Top aide: Gadhafi's 'suicidal' flight to birthplace

[jakeXT]

...

And as one of Gadhafi's top security officials, who remained at his side until the final hours, Daou has a unique insight into the astonishing downfall of Africa's longest-serving leade

...

But a bigger betrayal came from within. Daou says there was a defense plan in place for the capital, but it was treason among the ranks of those who were tasked with securing Tripoli that led to the fall of the capital in a few days.

He said more than 3,800 troops were supposed to guard Tripoli's gates, but on the night anti-Gadhafi fighters entered the capital, fewer than 200 troops were on duty.

"There was big betrayal by the general who was in charge -- it was his brigade that was in charge. Tanks and military vehicles had no crews, watch towers were abandoned, security forces withdrew from the streets because this brigade was not present," Daou said.

...

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/07/world/africa/libya-gadhafi-flight/

[TheWraith]

1. Sounds like a smart general.

And one who knew that he was on the wrong side. Whether you measure that morally, logically, or just practically.

[jakeXT]

2. Smart and or rich

US army chief says Iraqi troops took bribes to surrender

By Andrew Buncombe in Washington

24 May 2003: (The Independent) Senior Iraqi officers who commanded troops crucial to the defence of key Iraqi cities were bribed not to fight by American special forces, the US general in charge of the war has confirmed.

Well before hostilities started, special forces troops and intelligence agents paid sums of money to a number of Iraqi officers, whose support was deemed important to a swift, low-casualty victory.

General Tommy Franks, the US army commander for the war, said these Iraqi officers had acknowledged their loyalties were no longer with the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, but with their American paymasters. As a result, many officers chose not to defend their positions as American and British forces pushed north from Kuwait.

"I had letters from Iraqi generals saying: 'I now work for you'," General Franks said.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3515.htm

[bvar22]

3. Regime Change is EASY...

...if you have enough pallets of $100 Dollar Bills,
courtesy of US taxpayers!

I could understand it, not endorse it, but understand it
IF the American people got The OIL we paid for stealing,
but WE don't.
The OIL and other resources go the the Western Resource Extraction Corporations
who will SELL it back to us for a NICE FAT Profit.
WE get to PAY for it TWICE!!!
:party:

Anyone who believes that OIL and access to the WEALTH of Africa was NOT the motivation for the annexation of Libya
is unbelievably naive.




If you're not FOR the New WAR in Libya,
you're WITH The Communists AlQaeda The Terrorists Saddam Qaddafi!!!

[jakeXT]

4. Interesting times ahead

The scale and ferocity of China's entry into Africa has been breathtaking. China has started construction on a new railway in Nigeria and a new port for Gabon, has paved most of the roads in Rwanda, and is building roads, bridges, power stations, schools, and cellular-phone networks in at least a dozen African nations. At any given time, the China Road and Bridge Corporation alone is likely to be engaged in five hundred projects throughout Africa. In tiny Lesotho, nearly half the supermarkets are owned and run by Chinese, who also operate textile factories in the country. Mauritius, home to many Chinese-owned textile factories, added Chinese language to the national school curriculum in 2004.

Clash With United States
All this could be described as China engaging in healthy competition with the long entrenched American and European investments in Africa. But quite often, China's approach to the continent is different than America's, Ghazvinian point out:

Beijing's growing reliance on African oil has put it on a collision course with U.S. political priorities for the continent. A growing chorus of voices in Washington--from congressmen to newspaper commentators--has been complaining about China's willingness to do business in countries the United States is trying to pressure or isolate. The example most frequently cited is Sudan, whose (notionally) Islamist government many hawks in Washington would dearly love to see destabilized or overthrown, but Beijing's cooperation with Equatorial Guinea and with Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe are also frequently in the crosshairs.

This collision and competition between China and the west, especially over Africa, will be one of the hallmarks of the 21st century. Reading "Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil" is one way to prepare yourself for the battle.

http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/od/africa/fr/untapped.htm