There have probably been hundreds of statements in posts on this forum along the lines of "Well if they don't support the extremists/Islamists/terrorists/etc then why don't they get out and protest/kick their butts." To my my surprise, that seems to have actually happened. The Libyan people are impressing the heck out of me and it gives me a great deal more hope for relations between America and the Islamic world. http://www.channel4.com/news/libyan-protesters-force-islamist-militia-out-of-benghazi
Militia suspected in the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate disbans... Libya orders 'illegitimate' militias to disban Sep 23,`12 -- The Libyan army on Sunday said it raided several militia outposts operating outside government control in the capital, Tripoli, while in the east, the militia suspected in the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate said it had disbanded on orders of the country's president. See also: Libyan PM: ‘It Is Not a Spontaneous Thing That Took Place That Night, No;’ U.S. Strike at Perps Would ‘Throw This Country in Chaos’ September 23, 2012 - Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur, who was elected Sept. 12, 2012, the day after the attack on the U.S consulate in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, told CNN in an interview posted online on Friday that the Benghazi attack was “not a spontaneous thing,” that the Libyan government had thus far arrested eight people who were involved in it, and that he opposed a U.S. military strike against those responsible because it “would really throw this country in chaos.”
The libyan people are certainly making the talking heads at FOX, Rush, and the republicans look like Islamophobes. Could it be that, perish the thought, Obie and the boys actually knew something that they didn't? its really not fair that the president knows more than Rush and Fox about what is actually going on in the world. tip o the hat to the libyan people.
Well, there is still plenty going on in the world that could make someone Islamaphobic. But at least Libya is making a good show. Though I wonder if they really have nobody rooting for them. Republicans might want things to go horribly there to make Obama look bad. Democrats outside of the white house might want things to go bad to use as an example of American military intervention in general Other countries seem to just hope things go sour for America in general whatever we do. I'm thinking the Libyan fan club on AF is pretty small.
I would not be so hopeful being that those who are being labelled as extremists are the actual Libyan people themselves. When the United States had Qaddafi murdered and installed its puppet regime, said puppet regime were raping women, murdering others and looting the treasury. As I say, the medias of the Western world tend to distort reality by hiding the reality of what is taking place on the planet. Why? The why has to do with their hands being directly and indirectly responsible for the ensuing chaos. Right now, the US Military through AFRICOM is plotting to overrun Togo, Niger, DRC, Sudan and other nations to further loot the resources of those areas. Look up the nations mentioned and see the resources: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ng.html Your government is treacherous until it is mind boggling at times. Africa Command protects and defends the national security interests of the United States by strengthening the defense capabilities of African states and regional organizations and, when directed, conducts military operations, in order to deter and defeat transnational threats and to provide a security environment conducive to good governance and development. http://www.africom.mil/africomFAQs.asp
The Libyan people must be congratulated for railing against the Al-Qaida-type factions of the kind that killed the US ambassador - the same "rebel" factions incidentally that were given military and logistical support by the West against their former dictator. It seems like the West never learns the lessons of history, namely, that adopting a foreign policy in the ME based on the premise of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend', is counterproductive. That's because the West in Libya, and elsewhere in the region, has created a succession of Frankenstein monsters, and as is the case with all monsters, they are unpredictable and are thus likely to come back and attack their creator. This is what 'blowback' has meant - from the attacks on 9-11, through to the killing of the ambassador. Western foreign policy in the ME is an unmitigated disaster.
A few facts released on Arab TV this week. Stevens was not in a consulate or an embassy. There is no embassy or consulate in Benghazi. He was actually from April 2011 co ordinating the NATO backed salafist rebels with the NATO command centre throughout the NATO seven-month aerial bombardment of Libya from a gated villa residential compound owned by Libyan businessman Mohammad Al Bishari who was leasing the villas to US State Department. They were ordinary villas with no bulletproofing or security except a small gate. Arab TV is saying that the US is falsely saying US sovereign soil was attacked when it wasn't. There was no embassy/consulate. I live in a compound. The US is making it seem that Stevens was living in a very secure reinforced US sovereign area by repeating 'compound' and he was not. The compound had ONLY 8 local security men. My compound has 5 times that number! Secondly till now no footage exists of any protest outside the compound, no photos no evidence at all about the movie. One of the security men with bulletwounds in hospital now said there was no protest. The jihadists turned up jumped over the small gate with barely any resistance and went round the villas shooting looking for Americans as they knew the compound was leased to Americans by Al Bishari.
It is good to hear about this kind of thing. The people need to stand up to these monsters and show that they will not allow terrorists to further hijack their culture and religion.
Hmmm. Not sure where to fact check that one. It is called a "consulate" in the news though. Poking around I can find what are called complete lists of foreign missions in the US but not US ones elsewhere. Though even those lists have a "this information can change daily" disclamer. I think a consulate doesn't require much to establish. I haven't seen that claimed in regards to the Libya thing. I don't think consulates are soverign. More like office space protected by international law. There have been incidents with actual embassies elsewhere. So that might cause some confusion as reports of that come side by side. Reports in US media increasingly make it look like there was no real protest. At most perhaps the attackers pretending to be a small protest when approaching. This just makes the Libyan people look better. The US has learned that the enemy of my enemy probably also would like to kill me if they got the chance. Otherwise I think we'd be doing my in Syria. However we may have picked well with Libya. Of course there are going to be some pretty bad apples in any bunch from that corner of the world. However it seems they may be well outnumbered in Libya.
It was a leased private house. It wasn't fortified, it didn't have a full complement of guards. they are calling it a consulate, but it is realy only nice couple of house. It is being reported on CNN for instance. There's a lot of questions about who "broke the rules" and established this place. It was not recognized by the libyan government as a consulate. Nope they are sovereign soil. You should see the one in Toronto. huge concrete planters in front to stop car bombs, 1 steel front door that is obviously bomb proof, cameras everywhere. It use to be an open and welcoming place, but now as you approach a guard asks what your business is and if you don't give him the right answer you don't get to the front door. And thats in Canada!!! A house in tripoli just doesn't cut it.
Good, that is exactly what they should have done. Congrats to the Libyan people not because their job is done, its not but good on them for standing up for themselves. To pull of political transition like that takes a (*)(*)(*)(*) load of strength and determination. Its inspiring to see.
Poking around I've been able to find: http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/...ad-less-than-standard-security-before-attack/ Which indicates the consulate was granted some sort of waver for lower security due to feeling it wsa critical to get something going. With the idea of having somewhere else be permanent later. I'm not sure about what parts of the Libyan government knew what. They haven't even fully formed a government yet and aren't scheduled to get there for a while. Though that guy heading up their transition council doesn't seem to have made any comments about the location being other than a consulate. Though in any case I'm not so sure how much that matters, since it wasn't government forces attacking the location or arresting a consulate or anything. Sovereign is different than well guarded. Lemmi see if I can find something. Hurm. As far as I can find, it's a myth that embassies are sovereign. They just have international protections. Yeah it's a long road. And we aren't going to neccessarily always agree (they've got Islam as their state religeon). But that was an impressive show, and I can't, off the top of my head, think of something like that happening elsewhere. Hopefully we can agree to disagree on a lot of things and eventually get along with these people.
You can't think of what happening elsewhere exactly? That doesn't mean their government is Islamist though. A lot of states have official religions, I'm from one in fact...and look there is even a church of England but that doesn't mean that clergy runs these countries.
Margot, It was the United States, England, France, Italy and Switzerland. You will soon come to realize that the United States and European nations are in partnership to divide the resources of the planet among themselves, at the expense of everyone else. You may call what I will state in the future and have stated in the past as B.S., but I am well aware of the sins that are perpetrated all over the Earth in the name of maintaining a power structure that has finally met its end. The rulers recognize this, myself and others recognize this but for some reason most in either place like to believe that what takes place happens in a vacuum, when it is common logic that absolutely nothing is the product of a vacuum, or magic occurrences that always seem to benefit Europe, America, Canada and others. All of the feigning of ignorance in existence will never negate the reality of what is taking place.
The people of a country actually going out and kicking out militias and extremists. Oh yes. It is well known how we have impoverished the House of Saud as we plunder their resources, and we have forced Afganistan to become a Christian nation. That isn't to say we don't have national interests both in regards to security and geopolitical commerce and power. But if a country can interact fairly and not antagonistically, even one we've conquered recently, we're quite happy to let them have their wealth and to declare Islam their state religion.
"To all the Operators here today I give you this charge: Rid the world of those savages. I'll say it again, RID THE WORLD OF THOSE SAVAGES!" Dorothy Woods, widow of former Navy Seal killed in Libya, Tye Woods, at his funeral. I concur.
Fair enough. Though I think many of the Libyan people are demonstrating they aren't "those savages" however. Sadly, still plenty to be found.
