Libyan Civil War Megathread

[Mr.Penguin]

http://www.businessinsider.com/whowhatwhy-factchecks-the-media-more-questions-about-the-libyan-sex-atrocity-reporting-2011-6

WhoWhatWhy Factchecks the Media: More Questions About the Libyan Sex Atrocity Reporting
Russ Baker, WhoWhatWhy


Rape is tragically common in wartime—but did Qaddafi really order it?
....

Let the buyer beware.

As they say, the truth is always the first victim of war. But then again its much more easy to make news stories sitting behind the desk in the office, no need to go outside as plenty of people are willing to mail in stories to you. Any reason to be critical?, not really, they will print anything these days...

But there are other independent reports of Qaddafi forces raping women:

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/03/201132845516144204.html

https://thedisorderofthings.wordpress.com/tag/suleiman-refadi/

The testimony of Suleiman Refadi, an Ajdabiya surgeon, in this Al Jazeera piece is the closest thing to a direct claim that Viagra has been distributed to troops. But, as Lynch points out, Human Rights Watch followed up his allegations and say that Refadi had "no direct evidence", which I assume means either that he himself hadn't seen the Viagra and condoms, or that some had been found, but not in any pattern that would associate them with a strategy of war rape.

[CountDeMoney]

Meh, wait till somebody reports how Iraqi troops in Benghazi are turning over baby incubators.

[citizen k]

Libyan civilians build weapons to fight Gadhafi
By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press

MISRATA, Libya – Aref Abu Zeid used to be a heavy equipment engineer at the Libya Steel Company. Now he runs an 80-man team working 12 hours a day turning out rockets and weapons to fight Moammar Gadhafi's forces.

In this rebel stronghold in western Libya, civilian engineers, mechanics and tradesmen are pumping out materiel to arm the uprising against Gadhafi's rule that has become a civil war.

"None of us here have anything to do with the military," said Abu Zeid, 50, a short man with a thick salt and pepper beard and an easy smile. "Our need to protect our homes, our lives and our city forced us into this war work."

Misrata, the country's third-largest city located 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of the capital, is home to the largest steel company in the country and metal is always available here.

"Owners of carpentry and mechanical supply warehouses would just open their doors," Abu Zeid said. "They told us 'Take what you want.' Others bring us piles of money to buy what we need."

At the beginning of the war in Misrata, mechanics were repairing arms in their homes and garages. But as it raged on, the engineers realized they needed bigger operations and a more organized force.

That's when about eight schools across the city turned into weapons' workshops. Volunteers flooded in to help.

Abu Zeid's operation — the Complete Industrial Skills College — is a sprawling campus with shops fitted with welding gear and machinery where youngsters formerly learned engineering and machine making.

Now the weapons-making crews receive request forms from the front lines that ask for specific machinery and weapons.

Clanging metal and sparking welders fill the main workshop. The floor is strewn with electrical wiring and scrap metal. Old instructional and safety posters still hang on the walls, a reminder that this was once a school.

Two men worked on installing Grad rockets onto the back of a pickup truck. Scavenged car parts, scrap metal and captured rocket launchers made up the rest of the project.

The truck itself was one of hundreds the rebels found stored in Gadhafi's government and military buildings. They are Chinese knockoffs of a popular Toyota 4-wheel drive called the Chao Yung Highlander.

"Without these Chinese cars we wouldn't have won this war in Misrata," said Abu Zeid. He caressed the side of the truck.

Once fitted with a weapon, the truck is painted black — the words "Feb 17 Revolution" spray- painted in white. The tricolor rebel flag emblazons the side of the vehicle.

In another workshop, the wooden butts of AK-47 automatic rifles are repaired and replaced.

Across the workshops, there are mechanics, engineers, and welders who've been tested as they turn their civilian knowledge into weapons and ammunition design and the trajectory of rockets.

Homemade, rust-brown steel rockets lean in a pile against a wall. Near them are rockets captured from Gadhafi troops.

"We had no time to learn, we had to just become creative," said Ali Ibrahim, who used to drive trucks and now builds rockets.

He said that at the beginning, rebels weapons makers were just working from intuition. Now they can copy and take ideas from the old Soviet and former East Bloc weapons taken from Gadhafi soldiers.

But many of the men at this workshop have nothing to do with mechanics or engineering at all.

Before the war started, Mohammed al-Ahmar ran a women's clothing store called 'The Princesses' Palace' off Tripoli Street. Some of the fiercest battles between Libyan rebels and Gadhafi's army rattled along that street for days.

"Gadhafi's troops destroyed my shop and I lost 12 friends in the fighting," he said. "How could I just repair and open my shop again and go back to business?" he asked.

Al-Ahmar, 38, said he wanted to honor the memory of his dead friends. So he showed up one day at the college where he heard mechanics and engineers were maintaining weapons.

Today, wearing a gray mechanic's uniform, he balanced a cigarette between his lips as bored a hole into a slab of metal. It's destined to be part of a machine gun.

"The guys here are easy on me. They know my skills are limited in this kind of work, so they teach me something new everyday. I do small things like weld and cut metal," he said. "I am definitely going back to the clothing business as soon as Gadhafi falls."

Libyan mechanic welds weapons shield

FILE - In this Thursday, June 16, 2011 file photo, a Libyan mechanic welds a weapons shield on a pickup truck in an industrial college turned into a weapons workshop in Misrata, Libya. Civilian engineers, mechanics and tradesmen have become weapons makers, pumping out materiel for the frontline and the hoped-for march on Tripoli, Gadhafi's capital, 100 miles (160 kilometers) east along the Mediterranean Sea.
(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

[Josquius]

Man, this war really is Mad Max.

[CountDeMoney]

They really shouldn't have to be doing that.  We should be airdropping weapons and green beanies to them.

Scavenged car parts, scrap metal and captured rocket launchers made up the rest of the project.

What an embarrassment to NATO.  That is what happens when you limit your own options.

[Tonitrus]

Man, this war really is Mad Max.

I think it's more a B.A. Baracus/A-Team "helping the little guy turn his truck into an armored vehicle" montage.

[Ed Anger]

What an embarrassment to NATO.  That is what happens when you limit your own options.

A frog Marine regiment backed by a big boy carrier would have ended this bullshit a long time ago.

[Tonitrus]

What an embarrassment to NATO.  That is what happens when you limit your own options.

A frog Marine regiment backed by a big boy carrier would have ended this bullshit a long time ago.

Hell, even just the freakin' Foreign Legion.

[CountDeMoney]

Man, this war really is Mad Max.

I think it's more B.A. Baracus/A-Team turning-truck-into-armored-vehicle montage.

Who are we kidding, it's more like a Lindsay-Sidney-Greenbush-doing-a-faceplant-downhill-during-the-opening-credits-of-Little-House-On-The-Prairie.

[Josquius]

There been any progress of note lately btw? The back and forth seems to have stopped but...not much of note being reported beyond NATO bombings.

[Ed Anger]

Man, this war really is Mad Max.

I think it's more B.A. Baracus/A-Team turning-truck-into-armored-vehicle montage.

Who are we kidding, it's more like a Lindsay-Sidney-Greenbush-doing-a-faceplant-downhill-during-the-opening-credits-of-Little-House-On-The-Prairie.

Or...

[KRonn]

There been any progress of note lately btw? The back and forth seems to have stopped but...not much of note being reported beyond NATO bombings.

I read that the rebels have been slowly advancing towards Tripoli, having broken the siege of Misrata. My feeling is that the rebels are biding their time, being trained by former Libyan officers and outside trainers, and equipped by outside nations, getting ready for going on the offensive. Makes sense to do so, rather than squander their strength like happened before, when they were out matched by the Libyan military.

[Mr.Penguin]

The Tripolitania Front...

[MadImmortalMan]

I guess they figure it's been milked long enough.

House to vote on authorizing or ending Libya mission
By Russell Berman - 06/21/11 07:37 PM ET

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) plans to introduce two Libya measures that present House lawmakers with a stark choice: Vote to authorize the U.S. combat mission or vote to end it.

House Republicans will discuss the proposals at a conference meeting Wednesday morning, and votes could occur on both by the end of the week.

One resolution would mirror a version proposed Tuesday by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) that authorizes a limited U.S. military mission for one year, but prohibits the use of ground troops except to defend American officials in danger. The other resolution, Boehner said, would remove U.S. forces from Libya under the War Powers Resolution "except for forces engaged in non-hostile actions such as search & rescue, aerial re-fueling, operational planning, intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance, and non-combat missions."

The proposals have the potential to settle - or intensify - what has become a rancorous debate in the House over the Libya mission and whether Obama has flouted the War Powers Resolution by not seeking congressional authorization. Boehner has ramped up his criticism of the president's handling of the operation and said in a statement Tuesday that the White House's justification of the mission's legality "is not credible."

"We have no desire to damage the NATO alliance, which has been a strong force for peace and stability in Europe and around the world," Boehner said in a statement. "We know that soldiers, sailors, and airmen from our allies have fought by our side for decades, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we honor their service. Still, the White House must not ignore its obligations to the American people and the laws of this country."

He added: "If the commander-in-chief believes that intervention in Libya is important for our national security, he has a responsibility to make a case for it – clearly and publicly – and seek authorization. In the three months since military action in Libya began, none of this has occurred. The American people deserve to have their voice heard in this debate, and Congress has a responsibility to hold the White House accountable."

Whether either resolution will have the support to pass the House is unclear. While the House has come close to blocking funds for the mission in recent weeks, a measure authorizing the operation could draw support from Republicans whose concerns have focused on the lack of congressional input.

The House is also likely to consider separate proposals to restrict funding for the Libya campaign as part of a Defense appropriations bill this week.

The White House has not formally requested authorization from Congress, arguing that the mission does not require one because the limited U.S. role in the NATO-led effort does not constitute the legal definition of "hostilities" in the War Powers Resolution. Press secretary Jay Carney has separately warned against House action to restrict funding, saying it would send "a bad message" to Libyan dictator Moammar Ghadafi and to U.S. allies.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/167715-house-to-vote-on-authorizing-or-ending-libya-mission

About time.

[Razgovory]

I think Boehner is right.  Will this be an enforcement of the WPA?