war-promoting media continually flogs them for increased war against alleged monsters, well.... no cred no more.
The Amnesty staff, which is currently based in Misurata, cited the case of the Toumi family. They said during a house raid on March 18, government forces seized seven brothers, two cousins, and an uncle, who are still missing.
Hey, I'm not trying to minimize it but Israel and the U.S. do it all the time in places they are occupying.
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"EU sets up office in Libya’s rebel-held east" May 23, 2011|Associated Press
The rebel-held east is home to many of Libya’s oil resources, and Abdul-Jalil said backers of the rebel council could stand to benefit in future business deals. Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa, most of them untapped....
Yeah, CUI BONO?
The sides have been stalemated in recent weeks, with the rebels complaining they cannot defeat Khadafy’s better-equipped army. But no country has sent significant arms. Qatar has sent antitank weapons and military trainers, and other countries have sent communications equipment and other supplies. None of it has had a noticeable effect on the battlefield.
Early yesterday, NATO raids again targeted the heavily fortified Khadafy compound in the capital, the government said.
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"NATO airstrikes pummel Tripoli" May 24, 2011|By Michelle Faul, Associated Press
TRIPOLI — NATO warplanes repeatedly hit the Libyan capital early today in what appeared to be the heaviest night of bombing of the city since the start of the air campaign against Moammar Khadafy’s forces.
More than 20 NATO airstrikes in less than half an hour set off thunderous booms that rattled windows around the city.
Heavy plumes of smoke wafted over the capital, including from an area close to the sprawling Khadafy compound, suggesting that was a target....
Yesterday, the French defense minister announced that France and Britain would deploy attack helicopters in Libya as soon as possible. Gerard Longuet said the helicopters would be used to target military equipment in crowded urban areas while limiting civilian casualties.
So WHEN are the GROUND TROOPS going in?
Despite NATO bombing runs, the rebels have not been able to break Khadafy’s grip on the west of the country, including Tripoli....
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"US bolsters standing of Libyan rebels; Diplomatic move amid heavier strikes" May 25, 2011|By Diaa Hadid and Michelle Faul, Associated Press
TRIPOLI, Libya — The Obama administration reached out yesterday to the Libyan rebels and said Moammar Khadafy would “inevitably’’ be forced from power as the US-backed NATO coalition launched a withering bombardment on the Libyan leader’s stronghold of Tripoli.
The NATO airstrikes struck in rapid succession shortly after midnight Monday, setting off more than 20 explosions in the most intensive bombardment yet of the Libyan capital....
And late yesterday, NATO hit Tripoli again, aiming at least six airstrikes at the same targets and another farther away. Smoke rose from the area near Khadafy’s compound for the second night in a row. There were no immediate reports of casualties....
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said at least three people were killed and dozens wounded in the NATO strikes....
WTF, MSM?
A US official warned the Libyan ruler that the pace of the attacks will intensify. Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said, “I think we want to underscore to Khadafy that the foot is not going to come off the gas pedal,’’ adding, “Leaving is in his best interests and the best interest of the Libyan people.’’
Five years after I started doing this to end the first two wars we have a third were we are blasting the hell out of people.
****************
The international community has stepped up both the air campaign and diplomatic efforts against the regime in a bid to break a virtual stalemate between the rebels in the east and Khadafy, who maintains a stranglehold on most of the west....
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And just a little web adder:
"US reaches out to rebels amid withering airstrikes" by Diaa Hadid and Michelle Faul
Asssociated Press / May 24, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya— Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, told reporters during a visit to the de-facto rebel capital of Benghazi, "We are not talking to Gadhafi and his people. They are not talking to us. They have lost legitimacy."
So have you.
*************
Rebel leaders welcomed the diplomatic contact, but said only better weapons will help them defeat Gadhafi.
"It is just not enough to recognize (us) and visit the liberated areas," spokesman Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga told The Associated Press. "We have tried very hard to explain to them that we need the arms, we need funding, to be able to bring this to a successful conclusion at the earliest possible time and with the fewest humanitarian costs possible."
Related: Obama predicts NATO strikes will force out Khadafy
Why? It never has before.
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Kind of wondering what that is doing in the business section, but.... then again, I suppose the whole paper is about "business," isn't it?
"Libya now willing to talk with rebels; Urges cease-fire, but says Khadafy won’t step down" by Diaa Hadid, Associated Press / May 27, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya — Libya’s government pushed a cease-fire proposal yesterday and said for the first time it was prepared to speak with its rebel adversaries, signaling that months of fighting and NATO bombardment may be closer to forcing concessions....
That won't go anywhere. Never does when U.S. is involved.
Late yesterday, at least five explosions were heard in Tripoli from NATO airstrikes. The targets were not immediately identified.
In a separate development, an international advocacy group made public a document showing that Khadafy has stashed billions of dollars of Libyan oil revenue with financial institutions on Wall Street and in Europe, the International Herald Tribune reported.
The document, published yesterday on the Web by Global Witness, listed Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and Societe Generale among the major banks that have helped Khadafy to invest some of the Libyan sovereign wealth fund’s $53 billion.
The document, independently verified as authentic, is a summary of the Libyan Investment Authority’s holdings, created for the fund by the London office of the consulting firm KPMG and dated June 30, 2010....
What replaced the final two paragraphs saying Goldman held $43 million and HSBC $293 million, and Libya also had invested $1 BILLION in "structured financial products" through Societe Generale and $171 million from JPMorgan:
Khadafy has responded to intensified NATO bombing of the Libyan capital by seeking sanctuary at night in hospitals he knows will not be bombed, according to a British official accompanying Prime Minister David Cameron to a summit meeting in Deauville, France.
I personally am sick of the propaganda. NATO doesn't know what the hell they are hitting down there. They already bombed a hospital.
The official’s account of Khadafy’s movements, given on a background basis to British reporters, was quoted in today’s editions of at least two British newspapers, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. It was the first acknowledgment by a senior Western official that NATO planners had access to intelligence about Khadafy’s movements.
Yeah, THAT replaced the fact that SOME of the BANK BAILOUT LOOT went to BUY BACK some of the BANK FRAUD from LIBYA -- and then they are ATTACKED(?!?!)?
And they still can't get him, huh?
And who would ever have believed the BIG BAD RUSSIANS would be the VOICE of REASON and PEACE in this world, 'murkn!?
"Russia offers to help in effort to persuade Khadafy to step down" by Ellen Barry, New York Times / May 28, 2011
MOSCOW — President Dmitry A. Medvedev yesterday offered to leverage Russia’s relationships in Libya to try to persuade Moammar Khadafy to leave power, an act of high-wire diplomacy that for the first time casts Russia as a central player in events unfolding in North Africa.
I'm actually of the opinion that Russia is a central player everywhere.
Medvedev’s announcement, which came a day after a 90-minute bilateral meeting with President Obama in France, represents a pronounced shift in Russia’s tone on Libya. Russia’s criticism of NATO attacks had become increasingly pointed over the past few months, reviving a longstanding critique of US unilateralism that had quieted since Obama took office.
Well, as the world has seen three years later there has REALLY BEEN NO CHANGE!
The president is simply there to administer the plan that has been put before him.
By attaching Russia’s prestige to the effort, Medvedev is taking a gamble.
How? If he fails everyone will still know it is NATO's fault. It will be a "thanks for trying" type of thing.
If Khadafy could be persuaded to leave, Russia would win international plaudits but would also bear some responsibility for guaranteeing his safety. If he could not, Medvedev might find it more difficult to keep his distance from the military campaign, which is not popular in Russia.
It is NOT POPULAR ANYWHERE except in the echelons of neo-con, globe-kicker controllers.
But for Russia, all those risks may be mitigated by the symbolism of the moment, when it is called on to defuse a violent standoff on behalf of world powers....
Are you NOT EMBARRASSED, AmeriKa?
Mikhail V. Margelov, Russia’s special envoy to the Middle East and Africa, has mentioned Qatar and Saudi Arabia as countries that might possibly offer Khadafy asylum, and said Group of 8 allies have proposed a variety of scenarios for his future, “from a quiet life as a simple bedouin in the Libyan desert, to the fate of Milosevic in the Hague.’’
Russia is in a unique position to negotiate, he said, because “Russian soldiers have never fought against African countries and against the African people.’’
Something the ENSLAVING and GENOCIDAL WEST can NEVER SAY!!
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From the start, Russia spoke against the NATO military operation in Libya, although, like China, it chose not to use its veto power in the UN Security Council....
Oh, yeah, I ALSO CONSIDER CHINA a CENTRAL PLAYER!
Anyone who has the ABILITY to CHECK to USraeli Empire is a CENTRAL PLAYER!
As the Western campaign mounted more hawkish commentators argued that Medvedev should have taken a harder line.
Don't they mean a softer line?
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"NATO hits guard towers at Khadafy’s compound; Rebel leaders say funding running low" by Diaa Hadid and Michelle Faul, Associated Press / May 29, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya — NATO warplanes struck Moammar Khadafy’s compound in Tripoli yesterday, as the new rebel administration warned that it was fast running out of money because countries that promised financial aid have not come through....
The Libyans are learning. West always breaks its promises.
Alii Tarhouni, the rebel finance minister, complained that many countries that pledged aid have instead sent a string of businessmen looking for contracts from the oil-rich country....
Need I even comment?
“I think even our friends do not understand the urgency of the situation. Either they don’t understand, or they don’t care,’’ Tarhouni said.
Tarhouni singled out Qatar and Kuwait for their “generous, very generous help.’’
He did not specify the aid these countries have offered, but Qatar has sent fighter jets, airplanes full of food and medical aid, as well as helping the rebels market their oil.
Tarhouni also praised France, which was the driving force behind the UN no-fly zone. But “other than that, everybody is just talking,’’ he said. “So far, nothing has come through and I am fast running out of cash.’’
***********************
Also yesterday, an alliance spokesman said NATO fighter jets struck Khadafy’s Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli in the early hours yesterday. He said the Libyan leader was not a target and there was no way to know if he was there at the time of the attack....
Just hitting it again for fun? Seeing how many times that rubble can be made to bounce?
The strike sent a shuddering boom through Tripoli and rattled windows. Such a daylight attack is fairly unusual since NATO began its aerial attacks over Libya three months ago....
Yesterday’s airstrike came after leaders at a summit of the Group of Eight world powers reiterated that Khadafy had to leave power. Russia, a leading critic of the NATO campaign and one-time Khadafy ally offered to mediate a deal for the Libyan leader to leave the country....
See how that peace talk is instantly relegated to the back?
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"Rebels in Misurata overcame heavier firepower in punishing street battles that expelled Moammar Khadafy’s forces from the western Libyan city. The rebels now face what could prove a far tougher task: defeating a better-armed military in open terrain.
Opposition forces have expanded the territory under their control, pushing the front lines 15 miles in an arc around the port city and putting Misurata out of range of Khadafy’s heavy weapons.
Oh, right, did I tell you we are winning?
But they have challenges as they shift from street battles to fighting in the olive groves, wheat fields, and desert that surround the city. “Now it’s more difficult,’’ said Salaheldin Badi, a senior rebel commander. “It demands more equipment. Supplies, logistics, and communications are an issue.’’
Also see:
Obama should give Congress a full report on Libya mission
Libyan graduate students in scholarship limbo
Journalists held in Iran, Libya are released
Freed journalists urge backers to keep slain colleague in mind
Journalist James Foley recounts ‘dark secret’ while he was held captive in Libya
Related:
"The fatal touch of war" April 24, 2011|By Kevin Cullen, Globe Columnist
Chris Hondros piled out of the Stryker with soldiers from the First Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, and when they aimed their guns, he aimed his camera.
This was Iraq, 2005, and the only thing you aimed were guns and cameras. You didn’t aim smiles.
The car, an Opel sedan, came whizzing along the dusty road in the fading light, kicking up a cloud like a horse on a desert trail.
The soldiers — kids, most of them — stood there, waving for the car to stop. They were sleep-deprived, jumpy, absolutely terrified, wondering if this was yet another suicide bomber. The car didn’t slow down and the soldiers stopped shouting and started shooting.
It was over in a few seconds. Bullets the size of golf balls penetrated the car like molten darts and it rolled to a stop.
When the soldiers trotted up to the car, they saw their mistake and their legs melted.
“Civilians!’’ they howled.
They were sweating. Their hearts were racing. So was Hondros’s.
But he kept pushing his right index finger down. The click of his shutter echoed, staccato-like, between the curses and the cries of the American soldiers, who had just slaughtered not insurgents but a family trying to beat the nightfall curfew in a town called Tal Afar.
And he provided one of the most iconic photos of the war.
For more go HERE
Hussein Mohammed and his wife, Kamila, were dead, their heads thrown back, their faces like accusing death masks. Their children were in the back seat, crying, splattered with their parents’ blood. One of them, a boy, Rakan, couldn’t feel his legs. A bullet had hit his spine. He lay on the ground, like a fish on dry land, helpless, pitiful, an orphan.
“It’s like slow motion,’’ Hondros explained. “You see this stuff, this terrible stuff, happen, right in front of you, and it’s like slow motion. You keep shooting. You’re thinking about angles, and light. But mostly you think — keep shooting.’’
Hondros was still shaking when he pressed the buttons on his computer that sent his photographs halfway around the world. His pictures were on the front pages of newspapers and magazines, showing a family ruined, a platoon of soldiers forever haunted, because this is what happens when we send young people to war.
Some people will tell you the secret to covering war and immense human suffering is to tune it out. Because if you don’t, it will eat you up. But you cannot check your humanity at the door. Hondros couldn’t.
“I couldn’t get the images out of my mind,’’ he said five years ago as we sat in a room too brightly lit at Massachusetts General Hospital. “I kept thinking about the boy.’’
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Hondros went on to other wars because that’s what he did. He was not a social worker. He was a photojournalist.
The other day, a rocket-propelled grenade killed Hondros and another terrific, empathetic photojournalist named Tim Hetherington in a place called Misurata in a mess called Libya....
This is what happens when we send young people to war....
This is what war does. It kills good people.
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