Civil War in Libya

[TheLastDays]

Oh, ok, sorry that last post was a little hard to decipher...

True... well what I was basically saying is, the whole country and everyone in it isn't exactly profiting from the current ongoing situation, so it's better, imo, if you need to get rid of him, put in the effort (and that goes to the "western coalition") to make it quick... hence my comment on the statement that it doesn't matter how long it takes for Gaddafi to die

[Viking]

Al Jazeera claims to have footage of Brittish ground troops

not happy

Special forces communicating with the opposition. It has been clear for a while that Western special forces are on the ground, for various purposes - perhaps even conducting raids for what we know. All is good.

Prejudice amongst the Libyans. Now would not be a good time to be a black immigrant. What used to be contempt out of racism might now mix with collective anger towards Gadaffi's mercenary forces whose defining characteristic supposedly is their dark skin.

There are several black skinned opposition fighters. If this image is anything to go by, then also in the future police force.



In short: let's not get carried away.

[Fragony]

Those aren't negroes that are dark-skinned Arabs. Good advice for negroes: get the hell out of there now that you still can, UN will look the other way sides have been picked.

[Viking]

The guy on the left. There's only one.

[Fragony]

The guy on the left. There's only one.

Also an Arab, it's like TA said, it's racism negroes are seen as sub-human even the islamic ones, they are slaves to Arabs, but also seen as mercenaries of the regime (and a lot are). Bad place to be right now

[Viking]

Arabs do not have a dark skin colour.

[Fragony]

Arabs do not have a dark skin colour.

I don't want to sound racist but I can absolutely see the difference between a negroe and an arab and he's an arab.

[Hax]

Also an Arab, it's like TA said, it's racism negroes are seen as sub-human even the islamic ones

..what now?

This just doesn't make any sense, where would you get the idea that Arabs are supposedly more racist against blacks than any other ethnic group?

Those aren't negroes that are dark-skinned Arabs.

You can safely assume the guy on the left really is a negro.

[Viking]

I don't want to sound racist but I can absolutely see the difference between a negroe and an arab and he's an arab.

Apparently, you cannot. At 'best', he is a mix of an Arab and an African. Arabs have a lighter skin tone, like the other guys around him. As far as I can tell, 'black arabs' do not exist.

[Subotan]

As far as I can tell, 'black arabs' do not exist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_arabs

[Fragony]

..what now?

This just doesn't make any sense, where would you get the idea that Arabs are supposedly more racist

Oh I would never, even the suggestion

[Hax]

Nice how you cherry-picked my comment there, could you include the full sentence the next time?

In any case, the guy on the left is certainly not Arab. While relatively dark-skinned Arabs do exist (dependent on the location, Arabs in Syria generally have a lighter skin than Arabs in southern Egypt or Somalia), and as Subotan pointed out, there are Arabs of mixed blood, that guy is really not Arab.

[Fragony]

Nice how you cherry-picked my comment there, could you include the full sentence the next time?

In any case, the guy on the left is certainly not Arab. While relatively dark-skinned Arabs do exist (dependent on the location, Arabs in Syria generally have a lighter skin than Arabs in southern Egypt or Somalia), and as Subotan pointed out, there are Arabs of mixed blood, that guy is really not Arab.

Heh why don't you tell him, I hope he doesn't hurt you too much

[PanzerJaeger]

Fulfilling stereotypes?

France tells Libya rebels to seek peace with Gaddafi

A French minister said on Sunday it was time for Libya's rebels to negotiate with Muammar Gaddafi's government, but Washington said it stood firm in its belief that the Libyan leader cannot stay in power.

The diverging messages from two leading members of the Western coalition opposing Gaddafi hinted at the strain the alliance is under after more than three months of air strikes that have cost billions of dollars and failed to produce the swift outcome its backers had expected.

French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet signaled growing impatience with the progress of the conflict when he said the rebels should negotiate now with Gaddafi's government and not wait for his defeat.

[Viking]

Skynews is reporting on it's front page that the rebels coming from Zawiyah are now 10 km from the city centre of Tripoli; having encountered no resistance lately. Looks like the end is coming. I understand this information is coming from their correspondent Alex Crawford, who is on the scene.

[Montmorency]

Then there's about to be a heck of a lot of collateral damage.

[PanzerJaeger]

I fear for the black Libyans who have found temporary respite in Tripoli. The lynch mobs are coming... and if their actions in other parts of the country are anything to go by, they'll have no mercy.

[Adrian II]

I fear for the black Libyans who have found temporary respite in Tripoli. The lynch mobs are coming... and if their actions in other parts of the country are anything to go by, they'll have no mercy.

Atrocities are committed during every civil war. But incidents are often exaggerated for propaganda reasons and it is usually only afterwards that the facts can be more or less established.

I am old enough to remember the gruelling stories we were fed about the 'systematic rape' of 200.000 Bosniak women by the Serbs in the early 1990's. All in all only a few thousand rapes have been documented during the entire civil war in the former Yugoslavia and the victims were more or less evenly spread over populations.

AII
P.S. By the way Al Jazeera is much better, they have people all over Libya who are reporting around the clock. Right now Tripoli is being massively invaded, some outskirts are already in rebel hands and celebrating, three of Gaddafi's sons have been captured. It's a matter of days at most, it seems, if not hours.

[tibilicus]

According to most majors news sites the people of Tripoli are now pouring out of their homes to join the rebel advance. It appears Tripoli was perhaps not that loyal to Gadaffi after all. Also unconfirmed reports his sons have been captured and are being held by the rebels.

[Samurai Waki]

Yep-- from some reports I've read, whats left of Gadaffi's army is out of basic necessities, food, water, ammunition, and most importantly, men. Any "mercenaries" he may have are probably either hiding and waiting for a moment to escape, or have slipped out of the Capital and are on their way out of the country as quickly as possible.

[a completely inoffensive name]

The End is Near.

[tibilicus]

Unconfirmed reports as of yet that Gadaffi himself has been captured. Not sure if true as it's literally just broken but either way it is game over.

[Furunculus]

i imagine that i will be hearing of gaddafi's end when i wake up in eight hours time.

[HoreTore]

This is simply wonderful.

[Centurion1]

Yay! Lets replace a crazed dictator with either another one or some fundamentalist theocratic ********.


Color me tickled pink that my tax dollars are hard at work installing what will likely be a government that hates my way of life and oppresses its people in new and wonderful ways.

[Montmorency]

Why do you hate freedom?

Also, do you really begrudge the $5 (or less) that you've contributed to our military efforts there?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Assuming you make an income in the mid-5-figures range, you will be spending about $5 per billion in discretionary spending.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Yay! Lets replace a crazed dictator with either another one or some fundamentalist theocratic ********.


Color me tickled pink that my tax dollars are hard at work installing what will likely be a government that hates my way of life and oppresses its people in new and wonderful ways.

Get off of it dude.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Let us hope that the end result is truly better for the Libyan people and for the rest of us. My prayers for all of those killed in this violence.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Looks like Tripoli has pretty much fallen. A rather dramatic shift in fortune over the last several days it seems.


CR

[Ronin]

a BBC reporter that was just on live doesn´t seem to think the town has fallen completely.

as far as how this is gonna turn out...I´m predicting a "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" kind of thing.