ATTACK ON LIBYA BEGINS

[Huan]

It is a civil war now, why not let the Libyan people decide what they want? I can't believe that there are people who are still defending the outrageous interference in the name of democracy.

It was bound to happen.

 

[Hussein]

It is a civil war now, why not let the Libyan people decide what they want? I can't believe that there are people who are still defending the outrageous interference in the name of democracy.

the rebels were asking for protection

 

[BelligerentPacifist]

Wouldn't not bombing your own citizens and holding free and fair elections every 5-6 years be a much more cheaper and peaceful alternative?

You're misreading US intentions. They can't be dissuaded by something they don't really care for. Yeah it might appear unjust to their people but who cares for peoples' opinion.

 

[BigTree.CN]

the rebels were asking for protection

They don't need protection from outside, if they can win the people of Libya. The people of Libya will choose what they want and then protect it, only the side who is ditched by the people will ask help from the outside.

The only explanation here is the rebel is losing the support from the people of Libya, hence is losing the war. But that is not what France and US want to see, so they intervene, which in fact is against the will of Libyan people.

 

[AstanoshKhan]

Narrated Zainab bint Jahsh: That the Prophet once came to her in a state of fear and said, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. Woe unto the Arabs from a danger that has come near. An opening has been made in the wall of Gog and Magog like this," making a circle with his thumb and index finger. Zainab bint Jahsh said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we be destroyed even though there are pious persons among us?" He said, "Yes, when the evil person will increase." (Book #55, Hadith #565) Sahih Bukhari

 

[Roybot]

You're misreading US intentions. They can't be dissuaded by something they don't really care for. Yeah it might appear unjust to their people but who cares for peoples' opinion.

So every country should have nuclear weapons according to you?

 

[Hussein]

They don't need protection from outside, if they can win the people of Libya. The people of Libya will choose what they want and then protect it, only the side who is ditched by the people will ask help from the outside.

The only explanation here is the rebel is losing the support from the people of Libya, hence is losing the war. But that is not what France and US want to see, so they intervene, which in fact is against the will of Libyan people.

YOUR only explanation.
You want so much to say Westerns are bad that you defend the worst regimes.
Rebels have weapons which are less modern than Sons' Kadhafi soldiers. It is a dictatorship with an elite army in the hand of the family.
With a few thousands soldiers they can make a hell to the rebels .
If you give modern weapons to 10% of a population then the other 90% didn't have any chance to fight fairly: it is so obvious.

And yes the east part of the country in the hands of rebels were asking for protection
and UNO said yes. It is not a land invaded it is a resolution with few objectives like protecting against a massacre

maybe you didn't want them to win because Kadhafi said he wanted to make good business with China to replace the Western companies
i can understand the real politik bu tthen say it frankly my friend

 

[500]

Rebels never have air forces.

Actually rebels said that MiG-23 shot yesterday was belong to them.

Why didn't EAF do the same?

There were not rebels with RPG's and machine guns in Egypt.

 

[BigTree.CN]

YOUR only explanation.
You want so much to say Westerns are bad that you defend the worst regimes.
Rebels have weapons which are less modern than Sons' Kadhafi soldiers. It is a dictatorship with an elite army in the hand of the family.
With a few thousands soldiers they can make a hell to the rebels .
If you give modern weapons to 10% of a population then the other 90% didn't have any chance to fight fairly: it is so obvious.

And yes the east part of the country in the hands of rebels were asking for protection
and UNO said yes. It is not a land invaded it is a resolution with few objectives like protecting against a massacre

I am not a hyporite as you are. I am posting this only because I can't stand the western hypocrisy any more.

It is so obvious that Fance is bombing Libya for oil, but you are justifying you are doing this purely to protect the rebels. How shameless you people can become!

Let me remind you, there are not only peole who support the rebels, but also a lot of Libyan people are supporting the government of Libya, too. That is why Kadhafi survived this time. Your argument that just because the rebels asked for help then French inerference can be justified is flawed, because you are disregarding the will of the people who are supportive of the Libyan government. Even by the definition of western democracy, this is unforgivable.

Why only the opinions of rebels matter, while the opinions of the non-rebels don't matter?

maybe you didn't want them to win because Kadhafi said he wanted to make good business with China to replace the Western companies
i can understand the real politik bu tthen say it frankly my friend

By your logic, can I say you want the rebels to win because you hope the French companies will replace Chinese companies?

 

[ejaz007]

West pounds Libya, Kadhafi vows retaliation
Updated at 1115 PST Sunday, March 20, 2011

TRIPOLI: The US, Britain and France pounded Libya with Tomahawk missiles and air strikes into the early hours of Sunday, sparking fury from Moamer Kadhafi who declared the Mediterranean to be a "battlefield."

In the biggest Western intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, American warships and a British submarine fired at least 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya on Saturday, the US military said.

Admiral William Gortney told reporters at the Pentagon the cruise missiles "struck more than 20 integrated air defence systems and other air defence facilities ashore."

The action came two days after a UN Security Council resolution with Arab backing authorised military action to prevent Kadhafi's forces from crushing an uprising against his 41-year autocratic rule.

A correspondent said bombs were dropped early Sunday near Bab al-Aziziyah, Kadhafi's Tripoli headquarters, prompting barrages of anti-aircraft fire from Libyan forces that lasted about 40 minutes.

State television had earlier said hundreds of people had gathered to serve as human shields at Bab al-Aziziyah and at the capital's international airport.

A Libyan official said at least 48 people had died and 150 were hurt -- mainly women and children -- in the assaults, which began with a strike at 1645 GMT Saturday by a French warplane on a vehicle the French military said belonged to pro-Kadhafi forces.

Libyan state media said Western warplanes had on Saturday night bombed civilian targets in Tripoli, causing casualties while an army spokesman said strikes also hit fuel tanks feeding the rebel-held city of Misrata, east of Tripoli.

Kadhafi, in a brief audio message broadcast on state television, fiercely denounced the attacks as a "barbaric, unjustified Crusaders' aggression."

He vowed retaliatory strikes on military and civilian targets in the Mediterranean, which he said had been turned into a "real battlefield."

"Now the arms depots have been opened and all the Libyan people are being armed," to fight against Western forces, the veteran leader warned.

Libya's foreign ministry said that following the attacks, it regarded as invalid the UN resolution ordering a ceasefire by its forces and demanded an urgent meeting of the Security Council.

The attacks on Libya "threaten international peace and security," the ministry said.

"Libya demands an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council after the French-American-British aggression against Libya, an independent state member of the United Nations," it said.

On Thursday, the Security Council passed Resolution 1973, which authorised the use of "all necessary means" to protect civilians and enforce a ceasefire and no-fly zone against Kadhafi's forces.

The following day, Libya declared a ceasefire in its battle to crush an armed revolt against Kadhafi's regime which began on February 15 and said it had grounded its warplanes.

As a result of the Western attacks, however, "the effect of resolution 1973 imposing a no-fly zone are over," the ministry statement said.

State television, quoting a security official, said Libya had also decided to suspend cooperation with Europe in the fight against illegal immigration due to the attacks.

Boats carrying thousands of undocumented migrants, mainly Tunisians, have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa in recent weeks putting a heavy strain on Italy's immigration infrastructure.

US President Barack Obama, on a visit to Brazil, said he had given the green light for the operation.

"Today, I authorised the armed forces of the United States to begin a limited military action in Libya," Obama said, but stressed operation "Odyssey Dawn" would not send US troops to Libya.

The first Tomahawk missile struck at 1900 GMT on Saturday after air strikes carried out earlier by French warplanes, said Admiral Gortney, director of the US joint staff.

"It's a first phase of a multi-phase operation" to enforce the UN resolution and prevent the Libyan regime from using force "against its own people," he said.

One British submarine joined with other US ships and subs in the missile attacks, he said.

Russia expressed regret over the attacks and said Resolution 1973 was "adopted in haste," while the African Union, which opposed military action, on Sunday called for an "immediate stop" to all attacks.

China expressed regret over the air strikes, saying it opposed the use of force in international relations.

Japan, however, said it backed the multinational action, urging Kadhafi to make a "prudent decision".

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he held Kadhafi responsible for the situation in his country.

"Tonight, British forces are in action over Libya. They are part of an international coalition that has come together to enforce the will of the United Nations and to protect the Libyan people," Cameron said in London late Saturday.

"We have all seen the appalling brutality that Colonel Kadhafi has meted out against his own people and far from introducing the ceasefire he spoke about he has actually stepped up the attacks and the brutality."

In the rebel camp, celebratory gunfire and honking of car horns broke out in Al-Marj, 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Benghazi, to welcome the start of military operations against Kadhafi, correspondents said.

Thousands earlier Saturday fled Benghazi as Kadhafi loyalists pounded the eastern city, the rebels' stronghold, with shells and tank fire after two early morning air strikes.

Since Friday, Libya's has insisted it was observing a self-declared ceasefire. It said its armed forces had come under attack on Saturday west of Benghazi, including by rebel aircraft, and had responded in self-defence.

But the rebels, who have been trying to overthrow the Libyan leader for more than a month, said government troops had continued to bombard cities, violating the ceasefire continuously.

In another Middle East hotspot, medics in Yemen on Saturday raised to 52 the death toll from a sniper attack on protesters in Sanaa the previous day, as thousands rallied despite a state of emergency.

And security forces in Syria fired tear gas on Saturday at mourners burying two men killed in a protest in the southern city of Daraa the previous day, wounding several, rights activists said. (AFP)

West pounds Libya, Kadhafi vows retaliation

 

[ejaz007]

 

[Muhammad-Bin-Qasim]

 

[S_O_C_O_M]

 

[alikazmi007]

Someone ID the plane. Looks like a mig 23 to me.

Libyan Mirage F-1

 

[ejaz007]

Gaddafi denounces foreign intervention

Libyan leader says air raids amount to terrorism and vows to "equip people against aggressors".
Last Modified: 20 Mar 2011 12:27

Less than 24 hours after an international coalition launched air attacks on his forces, Muammar Gaddafi, the longtime Libyan leader, responded pugnaciously, vowing to defeat foreigners who he said had no right to interfere in the North African nation's internal affairs.

In a roughly 15-minute address on Sunday, his second since the air raids began and during which he never appeared on screen, Gaddafi promised a "long war" that his forces would win. The promise to fight comes after Libyan foreign minister Musa Kousa responded to a United Nations resolution authorising force to protect civilians by promising to institute a cease fire.

"We will fight for every square in our land," Gaddafi said. "We will die as martyrs."

His words came as Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said that the no-fly zone had effectively been established - but that the military operation called for by the UN Security Council was not intended to remove Gaddafi from power.

Gaddafi, the de-facto leader of the country for more than four decades, declared that Libyan "people are behind me and ready for all-out war", and repeated his claim that his regime had "opened the depots" and distributed weapons among the populace.

He drew allusions to other US-led wars, including Vietnam, as well as the Crusades, saying that air attacks by French, US and British forces amounted to a "cold war" on Islam.

He also promised retribution against Libyans who sided with the foreign intervention.

"We will fight and we will target any traitor who is co-operating with the Americans or with the Christian Crusade," he said.

Gaddafi mentioned the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, as well as the bloody US intervention in Somalia and the ongoing campaign to capture or kill al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

All, he said, were examples of the kind of defeat the US was about to endure in Libya.

"You don't learn," he said. "You're always going to be destroyed."

Western bombardment

The coalition against Gaddafi may include the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Conference, but the military assault has so far been a Western affair, featuring most prominently French, British and US hardware.

French jets fired the first shots of Operation Odyssey Dawn on Saturday, hitting regime tanks and armoured vehicles on the road to the west of Benghazi, the rebel stronghold and Libya''s second-largest city.

Destroyed military vehicles and at least a 14 dead fighters littered the road between Benghazi and Ajdabiya, witnesses said on Sunday. In the western city of Misurata, which regime forces have sieged for days, residents said snipers were positioned on rooftops in the centre of town, making people too afraid to walk in the streets.

US and British warships and submarines followed the French attack with a barrage of more than 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting more than 20 areas along Libya''s coast.

An unnamed US national security official said Libya''s air defences had been "severely disabled."

Regime authorities have detained four Al Jazeera Arabic journalists who have been working in western Libya for several days. Click here to read the network''s response.

Odyssey Dawn is the largest military intervention in the Middle East since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The military strikes came more than a month after the outbreak of protests against Gaddafi's 41-year regime led to a crackdown that has left hundreds of civilians dead.

The United States appeared to give strong support to the effort only recently, after calls for help from the Arab League led the UN Security Council to act with rare speed and pass a resolution granting member states the authority to use force to protect civilians.

Many Libyans have expressed rage at the length of time it took for the international community to intercede on their behalf, while Russia and China - both permanent Security Council members who abstained from the vote - expressed "regret" at the military action on Sunday.

Libyan state television claimed that 48 people had been killed and 150 wounded during the attack and showed images of government officials visiting men in a hospital, but those reports could not be verified by independent media.

Several thousand people gathered to form a human shield at the Bab al-Azizia, a Gaddafi compound and headquarters in Tripoli that was bombed in 1986 by the US. But once word spread that cruise missiles were being fired in the the vicinity, all but a few dozen left, the Los Angeles Times newspaper reported.

In an audio message broadcast on state television a few hours after the air raids began, Gaddafi said that the UN-sanctioned military action had turned the Mediterranean and North Africa into a "battleground."

Gaddafi denounces foreign intervention - Africa - Al Jazeera English