Tearful Libyan rebel: 'We want freedom'

[gateley]

Fighter who dropped out of college in Canada to join revolt tells of near miss with rocket and rebels' struggles.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/42352231#42352231

[Wilms]

1. ...and guns. n/t

[gateley]

2. Yep. So would if my fellow citizens were being massacred by my government. nt

[Amonester]

4. HAH! Good one!

I see hypocrits here daily now (not everybody).


:evilgrin:

[EFerrari]

7. That's pretty much how the South felt in our civil war.

In fact, government forces allowed ships with humanitarian supplies in through the port at Misrata on Tuesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110330/wl_nm/us_libya_misrata_fighting_1

[joshcryer]

8. What? Did you not read the article? Government forces "allowed" ships to pass after being attacked.

The U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet said on Tuesday it had attacked three Libyan ships near Misrata to stop them firing at merchant ships at the port.

Damn straight they'd allow the aid through.

[Amonester]

9. Mia amore mamamia Ferrari ;^)

Vroom!

:rofl:

[Wilms]

10. But the suggestion you make assumes you know WHO the rebels are.

In this case. :shrug:

It's not as though we haven't seen this sort of thing go badly, not only for the citizens of their country, but the citizens of thiers.

Put on a blindfold and hand out arms to a bunch of strangers? No thanks. The Arab League feels they have a handle on it? Then let them handle it.

As it is, our troops have to spend WAY too much time figuring out who is who.

[joshcryer]

11. Who do YOU think they are?

As a generalized sentiment, what do you think they are all about?

If you do not know who they are, is their desire to be free of a tyrant enough reason to help them, or not?

[Wilms]

12. Please. Is it neccessary for ME to know when the point is the US gov't. isn't sure?

The generalized sentiment is obvious enough. And it's a near universal one. In this country the left AND the right will decry government tyranny, though each will have their own particular aspect of the gov't they're not happy with.

In Iraq...need I say more?

Try, as you tend to, again.

[joshcryer]

14. The US government is sure enough to provide assistance.

The US could've vetoed the whole shebang and just laughed as Benghazi got razed.

In a week or two from now Gaddafi would've shored everything up for good.

[Wilms]

15. I stand by my comment. n/t

[Amonester]

13. Does that mean, let the Arab League purchase the weapons, and THEN

turn around and give them to the rebels?

What's the difference, except that the rebels will have to wait a little longer?

[Wilms]

16. That's not at all the point I'm making.

With US involvement, everyone else has a little less skin in the game. In certain ways not unlike Kuwait who had us come in and clobber Iraq.

Assuming the US can mop up the Libyan army, it seems like a no-brainer to draw us in. But what will actually happen? There's a chance there will be a whole lot more bloodshed and further destabilization of the region...or, if only within Libya. In the latter case, the oil stays in the ground. And you know what happens to the price of it when that happens. Who benefits? It won't be the Libyans.

[joshcryer]

3. Saw this a little bit ago, couldn't link it directly for some reason. Note how he's almost in tears.

You can sense desperation in his voice, because he knows that they, the freedom fighters, are out gunned, out trained, and overall useless. And he again verifies how many of the revolutionaries are unarmed or "armed with knives" (but anyone paying attention would see this in any of the videos or photographs of them trying to push back Gaddafi's men). Indeed, it's easy to believe that the initial retreat by Gaddafi's men was because they thought they were being chased by armed to the teeth militants. I think that once Gaddafi's men saw the situation for what it was, a bunch of regular joes without armament or training, they knew it would be trivial to push them back.

[Amonester]

5. And poor dude has no contact with his family since 2 weeks.

(And they're from Misrata...) :scared:

[joshcryer]

6. That's why he's so emotional, I think. When he mentioned his family he almost broke.

I think he's aware of the situation that the revolutionaries are facing right now and it's quite grim. But I have no doubt that they'll put together a proper military. It's only a matter of time.

[Runework]

17. "Rebels appear to take leaf from Kadafi's playbook"

The opposition has acknowledged detaining an unspecified number of sub-Saharan Africans on suspicion of serving as Kadafi mercenaries. Human Rights Watch has described a concerted campaign in which thousands of men have been driven from their homes in eastern Libya and beaten or arrested.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-prisoners-20110324,0,5389027,full.story

[Siouxmealso]

18. I heard on Rachel's show

that insiders are saying that Obama is going to provide arms to the rebels via the Saudis. This is bad news because it's Iran Contra redux, according to the expert she had on.