New Libyan rebel leader spent much of past 20 years in suburban Virginia

[TomClash]

Source: Miami Herald

New Libyan rebel leader spent much of past 20 years in suburban Virginia


BY CHRIS ADAMS

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- The new leader of Libya's opposition military spent the past two decades in suburban Virginia but felt compelled - even in his late-60s - to return to the battlefield in his homeland, according to people who know him.

Khalifa Hifter was once a top military officer for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but after a disastrous military adventure in Chad in the late 1980s, Hifter switched to the anti-Gadhafi opposition. In the early 1990s, he moved to suburban Virginia, where he established a life but maintained ties to anti-Gadhafi groups.

Late last week, Hifter was appointed to lead the rebel army, which has been in chaos for weeks. He is the third such leader in less than a month, and rebels interviewed in Libya openly voiced distrust for the most recent leader, Abdel Fatah Younes, who had been at Gadhafi's side until just a month ago.

Since arriving in the United States in the early 1990s, Hifter lived in suburban Virginia outside Washington, D.C. Badr said he was unsure exactly what Hifter did to support himself, and that Hifter primarily focused on helping his large family.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/26/2136063/new-libyan-rebel-leader-spent.html#ixzz1HpfFpjjh

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/26/2136063/new-libyan-rebel-leader-spent.html#ixzz1HpeX7z1e

[EFerrari]

1. Hannah Bell posted something in the last week or so

that detailed how another one of the "national council" members was trained here in the financial sector and worked at a university in Washington state. I didn't bookmark the thread, unfortunately.

[TomClash]

2. It's here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x729912

[EFerrari]

4. Thank you, TomClash. n/t

[WheelWalker]

3. Recommend

:kick:

[annabanana]

5. time to start bookmarking!. . DU's inestimable

research wing always comes in handy. .

[jefferson_dem]

6. Good for him...and us.

Hopefully, he can help take down that Moammar thug.

[TheLastMohican]

57. another Karzai-puppet guy?

we can really use one of those puppets? while he is useful to our interests.

[JohnyCanuck]

7. Hmm Virginia you say.....

Langley Va., maybe?

Since arriving in the United States in the early 1990s, Hifter lived in suburban Virginia outside Washington, D.C. Badr said he was unsure exactly what Hifter did to support himself, and that Hifter primarily focused on helping his large family.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/26/2136063/new-libyan-rebel-leader-spent.html#ixzz1HplcKtPZ

You don't suppose he was drawing a paycheck from Uncle Sam?

[Fuddnik]

12. Nah, he was a consultant to Chalabi.

[leveymg]

16. CIA scholarship kid.

Full boat: comes with a green card, a tract house, and a nice allowance. "Hifter"? God, I can see the typos now . . .

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

35. :coincidencetheoryfoilhat:

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

52. My thought exactly...

...James Corbett cast some much needed light on this with a hard hitting video called "The Last Word on Terrorism:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPnT6B5HpkA

[notadmblnd]

54. I'll bet we can guess what he's been doing

Working for the CIA, Causing unrest in Lybia

[notesdev]

8. Well, now imagine that

If you were looking for evidence to support the theory that this rebellion in Libya originated with a CIA black op, this is a bombshell.

[ixion]

9. indeed...

[KoKo]

19. Whether it's "Black Op" or not...I would hope that our Govt. might have informed us

that they had "educated in the US Libyans" ready to take over when we get Gadaffi out... Instead we are being told this is a group of "Freedom for Democracy" Libyans..(just ordinary people) who are fighting against Gadaffi.

We are in another war...and we are not told that the folks in the Shadow Freedom Fighter Government are really our Puppets. We are spending our taxpayer money on placing these people (who are trained here in the US) to power in Libya. This might be a good thing or not for the people of Libya but why are our taxpayer dollars going to support this when we have joblessness, despair and corruption by Wall Street and Banksters here in the US? Teachers, Firefighters, Police, Govt. and State Workers and the rest of us losing jobs while we "REMAKE THE MIDDLE EAST?"

This was Bush/Cheney's plan. To "Remake the Middle East" and now Obama's doing their bidding on our Taspayer dollars and on our backs. This is a terrible thing. And, we have not been told the truth about it from the beginning.

[joshcryer]

25. Uh, I assure you that the guy from Virgnia ain't fighting worth shit.

He's providing strategic information, possibly with help from the CIA and other intelligence agencies. I don't give a shit about that.

The freedom for Libyans people are fighting at the front lines. Whether this guy's help is needed is disputable, of course, but there are many thousands of Libyans who are fighting for their freedom.

An expat returning to Libya should not change that fact (but of course it will).

[KoKo]

29. You didn't answer why we need to spend money on Bombs and Military Intervention for this, though.

You distracted the conversation to something else.

How do YOU feel about what we are doing and what it is costing us? I stated how I feel. :shrug:

[joshcryer]

30. If my feelings on this matter are not well known then I am doing a poor job.

See the Libya Revolution thread.

[KoKo]

36. I don't have time like many others to follow every DU'ers opinion..can you synopsize what you think.

so that anyone interested doesn't have to go through some kind of DU/GOOGLE search for your post? :shrug:

[joshcryer]

37. I support the Libyan people, they asked for a NFZ and protection, the UN gave it to them.

I support the Libyan people.

[KoKo]

39. Okay...I got it. Good for you. I respect what you say. Not a long enough post

to explain your position...but I got it.

[davidinalameda]

13. how is this evidence of anything

it's all conjecture

[notesdev]

17. Are you blind?

Another US-trained rebel leader? 20 years living next to the CIA HQ in Virginia?

Seems to be a pretty weighty piece of evidence to support the reasonable suspicion that this "revolution", like so many others in the past, has its origins in the machinations of US intelligence agencies.

Our government has gone rogue and pursues an agenda independent of the well-being of the people. Doesn't even matter who is in charge, when all this is shrouded in black budgets and lack of accountability.

So now the question needs to be answered: Why did the really US start this war in Libya?

[joshcryer]

24. He has no control over the politics of the thing.

[KoKo]

40. Joshcryer...come on, here. Obama has no control of when he bombs a country?

or that these are Libyans trained here in the US who are the Opposition Government...while Hillary Clinton is going around saying "we don't know who could take over the new government and that's why it was important for us to go in.."

Huh?

[joshcryer]

41. I'm saying that this "rebel leaders" grasp on the political reality there is tenuous at best.

The leaders of the rebel council are all independent Libyans who want change, now some of them may be corrupt, a whole lot of them might be, but it takes time for a democracy to fulfill its total purpose, and it will be years before their democracy is fully vetted in the international community.

[joshcryer]

44. The US *might* see him as a potential political candidate in the future, but the Libyans won't.

Having lived abroad for so long they're not going to elect the guy president, even if he does have popular support among the rebels (which is hardly verified).

He returns to Libya, says he knows war tactics, and then gives the rebels ideas and direction, they really don't need it as they're learning this as they go along.

[davidinalameda]

28. as I said

conjecture

there is no evidence that this guy was/is CIA trained

anyway who cares

I doubt anyone is going to cry if Gadaffi goes the way of other dictators

[joshcryer]

33. Agree there's no evidence, but I wouldn't care if he was helped.

He's effectively a nobody who's giving advice to the rebels at most, most of the rebels have one objective, oust Gaddafi and liberate cities that Gaddafi has razed.

[KoKo]

43. Joshcryer...you missed these two important posts about Libya Shadow Govt....here:

Hannah Bell Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Thu Mar-24-11 04:28 AM
Original message
"Who are the Libyan Rebels"? Some clues.

Edited on Thu Mar-24-11 04:46 AM by Hannah Bell
And now, as they try to defeat Moammar Gadhafi's armed forces and militias, they will have to rely on allied airstrikes and young men with guns, because the rebel army consists of only perhaps 1,000 trained men.

Those admissions came from Ali Tarhouni, who was appointed to the Cabinet of the rebels' shadow government Wednesday as finance minister. Tarhouni, who teaches economics and finance at the University of Washington, returned to Libya a month ago after more than 35 years in exile to advise the opposition on economic matters.

The rebels' national council appointed another U. S. educated academic, Mahmoud Jibril, to head the interim administration.

As the top financial official for the rebels, Tarhouni will also oversee oil affairs...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/20145...


Ali Tarhouni
Senior Lecturer in Business Economics

PhD, Michigan State University, 1983
MA, Michigan State University, 1978
BA, Libyan University, 1973

Specialties
Managerial economics, macroeconomic analysis, financial institutions and markets, international finance and investments.

Positions Held
Joined the University of Washington in 1985.
Assistant professor at Washington State University (1984-85)

Current Research
Cost factors in trauma centers, productivity measurement in the unified German economy, reaction of bank stocks to Latin American debt announcements.

Honors and Awards
MBA Core Professor of the Quarter for Autumn (2007, 2008)
E-Business Core Professor of the Quarter for Autumn (2003)
MBA Core Professor of the Quarter for Autumn (1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003)
PACCAR Award for Teaching Excellence (2002)
Daniel R. Siegel Service Award (2000, 2001)
Professor of the Year (1998)
Charles Summer Memorial Teaching Award (1997, 1998, 2002)
ADMIN 510 Outstanding Instructor (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995)
Tyee Instructor of the Year (1987)

Academic Service
Advisory Board of the Center of Instructional Development and Research (CIDR) and the Business and Economics Development Program (BEDP).
Helped develop the School's Instructional Resources Office (1994) and the Business and Economic Development Program (1992).

Selected Publications
"Valuation of Internet Companies; Irrational Bubble or Change but Rational Expectations?", with Ed Rice, The E-Business Review, September 2003.

"What’s New on the Internet," with Ed Rice, The E-Business Review, September 2002.

Selected Consulting Experience
Food and Agriculture Organization, consultant. Sit on a number of advisory boards of Technology and Internet companies.

http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/facultyresearc...


Mahmoud Jibril,

Born in Libya n 1952, obtained a BSc in Economics and Political Science from Cairo University in 1975. Holds a masters’ degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1980. He also obtained a Doctorate in Strategic planning and decision-making from the same university in 1984 where he worked as a professor in the same subject field for several years. So far he has published 10 books in Strategic planning and decision making. He led the team who drafted and formed the Unified Arab Training manual. He was also responsible for organising and administering the first two Training conferences in the Arab world in the years 1987 and 1988. He later took over the management and administration of many of the leaders’ training programs for senior management in Arab countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Britain.

Unsurprisingly, they don’t make a big deal out of his time as a fairly important technocrat in the reform wing of Gaddafi’s government. But I’m sure you were wondering what it was the US State department has to say about him. And so, to the wikileaks!

On March 7, 2008:

15.(C) In addition, xxxxxxxxxxxx who works with Libya’s economic and financial sectors told EconOff March 11 that Dr. Mahmoud Jibril, head of the National Planning Commission, ally of Saif al-Islam and a leading advocate for economic reform, would play a key role on three of the five implementing committees – budget, economy and wealth distribution. Jibril, who as recently as early February was so frustrated by his inability to effect reform that he had submitted letters of resignation on three occasions, is reportedly now convinced that Qadhafi’s commitment to dramatic change is sincere enough that he has agreed to stay on – for now...

On May 11, 2009, describing a meeting with “Mahmoud Jibril, Chair of the National Economic Development Board (NEDB), an organization that Jibril likened to a “think tank” of multi-disciplinary experts.”:

The NEDB’s role in these projects is to “pave the way” for private sector development, and to create a strategic partnership between private companies and the government. There is a still a “gap of distrust” dividing the two. As to whether Libya has a Master Plan that includes all the 11,000 projects, Jibril admitted that in the past two years, Libya had started executing projects without such a plan. However, the NEDB has been working with experts from Ernst and Young, the Oxford Group, and lately with five consultants from UNDP to advise the prime minister on the best sequencing and pacing of the projects in order to decrease poverty and unemployment.

With a PhD in strategic planning from the University of Pittsburgh, Jibril is a serious interlocutor who “gets” the U.S. perspective. He is also not shy about sharing his views of U.S. foreign policy, for example, opining that the U.S. spoiled a golden opportunity to capitalize on its “soft power” (McDonald’s, etc.) after the fall of the Soviet Union...

http://zunguzungu.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/meet-mahmoud...


TomClash Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sun Mar-27-11 04:09 PM
Original message
New Libyan rebel leader spent much of past 20 years in suburban Virginia

Source: Miami Herald

New Libyan rebel leader spent much of past 20 years in suburban Virginia


BY CHRIS ADAMS

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- The new leader of Libya's opposition military spent the past two decades in suburban Virginia but felt compelled - even in his late-60s - to return to the battlefield in his homeland, according to people who know him.

Khalifa Hifter was once a top military officer for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but after a disastrous military adventure in Chad in the late 1980s, Hifter switched to the anti-Gadhafi opposition. In the early 1990s, he moved to suburban Virginia, where he established a life but maintained ties to anti-Gadhafi groups.

Late last week, Hifter was appointed to lead the rebel army, which has been in chaos for weeks. He is the third such leader in less than a month, and rebels interviewed in Libya openly voiced distrust for the most recent leader, Abdel Fatah Younes, who had been at Gadhafi's side until just a month ago.

Since arriving in the United States in the early 1990s, Hifter lived in suburban Virginia outside Washington, D.C. Badr said he was unsure exactly what Hifter did to support himself, and that Hifter primarily focused on helping his large family.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/26/2136063/new-libya...

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/26/2136063/new-libya...






http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4789414

[joshcryer]

45. Right, two expats, none on the council, two serving important positions...

...where there is a gap that needed to be fulfilled. Benghazi was a vacuum, it didn't have all the people with the necessary specialties there. This is both uncontroversial and silly.

Let's put it this way, are we willing to believe hundreds of thousands of Libyans are going to cede to the will of two expats?

[davidinalameda]

46. Jibril went to Pitt

he can't be trusted

send the black ops squads after him NOW!

[joshcryer]

47. Saif went to fucking Oxford, a good number of the intellectuals in Libya were educated abroad.

[davidinalameda]

49. but Pitt?

yuck

[Cieran_WI]

10. Shocker, the rebels in Libya were from Langley VA. Whooda thunk it?

[glinda]

21. I know. Big coincidence. Too big really.

[joshcryer]

11. He's done a good job organizing the rebels since then.

I guess once you're trained by Gaddafi you never forget.

[TomClash]

14. You mean like the Chad campaign?

Where guys on Toyota pickups with RPGs sent his forces scurrying back across the border?

I'd say he's had far, far better training since then.

[Shining Jack]

15. +1

[joshcryer]

34. He bailed in that campaign for political reasons.

He probably saved a lot of lives by doing so.

[TomClash]

42. It doesn't matter

His army's performance was appalling.

[joshcryer]

48. Then the revolutionaries are screwed.

:(

[TomClash]

50. They're all screwed

At least in the near future.

[joshcryer]

51. I have higher hopes.

I expect Tripoli to erupt soon.

[marasinghe]

53. +2. didn't take long for the 'rat in the arras' to wiggle its tail.

or extend the "no fly zone" into a bombing of gaddafi's hometown Sirte and spearhead the rebels advance towards Tripoli.
transparent warmongering.

[Prometheus Bound]

18. K&R for the headline alone.

[daleo]

20. Karzai, Chalabi, now this guy...it's a pattern.

I imagine the Roman Empire had some version of this as well, when they wanted to conquer new territory from "barbarians". Romanize a promising leader, then send him along with the legions to become titular head of the conquered territory.

Then it was Roman law in return for tribute and slaves. Now its democracy in return for natural resources, lax regulations, cheap labor and open markets.

[KoKo]

31. From my reading ....yes...and spies are always with us. But, this is different....

We aren't supposed to be "Roman Empire" or a "Banana Republic." We are supposed to be more "civilized" than those we "invade"...yet it seems we are stupid for getting ourselves into these military situations while our population at home declines with jobs going offshore and nothing much here except serving hamburgers at Mickey D's or Swabbing Hospital floors. :-(

BTW:...working at Mickey D's and Swabbing Hospital Floors are not jobs to be laughed at. Our society couldn't continue without those of us who need a job and might even enjoy jobs that others would not want. But, when a college graduate has over 100,000 in loans and has to go back to do this...then we should be concerned about what education means in America and what we should expect to get for the money.

And, maybe we will learn to have some respect for those who keep our lives going.

My post started off harsh...but I believe in folks who want to do a job well ...no matter how many snark or laugh at it. I sounded like I was poking fun at those who work in the jobs that keep our lives going...and I didn't mean it to sound that way. That's why I edited.

ALL WORK ...is valuable...it's what one puts into it. But, Our SOCIETY looks down on Everyone who isn't a Bankster, Lawyer, Medical Professional Professional, Businessperson of whatever scurrilous kind,etc. and looks down on the people who keep our country going...even if it's cleaning up our "stuff" in jobs that are sneered at...which makes folks feel they are worth NOTHING. It shouldn't be this way. We are all in this life together. We shouldn't be segmenting ourselves out into the Top who HAVE IT ALL and those who "shine their shoes" or give "pedicures" to their wives.

[KoKo]

38. updated above post for Rant about Populism...

[Peace Patriot]

62. Thanks for a great comment, KoKo! "We aren't supposed to be the Roman Empire."

"We aren't supposed to be 'Roman Empire' or a 'Banana Republic.' We are supposed to be more 'civilized' than those we 'invade'...yet it seems we are stupid for getting ourselves into these military situations while our population at home declines with jobs going offshore...".

------

But we ARE the Roman Empire. It is so obvious. And it has been quite interesting and instructive to see yet another U.S. war machine propaganda campaign unfold. We have rather a worse situation than the Roman plebes, in that we don't know who is in charge--who are real rulers are. Our government and its war machine have been hijacked by multinational corporations, banksters and war profiteers.

I guess I should say that the top layer of our society is the Roman Empire and the bottom layers--all the rest of us, the majority--are a 'Banana Republic.' The Roman oligarchs felt compelled to provide 'bread and circuses' for their plebe majority. Ours apparently no longer feel obliged to do that. But interestingly they do feel obliged to lie to and propagandize us. In spite of all their power--and their 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines and corporate 'news' "Big Lie" machine, et al--they still FEAR us. Or maybe it's that mechanisms like the 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines are a symptom and sign of their fear of us--a kind of left-handed compliment. If the American people ever get aroused, these transglobal entities' days will be numbered. They know this.

[indimuse]

22. Imagine that!

Like I've said...this is just the beginning.

[Demeter]

23. Compelled? I'm Betting Recruited--Just Like Karzai

and just as doomed to failure.

[ProgressIn2008]

26. Well, fancy that. nt

[lib2DaBone]

27. The War On Terror.. does anyone believe it?

911 was a false flag inside job.

[KoKo]

32. Many of us suspect it isn't what they said...but aren't allowed to talk about it...shhhhh....

There is more to "9/11" than will ever be known. Long after even the young of us is dead will it ever be released. And, even then, it's questionable if it EVER will be known. Like JFK's killer. Locked up...outta site. UNTOUCHABLE. It's just the way it is.

[dipsydoodle]

55. Kick

.

[Catherina]

56. What a surprise. Not. Only the deliberately blind won't understand. Rec'd n/t

[elleng]

58. 'appointed to lead the rebel army' by whom?

Chaos being chaos, who's to know?

[LiberalEsto]

59. If he's tough enough to drive in Northern Virginia

He's tough enough to be a rebel leader.

[conspirator]

60. So another CIA trained hitman nt

[Peace Patriot]

61. K&R! Thanks for the info! As expected, another con job by the U.S. war machine. nt