Libyan Civil War Megathread

[Caliga]

Franco was the rebel.

I know, but there's no Franco figure on the opposition side yet.

[JonasSalk]

All of the "rebel commanders" that I've seen are refusing to show their faces (duh) and don't seem to be genuine commanders in any sense that they're experienced at this sort of thing.  Then again, I am hearing reports that the rebels are slowly becoming more disciplined and trained as the days go on.  Less a mob and more of a genuine force in their own right.

[Darth Wagtaros]

All of the "rebel commanders" that I've seen are refusing to show their faces (duh) and don't seem to be genuine commanders in any sense that they're experienced at this sort of thing.  Then again, I am hearing reports that the rebels are slowly becoming more disciplined and trained as the days go on.  Less a mob and more of a genuine force in their own right.

I think the commanders are the ones who just managed to get themselves interviewed on TV. The truth is this is a decentralized mass movement like AA or Craigs list.

[Legbiter]

Nothing 6 months of tribal civil war won't fix. The shit will float to the top.

[JonasSalk]

Al Jazeera is following them around and basically egging them on, so no surprise there.

[KRonn]

Yes he does.  Chavez will send: El Condor Legion.

We should hope that Chavez and his rotten regime are sometime soon on the rebellion list.   

[Viking]

I can't wait until China vetos the No Fly Zone resolution citing Libyan sovereignty.

If they get the resolution off quickly enough, the Libyan delegation to the UN might actually be either voting for or advocating for the resolution.

[Monoriu]

Why don't the other Arab powers or the African Union deal with this?  Why does everything around the world have to be America and Europe's problem?  Can't China, the premier colonizer of Africa today, get in on this, instead?

It would be hilarious if the Chinese stepped in and intervened.  I can't imagine how we'd react to something like that.

China's number one, and probably only concern about Libya, is to get its 30,000 citizens out.  Since that has already been accomplished, Libya is now in the "who cares" category from the Chinese perspective.  Sure, they lost some lucrative construction contracts, but the Chinese companies can afford such loses these days.  China can buy oil from someone else.  I don't even think Libya sells a lot of oil to China in the first place. 

[Tonitrus]

Why don't the other Arab powers or the African Union deal with this?  Why does everything around the world have to be America and Europe's problem?  Can't China, the premier colonizer of Africa today, get in on this, instead?

It would be hilarious if the Chinese stepped in and intervened.  I can't imagine how we'd react to something like that.

China's number one, and probably only concern about Libya, is to get its 30,000 citizens out.  Since that has already been accomplished, Libya is now in the "who cares" category from the Chinese perspective.  Sure, they lost some lucrative construction contracts, but the Chinese companies can afford such loses these days.  China can buy oil from someone else.  I don't even think Libya sells a lot of oil to China in the first place.

China probably figures that anything worth intervening in, will be done by the U.S. anyway.

And if it's not worth intervening in, but the U.S. does anyway, they can still take advantage of it (i.e. oil and mining contracts in Iraq/Afghanistan).

[Darth Wagtaros]

Why don't the other Arab powers or the African Union deal with this?  Why does everything around the world have to be America and Europe's problem?  Can't China, the premier colonizer of Africa today, get in on this, instead?

It would be hilarious if the Chinese stepped in and intervened.  I can't imagine how we'd react to something like that.

China's number one, and probably only concern about Libya, is to get its 30,000 citizens out.  Since that has already been accomplished, Libya is now in the "who cares" category from the Chinese perspective.  Sure, they lost some lucrative construction contracts, but the Chinese companies can afford such loses these days.  China can buy oil from someone else.  I don't even think Libya sells a lot of oil to China in the first place. 

I've never gotten the impression that China would care about its citizens one way or the other. 

[grumbler]

It's very concievable that the conscript portion disbanded themselves in the Iraqi fashion.

The Iraqi Army was never a unified force.  Much of it isn't "the Iraqi Army' any more, but rather the militias of the various rebel factions.  Some of the units may have disbanded, as you note, but since the army was organized along tribal lines (and was all conscript except for the cadres), the units would do so only if the tribal leaders ordered it.

The security forces have always been better-armed and better-trained for conventional operations than the army, a la Saddam's Republican Guard.

[derspiess]

Maybe France will take the lead on this?

http://www.france24.com/en/20110310-France-NTC-national-transitional-council-embassy-Libya

France is the first country to formally recognise the legitimacy of Libya's rebel National Transitional Council and will open an embassy in Benghazi, the government announced after meeting with NTC representatives in Paris Thursday.

With Sarko, all things are possible.

[Caliga]

I look forward to the imminent French surrender to Gadhafi.

[Viking]

I look forward to the imminent French surrender to Gadhafi.

The First Rule of French Warfare - "France's armies are victorious only when not led by a Frenchmen."

Sarkozy is a Hungarian Jew  :Tamas

[jimmy olsen]

US to send humanitarian aid to the rebels.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42014852/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/