The constant claims from Obama Administration officials that the war in Libya is not about conquering the country on behalf of the rebels appears not to have reached Benghazi, where a top rebel general is openly condemning the US and NATO for not making the war even bigger than it is now.
Gen. Abdul Fatah Younis made the comments in a news conference in Benghazi, where he insisted NATO had not helped the rebels conquer either Brega or Misrata, two hotly contested cities, and slammed them for “using the excuse that we don’t want to kill civilians.” NATO insisted they actually had been coming those regions quite a bit, despite the lack of a military victory by the rebels.
“NATO should be with us,” Younis insisted, adding that the rebel government would complain to the UN Security Council if the war wasn’t escalated. Younis had previously held the position of Interior Minister in Gadhafi’s regime, before defecting in late February.
Which sparked something of an incident at the news conference, when one of the people in the room noted that Younis, as Interior Minister, would have been giving the orders for the regime’s massacres up to the point where he resigned. Younis denied this, but only after the man was dragged from the room. His fate is unknown.
Mr.Younis should be reminded that the UN reslution should not take sides eventhough MR. Cameron and Sarcosi of France declared openly that Ghaddafi must go which was not in the security council resolution.
It appears that Gaddafi is going nowhere as long as he has the support of the army.
If the rebels cannot do it alone then in my opinion this is not a strong revolution where the majority including the residents of tripoli which total over a million are not ready to declare that they no longer willing to accept the ghaddafi regime and are willing to die for their cause, on the contrary there are a lot of Lybians who are happy with status co. mainly in Tripoli and other cities, free education and heath care beautiful cities by the sea and nice cars ,that what I see on TV before this uprising which in my opinion was encouraged by the west indirectly.
I am not siding with this type of regime which lasted 42 years, however it appears that the regime itself is calling for a change as declared by their spoksman yesterday. and trying to reach out for a negotiated settlement
franklyn
Mr. Younis sould be aware that Both sides should be attacked by the UN if any side is advancing with arms to fight in order to protect civilian.
The rebels and the west would only talk to the Lybian government on one condition the Ghaddaffi and family step down, and this is out of the question as long as the army stays loyal to Ghaddafi and his regime.
While the west is bombing Lybia and taking sides with the rebels I cannot see an end to this conflict especially when the armed rebels are openly trying to fight their way to Tripoli .
It is not easy to fight in cities without injury and death to civilians on both sides.
The only way to solve this conflict should now be through negotiation around the table between the Lybians without the interference of the west.
franklyn
Another beautiful Arab country being plunged into destruction and civil war to "save" it for the U.S. Iraq was turned from a civilized mid-level country with a dictator, into a hellhole run by competing religious extremists. Their middle class has been mostly destroyed. Looks like the same fate awaits Libya. Their crime was that their dictator didn't kowtow sufficiently to the US.
The USG are such fools. How much proof do they require before they admit that they had NO BUSINESS getting involved in this fight between rival tribes. If the "rebels" were no able to succeed, even with the help they've been accorded,then perhaps they should have waited until they were ready to do what they wanted. Kinda like trying to get good scores on the GRE when you've just graduated from the 5th grade…
My, my, my…what a tangled web we weave.
I thought the resolution was supposed to create a 'no-fly zone.' Since when do trucks, govt buildings, tanks, Libyan troops fly? Maybe I missed something in the translation from English to English.
The "revolution" consists of about 1000 fighters, many al Qaeda who could not fight their way out of a paper bag. Al Qaeda terrorists are seeking to gain control of a county and get weapons from NATO. THis is going to be another Serbia fiasco with lies about rape camps and genocide. Meanwhile, it seems NATO is killing more civilians than Gadaffi. Loyalists are fighting in the streets in urban warfare, while NATO tries to misrepresent this as "using civilians as shields" because the Libyian fighters would stand out in the desert and let NATO slaughter them. If NATO is so worried about civilian casualties, then let them "put boots on the ground" and fight building to building. All they are doing now is destroying another country and its infrastructure while killing civilians.
End the warfare/welfare state.
Day of Rage in Washington D.C. on 6/30/11 http://beforeitsnews.com/story/462/358/Day_of_Rag…
The American Revolution Has Begun http://beforeitsnews.com/story/499/546/The_Americ…
The smart money would have been on to make it clear to Gaddafi that he does not get carried away dealing with the insurrectionists. hanging a few of the top leadership wold have been OK. He wants to join the club so he would have been careful in dealing with them. Now, it's all bets off and who wins takes it all.
Interesting how Abdullah is willing to have "his" Western Praetorian Guard destroy his Arab brother. The damn fool doesn't seem to realize that the West is eventually going to slowly choke him to death. With friends like these, King Abdullah! Saddam then and Muammar now. Hope you Arabs learn your lesson.