A bunch of poor Libyans just decided to
get together and rebel against the despotic tyrant that ruled the country because he was a bad man.


A proper fairytale.
( Larry Death Anger Pain Fear Aggression, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 13:27, 11 replies)

yeah
'cos the whole Arab Spring is being orchestrated by the CIA, innit?

Tunsia, Egypt, Syria, Iran... as if people in those countries might have legitimate grievances with the state that they would genuinely protest about - ridiculous!

Its all blood for oil and the American imperial agenda, yeah?
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 14:01, closed)

Libya
was something quite different.

Hence the SAS there in February providing training...the setting up of a rebel central bank in March....NATO raining death from the skies...
( Larry Death Anger Pain Fear Aggression, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 14:07, closed)

Yeah, I read Pilger too
but the worst reasonable accusation is that certain people and organisations within NATO countries were cynical opportunists. I think it's more likely that some nasty bits of realpolitik got mixed in with a genuine humanitarian effort. You know, the usual bumbling farce of international politics, not some sort of devious conspiracy.

I wouldn't read too much into the SAS training troops in Libya - we're a country that makes a fair bit of money out of the arms and military expertise trade, and Libya has been a good customer ever since Blair opened that particular door.

Not sure why the setting up of a rebel central bank is suspicious. I mean, they were planning a civil war - seems pretty savvy to me.

The protest movement really happened, the rebels and the Arab League really did ask for NATO support. You seem to be suggesting that the protests were somehow organised by western powers, who had this endgame in sight all along.

Wait - you're not Saif Gaddafi are you?
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 15:15, closed)

The SAS were training the rebels so they could become the rebels.


Who was planning a civil war?

I thought it was a grass roots movement for democratic change?

Setting up a bank is very odd when all you are is a group of people wanting democracy...
( Larry Death Anger Pain Fear Aggression, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 15:31, closed)

Well...
The NTC formed in late February, against Gaddafi, and in support of the protests that started in mid-February. They were made up of tribal leaders, bankers, businessmen, and defectors from the military and the Gaddafi regime.

From the outset, they were planning and conducting a civil war. They set up a central bank, paid for the training of troops, bought arms, set up links with NATO countries, all the sort of sensible stuff you do when you're preparing to take on your own government in armed conflict.

Actually, I'm not even sure what alternative reading of this you're implying.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 15:47, closed)

It's hardly a conspiracy
It's the SAS's day job to assist foreign freedom fighters topple corrupt governments, that's when they are not helping foreign governments smash anti-government terrorists etc.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 16:42, closed)

Good for them. The country's a shithole.
We're lucky the most we have to complain about is whether or not we should have our tertiary education fees paid for us by the state.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 14:39, closed)

If uni fees are all you have to complain about,
you must be very comfortably middle-class.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 14:53, closed)

Well in comparison with Libya I'd say in Britiain there's very little to complain about.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 15:11, closed)

They don't have to put up with our weather
Plus, I bet Libyans don't have the natural propensity for complaining that we do.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 15:19, closed)

Yup, compared to Libya, this is paradise.
I still think that a "could be worse" mentality is basically a license to get stepped on.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 15:37, closed)