New leaders declare Libya freed

[Jazzy]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. renewed efforts Wednesday to evacuate American citizens from Libya, this time by ferry, as concerns rise about longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi's unpredictable behavior.



As security forces unleashed a bloody crackdown on protesters demanding Gadhafi's ouster, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the violence completely unacceptable.



We believe that the government of Libya bears responsibility for what is occurring and must take actions to end the violence, Clinton said Tuesday.



But as it sought to safely extricate U.S. diplomats and other Americans from the spreading chaos, the Obama administration stopped short of criticizing Gadhafi personally or demanding that he step down. U.S. officials who spoke to the matter publicly on Tuesday, including Clinton, would not mention Gadhafi by name.



Unease over the safety of U.S. citizens intensified after attempts to get some out on Monday and Tuesday were unsuccessful. Late Tuesday, the State Department announced that American citizens would be evacuated from Libya by ferry to the Mediterranean island of Malta.



On Wednesday morning, officials were processing U.S. citizens for the ferry trip from Tripoli's As-shahab port.



Link: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/23/us-tries-to-evacuate-americans-from-libya/

 

[The Dragon Master]

The UK's sending a warship to get UK citizens from Libya as well

The situation in Libya is a mess at a moment :\

 

[Jazzy]

With his warplanes bombing rebel-held towns in eastern Libya, Moammar Gadhafi vowed today to fight until the last drop of blood, and warned that thousands of Libyans will die if the U.S. or NATO intervene.



His haunting threat came in a nearly three-hour speech to a crowd of hand-picked supporters in Tripoli, as U.S. warships passed into the Mediterranean approaching Libya. They will set foot in hell -- worse than Afghanistan, Gadhafi said.



We will enter a bloody war and thousands and thousands of Libyans will die if the United States or NATO enters, the BBC quoted Gadhafi as saying. It will become another Vietnam, another historic battle, he warned, as his warplanes unleashed artillery on pro-democracy protesters hundreds of miles away.



Gadhafi's ground forces battled to retake parts of Brega, a key oil refinery and Mediterranean port in the east, in their biggest push yet to defeat a two-week-old popular rebellion inspired by revolutions in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt. Warplanes continued to fire on Brega's beaches as dusk fell.



The Libyan leader predicted that piracy and jihad would embroil the Mediterranean if his regime falls, and vowed to hire Chinese and Indian companies to work in Libya's oil industry, instead of Western ones. Oil production has reached its lowest level, he said.



Gadhafi accused the international media of filling the air with provocation and nonsense, and denied the existence of any pro-democracy protests in his country, saying al-Qaida was breaking into prisons and arming criminals instead. His speech was broadcast on state TV, which also reported that government forces had retaken rebel strongholds.

Full article: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/02/gadhafi-bombs-eastern-libya-retakes-part-of-rebel-town/

 

[The Dragon Master]

This guy needs a reality check. Bombing and threatening Libyans, and still expecting people to stay on his side is stupid. He's acting like a little kid, who got their play time cut short. He accuses people who are against him that they are on drugs. I wonder what he's on.

 

[Jazzy]

Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have captured three Dutch marines who swooped into Libya by helicopter to evacuate stranded civilians, in the first known case of foreigners being kidnapped by the dictator's regime in the nearly three-week-long popular rebellion that's split the country.



Gadhafi's warplanes bombed eastern Libya for a second straight day today, but rebels appeared to be holding Brega, a key oil installation inside rebel territory in the east, despite a government counteroffensive. Pickup trucks loaded with soldiers who've switched sides and joined pro-democracy forces arrived to reinforce Brega this morning, The Associated Press reported.



The Dutch government said its naval airmen were captured after their helicopter touched down Sunday on the Mediterranean coast near Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. They were trying to rescue two people, a Dutch national and another European citizen, but Libyan fighters seized the whole group. The two would-be evacuees were handed over to the Dutch Embassy and have since been allowed to leave the country.



The helicopter was surrounded by armed Libyan forces late on Sunday afternoon, a Dutch defense ministry spokesman told The New York Times. Intensive negotiations are under way for their release, he said.

Full article: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/03/gadhafi-troops-capture-3-dutch-marines/

 

[Evil Eye]

How's bombing your own country going to help you stay in charge?

 

[Jazzy]

Sources confirmed that The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, had been placed on heightened readiness, prepared to deploy to North Africa at 24 hours’ notice.



The 600-strong infantry unit returned from Afghanistan in late 2009 and is based at Fort George near Inverness. “They’re ready, just in case,” said a source.



The Ministry of Defence insisted that the battalion was prepared for humanitarian relief operations, not combat.



But the disclosure that British troops are on stand-by came amid growing concerns that Col Gaddafi’s struggle to retain power could take Libya into a protracted civil war and cause a humanitarian crisis.



President Barack Obama was cautious about military action, suggesting that US planning was just preparing for a humanitarian crisis.

Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...my-ready-for-mission-at-24-hours-notice.html#

 

[Jazzy]

As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for international support for a no-fly zone over Libya, a defiant Col. Moammar Gadhafi said early today that his regime would take up arms and fight in response.



Gadhafi took to the state airwaves early this morning and also dropped by the Tripoli hotel where the international media is housed. He enraged journalists by refusing to speak to any of them except a Turkish TV reporter. He told him in an interview broadcast today that Libyans would fight back against a no-fly zone.



After keeping the world guessing Tuesday about whether he tried to strike an exit deal for himself with opposition leaders, Gadhafi stuck to what experts say is his strategic playbook: confuse, confound and ultimately distract people from the bigger picture.



Libyan political experts warned this week that Gadhafi is sowing seeds of division among the loosely organized opposition leaders.



This is what he does. He lies, he divides, he conquers, Mohamed Eljahmi a Libyan-American activist with ties to the rebels, told AOL News.

Full story: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/09/moammar-gadhafi-vows-to-take-up-arms-if-no-fly-zone-is-imposed/

 

[The Dragon Master]

Should have been done sooner, me thinks. Then the people who died in the airstrikes could have not died.

 

[Jazzy]

PARIS -U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Paris for talks with European and other leaders on the crisis in Libya that will include a meeting with Libyan opposition figures as the Obama administration makes its first high-level contact with foes of Moammar Gadhafi.



Amid opposition pleas for military intervention as forces loyal to Gadhafi continue to forcefully reclaim rebel-held territory, Clinton was to meet Monday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy who has taken the lead in recognizing an interim council as Libya's legitimate government. The U.S. has yet to decide on such recognition but has severed ties with the Libyan embassy in Washington and boosted its outreach to the opposition while maintaining caution on a no-fly zone the rebels want.



In the meantime, U.S. concerns that the unrest roiling the broader Arab world may not produce the changes demanded by increasingly vocal and emboldened anti-government protesters are growing. Recent violent crackdowns on demonstrators in Yemen and Bahrain have fueled those fears and Clinton will travel from France to post-revolt Egypt and Tunisia to press transitional leaders there to make good on pledges for democratic reform.



Details on Clinton's meeting with the Libyan opposition in Paris were still being determined when she arrived, underscoring the administration's lack of clarity as to who is who in the movement that has sprung up to topple Gadhafi from the perch he has held for 42 years.



It comes as rebels step up calls for a no-fly zone to deter Gadhafi loyalists from air strikes that have helped the regime retake key opposition-held areas. Those appeals got a boost over the weekend when the 22-nation Arab League asked the United Nations to authorize the step. France and Britain are drafting a U.N. Security Council resolution that would do that but the U.S. and some others have expressed reservations about the utility of a no-fly zone, its cost and potential implications.



The debate has turned increasingly heated in the U.S. with demands from some in Congress to support the rebels with air cover and weapons. President Barack Obama and his top national security aides have so far demurred, fearing it would further strain America's already stretched military and entangle the U.S. in an expensive and messy conflict that could be perceived as meddling. In his last public comment on the matter, on Friday, Obama said all the risks and consequences had to be weighed before intervening.

Full story: http://www.aolnews.com/story/clinton-in-paris-for-talks-on-libya/1655444/

 

[The Dragon Master]

David Cameron has said Tornado and Typhoon warplanes are being deployed to help protect the Libyan people from brutal attacks by the Gaddafi regime.



The prime minister said preparations were already underway for a joint operation led by the UK, France and US.



It follows a UN resolution authorising all measures necessary short of sending in ground troops.



Mr Cameron said there was a clear and unequivocal legal basis for action, which is being supported by Labour.



A French government spokesmen has said initial air raids on Libyan positions could take place within a few hours.



The aircraft likely to be deployed are Tornado GR4 ground attack planes, which could bomb tanks, artillery and air defences, and Typhoons, which could be used in air-to-air combat if the Libyan airforce tries to get airborne.

Rest of article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12784729

 

[Jazzy]

NICE, France -- In the first military action since the UN no-fly zone was approved, French fighter jets roared today over Benghazi, Tripoli, destroying their first target, President Nicolas Sarkozy said.



The Mirage warplanes took off from a military base in Saint-Dizier in the east of France and at 4:45 p.m. GMT hit and destroyed four pro-Gadhafi tanks. It was the start of an Allied air strike, in concert with the Arab League, to prevent Gadhafi forces from further attacks on rebel-held Benghazi.



About two hours after the French strikes, the U.S. launched Tomahawk cruise missiles against Gadhafi's air defense. British and Canadian forces were also set to join the coalition effort, though Pentagon sources said the U.S. took the lead after France pulled the trigger.

Full story with video: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/19/french-fighter-jets-open-fire-in-libya-as-western-military-inter/

 

[The Dragon Master]

Take that Gaddafi!!!

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

French, British and American military forces made good Saturday on international warnings to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, using fighter jets and cruise missiles to hammer military positions in the first phase of an operation that will include enforcement of a no-fly zone.



More than 110 Tomahawk missiles fired from American and British ships and submarines hit about 20 Libyan air and missile defense targets, U.S. Vice Adm. William Gortney said at a Pentagon briefing.



The U.S. will conduct a damage assessment of the sites, which include SA-5 missiles and communications facilities.



The salvo, in an operation dubbed Odyssey Dawn, was meant to deny the Libyan regime from using force against its own people, said Gortney, who declined to detail future operations.





Earlier, French fighter jets deployed over Libya fired at a military vehicle Saturday, the country's first strike against Gadhafi's military forces, which earlier attacked the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.



Prime Minister David Cameron said late Saturday that British forces also are in action over Libya. What we are doing is necessary, it is legal and it is right, he said. I believe we should not stand aside while this dictator murders his own people.



Rest of the story: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/19/libya.civil.war/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

 

[DrLeftover]

The Europeans wanted a weak America that would not lead in an International Crisis.



They got it.... France took the point in this one.



They should be happy.



.. ... ... France... ... ...



Maybe the 2012 people are right.

 

[Cinnamon]

I think it's wrong. I think we should leave them to fight their own battles. And the French ... what a joke!!

 

[Jazzy]

WASHINGTON -- The United States turned up the pressure on quarreling NATO allies to take command of the air war in Libya on Wednesday, suggesting the U.S. could step away from its leadership role as soon as this weekend, even with the conflict's outcome in doubt.



In Congress, meanwhile, the Republican speaker of the House demanded that President Barack Obama quickly spell out the nation's precise goals in Libya. White House officials said Obama would keep updating the American people and a formal address was possible. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said order could be resolved quickly - if Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi would just quit.



The U.S. threat to give up its leadership of the military efforts rang somewhat hollow, since officials said there was no absolute deadline to hand over frontline control to other countries, or for an end to all U.S. participation. Still, the administration is eager to hand off the lead role in a conflict that some of Obama's closest advisers resisted and that is raising complaints in Congress.



Defense Secretary Robert Gates, himself an early skeptic American military intervention in Libya, said Obama made clear from the start of the international air campaign last Saturday that the U.S. would run it for only about a week. The assault began with a barrage of U.S. cruise missiles fired by ships and submarines in the Mediterranean and with American Stealth bomber flights - the first war initiated by a president who inherited two others.



In an exchange with reporters traveling with him in Cairo on Wednesday, Gates was asked whether his comments meant the U.S. had set a hard deadline of this Saturday for turning over command of the air operations.



Rest of article with video: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/23/obama-rules-out-land-invasion-in-libya/

 

[Jazzy]

LONDON -Britain said Tuesday it will send about a dozen senior soldiers to Libya to help organize the country's haphazard rebel forces, as international allies seek to aid the opposition's attempts to break the military stalemate.



Foreign Secretary William Hague said the U.K. military advisers would join British diplomats already cooperating with rebel leaders in the eastern rebel-held city of Benghazi, but insisted they would not help arm the opposition or assist in military operations against strongman Moammar Gadhafi's forces.



About a dozen British military personnel, including officers with logistical and intelligence expertise, will work with the National Transitional Council, the political wing of the rebel movement — which has been officially recognized by Italy, France and Qatar.



They will advise the National Transitional Council on how to improve their military organizational structures, communications and logistics, including how best to distribute humanitarian aid and deliver medical assistance, Hague said.



Britain has said it would not become involved in directly supplying weapons to Libya's rebels, but has sent non-lethal assistance such as 1,000 sets of body armor and 100 satellite phones.



As the scale of the humanitarian crisis has grown, so has the urgency of increasing our efforts to defend civilians against the attack from Gadhafi forces, Hague said.



Rest of article: http://www.aolnews.com/story/france-to-step-up-strikes-in-libya/1615312/

 

[beowulf]

i think this is so wrong...............getting dragged into another conflict nobody wants......we dont have enough troops for astan ffs!............this is an internal civil war.....and a muslim one at that......i honestly think the muslim world should be taking a bigger role in this.............but then if they dont and it all goes tits up they can just accuse the big nasty west for interfering.....the real bottom line is we just cant afford this in pure monetary terms!......more important things to worry about

 

[Jazzy]

TRIPOLI, Libya -Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi escaped a NATO missile strike in Tripoli that killed one of his sons and three young grandchildren, a government spokesman said early Sunday. Hours later, Gadhafi's forces shelled a besieged rebel port in a sign that the airstrike had not forced a change in regime tactics.



NATO's attack on a Gadhafi family compound in a residential area of Tripoli late Saturday signaled escalating pressure on the Libyan leader who has tried to crush an armed rebellion that erupted in mid-February.



The alliance acknowledged that it had struck a command and control building, but insisted all its targets are military in nature and linked to Gadhafi's systematic attacks on the population.



Libyan officials denounced the attack as a crime and violation of international law. However, British Prime Minister David Cameron, without confirming fatalities, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the strike was in line with a U.N. mandate to prevent a loss of civilian life by targeting Gadhafi's war-making machine.



The attack struck the house of one of Gadhafi's younger sons, Seif al-Arab, when the Libyan leader and his wife were inside, said Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. Seif al-Arab, 29, and three of Gadhafi's grandchildren, all younger than 12, were killed, said Ibrahim.



Journalists taken to the walled complex of one-story buildings saw heavy bomb damage. The blast had torn down the ceiling of one building. Dust and smoke rose from the rubble, which included household items such as smashed toilet bowls, bathroom sinks and furniture among the broken walls and demolished floors. The mirror of a dressing table remained intact in the middle of a bedroom although the walls around it were demolished.



See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/k9zvKO