• Libyan Rebels face Last Stand in Benghazi
    73 replies, posted
[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/15/libya-rebels-last-stand-benghazi]Source[/url] [img]http://static.guim.co.uk/static/102178/zones/news/images/logo.gif[/img] [quote] Libya's revolution was facing collapse , as Muammar Gaddafi's forces broke through the last major line of resistance before Benghazi, the heart of the uprising and the seat of the rebel administration. Gaddafi's forces pushed back the rebels in an air and land assault on the town of Ajdabiya, as the regime moved to crush the revolution once and for all before foreign powers could agree measures in support of the uprising, including a no-fly zone. The rebels had pledged a vigorous defence of Ajdabiya but swiftly lost control of large parts of the town, including the strategically important coastal road, although pockets of fighting continued. The regime's advance leaves the road open to Benghazi, 90 miles away, where there was growing alarm as word of the defeat spread. "The battle is lost. Gaddafi is throwing everything against us," a rebel officer who gave his name as General Suleiman told Reuters. The revolutionary leadership promised a fight to the death but some Benghazi residents were fleeing to the Egyptian border last night amid considerable bitterness at the failure of western countries to back up vocal support for the rebels with practical help, including a no-fly zone and military equipment to fight Gaddafi's better armed forces, some of them trained by the British army. "They have betrayed us," Ahmed Malen, one of the revolutionary volunteers pasting anti-Gaddafi posters on walls in Benghazi. "If they kill us all, the west will have blood on its hands. They do not believe in freedom. They are cowards." The regime's strategy to defeat the rebellion before international support for the uprising could be galvanised seemed to be paying off as the US finally joined British and French support for a draft UN resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. A vote on a draft motion is expected later this week or early next week, which is likely to be too late for the rebels. State television declared: "The town of Ajdabiya has been cleansed of mercenaries and terrorists linked to the al-Qaida organisation." The defeat in Ajdabiya is the latest in a series of reverses that has seen the fortunes of the revolution rapidly set back after the initial successes that had many Libyans believing that Gaddafi's regime was on the brink of collapse a fortnight ago. Many in Benghazi are now fearful of retribution by the regime's agents and saying they have no choice but to fight for their survival. But the rebel army does not appear to have made any significant preparations for the city's defence. The assault on Ajdabiya took on a familiar pattern with Tripoli's forces first bombing and then shelling the town. Gaddafi's army then came at the town from two sides. A call went out through mosques in the town and rebel fighters moved to the front but they said they were outgunned and began pulling back. Some of Ajdabiya's 135,000 residents had already left. Others immediately piled in to cars and fled along with some of the rebel forces. The revolutionaries initially made a stand at the western entrance to the town but that swiftly collapsed and the street-by-street fighting promised by their military leader, Abdel Fattah Younis, two days ago failed to materialise. Younis, who was Gaddafi's interior minister and who now has a $4m (£2.48m) bounty on his head, had said that the supply lines to Tripoli's forces were overstretched and that its soldiers lacked the motivation for street fighting. But that proved to be an overly optimistic interpretation of the situation and Younis's own, largely inexperienced fighters, many of whom are young men with no military experience, were overcome. Gaddafi's seizure of Ajdabiya opens the way not only to Benghazi but to the eastern oil town of Tobruk and for the regime to take back control of Libya's border with Egypt. The main coastal road divides at Ajdabiya, offering Gaddafi's forces the opportunity to bypass Benghazi to seize towns to the east and then to lay siege to the rebels' de facto capital from both sides. [/quote]
Oh fuck no.
now would be the best time for a no fly zone..
[QUOTE=ridinmybike;28620854]now would be the best time for a no fly zone..[/QUOTE] Sorry, the UN is taking piss long and won't be done until next week. By that time, Gaddafi will have captured and SLAUGHTERED the thousands of rebels going against him. Fuck you, UN.
Just like 1848, as predicted.
the un is incompetent as usual
I thought the Arabs had already said they were imposing a no fly zone.
Fuck this Ghadaffi really doesn't deserve to win.
[QUOTE=Thom12255;28620925]I thought the Arabs had already said they were imposing a no fly zone.[/QUOTE] no they said it was okay and asked the un to do it beacuse they are pussies
And that's what they get for relying on UN to do something. Seriously, UN is the most useless political body ever made since The Leage of Nations collapsed. When this is all over and a couple thousand people die in Benghazi they'll just send Gadaffi an angry letter and go back to achieving nothing.
[QUOTE=cheezey;28620964]Fuck this Ghadaffi really doesn't deserve to win.[/QUOTE] No one wins in something like this.
[QUOTE=croguy;28620996]And that's what they get for relying on UN to do something. Seriously, UN is the most useless political body ever made since The Leage of Nations collapsed.[/QUOTE] It's absolutely necessary to "legitimize" humanitarian intervention though.
The fact that over half of the rebels were paid off not to fight makes this whole ordeal very sad. Do they not realize that the whole event will repeat itself again? Better to fight and die for your freedom now instead of getting bribed to stop dissent for a few years.
[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;28621032]It's absolutely necessary to "legitimize" humanitarian intervention though.[/QUOTE] Why not just get the UN to organize a full blown army that forcefully stops wars or helps the group fighting for a better cause? Oh right, I forgot, it's the UN, not even their peacekeepers can keep peace.
For fuck's sake UN you useless assholes, hurry the fuck up for even once.
I can't fucking believe this. People are still arguing about the no fly zone when it should have been DONE at the start of the war. Gaddafi's going to win because those bastards spent too long arguing about it. God damn it.
At least we know how slow UN is. This really sucks for Libyan rebels, I hope they change their mindset about international ground and naval military intervention once they're pinned down in Benghazi.
The UN is going down the League of Nations. The United Nations takes too long to decide on anything and usually their actions have little or no effect and most of the time none of it's members can come to consensus on something that is necessary for peace. The UN is a great concept and all, but to me it always seems to be poorly executed, only the most powerful countries have any power in the main decisions most of the smaller countries are left out. [QUOTE=TrouserDemon;28622120]Once Gaddaffi is back in control, countries will be complacent about deposing him when he starts trading oil again. I suspect he'll rule until he dies.[/QUOTE] And whoever he has for a second in command, son, or ETC will take over and be as bad, worse, or probably better.
Once Gaddaffi is back in control, countries will be complacent about deposing him when he starts trading oil again. I suspect he'll rule until he dies.
On the bright side some vague sources ( Only wikipedia for the moment, with a reference to some Libyan airforce website ) say that someone carried out airstrikes on Ghaddafi's navy today sinking 2 ships.
The UN is bullshit. They care about rules and regulations and procedure way too much. It's pretty fucking obvious Ghaddafi is a crazy motherfucker, just bomb the cunt out of him.
[img]http://codguide.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/lastandpro.png[/img] [editline]15th March 2011[/editline] and yah, fuck Gaddafi
You're all forgetting that a no-fly zone is incredibly difficult to implement with a country thats: a) Huge b) Covered in rebels with AA guns that have no command structure and lack military training in target recognition c) Would seriously piss off neighboring middle east countries which could seriously fuck shit up d) Would set a precedent that all rebels needs military aid from the west (Otherwise there would be racism/favoritism claims every god damn where) What happens when rebels shoot down a US plane? Or a bomber that accidentally hits a rebel camp? (They look kinda similar in the desert, you'know) This has nothing to do with the UN being lazy - it's finding out what to do in a logical manner, rather than being gungho. [b]Now that some of the middle east is on our side, shit can be done[/b]
This really brought a tear into my eyes. I hoped that the rebels would win.
Fuck the UN, can't some superpower like the US just send in at the very fucking least some air support or tier 1 operators to help out the rebels or something.
[QUOTE=tier56;28622468]Fuck the UN, can't some superpower like the US just send in at the very fucking least some air support or tier 1 operators to help out the rebels or something.[/QUOTE] That's a good way to get a country pissed at the USA.
I really hope the rebels can get their ground back, but at this point intervention is necessary for winning this war.
[QUOTE=tier56;28622468]Fuck the UN, can't some superpower like the US just send in at the very fucking least some air support or tier 1 operators to help out the rebels or something.[/QUOTE] You fail to consider that the US probably has one of it's most weakest presidents in it's history.
[QUOTE=Edgar Allan Poe;28622529]That's a good way to get a country pissed at the USA.[/QUOTE] As in get who pissed off at the US? Gaddafi? Who gives two shits about him, if the rebels win, it won't even matter.
Well damn, how the fuck is Gaddafi still in control?
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