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Lies, hypocrisy and hidden agendas. This is what United States President Barack Obama did not dwell on when explaining his Libya doctrine to America and the world. The mind boggles with so many black holes engulfing this splendid little war that is not a war (a "time-limited, scope-limited military action", as per the White House) - compounded with the inability of progressive thinking to condemn, at the same time, the ruthlessness of the Muammar Gaddafi regime and the Anglo-French-American/NATO "humanitarian" bombing... (Asia Times, 3.30)
Here's a small selection of reports/articles/analysis about the latest developments related to the ongoing War on Libya:
☞ Libya: live updates (Guardian, 4.04)
☞ Gaddafi envoy in Europe 'seeking solution' (Al-Jazeera, 4.04)
☞ 2 Qaddafi Sons Are Said to Offer Plan to Push Father Out (NYT, 4.03)
☞ Ex-Mujahedeen Help Lead Libyan Rebels (WSJ, 4.02)
☞ Libyan rebels killed in NATO air strike (Al-Jazeera, 4.02)
☞ There's no business like war business (A.Times, 3.30)
While an increasing number of Syrians is taking the streets to demand democracy and social justice, the Palestinian "resistance" organisation Hamas declared its (surprise, surprise!!) solidarity with the 'ruling' dictatorship, i.e. Assad's state terror against the protest movement.
Yesterday's Palestine Information Center reported that "Hamas has said in a statement today that it stands by both the leadership of Syria, praising Syria's leadership and people for siding with the movement to resist the Israeli occupation throughout the years. 'The leadership and people of Syria have stood with the Palestinians' resistance movement and rights and embraced and supported the Palestinian resistance forces, especially Hamas, in the darkest and most difficult of times,' the statement reads."...
Related articles:
☞ Embrace Syrian revolution (Yedioth Ahronoth, 4.02)
☞ 'Assad announced himself a dictator' (Al-Jazeera, 3.31)
SYRIA: MASS PROTESTS & STATE TERROR
1. Latest news:
Syrian activists called today for a nationwide GENERAL STRIKE in the wake of a crackdown on anti-government protesters that has left dozens dead.
2. To learn more about the recent developments please read today's Haaretz report:
The unrest sweeping the Arab world spread across Syria over the weekend as tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated against President Bashar Assad's regime in Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia, Homs, Hama and Dara'a. The latter city has been the site of demonstrations for more than 10 days now.
Amnesty International has estimated that 55 people were killed in the demonstrations in Dara'a last week, and over the weekend an additional 15 to 20 people were reported killed in Sanamein, just outside Dara'a in the south. Two people were reportedly killed in Latakia and another three in a Damascus suburb.
Arab television networks repeatedly broadcast images of the demonstrations, which included a scene in which a statue of Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez Assad, was toppled in Dara'a's main square. In another scene, crowds torched offices of the ruling Baath Party.
In another, hundreds took cover in the face of machine-gun fire in Sanamein, where the casualty figures were the highest in the country over the weekend. Yesterday the unrest resumed in Latakia, Dara'a and Tafas, near Dara'a.
Assad convened the leadership of his Baath Party to consider the steps to take to quell the unrest. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television in Lebanon reported that a shake-up of the Syrian cabinet was one of the moves being debated, along with the release of political prisoners.
It is difficult to assess where the opposition is headed. As in other Arab countries that have seen unrest in recent months, the protesters in Syria have no recognized leadership or organizational infrastructure. The opposition is also not being led by groups that have always been seen as hostile to the regime, such as the Kurds and Islamic extremists.
Syrian security forces had a tough time dealing with the widespread outbreaks of protest. Unlike recent events elsewhere in the Arab world such as in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, the relatively small numbers of demonstrators in the major cities shows that in some sense, the Syrian opposition has not reached a point of no return.
The scope of the weekend's demonstrations is not entirely clear, but in Syria's major cities, unlike in Dara'a, the numbers apparently have not approached what was seen in Tunis, Benghazi and Cairo in recent months. The demonstrations Friday centered on protests against the recent deaths in Dara'a rather than on demands to remove Assad's regime from power.
On the other hand, the unrest in Syria may be a first step on the path toward deposing the Syrian leader. The new developments are virtually unprecedented; until two weeks ago, the regime had not been faced with open protest other than in the Kurdish region in the north.
If Assad continues to order the use of force against demonstrators, this will probably swell the ranks of protest around the country. Assad's response to the unrest has been limited to symbolic gestures such as the release of 260 Kurdish and Islamic prisoners.
This recalled similar gestures by the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt before they were deposed. The week will be critical for the Syrian president.
http://www.haaretz.com/protests-sweep-across-syria-as-assad-considers-cabinet-shake-up-1.351980
Related reports:
☞ Deaths as Syria protests spread (Al-Jazeera, 3.27)
☞ Syria protests continue... (Guardian, 3.26)
Latest news (01:30pm CET):
'Security' forces (riot police and army units) in Bahrain stormed the main hospital, beating doctors, after they attacked demonstrators in Manama's "Pearl Square" on Wednesday morning, according to witnesses in the Bahraini capital.
Demonstrators reported hearing a steady rounds of automatic gun fire while thick smoke rose from the area.
Several attack helicopters whirred above the historic landmark, which has been a rallying spot for anti-gov't/pro-democracy demonstrators in recent weeks.
Cell phone networks in several areas were disrupted. Security forced blocked highways leading to the capital, and formed a ring around the country's main hospital, Salmaniya Medical Complex - not letting people enter or leave.
A short while later riot cops stormed the hospital and beat staffers, several doctors and nurses there testified...
"The King declared war against us!!"
Related news reports:
☞ New clashes in Bahrain (CNN TV report, 3.16)
☞ Bahrain forces attack protesters (Al-Jazeera, 3.16)
☞ Bahrain unleashes forces on protesters' camp (Guardian, 3.16)
Imperialist Invasion vs. Democratic Popular Uprising
Breaking news (01:22pm CET) by Al-Jazeera:
The King of Bahrain has declared a state of emergency for three months on the island following weeks of anti-government protests, state television said.
An order by the king "authorised the commander of Bahrain's defence forces to take all necessary measures to protect the safety of the country and its citizens," a statement read out on television on Tuesday said.
The development comes a day after a Saudi-led military forces arrived to help prop up the government, which is facing pressure from the Shia majority to implement reforms.
Related reports:
☞ Saudi Arabian troops enter Bahrain... (Guardian, 3.14)
☞ Saudi soldiers sent into Bahrain (Al-Jazeera, 3.15)
☞ King imposes 3-month state of emergency (CNN, 3.15)
☞ King of Bahrain declares state of emergency (The Telegraph, 3.15)
MUST READ(!!):
☞ House of Saud 'liberates' Bahrain (Asia Times, 3.15)
Since almost one month the spirit of the popular, pro-democratic uprising in North Africa is spreading onto the Arab Peninsula (Yemen, Oman and Bahrain)!
But for the so-called "international community" it will be the worst-case scenario if the less privileged are taking the streets to fight for democratic reforms: economic, social, political and gender equality... just to demand their basic rights as human beings!
So, just forget about "democracy" or "human rights". Enter the brand new Barack Obama administration "regime alteration" doctrine, where popular aspirations in the Gulf - from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain and Oman - are ditched to the benefit of the "stability" afforded by "key allies", swing producers House of Saud and hosts of the 5th Fleet the al-Khalifa dynasty in Bahrain. Moreover, the House of Saud has told the al-Khalifa that if they do not crush their own Shi'ite-majority revolt, Saudi forces will. And Washington won't bat an eyelid. As it won't bat an eyelid if it turns into a bloodbath.
And I'm afraid that it could happen any time soon!!
Around noon (CET) Reuters reported that "Bahrain has asked for help from neighbouring Gulf Arab countries after protesters overwhelmed police and cut off roads, and an adviser to the royal court said the forces were already on the strategic island kingdom."
Two hours later Al-Jazeera reported that "Saudi military forces entered Bahrain 'to help protect government facilities there'"
Related articles:
☞ Bahrain trade union calls for strike (TradeArabiaNS, 3.14)
☞ Saudi Arabian forces prepare to enter Bahrain... (Guardian, 3.14)
A Palestinian source reported y'day the following about the ongoing and increasing TERROR CAMPAIGN led by the dictator Muammar "The Butcher" Gaddafi against his own people:
As many as six thousand Libyans, mostly innocent civilians, are believed to have been murdered and many other thousands wounded in killings perpetrated by the regime's thugs, mercenaries and henchmen.
Men were summarily executed in their homes, in full view of their wives and children, worshipers killed in their mosques and innocent, peaceful protesters were riddled with bullets rather indiscriminately.
Soldiers refusing to obey orders to kill innocent civilians were summarily executed.
Raving and ranting as usual, Qaddafi calls all opponents rodents, stray-dogs and al-Qaeda terrorists who he said ought to be exterminated. His words are simply a call for genocide...
And today's Guardian(UK) published the following (sort of) depressing frontline coverage:
Libyan rebels' mood darkens amid fears revolution has stalled
Hopes that Gaddafi would be deposed quickly have been replaced by fears of a drawn-out military conflict
When the shooting died down in Benghazi and Zenab Gebril took to the streets to join the revolution, she looked to Libya's neighbours as examples.
"We all saw Egypt and Tunisia and we thought it was going to be a piece of cake," said Gebril, a student who joined the hordes of volunteers around the revolutionary administration in Benghazi. "It's not so easy."
Nearly three weeks after Libyans surprised themselves by revolting against Muammar Gaddafi's brutal 42-year rule, euphoria at the prospect of swiftly deposing the dictator has given way in the rebel capital, Benghazi, to the grim prospect of a popular uprising evolving into a drawn-out military conflict.
That is stoking fears about the consequences of losing, as Gaddafi's forces use tanks and artillery to crush the revolutionaries' takeover of the city of Zawiyah, near Tripoli, and stall the rebel advance from Benghazi hundreds of miles short of the Libyan capital.
Concern at the shaky military situation is in turn contributing to frustration in Benghazi at the lack of a visible leadership to give direction to the revolution and take proper control of a city where gun-toting young men contribute to the air of insecurity by firing weapons at random through the night.
On Wednesday, Gaddafi's forces bombed the rebel frontline in the east, at Ras Lanuf. In hours of rocket fire between the two sides and raids by Gaddafi's air force, oil tanks at nearby Es Sider were hit, causing a large explosion and sending towering plumes of smoke into the air as the fuel burned through the day.
Fears are growing that if Gaddafi wins in Zawiyah, he will then redirect the scores of tanks and armoured vehicles used there against the rebels in the east.
Some in Benghazi have fallen back on a grim fatalism. Gebril, whose parents have both served time in Gaddafi's prisons for opposing his regime, says that excitement at the prospect of the dictator's downfall has given way to a realisation that she may be forced to flee the country.
"If he wins, we're dead. He will kill us. Before is nothing compared to what he would do now. The whole of the east side of the country is dead. I would get out. I'm still young. I've got to live."
The fear of losing has strengthened the determination of others to fight on.
"It's him or us," said Tahar Salen, a Benghazian who has taken up arms against Gaddafi. "By supporting the revolution we have signed our own death warrants, so now we have no choice but to fight until it is over."
Gaddafi is still a long way from winning back control of his country. But that this is now considered a possibility has caused Gebril, like many young Libyans, to direct some of her frustration at the nearly invisible revolutionary council installed to run the liberated areas. "People are getting more angry because there's no one in charge," she said. "The people in the committee are acting like they're in charge, but they're not. We know more about what's going on than they do."
Part of the strength of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions was that they were popular uprisings, not dominated by individual leaders. That was an attraction in countries so long controlled by one man, and the same approach appealed to Libyans keen to rid themselves of a leader who had regarded himself as a cult figure for the past 42 years.
But as Libya's uprising has evolved into what looks like civil war, many in Benghazi see an urgent need for someone to take charge. The revolutionary leadership is made up of 30 representatives headed by Gaddafi's former justice minister, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil. He is perhaps the only member with nationwide recognition. The others represent areas under rebel control as well as the military and youth. There are also lawyers and long-standing opposition activists. But almost no one has any political or government administrative experience.
The revolutionary council continues to proclaim that victory is certain, on the grounds that almost every Libyan wants rid of Gaddafi. But Iman Bugaighis, a member of the revolutionary administration, acknowledges that as the conflict grows, the prospect of a popular uprising in Tripoli overthrowing Gaddafi is dimming.
"Do people in Tripoli want him? No. But it's very, very hard for them. People are afraid," she said.
"We know we face a very big challenge. I'm not denying that. We are not organised. Our fighters are not trained. It's hard to find someone who has authority from the people. It's not enough, but it's only three weeks."
However, Bugaighis said there was no possibility of failure: "Never. When you've seen what's happened here, how can anyone think we will fail? We started with nothing. In three weeks we have all this," she said. "I don't say we won't pay a very high price with the blood of our youth. That's why we have to have international intervention."
The revolutionary council is looking for foreign help. It has called for the imposition of a no-fly zone to give protection against air attacks. Bugaighis said that diplomatic approaches "include requests for everything", including a plea for weapons supplies. But the council does not want a foreign army on its soil.
"The youth don't want military intervention. The revolutionary council took that on board. As Arabs, we have a very bad history of enduring foreign military intervention," she said. "People think of it as an invasion. So we want a no-fly zone and air strikes against Gaddafi under the UN."
In an attempt to improve the military situation, the revolutionary council has appointed a former officer in Gaddafi's army who took part in the 1969 coup that brought him to power, Omar Hariri, as commander of the rebel forces. It is also trying to stop young men with guns but no training from pouring towards the front line.
"We pleaded with the youth not to go because it may be a plot by Gaddafi to empty Benghazi of its youth. They don't have any experience of fighting. We have called on them to come back," said Bugaighis. "We don't know how long it will last but we don't have any choice but to continue. I'm determined to win. I don't intend to die but if this is the price ... "
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/09/libyan-rebels-mood-darkens
Latest updated "frontline" news:
☞ Libya Live Blog - March 10 (Al-Jazeera)
☞ Libya uprising - live updates (Guardian)
Related article:
☞ Why no-fly won't fly (Asia Times, 3.10)
Today is the 21st day of the popular uprising (or rather People's Liberation War!!) against the dictatorship of Muammar"The Butcher"Gaddafi and revolutionary forces across the country are battling forces loyal to "The Butcher" in their bid to overthrow his regime...
Latest news: A leading member of Libya's ruling establishment appealed to rebel leaders for dialogue on Monday, in the clearest sign yet Muammar Gaddafi may be ready to compromise with opponents challenging his rule. Jadallah Azous Al-Talhi, a Libyan prime minister in the 1980s who is originally from eastern Libya, appeared on state television reading an address to elders in Benghazi, the main base of the anti-Gaddafi rebels. He asked them to "give a chance to national dialogue to resolve this crisis, to help stop the bloodshed, and not give a chance to foreigners to come and capture our country again." (source: Reuters)
Meanwhile Al-Sharq al-Awsat reports that the Libyan dictator wants rebels to drop demands to try him in international court, guarantee his security as well as that of his family and funds in exchange for his departure from country
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will resign and leave the country on condition that he and his family receive guarantees they will not be harmed, the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat reported today. No official confirmation has been given.
The report cites "reliable" Libyan sources in Benghazi as saying that Gaddafi vowed to announce his resignation and the transfer of authority to rebels in Benghazi before his parliament if his security, his family's security, and his funds are preserved.
Gaddafi also wants rebels to help him leave the country for the destination of his choice, and to relinquish their demand to try him in international courts for crimes against humanity, the report says.
The sources added that preparations for Gaddafi's departure had already begun, among them the spreading of a rumor that he had had a stroke.
"There has so far been no official response to Gaddafi's proposal, negative or positive," the paper was told. However, the sources hinted that rebels would not consider any negotiations with the Libyan leader.
Related updated news you'll get here:
http://www.libyafeb17.com/
While the people's mass struggle for Libya's liberation enters the third week, since the last night the regime strikes back - merciless and bloody, according to latest news reports.
But at the same time Muammar "The Butcher" Gaddafi presented to his remaining supporters and the int'l audience (via some int'l media representatives) his "viewpoint" about the current situation in the country (i.e. just an extended version of his already wellknown hallucinations) during a televised address to mark 34 years of so-called "People Power".
Here a kind of protocol(recorded by The Guardian):
12.36am(local time): Gaddafi has just began speaking in Tripoli, following a lengthy fawning introduction from one of his supporters.
He extends his congratulations to the Libyan people for the creation of the people's authority on this day in 1977. He said it marks the day he rid the country of colonial powers, citing the US and the UK, and handed the power to the people.
12.41am: The people's authority represents a "true democracy" without any parliament or elections (!), says Gaddafi.
"Authority and power is in the hands of the people and only the people."
We give no power to any king or president, he says.
The Libyan system "is not comprehended by the world".
"I carried out a revolution in the 70s, handed over power to the people and then rested."
12.49am: People come to me for advice and "cultural influence", says Gaddafi.
He's talking about the formation of the Libyan bar association (for lawyers) for some reason, saying he did not want to interfere in its formation.
Talking about himself in the third person: "Muammar Gaddafi has no power, he is not president."
He's interrupted by chants of support. "The people improvised these chants [the implication being they haven't been told to shout support for him] and voiced them. Millions of the Libyan people marched chanting my name."
"The whole Libyan people have told me they are willing to die for me."
More chants...
12.57am: The crowds are chanting: "We swear by God, we can never abandon our leader."
Gaddafi says: "These chants are newly authored by the Libyan people." Once more he tries to emphasise the show of support is not staged!
Gaddafi says: "Libya was just like Lebanon and Liberia (chosen for alliteration?) but now it is free."
"How come Muammar Gaddafi bought Italy to its knees...forced Italy to apologise to the Libyan people?"
He says Libya forced the Americans out.
After more chanting Gaddafi asks people: "Please be calm"
If you look at the protests shown by the foreign media you would imagine the whole world wants to label Gaddafi as a criminal, he says, but how come all the people on the ground support him.
01.04pm: Back onto a familiar ground as Gaddafi accuses al Qaida of being behind the violence in Libya.
Operatives have settled in certain areas and formed dormant cells.
"Suddenly this dormant cell in al Bayda launched an attack against the battalion. They attacked the police station."
Gaddafi says this is how the protests started. "When the assault was launched the battalion received orders not to return fire."
The Libyan leader says people then took arms and took control of al Bayda.
"The same infection has spread over to Benghazi, the birthplace of martyrs, of Omar Mukhtar."
Again he says he told the battalion to abandon the camp and go home.
01.13pm: I decided that all weapons depots should be destroyed to avoid them falling into the hands of "terrorists", says Gaddafi.
"The whole world knows about al Qaida."
It is an "absolute lie" that peaceful demonstrations are being fired upon.
"Libya does not like foreign correspondents," says Gaddafi, explaining why none were in the country before the uprising began.
"There were no peaceful demonstrations at all in Libya, as I told you it was a terrorist attack."
"The terrorist operatives are wreaking havoc, raping woman on a daily basis."
He says the "terrorists" freed people from jail and handed them weapons (which is exactly what he has been accused of doing, as well as employing foreign mercenaries).
01.19pm: There are no peaceful demonstrations at all, Gaddafi says. It is a conspiracy to control Libya's oil.
We will fight to the last drop of blood to defend Libyan territory inch by inch, he says.
01.22pm: Libya will stop producing and exporting oil, Gaddafi says.
01.23pm: If the demonstrations in Libya were peaceful, Gaddafi asks, why would foreign countries be withdrawing their citizens and companies their workers?
01.25pm: This – the withdrawal of foreigners – is clear proof that what is happening is attacks launched by armed gangs against these companies, Gaddafi claims.
They depicted Libya as fallen, he says. Libya will live on and it is them that will fall.
The crowds start chanting: "If we are abandoned by the whole world, we will not abandon our leader."
01.28pm: In Bayda and Benghazi committees should be formed to find out who killed whom, Gaddafi says. The UN can send fact-finding committees to prove we did not fire a single bullet against peaceful civilians, he says.
He attacks the idea of the UN handing down resolutions based only on media reports.
01.35pm: Back to al-Qaida. They do not have demands. They are limited in number. Their slogan is: "Killing, killing, killing." They do not compromise. Gaddafi wishes they had demands so they could negotiate
01.38pm: Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb are operatic from a mosque or "snake hole" brainwashing the youth, Gaddafi claims. That's different from Egypt and Tunisia, he says.
02.09pm: We are not like Darfur or Iraq, Gaddafi says; we do not need foreign aid. Anyone who talks about that will be considered a traitor who has committed high treason. That would open the door to colonialism. We have enough supplies...
Etc, etc...
Summary: After all, according to "The Butcher", there are no anti-gov't protests at all... all the previous and current demonstrations in the country are SUPPORTING the regime... of course there are NO political prisoners... etc, etc...
Related/updated reports you'll get on Al-Jazeera!!
Libya is drowning in blood. The confirmed death toll so far, cited by Human Rights Watch and world media, is at least 300, but in reality it is certainly higher - according to estimates by the Italian foreign minister, possibly 1,000. Witnesses cited by The New York Times on Tuesday claimed that pro-government militias were carting away bodies of protesters; the capital Tripoli was described as a "war zone", "littered with dead bodies". Gaddafi allegedly used practically all means available - including snipers, imported militias roaming the streets and firing indiscriminately, warplanes, helicopters and even naval bombardment.
But the ongoing massacres will not save the Libyan dictator. While, according to reports, he is gradually consolidating his hold on the capital and some western parts of the country, his overall situation is grave. He has lost control over practically the entire eastern half of Libya, where the greater part of the oil wealth is concentrated. While some sources even are claiming that "90 percent of the country are liberated", Saadi al-Gaddafi (one of the dictator's seven sons) said today: "85 percent of Libya are very quiet and complete secure"(^^)...
Latest news:
After Obama says 'suffering and bloodshed is outrageous, unacceptable,' European official tells al-Quds al-Arabi "NATO, US warplanes stationed in Italy may be ordered to take down Libyan planes". Wall Street Journal: "Washington fears Gaddafi may use mustard gas against protestors"...
At the same time AP reports: "NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the Western military alliance will not intervene in the Libyan conflict".
Last but not least:
Also Gaza's current rulers are "supporting" the Libyan uprising, but their "solidarity" is just f*cking bizarre!
"He who threatens to fight his people till the last man or woman standing is a criminal. Gaddafi will be toppled just lke Ben Ali was toppled in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt,” said Hamas spokesman Hammad al-Raqab speaking at demonstrations staged by the Islamic University's Islamic bloc in Gaza. "We hoped [Gaddafi] would have struck Tel Aviv and Israel with these planes,” he added. (Palestinian Information Center, 2.23)
Related articles:
☞ Gadhafi's vow: Will fight to 'last drop of blood' (AP, 2.24)
☞ The Gaddafi disgrace (Yedioth Ahronoth, 2.24)
☞ Scars show as Libya drowns in blood (Asia Times, 2.24)
☞ Gaddafi: The West's Pet Dictator (Berliner Zeitung, 2.23)
For more updated info please check out:
☞ Libya Uprising (al-Jazeera's special coverage section)
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