Libya: Qaddhafi Violates Ceasefire, Foreign Forces Mount Attack

[hembo]

1.17am GMT: Here is a summary of developments:

• A third successive night of air strikes against targets in Libya is underway with heavy anti-aircraft fire in Tripoli indicating that the city is under attack again.
A correspondent for Al Jazeera said she saw flames in the distance rising over what she was told was a naval base. The channel also reported that coalition forces struck radar installations at two air defence bases belonging to Muammar Gaddafi's forces in eastern Libya.
As fighting continued on the ground between rebels and the regime, residents in two besieged rebel-held cities in western Libya, Misrata and Zintan, said they had been attacked by Gaddafi's forces.

• The legality of targeting Gaddafi appears to be causing differences of opinion in Britain and the US, including a breach within Britain's political and military leadership as David Cameron argued Gaddafi may be a legitimate target.
During a House of Commons debate, Cameron eventually won cross-party support from sceptical MPs for his actions, but there was widespread disquiet in the Commons about mission creep, and whether the intervention would end in an unstable partition of Libya.

• The US has showed signs of exasperation with its European partners amid confusion over who will take control of the Libyan operation from America.
Facing questions at home about the US military getting bogged down in a third Muslim country, President Barack Obama said Washington would cede control of the Libyan operation in days, either to a Nato-led command or some Nato-style operation headed by France or Britain.

• Governments in the Middle East have remained reluctant to give wholehearted support to air strikes.
Vladimir Putin has also compared the UN resolution authorising military action in Libya to "medieval calls for crusades". The Russian prime minister said: "The resolution is defective and flawed" ... "It allows everything."
The UN Security Council meanwhile turned down a Libyan request for a special meeting to discuss Western air strikes following the council's imposition of a no-fly zone.

 

[hembo]

Is Muammar Gaddafi a target? PM and military split over war aims
David Cameron says Libyan leader may be a legitimate target while Chief of the Defence Staff said he was 'absolutely not'

Patrick Wintour and Ewen MacAskill in Washington The Guardian, Tuesday 22 March 2011

 

[Lankan Ranger]

 

[carlclark]

This is all a dry run for attacks on Iran, the discussions behind the scenes at the Pentagon, were this, " Gaddafi's air defenses and aircraft are very similar to what the Israeli's will encounter in their attack on strategic positions in Iran, we will be in a support role with command facilities to start handing over to NATO after a few days.
The Libyan incursion with our Special Forces on the ground co-ordinating attacks will, give us the chance to iron out any problems before the real deal in Iran, 4 star Generals and the Vice President, N.S.A and C.I.A officials were at the meeting 8 days ago, hope Iran start to beef up their defenses as it looks as though the decision has been made to hit their Nuclear facilities and with the Iranian aircraft being landed in Turkey accused of transporting bomb making equipment to Syria another nail goes into the coffin of Iran.

 

[BigTree.CN]

 

[Roybot]

Apparently Gaddafi's son has been killed in a Kamakaze attack by a Libyan Air Force Fighter. If true, must be a big blow to Gaddafi.
Gaddafi's son killed in kamikaze attack: reports

Muammar Gaddafi's son has reportedly been killed in a kamikaze attack after a Libyan air force pilot crashed his jet into the colonel's barracks.

Libyan suicide pilot may have killed Gaddafi’s son Khamis - World news, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

PressTV - 'Gaddafi's son near death in hospital'

 

[Thoma Yosip]

This is all a dry run for attacks on Iran, the discussions behind the scenes at the Pentagon, were this, " Gaddafi's air defenses and aircraft are very similar to what the Israeli's will encounter in their attack on strategic positions in Iran, we will be in a support role with command facilities to start handing over to NATO after a few days.
The Libyan incursion with our Special Forces on the ground co-ordinating attacks will, give us the chance to iron out any problems before the real deal in Iran, 4 star Generals and the Vice President, N.S.A and C.I.A officials were at the meeting 8 days ago, hope Iran start to beef up their defenses as it looks as though the decision has been made to hit their Nuclear facilities and with the Iranian aircraft being landed in Turkey accused of transporting bomb making equipment to Syria another nail goes into the coffin of Iran.

Would you share the source of this "information?"

 

[hembo]

6:05am: It seems that the spat about whether Gaddafi's regime used journalists as "human shields" Sunday night is more over terminology than fact.

Nobody disputes that journalists from CNN, Reuters, CBS, Channel 4, the AP and the Times of London were brought to the Bab al-Azizia after a missile strike there. Niall Paterson, defence correspondent for Sky News, wrote on Twitter on Monday that the British military chose to abort a Tornado strike on the compound when it learned that the journalists (and other civilians) were in the vicinity.

CNN may have been singled out for attention because it was broadcasting live from the scene.

Whether Gaddafi's men knew about another attack and brought the journalists there on purpose to prevent it - that's the question.

 

[hembo]

Apparently Gaddafi's son has been killed in a Kamakaze attack by a Libyan Air Force Fighter. If true, must be a big blow to Gaddafi.
Gaddafi's son killed in kamikaze attack: reports

Libyan suicide pilot may have killed Gaddafi’s son Khamis - World news, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

PressTV - 'Gaddafi's son near death in hospital'

Hi, Roy_Gourav,

None of the top news agencies (Guardian, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Al-Jazeera etc) has reported this so far and there is a high possibility that this may be a rumor. Only some second rung websites and Irani media (Press TV) is reporting it.

In fact Guardian has put a disclaimer on their yesterday's live update:

Here's a Guardian clarification on the same..

1.10pm: My colleague Peter Beaumont emails to say the reports that one of Gaddafi's sons is seriously ill in hospital are probably not true. Earlier we noted that some news organisations were reporting a son had been injured when a fighter jet crashed into the Bab al-Azizia compound last week – Peter says he was near to the compound at the supposed time of the incident, and says there was "absolutely no jet crash"

 

[Roybot]

Would you share the source of this "information?"

Its a dark dark place, where the sun is not meant to shine.

 

[hembo]

Libyan rebels retreat with their injured comrade under heavy fire following a failed attempt to take the town of Ajdabiya

Rebels carry an injured comrade after failing to capture the town of Ajdabiya from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces Monday.

Armed Gadhafi supporters gather at a cemetery in Tripoli on Sunday.

Anti-government protesters pray at the end of a demonstration in Tobruk on Monday.

 

[Thoma Yosip]

Its a dark dark place, where the sun is not meant to shine.

 

[hembo]

Only one in three Britons support Libya action - poll
By Jodie Ginsberg and Avril Ormsby

LONDON | Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:58pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Only one in three Britons agree with the decision to take military action in Libya, a poll published on Monday showed.

The ComRes/ITN poll found that 43 percent disagreed with the action and 22 percent were unsure. Just under half of those surveyed felt military action was an unnecessary risk for Britain to take.

Haunted by the experience of the recent Iraq war and continued losses in Afghanistan, Britons told Reuters they were wary of getting dragged into another lengthy foreign conflict at a time of belt-tightening at home.

"We shouldn't be in there, we've got enough on our plate in Afghanistan," said Neil Wozencroft, a 35-year-old pipe fitter.

"It's a civil war and we shouldn't get involved, plus there are other atrocities in the world -- the Congo and Mugabe in Zimbabwe. We can't be the world's peacekeepers."

Both Britain and France -- who led efforts on a no-fly zone in Libya -- are having to introduce austerity measures to tackle large budget deficits, while at the same time people are having to cope with rising food and fuel prices.

"Is it really worth it? I ask myself," said widow Roymonde Urien in Paris, concerned the air strikes might lead to a flood of immigrants from Libya.

All those Londoners quizzed by Reuters agreed they would like to see Gaddafi removed, but not through bombing. Despite doubts about the action itself, most praised Prime Minister David Cameron.

"He grasped the situation," Phil Davis, a 43-year-old civil engineer, said. "He saw it was an issue and reacted to it."

After a six-hour debate, the British parliament voted overwhelmingly on Monday to support Cameron's decision to send British planes and ships to help enforce a no-fly zone to stop attacks on civilians by Gaddafi's forces.

Hanging heavy over the debate was the shadow of Iraq, where 179 British soldiers were killed in a long-running conflict after former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair backed then U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to invade in March 2003.

"This is different to Iraq. This is not going into a country, knocking over its government and then owning and being responsible for everything that happens subsequently," Cameron said. "This is about protecting people and giving the Libyan people a chance to shape their own destiny."

Technical details:

- ComRes interviewed 2028 British adults online between March 18 and 20, when allies started to enforce a no-fly zone against Libya.

- Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults.

 

[hembo]

10:06am Three journalists who went missing in eastern Libya more than 72 hours ago have been arrested by Gaddafi troops, the AFP news agency reports. AFP reporter Dave Clark and photographer Roberto Schmidt were arrested along with Getty photographer Joe Raedle, their driver says.

The team drove from Tobruk, near the border with Egypt, to Ajdabiya, which had fallen under the regime's control. They encountered a convoy of military jeeps and transport vehicles "a few dozen kilometres" from Ajdabiya and were arrested by regime soldiers, along with other civilians who came down the road.

Apparently, the journalists told AFP editors they were going to head around 35km outside of Tobruk to speak with refugees. Ajdabiya is 403km from Tobruk via a straight, inland road that runs between two towns.

Libya's state media is claiming high support for Gaddafi amongst its populace and civilian casualties resulting from the ongoing air assaults. Buth then why they are continuing to arresting/ barring international media people who could actually give a right insight to what is actually happening there..

 

[hembo]

8.43am: I've just been speaking to the Guardian's Middle East editor Ian Black, who is in Tripoli.

Ian said it appeared Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya complex, which was hit on Sunday night, had been struck again, but says there "seemed to be less air activity last night than on the previous two nights" in the capital. "Maybe that reflects the international aspect of this crisis, where we're hearing so much about divisions and squabbling about exactly what this war is supposed to be about, and what it's supposed to achieve," Ian said.

Libyan officials have admitted privately – it's not the kind of thing they say in public – that yes, [the military action] has been effective, their air defence system has been demolished. They say – and of course there's no way of checking this – that there have been no flights inside Libya since last Thursday night when the UN Security Council passed its resolution. They like to portray themselves as being obedient and accepting the writ of the UN, at the same time as complaining that what the UN authorised was the protection of civilians and the complaint in Tripoli is what's happening is going far beyond that.

The link to the audio piece is here