"The resistance has raised fears of a protracted insurgency of the sort that has played out in Iraq and Afghanistan"
But WE'RE WINNING!
"Libyan fighters hit Khadafy holdouts on several fronts; Turkish leader visits Tripoli to offer support" by Simon Denyer, Washington Post / September 17, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya - Libyan fighters came under heavy fire from rockets, machine guns, and snipers yesterday as they tried to push into two key strongholds of former leader Moammar Khadafy in a concerted attempt to crush resistance by his loyalists.
In one of those areas, Bani Walid, the anti-Khadafy forces had retreated by the end of the day....
Anti-Khadafy forces had moved cautiously against the bastions of the former regime since taking Tripoli last month, keen to avoid civilian casualties and concerned about the resistance they might face. But yesterday, they appeared to have decided the time for waiting was over....
In Khadafy’s hometown of Surt, a prize in the Libyan conflict, Transitional National Council spokesman Jalal el-Gallal said revolutionary forces control the airfield and residential areas on the outskirts.
Fierce battles raged along one of the main boulevards leading into Surt as black clouds of smoke rose from the city. The sound of explosions and gunfire mixed with the roar of NATO warplanes overhead, a Reuters correspondent on the front line reported.
Pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns roared past checkpoints on their way to the city, where the green flags of Khadafy’s government still flew from mosques and other buildings.
Anti-Khadafy fighters also initially appeared to make progress in their advance on the desert oasis town of Bani Walid, about 100 miles southeast of Tripoli, occupying a military headquarters on the northern outskirts and firing mortars at the central square....
But the AP later reported that the revolutionary forces were retreating outside Bani Walid and trying to regroup.
Inside the town, a loyalist radio station kept up a steady stream of invective against the revolutionaries and called on residents to join the fight.
“Run from Bani Walid and you run straight to your graves,’’ shouted one announcer. Another claimed that the revolutionaries were trampling Muslim values.
“These revolutionaries are fighting to drink and do drugs all the time and be like the West, dance all night,’’ he said. “We are a traditional tribal society that refuses such things and must fight it.’’
Revolutionary forces have also advanced steadily through the desert this week toward Sabha, a Khadafy stronghold about 480 miles south of Tripoli, and are now in control of the Wadi al-Shati valley and the town of Birak, 50 miles north of Sabha, witnesses said....
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"Libyan rebel fighters struggle to take Khadafy’s hometown" by Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Ryan Lucas, Associated Press / September 18, 2011
SURT, Libya - Revolutionary fighters struggled to make gains in an assault into Khadafy’s hometown yesterday with bloody street-by-street battles against loyalist forces fiercely defending the most symbolic of the shattered regime’s remaining strongholds.
The fresh attack into the Mediterranean coastal city of Surt contrasted with a stalemate in the mountain enclave of Bani Walid where demoralized anti-Khadafy forces tried to regroup after being beaten back by loyalist snipers and gunners holding strategic high ground.
Intense resistance has stalled forces of Libya’s new leadership trying to crush the dug-in fighters loyal to Khadafy, weeks after the former rebels swept into Tripoli on Aug. 21 and pushed the country’s leader out of power and into hiding....
The resistance has raised fears of a protracted insurgency of the sort that has played out in Iraq and Afghanistan, even as the transitional government tries to establish its authority and move toward eventual elections....
This is beginning to read like the Iraq and Afghanistan stories of yore!
Khadafy’s spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, vowed, “We have the ability to continue this resistance for months,’’ in a phone call Friday to Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, which has become the mouthpiece for the former regime....
Meaning years, dear readers.
And what gall for the AmeriKan media kettle to holler pot, 'eh?
Yeah, link up Libya and Syria why don'cha?
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"Libya fighters take airport in pro-Khadafy city; But loyalists still keep control in other key cities" by Kim Gamel, Associated Press / September 20, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya - Facing little resistance, revolutionary fighters yesterday captured the airport and other parts of a southern desert city that is one of the last remaining strongholds of Moammar Khadafy’s forces, even as military offensives stalled to the north.
Tired of the agenda-pushing double talk yet?
The capture of Sabha would be a welcome victory for Libya’s new rulers, who have struggled to rout forces loyal to Khadafy a month after sweeping into Tripoli and forcing the ousted leader into hiding. He has not been found.
Remember when we were told this would just take weeks, and Khadafy would be captured within hours?
A push to capture Khadafy’s hometown of Surt and the mountain enclave of Bani Walid has stalled as well-armed forces loyal to the fugitive leader fight back fiercely with rockets and other heavy weaponry. Libya’s new rulers have frequently reported gains only to find their forces beaten back....
In other words, WE ARE BEING LIED TO AGAIN, dear readers!!!
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"Libyans flee Khadafy’s hometown, now under siege; Rebels also claim to gain ground in southern city" September 21, 2011|By Ryan Lucas, Associated Press
SURT, Libya - Families in pickup trucks stacked with mattresses and jugs of water fled Moammar Khadafy’s hometown of Surt yesterday ahead of an expected new push by revolutionary forces to seize the city, and the anti-Khadafy forces claimed progress in the battle for a city in the remote southern desert....
After what I just read above? Pffffffffffffffftt!
A commander of the new government’s forces said it would take another week for his forces to take control of all of Libya’s southern desert and its borders with Algeria and Niger. Several groups of officials from Khadafy’s regime, as well as one of the ousted dictator’s sons, have fled to Niger.
Speaking at a high-level UN meeting yesterday, President Obama warned that there would be difficult days ahead in Libya....
But it's a great victory.
Meanwhile, Khadafy tried to rally supporters from hiding yesterday, saying in an audio recording that his regime is still alive.
Earlier, residents fleeing Surt said they had been living under a state of siege with Khadafy’s forces preventing them from leaving, while living conditions deteriorated and the city came under constant rocket fire and NATO bombardment.
Yeah, NATO is still dropping bombs; it just isn't being reported anymore.
“I tried to leave earlier with my family, but Khadafy’s forces wouldn’t let me,’’ said Abdullah Mohammed, a 34-year-old computer engineer traveling with his wife, two daughters, and son. “We managed to run away at dawn by taking back roads out of the city.’’
Youssef Ramadan, 35, said there has been no power since Aug. 20, a day before revolutionary forces swept into the capital, Tripoli, and forced Khadafy into hiding.
“There’s no fuel and food is running low,’’ he said. “A lot of civilians are stuck in their houses because of the fighting.’’ Ramadan, who was taking his wife, 2-year-old daughter, 7-year-old son, brother, and mother out of the city of about 100,000 people, said regime forces were using houses, schools, and hospitals to store ammunition.
Why should I believe alleged witnesses quoted by a lying war-promoter?
Tripoli fell to Khadafy opponents in late August after a six-month civil war with NATO airstrikes aiding the rebels - marking the collapse of Khadafy’s nearly 42-year rule.
Khadafy ridiculed the claims from his hiding place.
“What is happening in Libya is a charade gaining its legitimacy through airstrikes that will not last forever,’’ he said in the statement broadcast on the Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, which has become his mouthpiece. “It’s hard to bring down this regime because it represents millions of Libyans.’’
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"US ambassador back in Tripoli; Left country after strain caused by leaked comments" by Kim Gamel Associated Press / September 22, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya - The US ambassador to Libya returned to Tripoli yesterday to lead a newly reopened American Embassy in a post-Moammar Khadafy era.
Ambassador Gene Cretz arrived in Tripoli about eight months after he left for consultations in Washington - after WikiLeaks posted his opinions of Khadafy’s personal life and habits in a classified 2009 diplomatic cable. At the time, the Obama administration was considering replacing him due in part to strains in ties caused by the blunt assessment.
Cretz returns to a country much changed since revolutionary forces seized control of Tripoli and forced the authoritarian leader into hiding....
Cretz was nominated to be the first US ambassador to Libya in 36 years by President George W. Bush in July 2007, after a remarkable turnaround in US relations with the North African nation.
The seismic shift in ties followed Khadafy’s 2003 renunciation of weapons of mass destruction and payment of compensation to the families of victims of 1980s terror attacks, including the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, blamed on Libyan agents.
Cretz had kept a relatively low profile in Libya until November, when WikiLeaks posted his assessments of Khadafy’s personal life and habits in a classified 2009 diplomatic cable.
The secret document said Khadafy “appears to have an intense dislike or fear of staying on upper floors, reportedly prefers not to fly over water, and seems to enjoy horse racing and flamenco dancing.’’ It also discussed Khadafy’s longtime reliance on a Ukrainian nurse named Galyna who the cable said had been described as a “voluptuous blonde.’’
President Obama announced Tuesday that the ambassador would return, telling Libyans: “This is your chance. And today the world is saying, with one unmistakable voice, we will stand with you.’’
The United States, along with its NATO allies, launched the military air campaign that helped rout Khadafy’s forces after the UN Security Council passed a resolution in March authorizing a no-fly zone and approving all necessary steps needed to protect civilians. NATO later took charge of the mission.
Related: NATO Violates U.N. Resolution in Libya
Yesterday, NATO’s decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, granted approval to extend the mission for another 90 days, an alliance official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because a formal statement had not yet been prepared. Without an extension, permission for the operation was set to expire Tuesday.
If rebels say it will only take a week why the 90 day extension?
Eventually we will just be there, no extension needed.
While many in the nation of 6 million people are enjoying newfound freedoms, well-armed Khadafy loyalists are still fighting on three fronts, and Libya’s new rulers are struggling to form a government....
Armed fighters still loyal to the fugitive leader have repelled anti-Khadafy forces in Surt, the desert town of Bani Walid, and the southern area of Sabha.
Government forces have made inroads against Khadafy loyalists in Sabha, the last major city on a key road leading south to the border with Niger.
Abdel-Salam Sikayer, a spokesman for a local council in Sabha, said anti-Khadafy forces largely have control over two neighborhoods and are fighting to overtake pockets of resistance. He said 28 people, including three children, had been killed in fighting Monday and Tuesday.
Another commander said government forces have taken full control of Houn, a Khadafy military command post in the northern desert that commands the supply route to Surt.
Of course, "Libya’s new rulers have frequently reported gains only to find their forces beaten back."
And so has the mouthpiece media.
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