More heavy fighting in Libya's Benghazi, death toll rises to 130

[Bosonic]

Source: Reuters

Heavy fighting flared on Sunday between Libya's army and Islamist militias apparently trying retake one of their largest camps in the eastern city of Benghazi, military officials said.

At least 130 people have been killed in the past 10 days during street fighting in Libya's second-largest city -- part of a wider picture of chaos gripping the major oil producer three years after the downfall and death of Muammar Gaddafi.

The nascent army, backed by forces of a former general and armed youths, launched earlier this month an offensive against Islamists in Benghazi, expelling them from the airport area and the February 17 camp, one of their strongholds in the port city.

But fresh fighting between the army and Ansar al-Sharia -- blamed by Washington on a 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate that killed the American ambassador -- erupted at the university campus and other areas next to the camp. A fire broke out in the university's main building, a security source said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/26/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0IF0XD20141026

[DFW]

1. You know what happens when Republican trolls read your post, don't you?

They'll think, DAMN!!! Benghazi!! Where have I heard that name before. It rings a bell. Wasn't he president of the Taliban or something? I KNOW I heard the name on Fox Noise for a while. Ben Ghazi, did he run against Scott Walker in Wisconsin?

[Bosonic]

2. I think of an ill-advised intervention...

[rpannier]

3. I think the same thing as the OP

Last edited Mon Oct 27, 2014, 04:00 AM - Edit history (1)

It was a bad mistake
But, I thought that at the beginning
Wish I had been wrong, but I wasn't
Libya is a mess.
Like Iraq, we should not have been involved in ousting the leadership

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Imperial hubris says we know what is best for other countries.

And have the moral authority to impose it.

[quadrature]

5. setting Libya on fire was a mistake

Libya --.> Syria
Libya --> Mali --> the rest of west Africa
it just goes on and on


are there other countries we should destabilize?

[joshcryer]

7. Libya would probably look like Syria.

IS would probably have a foothold there now.

Right now there are secularists and moderates fighting back. They don't want it to become Syria.

Basically Libya is as dangerous as a hot summer weekend in Venezuela. The overblown nature of commentary on Libya is saddening.

And what isn't reported is how Libya is fighting back against radical militant islamists and always has. Instead the moderates who are fighting back and have the majority support are considered mere "rivals." It's rather racist.

[rpannier]

8. What you are leaving out

Most of the country has basically been partitioned
There is no real central government controlling things now
Libyta is more reflective of Afghanistan, pre-Communist China and/or Khmer Rouge Cambodia where the region you're in determines everything

The intervention was a mistake then and still is

[joshcryer]

13. You put too much precedence on separatists.

And not enough on Libyans keeping the country together.

[quadrature]

9. the militias have carved-up the country

(IF I remember correctly)
one militia is loyal to the Caliphate of ISIS.

on top of that, there are two parliments

[joshcryer]

14. No they haven't.

[bemildred]

10. Libya does look like Syria, except Syria still has a central government. nt

[joshcryer]

12. Libya is 1000x less murderous than Syria.

You exaggerate. Venezuela is more dangerous than Libya.

[bemildred]

15. I just love happy talk.

Libya is safer at the moment, but it won't stay that way. It's a failed state, awash in gangs and warlords, and nobody to put it back together again. Gradually, the area of the planet where the writ of no government reaches is growing, and Libya is part of that now.

[joshcryer]

16. Actually, the recent efforts are the best yet.

They have had a failed military and police for several years now. It's constituted and has begun to strike back in force. A year ago I could not have reasonably said this. Today, I can. It is not a failed state, watch and see. The resistance to these forces has reached a tipping point. The unruly forces are soon to be eradicated, because that's the will of the Libyan people.

Libya is safer than many Latin American states but I don't see posters bashing Haiti or Honduras or Venezuela. Even the media insists on calling the islamist radicals in Libya "rival" groups when they are in the minority.

[bemildred]

17. Pie in the sky by and by.

I see plenty of bashing of all and sundy here, and certainly including those.

[blackcrowflies]

6. Let's not forget in 2016 whose brilliant idea intervention in Libya was

Ms. We came, we saw, he died.

[Igel]

11. "The buck stops elsewhere."

Not quite same ring to it as "The buck stops here."

So what you're really saying is that Ms. "We came, we saw, he died" was the de facto president at the time, putting one over on the weakling that nominally occupied the Oval Office?

Gee.

Hu nu?

[Bosonic]

18. Libya getting 'very close' to point of no return: U.N. envoy

Libya getting 'very close' to point of no return: U.N. envoy

(Reuters) - Factional warfare in Libya is pushing the oil producer "very close to the point of no return", the U.N. special envoy to the country said on Tuesday, commenting on flagging efforts to bring about a ceasefire and political dialogue.

The North African country has had two governments and parliaments since an armed militia from the western city of Misrata seized the capital Tripoli in August, setting up its own cabinet and assembly. The internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni had to move 1,000 km (625 miles) to the east where the elected House of Representatives is also now working, effectively splitting the vast desert nation.

Last month, U.N. Special Envoy Bernadino Leon started an initiative to bring together both sides for a dialogue and ceasefire. But fighting has worsened in the past two weeks in the eastern city of Benghazi as well as in western Libya. At least 130 people have been killed alone in Benghazi, where warplanes bombed suspected Islamist militants on Tuesday.

"I think this country is running out of time. The danger for the country is that in the past weeks we are getting very close to the point of no return," Leon told reporters in a televised news conference.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/28/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0IH1MS20141028?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter