It's Getting Real In Libya

Damn you, Penguin! I came here just to post that!

Better luck next time, rae.

Sorry to necropost, but it looks like the West is ready to rumble with Khadafy-- or at least the French are.

Quote :

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- French fighters jets soared over Libya on Saturday to counter Moammar Gadhafi's military forces who were intent on destroying the opposition as they pushed into the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

"Our air force will oppose any aggression by Colonel Gadhafi against the population of Benghazi," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking after an international, top-level meeting in Paris over the Libyan crisis.

"As of now, our aircraft are preventing planes from attacking the town," he said. "As of now, our aircraft are prepared to intervene against tanks."

Don't worry, U.S. and U.K. forces are getting into the act.

Quote :

President Barack Obama authorized limited military action against Libya Saturday, saying Moammar Gadhafi's continued assault on his own people left the U.S. and its international partners with no other choice. The Pentagon said it fired 110 cruise missiles at 20 targets along the Libyan coast.

Yeah, I saw the footage of the first cruise missile strikes on ABC News.

Looks like it's time for Col. Khadafy to start updating his career resume....

Quote :

By BEN HUBBARD - Associated Press,DARIO LOPEZ - Associated Press,KARIN LAUB - Associated Press | AP – 21 mins ago

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Hundreds of euphoric Libyan rebels danced and cheered after they overran a major military base that defends Tripoli on Sunday, driving out elite forces led by Moammar Gadhafi's son in a brief gunbattle. The fighters hauled off truckloads of weapons and advanced full speed toward the capital in pickup trucks and even on foot, as the trappings of the regime crumbled fast.
Inside Tripoli, there was a second day of widespread clashes between what the opposition called "sleeping cells" of rebels who are rising up and Gadhafi loyalists. There were also large anti-government protests.
Libyan state television aired an audio message from Gadhafi Sunday night, his second in less than 24-hours. He sounded angry and urged families in Tripoli to arm themselves and fight for the capital.
"The time is now to fight for your politics, your oil, your land," he said. "I am with you in Tripoli — together until the ends of the earth," Gadhafi shouted. He sounded like he was speaking on a phone line.
An Associated Press reporter with the rebels rapidly advancing toward Tripoli saw them take over the base of the Khamis Brigade, 16 miles west of Tripoli. After a brief gunbattle, Gadhafi's forces fled what was once a major symbol of the regime's power.
Gadhafi's 27-year-old son Khamis commands the 32nd Brigade, also known simply as the Khamis Brigade, one of the best trained and equipped units in the Libyan military.
Inside the base, hundreds of rebels cheered wildly and danced, raising the rebel flag on the front gate of a large, gray wall enclosing the compound. They seized large stores of weapons, driving away with truckloads of whatever arms they could get their hands on. One of the rebels carried off a tube of grenades, while another carted off two mortars.
Ahmed al-Ajdal, 27, a fighter from Tripoli, was loading up a truck with ammunition.
"This is the wealth of the Libyan people that he was using against us," he said, pointing to his haul. "Now we will use it against him and any other dictator who goes against the Libyan people."

You can get the rest of the story here.

here's what actually happened in libya: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

You really don't like America, do you Zeke?

zeke wrote:

here's what actually happened in libya: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Communism for the lulz.

Howithurts wrote:

You really don't like America, do you Zeke?

Well, I don't like nations. I prefer humanity. Whadja think about the article?

Lady Anne wrote:

zeke wrote:

here's what actually happened in libya: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Communism for the lulz.

i ain't hip. what's a lulz?

^
Lulz explained by experts on the matter.

tl;dr

zeke wrote:

Lady Anne wrote:

zeke wrote:

here's what actually happened in libya: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Communism for the lulz.

i ain't hip. what's a lulz?

The funny, the laughing out loud.

Al-Jazeera reports Gaddafi is dead:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

e: and the Guardian, though they don't seem so sure about the whole "dead" aspecta.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.

I'm still slightly speculative that it's Khadafi and not some poor schmoe they painted up to look like him before shooting him, to make it look good for the press.

These dictators are hard to overthrow, but they're even harder to bring down.

Yeah, they're like cockroaches that way.

I seem to remember Gaddafi had several imposters to fill in for him. Hope this isn't one of them. There was a rumor that a truck convoy, loaded with Libyan gold, had headed south, possibly to Sabha with the intention of crossing over into Algeria. Even if we get a direct genetic confirmation that it really is him there is enough distrust about government intentions that the rumor that he is still alive will persist for years. I'm interested about the gold. Libya had one of the largest gold reserves in the world. That much gold is power. Technically it belongs to the Libyan people but I have a nasty suspicion it will not be managed that way. One can only hope the Libyan people and their leaders will not be duped out of their oil and gold wealth.

It was definitely him, zootie. I watched a report on ABC News last night, and it said Khadafy was ID'ed using the same type of facial recognition software they used to locate bin Laden right before Seal Team 6 blew him away. If it had been an impostor the rebels and the NATO personnel supporting them would have known about it within minutes, if not seconds.

Chris91 wrote:

It was definitely him, zootie. I watched a report on ABC News last night, and it said Khadafy was ID'ed using the same type of facial recognition software they used to locate bin Laden right before Seal Team 6 blew him away. If it had been an impostor the rebels and the NATO personnel supporting them would have known about it within minutes, if not seconds.

Well that's good to know. I feared we'd soon hear one of his idiotic video tapes from Niger calling for death of the 'cockroaches'. IE: His own people.
25 tons of gold could have a lot of pull in that destitute country.

Speaking of gold, I don't envy the folks who have the job of tracking down his stolen loot-- it's going to take years, maybe decades, just to locate a fraction of it, never mind the whole batch.

He's still got two sons out there. But if they're smart, they won't come back.

But who knows?

You know, it's dumb. Some people just don't know how much is too much. Gaddafi ruled the country for forty years. If he's alive he'd do best to shut up and live in luxury with the billions in oil and gold he stole from his own country. But men like that just can't give up power.

No, they certainly can't, Harley.

Sigh! It's incredible what a creative and visionary person could have done with that much wealth and 40 years of time. I don't expect an answer but why are SO many leaders such absolute DIPSHITS?