Libyan Revolution Tweets, Day 18 (or 20*), Part 7

[Catherina]

Libyan Revolution Tweets, Day 18 (or 20*), Part 7

Today's threads: Part 1, Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

#Feb17 Youth organizers invite Gaddafi's collaborators to stand under his umbrella ella ella ella ella ella http://bit.ly/faa34E

"We have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. Plan A is to live and die in Libya. Plan B is to live and die in Libya. Plan C is to live and die in Libya."
- Saif Islam Qaddafi during interview

*I called this Day 18 because the official start date was #Feb17 but events kicked off 2 days earlier.

Previous Day 17 threads: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, , Part 8, Part 9

The world’s 100 largest arms dealers, excluding Chinese vendors, sold weapons for $401 billion in 2009, with US vendors in first place

Threads for Days 1-16 are in my journal

"I was born in Tunisia, I persevered in Egypt, I sacrificed myself in Libya, I have fought in Yemen&Bahrain. I am Freedom, I will not die."
- Libyan4life Jeel Ghathub

LibyanThinker The Libyan Thinker
New video of Soldiers Executed for Refusing to Shoot Protesters in #Libya

MAP of Protests across the Middle East


Military Installations

Oil Map

Click here for updated and interactive map
Google Earth DL here to see positions of army and patrolling route of mercenaries

Please rec if you read these so I know if the effort here is worth it.

[sasha031]

1. K&R

are you getting any rest my friend?

[Catherina]

3. It's almost 1am in Libya,

I'll go to sleep soon but I don't feel tired or like sleeping now. Are you?

[sasha031]

5. it's 5:58 EST I live in Massachusetts

going to be awhile before I go to bed.

I meant for you, are you taking breaks?

[Catherina]

7. Yes.

Today I cooked a meal, this one
http://yemekbirask.blogspot.com/2010/05/frnda-sahan-kofte.html

found online in between tweets. Swept the house, vacuumed, water the garden, baked bread...

[sasha031]

10. good for you, looks like you have plenty to eat for days

:)

[Ghost Dog]

12. I'm guessing you live alone and you are entirely free and at peace

with yourself, amongst a supportive community, there in Guatemala, Catherina.

Now disillusion me. :)

(I'm on straight GMT, in winter, here in the Canary Islands just off the Moroccan/Western Saharan Spanish Atlantic coast).

Here's a tajine cooking recently in my garden (with conical lid off for the photo, natch):

[Catherina]

18. Can I come visit? Please!

I have family in Rabat and love the food of the region. That looks so good!

I live alone now, entirely free and at peace with three dogs and temporary fosters I rehabilitate for adoption to forever homes. Wash my clothes by hand in an outdoor pila, dry em in the sun, grow my own veggies, make cheese, soap, life couldn't be better. I have a supportive community but I work really hard to keep them at bay, especially now.

I take it you're entirely free and at peace in the lovely islands. Now disillusion me :)

[Ghost Dog]

22. My 'wife' (we're not married but it's the same, 26 years now) tends to be antisocial

and prey to bad, aggressive moods, these last few years (we're in our mid-fifties), so, it gets depressing... :( ... I'd be living even closer to nature otherwise...

But, for me, I'd be delighted to host you! (and, I'm the chef)... :)

I foresee we're going to split up, I hope peacefully, soon. She's worth a hell of a lot more money (from her family) than I am (from my own work) (so she wins, she thinks, of course).

Hell.

[Catherina]

39. I'm sorry to hear that

Let me know when the coast is clear to come visit. I'll even bring you a puppy to light up your life all over again ;) I hope the split is peaceful.

[Ghost Dog]

44. Careful. We're into cats here!

Appreciate that. Let me let you know.

[sabrina 1]

24. That looks delicious!

[Ghost Dog]

26. It's mostly local island organic fruit and veg, plus a little meat.

The secret is in the melange of spices. I need to return to a particular stall in the souk in Marrakech to buy some more of that particular mix.

I'm working on a project to try to get this island back into growing its own grain, from its own seed, as it used to be before...

[Catherina]

2. Graphic footage showing casualties from latest fighting in #Misurata

fieldproducer Neal Mann
Graphic footage reportedly showing casualties from latest fighting in #Misurata #Libya http://me.lt/3ToEU
8 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply


ضحايا الإعتداء على مصراته وصور لقتلى كتائب القذافي
Victims of the attack on the Misurata and pictures of dead al-Gaddafi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcr9wpS5Q2w

Children too :( I think the little boy is the two year old mentioned in an earlier tweet today. The video's graphic but what the Libyans are living now. It ends with shots of the dead #G killers. This is a horror film in real life. Even wounded #G people were brought to the hospital for treatment. Honestly, the Libyans amaze me.

[sasha031]

4. #G going down just like Mussolini

in the public square...

[Catherina]

6. You watched? That's what I think too (or maybe want) but the Libyans

seem to be a lot kinder and more forgiving than I am.

[sasha031]

8. then they will be rewarded for that

an eye for an eye then all will be blind

[Ghost Dog]

16. Too right.

Modern Islamic culture is, generally, very human, very kind, loving, very enlightened. You'd be surprised.

[sasha031]

17. I would be delighted to learn

:)

[Catherina]

9. #G is using war propoganda- here's what we did in E Europe to counter that

MilitantNews Stephen Morgan
#Libya #Gaddafi is using war propoganda-all lies, but effective with supporters-Opposition must use own towards his forces-even leaflets
32 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

#Libya Getting illegal flyers in2 E.Europe-we would hide it body of cars, even small amounts-1 leaflet of info+propoganda can be read by 100

#Libya At end of day war is not decided by military hardware but by psychology-one inspired fighter is worth more than 10 of the enemy

#Libya Revolutionary spirit is contagious, it leaps from person 2 person +can bring down an enemy army more quickly than 10 tanks divisions
8 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[sasha031]

14. propaganda is always effective

he has the terrified ones supporting him.

he reminds me of the ones who would support Bush all those yrs.
they are probably similar in thinking to the right wing in this country.
Need for a father figure , perceived, someone greater than themselves.
keep them safe form the terrorist in Benghazi.

same rhetoric different part of the world, but the same.

they long for what they think was a perfect past.

[Catherina]

11. I would like to say Thank you all for your comments, I meant to write for all of the Libyan people

ceoDanya Danya B Mohammed
First off I would like to say Thank you all for your comments, I meant to write for all of the Libyan people (cont) http://tl.gd/953deq
18 minutes ago

First off I would like to say Thank you all for your comments, I meant to write for all of the Libyan people that have been kidnapped, beaten, and killed whether fighting for freedom or randomly being fired at...unfortunately the member of my family that was kidnapped was like many libyans who have had a very very brutal and dark history with Gadaffi which is why the chances of him coming home to his children are few to none...we believe he was specifically targeted ...allah y3lam kel shay and the only thing we can all do is keep working our best to get #gadaffi out of LIBYA

[sasha031]

15. that is so nice

[defendandprotect]

69. LIBYA HURRA -- !!

[Catherina]

13. Proof #Algeria helping #Gaddafi. Several reports of planes carrying Mercenaries but here's proof

4libya Jeanie Abdullah
bbc.in/eVxPaU Proof #Algeria helping #Gaddafi #Libya Several reports of planes carrying Mercenaries but here's proof @BentAljazair RT
19 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Tuaregs 'join Gaddafi's mercenaries'
04 March 11 13:33 GMT

By Martin Vogl
Bamako, Mali

Members of the Tuareg community in Mali say a large number of men from the Tuareg ethnic group have left Mali in the last week to join pro-Gaddafi forces in Libya.

"About 2-300 have left in the last seven days," said a senior elected official, who did not want to be named, from the Kidal region in the north of the country, where many Tuareg live.

Another Tuareg man from Kidal said: "It's true many young men are leaving. It all started about a week back." He said he had spoken to a convoy of 40 vehicles who are in southern Algeria waiting to cross the border into Libya.

The elected official said: "They are being paid about $10,000 (£6,000) to join up and then I've heard they are being told that they will get $1,000 a day to fight."

...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-12647115

[Ghost Dog]

21. Please do not let Tuaregs and others become scapegoats.

They are just more oppressed poor, but proud, almost landless people trying to make ends meet for their faimlies.

[Catherina]

25. A child incest survivor once said to me

that once you make victims of your own, you're no longer a victim. We were talking about child incest at the time. That stuck with me and I believe that. My heart no longer bleeds for people who hurt others. In this case the mercenaries could defect if tricked but the money, booze and pills soothe their conscience. You can call me hard but I no longer feel for them. It's the same thing for the puppies I take in. One was brought to me a few weeks ago with two smashed hind legs. His owner thought it was fun to get drunk and throw bricks at it. He did this over and over again, several times. One night the neighbors kid stole the puppy and brought it to me. I have the picture but it would make you cry. I have another named Chenko whose leg was chopped off with a machete and then spent weeks dragging his dead leg around attached by rotting tendon. That picture would make you cry too. You could say I've lost my heart except for the innocent victims.

The kind of money these mercs are paid is a fortune, this is more than money to scrape by on. Many refused the offer no matter how desperate they were and families whose sons went to become mercs said they begged them not to. I don't accept that they're poor but proud. To mow down innocent victims, walk up to them point blank in a public square, make them lie down and shoot them in the head or shoot anti artillery aircraft at other human beings takes a special kind of monster. I don't think any amount of hunger could make you do such a thing. Or most poor people in the world.

[sasha031]

27. rec

[Ghost Dog]

35. That is also true.

Young men (especially men, but also women) need wise teachers.

Does modern 'western' globalized criminal corporate capitalism ("the bottom line is all that counts") offer this?

Decisively. No.

[sabrina 1]

43. Well said. I have zero sympathy for killers for hire.

I'd rather starve, I know I would rather than even think of doing something so evil.

[Ghost Dog]

46. Yeah. But these people, most of them, have been lied to,

have been victims of years of propaganda, and just don't realise what they've committed themselves to.

Plus, in Libya already there were many, many black African workers, just doing an honest day's work, you know: economic migrants. Now, for sure, many are falling victims of racial stereotyping.

And, fellow historians, we know there's a long backstory there... between Arabs, especially, and Africans... since long, long ago.

Gadaffi is cynically exploiting these ancestral divisions.

[joshcryer]

48. I do see pity for those who are so poor that they fall to depravity to succeed.

But I don't pity them for doing it, they know what they're getting themselves in to, and it is hard to pity those who embrace evil.

[sabrina 1]

57. I pity the people they are killing first and foremost.

The U.S. has its own mercenary armies in Iraq and Afghanistan who have done unspeakable things to the Iraqi people for money. Blackwater eg, and Caci and others.

They too say that they need to feed their families. I once went to a site that was populated by mercenaries from these companies and I saw nothing from their conversations that showed any kind of awareness that the people they were shooting in Iraq were actual human beings.

Mostly they talked about what 'goldmine' it was. There are many people who are equally poor, in Haiti eg where mothers are feeding mud cakes to their children, but they have not resorted to killing for profit.

The U.S. is in no position to condemn the use of mercs. We have more 'contractors' in Iraq now than the regular army.

[defendandprotect]

71. Rec. -- Beautiful, Catherina --

Sad -- as it is --

[Catherina]

19. confirmed source: mercenaries from surrounding countries are being told they are going to tripoli

IbnOmar2005 Ibn Omar
confirmed source in #libya: mercenaries from surrounding countries are being told they are going to tripoli, but they are being taken somewhere else and told to fight
32 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

One of the mercs confessed to this on tape in a youtube from last week; we have the tweet and link. Said he was offered a free plane ticket to Tripoli and before he landed the whole mission had changed.

[Catherina]

20. gaddafi's forces are very weak, have no clue what to do, and even mercs are confused

IbnOmar2005 Ibn Omar
confirmed source #libya: gaddafi's forces are very weak, have no clue what to do, and even mercs are confused
34 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

confirmed source #libya: many mercenaries are being brought constantly, not knowing they will be fighting in #tripoli

confirmed source in #tripoli: gaddafi's people are running out of resources

[sabrina 1]

23. Just saw a report on RT that the Libyan people are very

concerned that foreign intervention has already begun. They are suspicious of the 'humanitarian' aid from the U.S., Britain et al and are concerned they may be dropping off special ops eg, or spies.

The report compared the claims being made, 'Qaddafi has WMDs' eg, to the propaganda used to justify the Iraq war.

Hope they are wrong, but I would be very surprised if they were to just stand by and watch all that oil be destroyed by Qaddafi, which he has probably threatened to do, knowing their weaknesses, unless they help in some way.

Halliburton and Bechtel et al have already asked the U.S. government to lift the sanctions so they can continue to 'work in Libya'. So it's clear they are trying to influence the outcome in some way.

[Catherina]

29. I'm concerned too. Very concerned. They want their independence and

sovereignty. They already stated that any foreigners who landed in their country would be buried where they landed. You don't forget centuries of treachery and condescension very easily, not enough to fall for it again. I agree with your assessment. I also think the West needs to recolonize Libya to have a base where we can stomp out further unrest in the Middle East. From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli. These uprising aren't amusing us and threaten our resource theft in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Ghost Dog]

38. He can't destroy those natural deposits of oil and gas.

He could only destroy the wells, the ports, the infrastructure.

Fine, then. If those resources remain in the ground for a while, then they will only become even more valuable as a means of exchange for the Libyan People in the future, cara al futuro.

[sabrina 1]

42. Yes, but he would be destroying all those multi-billion dollar

contracts that it took so long to get. These people are not worried about anything but the profits they were making and they now see slipping away. And they will not be dealing with a dictator anymore if the people win. So the likelihood of getting the same deal again from a government that wants to see its resources used for the benefit of the people, is pretty much in jeopardy.

These people don't like democracies, that is why they hate Chavez. The are far more comfortable dealing with brutal dictators who take care of keeping the people down for them. I would not be surprised if they were working to find a way to keep either Qaddafi or someone like him, in power right now.

[joshcryer]

49. Do you really think the Libyan people would put up with another tyrant?

They are fighting for a constitution to free them of such tyrants.

[sabrina 1]

54. No, I don't think I said that at all.

But since when did Global Oil Corps worry about what the people want? Halliburton and Bechtel have already demanded that the U.S. government stop pressuring Qaddafi with sanctions. What does that tell you? What it tells me is that they are so used to dealing with dictators they are fully prepared to do what they can to protect their interests regardless of what the people want. And the Libyan people clearly fear interference which no matter how bravely they fight, if a super power were to get involved, as they did in Iraq, their chances of defeating no only their own tyrant, but foreign powers, would be pretty slim.

I do think it would not be as easy now as it was in the past to overcome the will of the people, but that doesn't guarantee that these corrupt criminals wouldn't try.

[joshcryer]

61. Sure. The Libyan people won't put up with that shit.

But if they allow western contractors to help run the rigs I hope we won't demean them for fighting hard to be free of their tyrant, to have a constitutional referendum, to have free elections and constitutionally enumerated rights.

[sabrina 1]

64. Well, I'm not sure who you mean by 'we', do you mean the

U.S. government? Because I think IF they succeed in establishing a democratic government as many Latin American countries have done, they actually started the pushback against Western colonialism, I am sure that even if they deal with those Corps, they will impose restrictions that benefit the people of Libya first. Environmental restrictions eg. which those Corps, like BP et al, do not have to worry about in countries with leaders who don't care about their people.

I think most of us, ordinary people will not ever demean but will support them in their fight for their rights.

[joshcryer]

68. Libya's oil is run by a nationalized corporation, for instance.

This national corporation has fed Gaddafi for decades, making him one of the wealthiest people on the planet. If NOC (the National Oil Company of Libya) is dismantled to get rid of the corrupt individuals running it and the oil profits are redistributed in a different way, are we (as in you, and me, and people worrying about the future of the Libyan political sphere) going to criticize them for that? It's unlikely that NOC will be completely dismantled, because it is the controlling authority for all foreign contracts (and the intrim council said that they want to respect all treaties and contracts that were there before the revolution), but there will be a shakeup, and there will be more outside contractors building out the oil infrastructure.

You take the billions that Gaddafi was hoarding and you invest it back into the people of Libya (which by all accounts is what is going to happen) there will be a lot of room for foreign contractors to come in and rebuild Libyan infrastructure.

What if the Libyans chose to stop selling oil to EU because the EU has higher environmental standards, and instead choses to sell oil to the United States? Is that a conceivable outcome?

[sabrina 1]

79. Once the country is in the hands of the people they are free to

make whatever business deals they wish to make.

We need to work on our government's environmental standards and let other countries worry about their business. The problem is that the U.S. has been interfering in other countries' business for a long time, and as we can see, it has never benefited the people of those countries, in fact, it has hurt them badly.

The Libyan people are risking their lives to gain rights they have been deprived of for far too long. What they do once they succeed will be their business.

If we don't like their decisions, to say, deal with corps like BP who have zero concerns about the environment, we need to start dealing with that issue right here at home. The U.S. has allowed BP to destroy our environment and we are still not doing much about it. So we are not in any position to be criticizing other sovereign nations until we clean up our own backyard first.

[Ghost Dog]

52. It's a seller's market, don't you reckon?

If 'The West' shows itself incapable of doing honest business, in spite of having invented 'The System', then I'm sure others, China for example, and the rest of the rest of the world, will be more than willing to provide some fair competition as a buyer in that market.

[sasha031]

28. twitt from your friend Ben

bencnn benwedeman
Met courageous Libyan-American neurosurgeon Rida Mazagri from Charleston, West Virginia operating on wounded in Ras Lanouf hospital. #Libya

[Catherina]

30. Those MDs, nurses, medics are heroes. I don't know how they do it

but I kiss their feet.

[Catherina]

31. Video: Compilation of Misrata

LibyaFeb17_com LibyaFeb17.com
Video: Compilation of Misrata - #feb17 #libya - libyafeb17.com/2011/03/breaki…
58 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply


6th March 2011 - Storyful - Libya Misurata fighting protests rebels gunfire Gadaffi forces
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTOyRNRDxa8

[Catherina]

32. Aja: Fighting today in #Zawiya lasted from 11AM to 4PM

4libya Jeanie Abdullah
Aja: Fighting today in #Zawiya lasted from 11AM to 4PM #Libya #feb17
56 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[Catherina]

33. Sudden drop in refugees from Libya worries UK

feb17libya Feb17Libya
#Feb17 #Libya Sudden drop in refugees from Libya worries UK http://f.ast.ly/bURwb
45 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Sudden drop in refugees from Libya worries UK
Posted on March 6, 2011 by S050

CARDIFF (Reuters) – A British minister voiced concern on Sunday about a sudden drop in foreign workers crossing into Tunisia from Libya and called on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to allow aid agencies into areas he controls.

“That is a matter of some anxiety … Two days ago there were 10,000 or 11,000 people coming across (the border). Yesterday there were only

1,863 people who came across,” International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell told Reuters in an interview.

“That is an artificial flow. Something has happened,” said Mitchell, who visited the Tunisian-Libyan border on Friday.

...

http://feb17.info/general/sudden-drop-in-refugees-from-libya-worries-uk/

[Ghost Dog]

53. Yes. Noticed that this morning via BBC. Who is watching the road

(Gadaffi-controlled) to that frontier?

[Catherina]

55. I don't know. If I see stuff I'll make a special point of copying it or maybe

someone else here would know?

[Catherina]

60. #UNHCR seeking satellite imagery of #Libya that might explain the dramatic decline

tweets4living Pat B.
RT @Refugees #UNHCR seeking satellite imagery of #Libya that might explain the dramatic decline in the flow into #Tunisia http://ow.ly/48PBB
12 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

U.N. readies for fresh Libya influx to Tunisia
Sun Mar 6, 2011 2:56pm GMT

* Fall in migrant flows suggests "something dramatic"

* UNHCR seeks satellite view of situation inside Libya

By Douglas Hamilton

RAS JDIR CAMP, Tunisia, March 6 (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency is seeking satellite imagery of Libya that might explain the dramatic decline in the flow into Tunisia of migrants feeling violence in Libya, an official said.

"We don't understand why the figures have so significantly dropped overnight," UNHCR team leader Ayman Gharaibeh told Reuters on Sunday.

"We're getting different interpretations. What we know is that the numbers have gone down from 12,000 a day to 2,000 a day. So something dramatic must have happened on the other side of the border."

...

"We're trying to coordinate with governments that have the capability to try and give us any kind of satellite imagery that would help us plan better and to try to assess what could be the size of that influx."


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE7250CM20110306?sp=true

[Catherina]

62. Refugees from #Libya forced to go through #Algeria, blocked from Egypt and Tunisia.

Le_Gaul Michel Legault
Authoritarians unite! Refugees from #Libya forced to go through #Algeria, blocked from Egypt and Tunisia. http://tinyurl.com/6j8cuds
25 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

People flee Libya into Algeria as insecurity spreads
Fri Mar 4, 2011 12:39pm GMT
* Aid groups focus on new exit routes to Algeria, Chad
* Numbers crossing borders into Tunisia, Egypt drop sharply

...

"The border on the Libyan side is now manned by heavily armed pro-government forces," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said, estimating fewer than 2,000 people made it into Tunisia on Thursday, compared to 10,000 to 15,000 a day earlier this week.

...

The International Organisation for Migration, which has estimated there are 1.5 million foreigners in Libya, said a few hundred Vietnamese migrants have crossed from Libya into Algeria, and that others may soon be using other exit routes.

"We are trying to figure out if anyone has managed to get across into Chad," IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya told a news briefing in Geneva. "Geographically, this (movement of people) is much further spread (than previously thought)."

In addition to Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Sudan, Libya shares borders with Niger and Sudan. The United Nations said in a report this week that up to 100,000 people may try to cross from Libya into Niger in the coming months.

...

http://af.reuters.com/article/algeriaNews/idAFLDE7230UI20110304?feedType=RSS&feedName=algeriaNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FAfricaAlgeriaNews+%28News+%2F+Africa+%2F+Algeria+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

[Catherina]

34. Summary of : Saif Gaddafi interview with Al Jazeera

libya2p0 بنغازي ليبيا
I uploaded a YouTube video -- Summary of : Saif Gaddafi interview with Al Jazeera http://youtu.be/LU_8tYis-Fo?a
46 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply


Summary of : Saif Gaddafi interview with Al Jazeera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU_8tYis-Fo

[Catherina]

36. techniques 2 destroy Russian T-72 tanks +other armoured vehicles

MilitantNews Stephen Morgan
#Libya Article on techniques 2 destroy Russian T-72 tanks +other armoured vehicles http://bit.ly/gcLAk4 @AliTweel @IndyLibya @adeb91@nusibab
47 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2011

Techniques against Russian tanks and Armour used by Chechen forces in Grozny
The Chechen forces developed effective techniques to defeat Russian armored vehicles on the streets of a large city. Many of their techniques can be adapted by other armed forces which might fight Russian-manufactured armored vehicles (or other types of armored vehicles) in urban combat. These techniques are:

...

...

The Chechen lower-level combat group consists of 15 to 20 personnel subdivided into three or four-man fighting cells. These cells consist of an antitank gunner (normally armed with the RPG-7 or RPG-18 shoulder-fired antitank rocket launcher), a machine gunner and a sniper.(4) Additional personnel serve as ammunition bearers and assistant gunners. Chechen combat groups would deploy these cells as anti-armor hunter-killer teams. The sniper and machine gunner would pin down the supporting infantry while the antitank gunner would engage the armored target. Teams deploy at ground level, in second and third stories, and in basements. Normally five or six hunter-killer teams simultaneously attack a single armored vehicle. Kill shots are generally made against the top, rear and sides of vehicles. Chechens also drop bottles filled with gasoline or jellied fuel on top of vehicles.(5) The Chechen hunter-killer teams try to trap vehicle columns in city streets where destruction of the first and last vehicles will trap the column and allow its total destruction.

...

http://www.militantnews.com/2011/03/techniques-against-russian-tanks-and.html

http://www.militantnews.com/2011/03/techniques-against-russian-tanks-and.html

[Catherina]

37. @bencnn ur report hilarious- #Libya men r pure comedy! Falafel grenades 4 #G, lights left on #LOL

Sarurah Sarah M (Analibyana)
@bencnn ur report http://bit.ly/hnkaov hilarious- #Libya men r pure comedy! 6aya7na 6ayara, Falafel grenades 4 #Gaddafi, lights left on #LOL
31 minutes ago

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2011/03/06/wedeman.libya.fighting.cnn.html

It's a very good report. Nothing gory or graphic in this one. The revolutionaries have high spirits in this video.

[joshcryer]

41. Very uplifting report. Made my night. Thanks.

[Catherina]

45. Mine too. Almost makes me want to watch Zenga Zenga again

Come to think of it, I'm watching it right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBY-0n4esNY

I now think nobody does mockery like people in the Middle East

[joshcryer]

51. +1

[Catherina]

40. A hacktivist report: www.tawhed.net - TANGO DOWN. For facilitating jihadi recruitment & propaganda

th3j35t3r Jester
www.tawhed.net - TANGO DOWN. Temporarily. For facilitating jihadi recruitment of young muslims & spreading propaganda.
32 minutes ago

I understand th3j35t3r is a master at this and may have been involved in the State TV incident. No confirmation, just speculation on twitter.

[Catherina]

47. Libya Crisis Map (can't recommend this interactive map enough)

feb17libya Feb17Libya
#Feb17 #Libya Libya Crisis Map http://f.ast.ly/bAgyy
11 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply


http://libyacrisismap.net/main

Click on map icons to see local reports, it's constantly updated and spits out all the reports available for any particular location. Very impressive.

[defendandprotect]

72. KR

[Catherina]

50. New AlJazeera: "Libya: A state of Terror" >

OmarAlMukhtar Omar Al Mukhtar
http://youtu.be/UodjAs8mEPs New AlJazeera: "Libya: A state of Terror" will open your eyes & have you in tears. #Libya #Feb17
9 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

I'm only 3 minutes into this and it's everything we've shared, witnessed since this began.


Libya: A state of terror

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UodjAs8mEPs
As Muammar Gaddafi wages war against a popular uprising, Libyan exiles explain how terror has long been a tool of the regime.

[sasha031]

56. K&R

just started watching, thank you Cathernina

[Catherina]

58. Americans don't understand how much blood goes into keeping gas underpriced that $3.50/gallon

blogdiva Liza Sabater
by ShereefAbbas
in Europe, a full tank can run up to $120. USAmericans don't understand how much blood goes into keeping underpriced that $3.50/gallon #MENA
13 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[sasha031]

59. how do people in the UK afford it

they do travel around, they especially like driving around the country side which is beautiful.

what they don't have are hummers, pickup trucks and gas hogs suv's

[Catherina]

65. Cheaper healthcare, real food prices help. Also they don't have a bloated

out of control war machine going full court press. I think we're nickeled and dimed to death in the US. They give us cheap gas but steal it in other ways telling us to be grateful. Look how much money they take from us to pay for their wars and to subsidize corporations.

I think the $120 figure applies to gas guzzlers.

[sasha031]

70. George Carlin certainly had it right

[Lithos]

63. What's the latest on Ben Jawad and Sirt?

Sirt seems to be the decisive pivot here. Ben Jawad is important as it is the next stronghold up the highway from Benghazi. If the Rebels can clear the highway from Benghazi to Misrata then Ghadaffi is all but done. The other piece is that if the Gulf of Sirt is cleared, this pretty much denies Ghadaffi of his oil revenue. Ras Lanuf was a very strategic victory in that respect as it is a major oil terminus for the Sirte basin.

I read reports Sirt is where Libya's tribes have concentrated, but have not heard much in the past few days. Anyone have anything new?

[Catherina]

75. Communications are really bad now but here is what I pieced together

during a frantic cut n paste routine that doesn't leave my time for analyzing things. I hope someone else jumps in with more.

From what I could pierce together, and I hope someone else jumps in here, there's a fierce battle in Sirte that's been raging for over 4 hours now. I'm not sure how anyone got into Sirte but that's was reported.

Yesterday Gaddafi armed all the university students so they could protect themselves from any sort of an invasion. The revolutionaries said much earlier today that they were negotiating with Sirte and hoping to enter the city peacefully within 6-24 hours. That either backfired or the negotiations weren't what they seemed. The people who could tweet the information aren't talking much for OPSEC reasons.

At Bin Jawwad Gaddafi has some hardcore well-equipped units dug in and it turned into a stalemate after his soldiers and mercenaries used women and children as human shields. AJA had a caller on earlier who got very emotional talking about it. They retreated to restrategize. One reporter described Bin Jawad as a small settlement, basically "two restaurants, shacks and houses".

My impression is that this is the first time the revolutionaries are fighting against well-trained military unit. It's probably the Khamis Bde.


There was also news of a rift but no one really knows how true that is.

17:58 BBC The al-Jazeera correspondent also says there are reports that a rift has emerged in Sirte between the al-Firjan tribe and the al-Qadhdhafa tribe, to which Col Gaddafi belongs. Twenty soldiers from the al-Firjan were tied up and shot dead by members of an internal security brigade in Ras Lanuf when they refused to open fire on the rebels, the reports say.

http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/breaking-gaddafis-forces-close-in-on-az-zawiya/

I don't know who wrote this article but it seems accurate

...

And in the east, Gaddafi forces launched one of the fiercest, sustained bombardments of the campaign with tanks, rockets, mortars, rifles and anti-aircraft artillery used as ground weapons while fighter-bombers and helicopter gunships carried out sorties above.

“They are killing, killing us, we need help,” shouted Ibrahim Waleed, from the back of a flatbed truck streaming back from Bin Jawad. “Gaddafi is cutting us to pieces, we cannot hit back.”

The 23-year-old teacher was one of many volunteers, almost all untrained, who had taken up arms for the cause. They had revelled in the easy victories of the last week, but were now tasting real fear.

Behind them, in Bin Jawad, 300 Shabaab fighters were cornered. Rebel fighters desperately urged their commanders to mount another counter-attack to save their comrades. Up to another 50 died as they fought surrounded by regime troops, they said.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/libyas-opposition-close-in-on-symbolic-city-of-sirte-15105486.html#ixzz1FsVvidSA

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/libyas-opposition-close-in-on-symbolic-city-of-sirte-15105486.html

[Catherina]

76. See this map too

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/feb/27/libya-tripoli-unrest-gaddafi-map

and this one too

http://libyacrisismap.net/main

They're both interactive but the first one might suit you better.



Shrapnel from heavy shelling nearly hits anti-Gaddafi fighters outside Bin Jawad during fierce fighting yesterday


I forgot to add that Gaddafi numbers there are estimated at approximately 4,000. 4,000 very disciplined, well equipped soldiers + mercenaries against barely equipped, undisciplined and inexperienced civilians.

[Catherina]

78. The last audio from the reporter who's with those guys.

http://audioboo.fm/search?q=dominic+waghorn

His last audio report was 13 hours ago. He's not tweeting much but he either texts or calls @fieldproducer who tweets some information for him.

Here are the last tweets he relayed

fieldproducer Neal Mann
Sky News correspondent @dominicwaghorn: sources say an air strike has taken place at Ras Lanuf #Libya
14 hours ago


fieldproducer Neal Mann
Huge explosion, anti-aircraft guns fire in Libyan town Ras Lanuf #Libya - AFP
17 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

fieldproducer Neal Mann
AFP Reporting a new airstrike on rebel held Libyan oil port of Ras Lanuf #Libya
18 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[Lithos]

80. Thanks!

I will follow fieldproducer now as that seems to be the frontline...

[steve2470]

66. k&r nt

[Catherina]

67. Breaking out of Surmon (small town W of Zawiya) Opposition forces captured ~50 & killed 50

feb17libya Feb17Libya
Breaking out of Surmon (small town west of Zawiya) Opposition forces captured about 50 and killed 50 mercenaries #Feb17 #Libya
28 seconds ago



Lithos, I saw your question. Was working on it in another window and hope to answer you soon. Someone else feel free to jump in too

[pinboy3niner]

73. CNN: Opposition repels onslaught as Libyan government declares victories

Opposition repels onslaught as Libyan government declares victories

By the CNN Wire Staff
March 6, 2011 9:19 p.m. EST

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Opposition forces claimed a major victory Sunday in Libya, managing to block an onslaught by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's troops and maintain control of the key city of Misrata, an eyewitness said.

Using machine guns, sticks and anything else they could find, crowds protected the courthouse, serving as an operations center by the opposition in Misrata, and successfully repelled Gadhafi militias armed with tanks and heavy artillery, the witness said.

"The will and the determination and dedication that people are showing here on the ground, it just makes you speechless," he said.

A doctor at Central Misrata Hospital said 42 people were killed -- 17 from the opposition and 25 from the pro-Gadhafi forces -- and that 85 people were wounded in the fighting, which continued on the city's outskirts. The youngest victim, 3 years old, was killed by direct fire, the doctor said.


http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/06/libya.conflict/index.html

[pinboy3niner]

74. NYT: Free of Qaddafi, a City Tries to Build a New Order

Free of Qaddafi, a City Tries to Build a New Order

By ANTHONY SHADID
Published: March 6, 2011

BAYDA, Libya — The signs in Bayda still read the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab State of the Masses. It was never much of a state, nor did the people have much say. Now two weeks after its liberation, residents of this highland town have the task of making it so, a challenge that may prove pivotal to the course of Libya’s revolt.

Far from the front, in mood and reality, Bayda, an eastern city that was one of the first to embrace the anti-Qaddafi revolution, has now also embraced the work of what might follow: building a state on a landscape riven by divisions of tribe, piety and class in a country whose leader spent four decades in power dismantling anything that might contest his rule.

The new police chief has less than a third of his officers and worries that vigilantes might not surrender their weapons. He has no prison. Hundreds have volunteered for work, but on Sunday, many sat under a tent watching the news channel Al Jazeera. With revolutionary fervor, and a resurgence of pride in running their own lives, residents have set up a slew of committees to impose order, distribute charity and run schools, but even its own members admit they have more enthusiasm than experience.

<snip>

“Our task isn’t easy,” said Mahmoud Bousalloum, a graduate student and one of the committees’ organizers. “We don’t have parties, we don’t have a constitution, we don’t have political organizations, we don’t have an effective civil society. We have to create a completely new state and we have to do it in the middle of a war and revolution.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/world/africa/07rebels.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[Catherina]

77. Day 19, Part 1 here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x575171

It's 5:15 am in Tripoli. Please let today be decisive.