Strategy! - Libya Edition

[Blaze]

http://books.google.com/books?id=JPm9ovP_304C&lpg=PP1&pg=PR10#v=onepage&q&f=false

The art of the catapult: build Greek ballistae, Roman onagers, English ... By William Gurstelle

[BigBadBrian]

I hope he gets reincarnated as a black woman. It would serve his punk-ass right.

I hope you get reincarnated as a man. Then you'll finally know what it's like.

[Blaze]

Close your eyes and visualize.
Understand the past as if the future.
Understand the future as if the past.
Now is either one of the two.
To hear become deaf
To see become blind

~~~~~
One skilled at moving the enemy

Forms and the enemy must follow,
Offers and the enemy must take.

-The Art of War. SHIH

[Seshmeister]

[Blaze]

[Blaze]

[As we watched the news channels report on the missile strikes by the US against a military defence target near Tripoli, several friends in different parts of the city told me they saw ambulances driving around the city in circles - seemingly aimlessly - with their sirens on.

Continue reading the main story
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I could hear people shouting and screaming”

Man detained by secret police
They believe the government was attempting to cause panic among residents here and "give the illusion that there are casualties somewhere".

[Blaze]

The men of Bengahzi'

There is a joke circulating amongst Tripoli's men: "When Libya is liberated, our brothers in Benghazi will march to the capital with containers of women's underwear to distribute to us."

They collapse in laughter as they tell the tale and sip on their coffee.

At least one woman in Tripoli has expressed a similar view, but this was no gag, as far as I'm aware. The incident was witnessed by my relative's friend at a bank in the Souk al-Jumaa district.


Col Gaddafi still has some supporters in Tripoli
An old woman, in her late 70s at least, I'm told, entered the bank to collect her 500 Libyan dollars ($410; £253) in state aid announced a couple of weeks ago.

There were two long queues - one for men and one for women. She stood in the men's queue.

The men urged her to move to the women's section. "Why?" she challenged.

A man told her: "Ya haja [a term of respect for an elderly woman] this line is for men, women is the other one".

She loudly replied: "No. All the men are in Benghazi."

The room is said to have been stunned into silence and she remained in her place until her turn came and she walked out with her money.

It is perhaps a bittersweet private reminder of how frustrated many here are at the lack of efforts in Tripoli in recent weeks to defy the regime and take to the streets.

However it is also placated by the fact that they did try - twice - and were met with a force so brutal that they conceded it was simply a suicidal task. There is considerable anger brewing behind closed doors here in Tripoli.

[Blaze]

[Blaze]

Many local businesses have even reverted to fax machines to communicate with the outside world. The internet has been shut down for almost two weeks now.

Fake smiles
I visited an old friend earlier this week.

His son arrived home from university shortly after we sat down for an afternoon coffee.

When I asked him how his studies were going, he replied: "I was standing talking with a friend on campus just before I left the university and this girl we know came up to us and loudly announced that al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya news channels had been erased from their channel list because she and her family only watch one 'true' channel, al-Libiyah [the state-owned one].


"We just silently nodded with a fake smile and said our goodbyes."

There is disappointment in his voice as he carries on: "I can't believe she is so blind - you think maybe she was pretending because there were people watching us there?" he asks.

His father and I knowingly shook our heads like ageing wise men but could offer nothing in response.

...

Several primary school teachers recount similar stories of young pupils being questioned by school employees aligned to the regime's Revolutionary Committee Movement, which is being used to suppress dissent.

...

Back at my friend's home we briefly switch channels to watch the state-run al-Libiyah. There's a man on the screen "confessing" the error of his ways to the Libyan leader in what appears to be a tent.

My friend tells me of a report he saw on the channel, warning the public of "cars being rigged with bombs in crowded areas" - by the ever elusive al-Qaeda elements in the country, that is.

"This means the regime is going to start doing that," my old friend concludes.

...

[Blaze]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12806112

Canada, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Qatar are also offering military support.

[Blaze]

Libyan armed forces (before unrest)

Service Strength Kit Status
SOURCE: INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES, ECONOMIST

Army
45,000
Tanks: 650 Infantry vehicles: 1,050 APCs: 1,080 Artillery: 2,320
Weak and poorly equipped (mostly conscripts)

Paramilitary
40,000
Little known about equipment
Well-armed and highly trained loyal tribesmen and African mercenaries.

Air force
8,000
Combat: 260 Transport: 83 Helicopters: 117
Well-equipped but poorly run. Planes are old Soviet MiG and French-built Mirage craft.

Air defence
15,000
SAM launchers: 400 Anti-aircraft guns: 440
Status unknown but mainly comprised of conscripts

Navy
8,000
Combat vessels: 17 Patrol craft: 10 Landing craft: 4
Status unknown. Ageing Soviet-built craft

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12692068

[Blaze]

Gaddafi's military

Fighter/bomber je

Air power is certainly Colonel Gaddafi's strongest hand in contrast to the rebels, but experts say that so far it has not proved a decisive factor in the fighting. As discussions continue at NATO on potential military options like a no-fly zone, Nato is already closely monitoring Libyan air operations, both to get a picture of how a no-fly zone might be enforced but also to get a sense of how significant the Gaddafi regime's use of air power really is.

Main battle tan


Tanks are best employed in open warfare where they can manoeuvre effectively. They can be vulnerable in urban areas even to improvised weapons. There have been reports of gas cylinders being used as an incendiary weapon against one government tank.

The very best Libyan tanks - the T72s are likely to be with the elite 32nd Brigade led by one of Colonel Gaddafi's sons. Though, as with so much of Libyan hardware, it's hard to know how much is serviceable. Western experts caution that "elite" in this sense is only a relative term. The 32nd Brigade is better equipped than other Libyan units but its purpose is essentially to protect the regime and its war fighting capabilities are uncertain

Attack helicopte



It carries a crew of two, in a stepped, tandem arrangement, with the weapons operator sitting just ahead of and below the pilot. It is armed with a multi-barreled machine-gun or cannon and it can fire anti-tank missiles and deliver other munitions against ground targets. In addition it can also carry up to eight infantrymen in its rear compartment.

It gives Colonel Gaddafi's forces tactical mobility and relatively heavy mobile fire-power. NATO aircraft found it quite difficult to track and destroy Serbian helicopters during the imposition of "no-fly zones" in the Balkans. While the terrain in Libya is very different, halting all local helicopter flights might be a difficult task for the commanders of any future "no-fly zone".

Self-propelled howitze

his is the heavy fire-power of the Libyan Army - a 155mm Palmaria self-propelled howitzer. This is a model specifically built for export by Oto Melara of Italy. So it is a relatively modern weapon very much to NATO standards.

Libya is listed as having around 160 of these long-range guns. Maximum range is some 24 km though it can fire even further with rocket-assisted munitions though it is not clear if the Libyans have this specific ammunition. Maximum rate of fire is six rounds per minute.

This photo is of a parade with the main gun reversed to face the rear of the vehicle. No images of this weapon in action during the current conflict have been seen but it is among the most modern artillery systems available to the Libyan Army.

BMP-1 infantry combat vehicle


along with the vehicle's crew, can carry eight infantrymen. They are armed with a medium-calibre smooth-bore gun and machine gun and can also fire guided anti-tank missiles.

They are not especially heavily armoured and vulnerable to relatively light anti-armour weapons like the RPG or rocket-propelled grenade.

Libya is listed in the Military Balance of the IISS as having over 1000 BMP-1s though it is not clear how many are serviceable and how they may be distributed between the Gaddafi loyalists and the rebels

[Blaze]

Key figures in Libya's rebel counci

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12698562

US crew rescued after Libya cras

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12816226

^^

[Blaze]

By BOBBY GHOSH WITH ABIGAIL HAUSLOHNER / BENGHAZI – 2 hrs 27 mins ago
...
Rebels and allied airpower have destroyed all but 11 of the 80 tanks that had been moving on Benghazi; 10 have been captured intact, along with 20 pickup trucks, two armored vehicles and another fitted with radar gear. Anywhere from 400 to 600 government troops have been killed.

...

It all sounds most reassuring, until you drive to the front line between the rebels and government forces. There, 6 miles (10 km) from Ajdabiyah, the mood among rebel fighters is more tentative than triumphant.

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But the attacks have not curbed Gaddafi's bellicose rhetoric. After dropping out of sight for the first few days, he made a public appearance on March 23, proclaiming before a small group of loyalists, "I am here. I am here. I am here."

...

"The officers and commanders have no control over the youth who are pushing the front line," he said bitterly. "They don't take orders from anyone."

That's OK

...

"You couldn't open a grocery store in one month," says Mustafa Gheriani,

...

the formation of a committee in charge of youth or finance or some other function, only for it to be rendered moot by another committee in a matter of days.

It's called being fluid.

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deal with municipal challenges like street cleaning and garbage disposal.

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It's not easy to tell them apart, because many of the teachers, oil workers and lawyers turned fighters are dressed in uniforms and armed with weapons that they took from captured military bases or that were abandoned by government troops.

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some of the captured bases were being run by generals and colonels who appeared to be overseeing some basic weapons training. They're rarely seen now;

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During battle, civilians with megaphones or loud voices often assume the task of rallying the disorganized fighters.

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Since Gaddafi's successful counterattack in early March, many rebels have grown suspicious of the soldiers who come over to their side. "The big problem here is that most of the revolutionary guys don't trust the military people because a lot of military guys were with Gaddafi at the start," says Najla Elmangoush, a criminal-law professor at Benghazi's Garyounis University and a volunteer at the headquarters of the rebels' transitional national council. "We welcomed them when they joined," she adds. "But people are concerned that maybe they'll try any time to change sides." (Gaddafi's son Saif told TIME earlier in the month that many rebel leaders were in touch with the regime.)

...

but paranoia abounds: fighters talk of spies in their midst and snipers lurking on Benghazi's rooftops.

Sniper's makes even the best leery.

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"They could drop leaflets telling people, 'Stay away from Gaddafi's armor because we're going after them tonight.' Not only would the Libyan civilians stay away from them, but so would the tank crews."

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Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber, the chief of staff of the Odyssey Dawn campaign, said his targeting priorities included "mechanized forces, artillery, those mobile surface-to-air missile sites, interdicting their lines of communications ... their command and control and any opportunity for sustainment of their activity." The goal, he added, is to hit the armor before it enters rebel-held cities, where any strike from the air would be likely to cause civilian casualties.

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In the end, a chopper came to pick him up and return him to U.S. hands. "He was treated with dignity and respect," said Admiral Samuel Locklear, the overall commander of the operations over Libya.

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The wreckage of the F-15 has already become the latest destination for what can only be described as war tourists:Libyans who, emboldened by the allied air strikes against Gaddafi's forces, turn up at the front line for a look. Many have come in the hope of seeing Western jets blow up some tanks. Their cars, indistinguishable from the rebels' vehicles, just add to the traffic chaos

...

Then, when the air strikes fail to materialize, some visitors lose heart and others talk of taking matters into their own hands.

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"I will drive as far as I can into [enemy] ranks and blow myself up," he says. He doesn't appear to have any explosives prepared. "Or a car bomb," one of his friends suggests. "Or blow up a car bomb," al-Faytoori agrees. "A lot of people here are prepared to do that."

Or build a catapult that lobs cars that blow up on impact.

...

Mohamed, from Tobruk, has fashioned a rebel flag into a bandanna and says he's here to defend Benghazi. How does he intend to do that? "I'm hoping someone will die, and I'll get his weapons."

...

- with reporting by Mark Thompson / Washington and Vivienne Walt / Paris

[Blaze]

France 'shoots down Libyan plane
The incident happened near the besieged western city of Misrata, reports said.

Dozens of coalition missiles have already hit military bases, with the aim of ending Col Muammar Gaddafi's ability to launch air attacks.

UK officials said on Wednesday that Libya's air force no longer existed as a fighting force.

Coalition forces have pounded Libyan targets for a fifth consecutive night.

The French military said their planes had hit an air base about 250km (155 miles) south of the Libyan coastline, in an incident apparently unrelated to the shooting down of the Libyan plane.

French officials did not give any further information on the location of the target or the damage.