Brown Moses posted:

The centres of Zliten and Zawiyah have both been secured by the rebels in the past few hours.
Here's a report from Zawiyah
and one from Zliten

KashiMane posted:

Western involvement is pretty much the reason. We said no more after Iraq and yet, not only are we in Libya, but they fooled you into thinking that it's some humanitarian mission. Rebels picked the other side and are out to get paid. I don't care for either side, I care about the people of Libya. They are in the middle of a struggle for power and resources, and all we can do for them is call them "collateral damage" when they are murdered.

KashiMane posted:

Woah, you guys never met someone opposed to western imperialism? Or is western imperialism a mystical tale to you folks?

Brown Moses posted:

Today a Guardian journalists asked me for my Twitter list of Libya related accounts, and all of a sudden they are posting much better and timely updates.

Pureauthor posted:

The people of Libya were the ones who initiated the revolt, you know.

Amused to Death posted:

If you cared about the people of Libya you'd support a movement that is helping to bring down a 4 decade dictator who among other things if you remember why this all started used snipers to fire on random civilians returning from funerals, and threatened to annihilate the city of Benghazi if it required going room to room hunting people down like rats.

Also the people of Libya asked us to intervene.

AtomikKrab posted:

You know, when the people of a country whose leader is an enemy of the west rise up to overthrow him, then ask the west to provide some help, THE WEST IS GOING TO HELP OUT. The western nations do not like ghaddfi and this is a legitimate reason to drop bombs on him.


You know what, gently caress people like you, get your heads out of your asses and smell some real world good being done for once. This is an opportunity for the western nations to get rid of an enemy, improve their image in the middle east and maybe end up with a friend out of all of this.

How are u posted:

Something Awful Forums: Your Global News Leader

Brown Moses posted:

The centres of Zliten and Zawiyah have both been secured by the rebels in the past few hours.
Here's a report from Zawiyah
and one from Zliten

Zeroisanumber posted:

So the rebels are pretty much in control of the coastal highway from Tunisia all the way out to the outskirts of Tripoli. If that's the case, then NATO can simply ship whatever supplies they need to to Tunis and just truck it over to the border, skipping the logistical problems of supply by air. That'll take some pressure off of NATO's transport fleet, at least in the western half of the country.

How are u posted:

Something Awful Forums: Your Global News Leader

Sivias posted:

\/\/\/ I heard Obama is not only on the ground, but is leading the push. He killed three CQ soldiers yesterday with a grenade.

KashiMane posted:

Imperialism.

KashiMane posted:

farraday posted:

Pure propagandist drivel. The west can only kill civilians, not soldiers.

In any case, I will go back to my line about not actually caring about the people of Libya, or the Libyan people, however they wish to style it. All you're doing is treating a populace as your passion play for partisan political dogma.
Its not even a matter for some snide comment about understanding when they grow up, it's an endemic political construct built out of popular sovereignty that an undifferentiated "people" have some sort of notional existence which is valuated according to your political ideology.

quote:

Our correspondent says Gadaffi forces fled #Zlitan, leaving behind ammunition and equipment.

KashiMane posted:

Western involvement is pretty much the reason. We said no more after Iraq and yet, not only are we in Libya, but they fooled you into thinking that it's some humanitarian mission. Rebels picked the other side and are out to get paid. I don't care for either side, I care about the people of Libya. They are in the middle of a struggle for power and resources, and all we can do for them is call them "collateral damage" when they are murdered.

Brown Moses posted:

I've just added more accounts of journalists based in Libya to my twitter list. Interesting times in Libya, so it's a good source of reliable first hand info.

Zeroisanumber posted:

Or you could, ya'know, just bitch on SA about what shits we are here in the West and post about weed over on TCC. Up to you.

quote:

Today #Gharyan a big march celebrating the rebel takeover, and a funeral for a young man shot by an alleged '#Ghaddafi spy' last night.
I asked an old man in #Gharyan if #Ghaddafi would come back. "Never never never," he said.
Rebel commander in #Gharyan said General Sabhan fought for only 4 hours before fleeing. Not much destruction in the town.

quote:

Tripoli facing three-sided advance by Libyan rebels
Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year grip on power in Libya looked more precarious than ever on Friday night, as rebel forces advanced on the capital from three directions after breaking out of the once-besieged town of Misrata.

With opposition forces taking control of the coastal town of Zlitan in the east, those in the west made progress clearing out the last pro-Gaddafi troops from Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli. They now have the main coastal road under pressure on both sides of the capital and also under threat from the Nafusa mountains.

Gaddafi's army outside Tripoli is trapped in a series of besieged and shrinking enclaves, with rebels controlling more than two thirds of the country. And as the stranglehold on the capital tightens, plans are being made to evacuate the last remaining foreign workers by sea.

It was a day of heavy street fighting in Zlitan, where rebels from Misrata came up against tanks and troops from the 32nd brigade commanded by Gaddafi's son Khamis. Thirty-five rebel troops were killed and scores more injured.

By Friday night, however, opposition leaders said they had taken control of the city 100 miles east of Tripoli. They said their column had reached the outskirts of Al Khums another 30 miles along the coast.

Al Khums commands the last significant road junction before the capital. Rebel spokesmen in Misrata said their forces were now in a valley not far from the town. "Zlitan is now under thwar [revolutionary] control," said Ali Gliwan, spokesman for Misrata's military council. "Misrata thwar linked with the Zlitan thwar. They are now establishing control of the town."

At Misrata's Mujamma Aledad hospital, bloodied bodies of the wounded and dead rebel fighters filled the corridors. "It's a big rush, many martyrs," said Dr Jamal Mustafa, sitting exhausted on a gurney. "Some of the faces, three of them we cannot recognise."

He said wounded fighters had told him government troops had hidden rocket launchers inside buildings to ambush fighters as they pushed into the town. "The bloody bastards, they hid in the houses, they know we [rebels] will not shoot at the houses for fear of killing civilians."

A large crowd of relatives and blood donors gathered at the hospital. One elderly woman in black was guided through the crowd, wailing and shrieking that her son was wounded. "I wish for God to take Gaddafi," she shouted. "I wish for God to take him."

The latest rebel advance came amid reports that the Tripoli compound of Gaddafi's brother-in-law and intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, had been destroyed by a Nato airstrike according to neighbours at his house which was hit overnight.

There was no word on whether the intelligence chief was inside.

In the west of Libya, rebels were reported to have seized the centre of Zawiyah after a fierce onslaught by regime forces. They were poised to move towards the coastal town of Janzur on the outskirts of the Libyan capital.

Fighters also told the Guardian they would advance on Zuara, one of the few remaining western coastal towns still under government control, in the next "three or four days" .

After recent rebel advances on the capital from the south and west – and now the east – an international sea evacuation is being considered for thousands of Egyptians and other foreigners trapped in Tripoli. A spokeswoman for the International Organisation for Migration, Jemini Pandya, said the operation would begin within days. "We are looking at all options available, but it will probably have to be by sea," she told a Geneva news conference.

There were estimated to be 1.5 million to 2.5 million foreigners, mostly Asian and African migrant workers, in Libya but more than 600,000 have fled the country during the six months of fighting.

However, many thousands remained in Tripoli which, until this week, was far from the fighting and is a two-hour drive from the Tunisian border.

Earlier in the war the IOM evacuated thousands of foreigners trapped by fighting in Misrata, though it is unclear how many eligible evacuees are in Tripoli, or whether the authorities would cooperate with any evacuation by allowing ships to dock.

Brown Moses posted:

What's interesting now is you have a situation where the rebels in Benghazi might not actually play much of a role in the end game, and instead the Nafusa rebels and Misrata rebels will finish this.
Personally I'd prefer the rebels to trying and secure as many cities outside of Tripoli, and be joined by other rebels from those cities, which we've seen happen in Zliten and Zawiyah already. This would hopefully bring a greater sense of national unity once the dust settles, and hopefully reduce the chances of their being divisions.

Sivias posted:

Well Farraday, I would imagine it depends on how united they are against the idea of the Qadaffi regime. Nothing unites people like a common enemy. Although I'd be confident the values of the council in Benghazi sync well with those in the west. It'd be a pretty dick move to take advantage of the victories and ground fought by the Nafusa Mountains only to ignore their efforts once the battle has won.

farraday posted:

You'd think so, but it's amazing how badly success can go wrong in a revolution.

Golbez posted:

In other words, let Tripoli rot while they consolidate the remainder of the country under one flag. That would seem to be a sound strategy.

Golbez posted:

In other words, let Tripoli rot while they consolidate the remainder of the country under one flag. That would seem to be a sound strategy.

Brown Moses posted:

4) Gaddafi hangs