Strategy! - Libya Edition

[Blaze]

This is where the major action is. There are snipers all along the rooftops of that street. They are firing indiscriminately into the main street and the back streets. They want to strike fear into the people of Misrata. They are wreaking havoc in Misrata and taking the lives of innocent people.

They are moving outwards to the north and north east of that street and are occupying more and more rooftops. They have occupied the whole street so they have a clear pathway into Misrata

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Yesterday I went out driving around for an hour and all I could find was one bottle of water. People are relying on the old traditional methods of using wells to try to find drinking water.

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[Blaze]

Tunisia freezes Gaddafi family assets: government source

– Thu Mar 24, 5:10 am ET
TUNIS (Reuters) – Libya's neighbor Tunisia has frozen assets belonging to the family of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a Tunisian government source said on Thursday.

Western countries, the United Nations and the European Union have already frozen Libyan government and Gaddafi family assets as part of a package of sanctions imposed after Libya's crackdown on a revolt against Gaddafi's rule.

"Tunisia has frozen the assets of Gaddafi and five members of his family following a decision by the United Nations," the source, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters.

The freezing of assets in Tunisia is likely to have a significant impact because Libya has dozens of investments there, including hotels, a chain of petrol stations and a stake in an oil terminal.

Most of those assets are owned by Libyan state investment vehicles, but many of these are de facto controlled by members of Gaddafi's family.
Tunisia is also used by Libya's elite as a base for banking, vacations and healthcare, a practice which dates back to the 1980s and 1990s when international sanctions on Libya meant they had limited access to these services at home.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Christian Lowe)

[Blaze]

Again and again, along the road from the Tunisian border to Tripoli, you see evidence of real tension.
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n Zawiya, the government vehicle which had picked us up at the border was not allowed to drive us through the centre of town. Instead, we were sent on a long diversion, 12 or more miles (20km), to the south before we could regain the main west-east coastal road to Tripoli.

Was the road itself too damaged for us to pass? Were there, just possibly, some isolated pockets of resistance along the way?

Impossible to find out from our government minders.

No signs of uniformity
"No problem, no problem," was all they would say when I asked them why we could not drive through the middle of Zawiya. But clearly there was a major problem of some kind.

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Military occupation
There were plenty of black soldiers along the road we travelled, and most of them wore noticeably different uniforms from the standard ones. One of them seemed to speak no Arabic when I called out to him - but there was no possibility of checking.


Once again, when I asked our minders, they answered with their usual mantra: "No problem, no problem."

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There was plenty of anti-Gaddafi graffiti on the walls which was slowly being replaced by smaller, more regular lettering in green: slogans supporting the regime and claiming that 'the people' backed it.

In fact, every one of the towns we passed through was clearly under military occupation. Down many side streets, small groups of soldiers were hanging around, presumably making sure that no groups of demonstrators could gather.

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All the evidence is that the fight-back by the pro-Gaddafi forces has been highly effective to the west of Tripoli. This happened before the no-fly zone was established and the targeting of armoured vehicles and artillery began.

But it will be hard to drive Col Gaddafi's men out of Zuara, Sabratha and Zawiya a second time.

[Blaze]

Muammar Gaddafi's presidential bolt-hol






A day before the strike, a BBC team had visited the heavily fortified, high-walled complex.

At the south-eastern side of the compound is a football pitch, probably used by the families that inhabit the rows of houses just inside the compound.



"The streets with the low houses reminded me a bit of a refugee camp in Gaza," said one member of the team.

The houses are thought to be military accommodation. The team saw a small child peering out of one of them.

Beyond these houses is a lower wall and then an entrance into the compound's "inner sanctum". All visitors are security checked and have to pass through metal detectors.

The BBC team saw a lot of soldiers inside the compound and some old, light anti-aircraft guns attached to the back of trucks.

"There was a feeling that there were bunkers underground - I saw some air vents," says one member of the BBC team.

Libyan state TV has been broadcasting pro-Gaddafi rallies at the compound on a regular basis.

[Blaze]

France says won't take months to destroy Gaddafi army

– 2 hrs 32 mins ago
PARIS (Reuters) – It may take a coalition of Western powers days or weeks to destroy Muammar Gaddafi's military, but it will not require months, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Thursday.
Western warplanes hit Libya for a fifth night on Thursday, but have so far failed to stop Gaddafi's tanks shelling rebel-held towns or dislodge his armor from a strategic junction in the east.
"The destruction of Gaddafi's military capacity is a matter of days or weeks, certainly not months," Juppe told reporters.
He also defended the pace of the operation, adding: "You can't expect us to achieve our objective in just five days."
France spearheaded the U.N.-mandated intervention aimed at halting Gaddafi's counter-offensive against rebel forces who want to end 41 years of authoritarian rule.
Paris is now pushing, along with Britain, for the setting up of a contact group -- to be made up of the main countries involved in the operation and others including Arab nations that back it -- to discuss political governance and strategy for the mission, while NATO runs day-to-day military coordination.
Juppe said Arab leaders needed to understand that the tide of protests sweeping the region would change things for good and that all countries, including Saudi Arabia, needed to take into account the aspirations of the Arab people.
"The process going on in the Arab world is irreversible. People's aspirations must be taken into consideration everywhere, including in Saudi Arabia," he said.

[Blaze]

French strike deep in Libya, targeting arms flow

By RYAN LUCAS and MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press – 6 mins ago
BENGHAZI, Libya – French airstrikes hit an air base deep inside Libya in an effort to stop possible traffic of arms or the flow of mercenaries into Libya, a military official said Thursday.
In a key eastern city, talks between Moammar Gadhafi's forces and between tribal sheiks over their possible withdrawal stalled over a demand that the troops leave their heavy weaponry behind, rebels said Thursday.

The French strikes overnight hit a base about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of the Libyan coastline, French military spokesman Thierry Burkhard told reporters in Paris on Thursday without elaborating on the target. He said military officials would keep any analysis of damage confidential.
In Tripoli, Libyan deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim said that the "military compound at Juffra" was among the targets hit before dawn. Libya has at least two air bases deep in the interior.

[Blaze]

http://www.captaindaves.com/med-faq/

So now you know - TEOTWAWKI means "The End Of The World As We Know It"

[PETE'S BROTHER]

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France spearheaded the U.N.-mandated intervention aimed at halting Gaddafi's counter-offensive against rebel forces who want to end 41 years of authoritarian rule.
Paris is now pushing, along with Britain, for the setting up of a contact group -- to be made up of the main countries involved in the operation and others including Arab nations that back it -- to discuss political governance and strategy for the mission, while NATO runs day-to-day military coordination.

this is ridiculous !!

[Blaze]

Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah

[Blaze]

Brazilian plastic surgeon says operated on Gadhafi

By STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press – Fri Mar 25, 5:37 am ET
SAO PAULO – It was well past midnight when the Brazilian surgeon says he was escorted deep inside a bunker in the Libyan capital.
His assignment: to shave years off Moammar Gadhafi's appearance

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Gadhafi wanted an immediate operation, but Ribeiro needed a surgical team and the procedure was scheduled for January 1995.
It began at 2 a.m. in Gadhafi's bunker, which "had two fully equipped and very modern operating rooms, a gym and a swimming pool," Ribeiro said.
"He insisted on local anesthesia saying he wanted to remain alert," the doctor added. "He was a very calm patient."
Sao Paulo-based plastic surgeon Dr. Fabio Naccache confirmed to the AP that he was part of the team and performed a hair transplant on the Libyan leader.
About halfway through, Gadhafi said he was hungry.
"Hamburgers were brought in for all and surgery was interrupted for several minutes while we ate," the surgeon said.
Afterward, Zaid handed Ribeiro an envelope "full of U.S. dollars and Swiss francs." He would not say how much money it contained.

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The doctor stayed in Tripoli for 10 days while Gadhafi recovered.
Ribeiro said he assumes Gadhafi turned to him because Libyan surgeons were either "incapable of doing what I did or too scared that he would die on the operating table."

Using plastic surgery to change his appearance temporarily is an option to allow freedom of movement, not all plastic surgery requires long healing times.


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West strikes Libya forces, NATO sees 90-day campaign

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SUDAN SAID TO SUPPORT NO FLY ZONE

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South of the Sahara, local media quoted a cabinet minister as saying Uganda would freeze Libyan assets worth about $375 million in line with a U.N. resolution imposing sanctions on Libya following Gaddafi's violence crackdown.

The United Arab Emirates said it would send 12 planes to take part in operations to enforce the no-fly zone.
Qatar has already contributed two fighters and two military transport planes to help enforce the no-fly zone.
Western jets pounded targets in southern Libya on Thursday but failed to prevent government tanks re-entering Misrata, whose main hospital was besieged by government snipers.

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BAN: LIBYA NOT COMPLYING WITH RESOLUTION
In Tripoli, a Libyan energy official said on Thursday Libya was short of fuel and needs to import more, but a ship with fuel now bound for Tripoli may be stopped by Western forces.

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A preacher addressing Friday prayers at Tripoli's Ahmad Basha Mosque, and broadcast live by state run Shababiyah TV, urged Libyans "to confront this new crusader war".

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers, Tom Perry in Cairo, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Phil Stewart in Moscow, Andrew Quinn in Washington, Catherine Bremer, Emmanuel Jarry and Yves Clarisse in Paris, Rosalba O'Brien in London; writing by William Maclean; editing by Giles Elgood)

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[Blaze]

African Union: Libya needs democratic elections

By LUC VAN KEMENADE, Associated Press – 2 hrs 37 mins ago
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – A top African Union official on Friday called for a transition period in Libya that would lead to democratic elections, a rare rebuke from African leaders who appear to be pushing for political reforms that could lead to Col. Moammar Gadhafi's ouster.
A Libyan government delegation is meeting in Ethiopia with five African heads of state who plan to develop a road map to encourage political reform in the North African country. It couldn't immediately be confirmed if Libyan rebels were also in attendance.
African Union commission chairman Jean Ping said in an opening speech that the AU favors an inclusive transitional period that would lead to democratic elections.
Ping stressed the inevitability of political reforms in Libya and called the aspirations of the Libyan people "legitimate." He said the international community needed to agree on a way forward.
"We are convinced, at the African Union level, that there is a sufficient basis for reaching a consensus and making a valuable contribution to finding a lasting solution in Libya," he said.
The statement calling for a transition toward elections is the strongest Libya-related statement to come out of the AU since the Libya crisis began, and could be seen as a strong rebuke to a leader who has long been well regarded by the continental body.
Libya is one of the largest donors to the AU, and in 2009 Gadhafi was given the AU's rotating, one-year chairmanship.
Gadhafi was also instrumental in the formation of the AU in 2002, and used Libya's oil wealth to fund the transformation of the old Organization of African Unity into the present-day African Union. He often has attended AU summits flanked by a coterie of extravagantly dressed men who call themselves the "traditional kings of Africa" and describe Gadhafi as the lead king.

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Zimbabwe prime minister's ally arrested a 2nd time

By GILLIAN GOTORA, Associated Press – 18 mins ago
HARARE, Zimbabwe – A Zimbabwean court on Friday ordered a top political ally of the prime minister to be held in jail after his second arrest this month, attorneys said, arrests that have been criticized by the prime minister's party as being politically motivated.
Energy Minister Elton Mangoma, a founder of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's former opposition party, was arrested Friday over allegations that he interfered in a deal to buy equipment for the state electricity utility, said defense attorney Beatrice Mtetwa.
He was first arrested March 10 on charges he bypassed official procedures to buy gasoline from neighboring South Africa.
Mangoma denies any wrongdoing in both cases that carry a penalty of imprisonment or a fine. After his last arrest, Tsvangirai threatened to pull out of the nation's shaky two-year power sharing coalition.

[Blaze]

Lotted passages:

S.53, A 60-
1 Cor. 16:13

Art of War -Sun Tzu:

For the general there are five dangers-

Resolve to die, one can be killed.
Resolve to live, one can be captured.
Quick to anger, one can be goaded.
Pure and honest, one can be shamed.
Loving the people, one can be aggravated.

Ch8 the nine transformations
Commentary
Willing to die for your cause, being pure and honest, loving the people - even virtues become vulnerabilities when taken to an extreme. Your fixation offers an easy means to turn energy back on you. When these propensities become intensified, they may lead to defeat.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

In the capital, Damascus, people shouting in support of the Daraa protesters clashed with regime supporters outside the historic Umayyad mosque, hitting each other with leather belts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_syria

shit is gettin' syrias

[Blaze]

:facepalm: At a loss of words on the spankings...

[Blaze]

In Libya, a campaign to confuse

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From Qaddafi’s certainty that “all my people are with me, they love me all,” to cease-fires declared and ignored, the Libyan leader might appear to be waging a campaign of confusion against his enemies. The seed of such a strategy may be evident in the Green Book, the colonel's 35-year-old guide to political philosophy, which itself embodies – perhaps purposefully – the contradictory and abstruse nature of the long-serving strongman.

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People who called themselves witnesses told different stories about the event, in which one person – or none – was injured. US-made missile parts littered the area, and there was clear evidence of an impact with shrapnel. But the site may have also been made to look more convincing with what appeared to be gunfire sprayed against some outside walls and white plaster thrown onto interior floors.
Libya's true believersDespite the elaborate theater going on in Tripoli, there is no shortage of true believers in Qaddafi or his regime here. Even away from the official flag-waving loyalists who attend events set up for foreign eyes, they announce themselves.
Unprompted, one Libyan businessman says: “Tell the world about Muammar Qaddafi:

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'Borderline personality'Qaddafi has a “borderline personality” that “often swings from intense anger to euphoria,” says Jerrold Post, a political psychologist at George Washington University, in a recent analysis in the journal Foreign Policy.

“Under his often ‘normal’ facade, he is quite insecure and sensitive to slight. His reality testing is episodically faulty,” writes Dr. Post, who founded a center for analyzing personality and political behavior during a 21-year career at the CIA.

“While most of the time Qaddafi is ‘above the border’ and in touch with reality, when under stress he can dip below it and his perceptions can be distorted and his judgment faulty,” writes Post. “And right now, he is under the most stress he has been under since taking over the leadership of Libya…. He does sincerely cling to the idea that his people all love him.”

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Ubiquitous Green BookCornerstone to Qaddafi’s ideology,

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It also promises to yield the secret of true democracy and freedom with a “third universal theory.”
“In the outside world there is a misunderstanding of this book; they didn’t read it, they thought it was a dictatorial case,” says Hisham Arab, a journalist with the monthly People’s Congress magazine, published by the Green Book Center, which he says is devoted to spreading the “values” of Qaddafi’s book “to the world.”
“A lot of outsiders misunderstand Muammar Qaddafi’s character, so they do not accept Muammar Qaddafi’s thoughts,” says Mr. Arab. “Here we know it – we follow it every day in our lives.”

Concern

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