A new highway of death.

[cali]

In a Field of Flowers, the Wreckage of War in Libya
Goran Tomasevic/Reuters



Littered across the landscape, some 30 miles south of Benghazi, the detritus of the allied airstrikes on Saturday and Sunday morning offered a panorama of destruction: tanks, charred and battered, their turrets blasted clean off, one with a body still caught in its remnants; a small Toyota truck with its roof torn away; a tank transporter still on fire. But it did not end there.

For miles leading south, the roadsides were littered with burned trucks and burned civilian cars. In some places battle tanks had simply been abandoned, intact, as their crews fled. One thing, though, seemed evident: the units closest to Benghazi seemed to have been hit with their cannons and machine guns still pointing towards the rebel capital.

To the south, though, many had been hit as they headed away from the city in a headlong dash for escape on the long road leading to a distant Tripoli.

<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/world/africa/21benghazi.html?src=twrhp

[meow mix]

1. nice to see the mercenary thugs die

im glad thanks for posting =)

[cali]

4. I hope you realize that it's likely that civilans were also killed

and that many were killed while fleeing. And of course, the way you feel, is the way many Iraqis and Afghanis feel when American troops are killed.

[meow mix]

9. all they wanted was a fighting chance, that we gave them

better to fight.... than be de-limbed by huda ben.

[joshcryer]

You do know that the "Highway of Death" had few comparative casualties right?

[bemildred]

19. What is a "comparative casualty"?

Not looking for a fight, just have no idea what that means. On the inference that something like "comparatively few casualties" is intended, I don't see what one is supposed to compare it with. Ground armor, like surface warcraft, has been vulnerable at least since WWII to air assault. The situation has only gotten worse with time. The instances of this sort of thing are far and few since then, experienced and alert ground forces exposed to air attack hide, unless the high command of whatever sort is OK with a bit of attrition, or is a blathering fool as in this case.

[joshcryer]

20. "lots of trucks" = "few injured or dead"

The wiki entry has info about it, basically they saw bombing and bailed the fuck out, leaving their trucks empty.

I'm not saying that's what happened here, but the "ditching fatigues" thing indicates to me that some of them got away.

[meow mix]

21. "They were ditching their fatigues.”

LOL

[bemildred]

23. Thanks for explaining.

I suppose people disagree about how many "many" is.

[malaise]

12. like Blackwater?

:puke:

[burnsei sensei]

2. Another day, another big fat mistake

made with military means!
All of this should have been dealt with diplomatically. All of it.

[meow mix]

6. please stop the slaughter mr ghadaffi, and we'll give you marshmellow peeps

yah good luck with that. we took to long as it is..

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. Yay! Freedom!

[Cirque du So-What]

5. Got anything for the rebels who have been dying by Qadaffi's hand?

Anything? Anything?

[riverwalker]

7. Highway of life, if you live in Benghazi

they were about to be encircled and massacred in their homes.

[meow mix]

16. +rec

they seem to think this would be preferable.

[alphafemale]

8. oh...boo the fuck hoo. nt

[meow mix]

10. rofl i know the tears for ghadaffi roll in large amounts

only on DU can u see this kind of trainwreck in action :rofl:

[cali]

14. no tears for Khadaffi. He's despicable

but if you don't think civilians are dying from the bombs, think again. Glad you find the world so simple and funny.

[meow mix]

17. turn our backs on them, as you suggest... and watch them all hang

sad that you think ghadaffis way is best.

[cali]

18. I don't think gaddafi's way is best anymore than you likely think

that it's great that many, many civilians will die from our bombs. I think it's a hobson's choice. I don't expect you grasp that. And I doubt you can.

[joshcryer]

11. HEY GUYS THE FRENCH DID THIS OMFG IT WASN'T THE USA!

[sarcasmo]

13. World police doing what they do best, blow stuff up and kill.

[RegieRocker]

15. Oh shit

:rofl:

[tabasco]

22. Waaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Goran Tomasevic should stick to romance novels.

[meow mix]

24. lol

:nopity: