Civil War in Libya

[PanzerJaeger]

Dramatic footage from Zawiya. It was reportedly finally retaken this morning but now the situation still seems contested.

Also, the CSM draws an interesting comparison with Iraq in '91.

With cool confidence, a Libyan expatriate arrives at this remote border with a small fortune in donations and imminent regime change on his mind.

From the outside, it looks easy: He predicts that Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has perhaps 10 days before the people-power Arab revolt sweeps him away as it already has the authoritarian leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.

“Every time someone dies, [the opposition] gets stronger,” says the Libyan with a North American accent, who could not be named. “Qaddafi is going to have to kill everybody. If that’s the price of freedom, I guess we are willing to pay it.”

But rather than the euphoric victories in Tunisia and Egypt, Libya's conflict now evokes another uprising: Iraqis' 1991 bid to overthrow Saddam Hussein. It, too, began with hope but ended in despair as the dictator brutally suppressed antigovernment rebels and ruled for another 12 years.

Finally, Al Jazeera suggests the rebels are so ignorant of the weapon systems they're using that they are injuring themselves.

[Prince Cobra]

Finally, Al Jazeera suggests the rebels are so ignorant of the weapon systems they're using that they are injuring themselves.

Just an elucidation. There is a significant number of regular troops amongst the rebels, though due to the nature of the revolution, they is a huge number of volunteers that have no or little military training.