Libyan military planes are now bombing protestors. Libyan ambassadors to other countries (Sweden, UK and Indonesia are what I've heard so far) are resigning and joining the protests.

[Edited on February 21, 2011 at 12:13 PM. Reason : Link: http://twitter.com/#!/SultanAlQassemi]

[Edited on February 21, 2011 at 12:23 PM. Reason : London isn't a country. D'oh.]

2/21/2011 12:13:23 PM

The ambassadors to India and China resigned as well. Link to the thing about the bombing?

2/21/2011 12:16:43 PM

This is just going to get uglier and uglier.

2/21/2011 12:20:22 PM

That guy's Twitter is all I had but I found a link using my superior Google skills.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE71K26320110221

2/21/2011 12:21:49 PM

Quote :

""These really seem to be last, desperate acts. If you're bombing your own capital, it's really hard to see how you can survive, " said Julien Barnes-Dacey, Control Risks' Middle East analyst."

2/21/2011 1:03:12 PM

very very graphic NSFW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFNmlGYmaeA

2/21/2011 1:13:17 PM

^
What was that about?

2/21/2011 1:59:52 PM

supposed pictures from a Lybian hospital

2/21/2011 2:43:22 PM

^^^ video was deleted, u got alternate hosting link?

2/21/2011 2:49:19 PM

Al Jazeera will probably have it. I can't check at work right now though.

2/21/2011 3:10:35 PM

The 2 defectors are pretty bad-ass amazing people. It takes guts to do what they did.

I hope things work out well for Libya though.

My gut feeling is that we should be sending in some “peace keeping" troops, but I really know nothing about the relationship between our 2 countries.

2/21/2011 7:13:33 PM

i think any "peace keeping" force would just be perceived as more American meddling

2/21/2011 7:25:49 PM

http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1402

Soldiers being burnt for not shooting at protesters?

2/21/2011 7:26:21 PM

Quote :

"That guy's Twitter is all I had but I found a link using my superior Google skills."

@SultanAlQassemi is a great follow on Twitter. I started following at the beginning of the Egyptian protests, and he provided a lot of breaking news and some good insight of what was actually happening. For those of you hesitant to jump on the Twitter band wagon, I suggest following this guy for the next couple weeks and see if it changes your mind.

2/22/2011 12:09:44 AM

Is he a real Sultan?

2/22/2011 8:54:30 AM

Interesting take on the framing of the protests:

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/02/201122164254698620.html

2/22/2011 10:46:01 AM

Quote :

"My gut feeling is that we should be sending in some “peace keeping" troops, but I really know nothing about the relationship between our 2 countries."

Do what?

Libya (Under Kadhafi) was a longtime supporter of terrorism. And I don't mean in the bullshit "Saddam did 9/11!" way, I mean he actually was involved in such things as the Berlin disco bombing. And in retaliation, we launched air raids on him, blew up a bunch of Libyans (including his infant adopted daughter), and sanctioned his ass up until quite recently.

Our relationship has not been dandy. And the US doesn't need to send peacekeeping troops to any of these places. The UN, maybe. The AU, possibly...but probably not.

2/22/2011 10:48:55 AM

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/02/22/133960871/gadhafi-blames-rats-and-foreign-agents-says-he-will-be-a-martyr

Quote :

""I will fight until the last drop of my blood," Gadhafi says, according to Al Jazeera's translation."

What a crazy asshole.

2/22/2011 11:28:29 AM

Holy crap this speech he is given is so long.

What a wack job.

2/22/2011 11:48:40 AM

Quote :

"@FakeAPStylebook: "Gaddafi," "Gadafi," "Gadhafi" and other variants are all incorrect. Instead, go with "Gadaf the Beige.""

lolololol

2/22/2011 11:55:59 AM

Its been over an hour and still going.

Bat.Shit.Crazy

2/22/2011 12:05:22 PM

We should assassinate him.

We should just do it, and leave, then let the protesters figure the rest out.

2/22/2011 1:54:29 PM

yeah... the more this guy talks the less I believe he has any chance to hold on to power.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12544624

2/22/2011 2:16:37 PM

You realize he's been talking like that every day of his whole life, right?

2/22/2011 2:40:42 PM

That's not convincing in the slightest. The reports we've seen so far have protesters crying over dead bodies and claiming to have found hired foreign mercenaries to shoot protesters. They obtained the critical mass they needed and after that point, the heavy handed approach serves to erode power rather than hold it.

There are enough people outwardly opposing him in the nation such that his extremist and reactionary speeches will not win over the middle-ground people, but instead will vindicate the protesters and gain them more supporters. Seriously, it's the wrong thing to say at the wrong time.

2/22/2011 3:28:17 PM

Quote :

"“This is a small number of terrorists trying to turn us into an emirate for Bin Laden and Zawahiri so the US can come take control,” he said, referring to the group's chief ideologue Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian living in exile. “Come out of your homes, attack them in their dens,” he urged Libya’s citizens. “Withdraw your children from the streets. They are drugging your children, they are making your children drunk and sending them to hell.” .... "I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered a bullet fired…. When I do, everything will burn.""

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0222/Qaddafi-speech-More-Saddam-Hussein-than-Mubarak/(page)/2

2/22/2011 3:34:25 PM

I'm not arguing, really. I'm just saying he is pretty famous for having a serious case of crazy mouth. He's the Kanye West of northern Africa.

2/22/2011 3:35:09 PM

Word. I just thought that was worth posting.

2/22/2011 3:45:36 PM

Quote :

"Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi delivered a defiant, rambling speech today, refusing calls to step down. He vowed to die "a martyr."

CNN

Yeesh.

2/22/2011 5:07:47 PM

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41717408

2/22/2011 5:42:43 PM

Well, fast money said it, time to short oil.

2/22/2011 5:46:47 PM

Quote :

"Some students at Tripoli's Academy of Graduate Studies were offered free master's degrees if they joined Gadhafi supporters in Green Square, a source said."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/22/libya.protests/index.html

I'm taking classes just in case this opportunity arises as Bev Perdue is being deposed.

2/22/2011 10:07:10 PM

so when do protests come to the West?

i want democracy in the USA!

2/22/2011 10:12:44 PM

Obama faces pressure to intervene in Libya

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/23/us-libya-usa-idUSTRE71K6D520110223

2/22/2011 11:17:28 PM

Quote :

"I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered a bullet fired…. When I do, everything will burn."

geez, i'm happy I'm not in Libya

2/23/2011 8:23:52 AM

does Libya have an official website?

2/23/2011 8:31:37 AM

Quote :

"so when do protests come to the West? i want democracy in the USA!"

Nice.

2/23/2011 8:42:56 AM

BAM!

Quote :

"Libya's former justice minister, who just resigned to join the revolution, says he has documentary proof that Qaddafi ordered the lockerbie bombing. Also, there are reports of hero pilots who ejected from their plane -- which crashed -- after they refused to bomb protesters."

http://www.businessinsider.com/qaddafi-gave-orders-for-lockerbie-bombing-2011-2

2/23/2011 9:54:13 AM

small, isolated protests break out in North Korea

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/First-public-protests-against-the-Kims%E2%80%99-regime-20861.html

2/25/2011 11:38:30 AM

^^ Why wouldn't they just look for somewhere to land rather than blow the plane up and endanger themselves?

2/25/2011 11:50:53 AM

Quote :

"@SultanAlQassemi: Gaddafi now in TV "I'm in central Tripoli now. The people who don't love me don't deserve to live""

2/25/2011 12:09:35 PM

^^ Because I'm sure, given the defections that have occurred already, they were lied to and told they could and would be shot down if they too tried to defect.

2/25/2011 12:18:17 PM

crashing the plane ensures the next pilot won't complete the mission.

2/25/2011 1:34:10 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if the CIA is striking matches in this fire. Access to Libya's oil is paramount to the survival of our "Non-negotiable American way of life"-Cheyney.

2/25/2011 7:33:09 PM

Read this section of Qaddafi's "The Green Book":

http://www.mathaba.net/gci/theory/gb1.htm#society

Info on his book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Book



BTW, his son thinks that other countries should intervene and stop the bloodshed that his father is causing:

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/saif-qaddafi-dissertation

Quote :

"The dictator’s heir apparent authored a 2007 doctoral thesis praising democracy and human rights. Whoops."

Quote :

"His dissertation celebrated "liberal individualism." There was no mention of a how a government bombing and beating its own people fits into that paradigm. But he contended that when the people of one country are repressed, other nations have a responsibility to act: “The just treatment of individual citizens is not an internal matter only for states; the interests of individuals in despotic, illiberal states is an issue to be addressed by the larger global community.” Here's Saif's recommendation for what other nations should do regarding such rogue states: This thesis proposes that such regimes could become legitimate targets for intervention because of the violation of basic human rights implied in the denial of such freedoms as voting or free speech. Translation: foreign countries have the right to use force to protect those living under "non-liberal" governments. Saif noted that outside governments must step in and act if a governments is repressing the inalienable liberty of its citizens. In fact, those foreign governments have a “liberal” responsibility to intervene on behalf of the oppressed."

Click link to read other choice excerpts which celebrate individuals and their rights in a democracy!

May the tyrant fall soon.


[Edited on February 25, 2011 at 8:11 PM. Reason : ]

2/25/2011 8:10:04 PM

is that the same son who went on tv after the first couple days of protests? interesting. i wonder if was just biding his time till pops died and would have made those reforms. it's almost a shame, considering how much more cooperative libya has been over the last 5-10 years. so much for that model of reconciliation with western countries

2/25/2011 8:24:57 PM

yup, same son who warned of civil war and rivers of blood. he is the heir apparent.

full phd thesis: http://motherjones.com/files/saif_dissertation_lse.pdf


[Edited on February 25, 2011 at 8:42 PM. Reason : ]

2/25/2011 8:41:27 PM

Maybe its CNN's coverage but im ready for the Marines to live up to their hymn. No reason not to go in and handle mercinaries. I wonder if GW would have done things differently. We know RR would have had a bullet through G by now.

2/25/2011 9:15:28 PM

uh, libya fucked with the US for years before reagan finally ordered a strike on tripoli, and that was only after a direct attack (berlin) and diplomatic discussions with others in the region

2/25/2011 9:24:45 PM

Quote :

"BTW, his son thinks that other countries should intervene and stop the bloodshed that his father is causing:"

Don't know where you are getting your information but Saif went on CNN today and said there were only three options for him and his family: to live and die in Libya.

His son is not against him and says that the regime would never kill its own people which leads me to ask the question; How do we KNOW the people doing the shooting are Gadhafi's people? It seems way too obvious for me.

2/26/2011 2:25:49 AM