Democracy Now: U.S. & Nato Forces Played Key Role in Rebel Push to Tripoli

[amborin]

As Fighting Continues in Tripoli, A Look at Role of the U.S., NATO and Oil Firms in Libya Uprising

".......details have emerged that U.S. and NATO forces played a key role in the Libyan rebel push into Tripoli, carrying out 17 Predator drone strikes and 38 air strikes since August 10.

Overall, the U.S. has carried out 1,210 air strikes and 101 Predator drone strikes in Libya since April 1. NATO says it will keep up pressure on Gaddafi and that its "mission is not over yet."

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.democracynow.org/embed_show_v2/300/2011/8/23/story/as_fighting_continues_in_tripoli_a"></script>

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/23/as_fighting_continues_in_tripoli_a

[Arctic Dave]

1. You mean to tell me there were foriegn boots on the ground (ie. mercenaries)

Do tell...

[texanwitch]

4. I thought I saw some mercenaries in the crowd carrying guns.

They didn't look like the natives to me.

[Arctic Dave]

5. They had vidoe of mercenaries months ago.

Not really news unless you are part of the head in the sand crowd.

[AngkorWot]

10. Mercenaries?

They were working for Gadhafi

[Starry Messenger]

2. Guess the "the will of the people" had a lot of outside help.

:sarcasm:

[joshcryer]

3. Tripoli guarded by 65 thousand armed troops took months to fall!

Oh wait... they took a good deal of it in 3 days, likely a week or so, defying all expectations.

[Starry Messenger]

6. Nato’s war crimes in Libya

http://www.cpgb-ml.org/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=737

By the 100th day of the imperialist predatory war against Libya, the warmongering and fascistic Nato alliance had made 12,070 air sorties, of which 4,569 were strike sorties that hit 2,125 targets. According to Nato sources, the targets hit included 740 ammunition facilities, 420 tanks and other armoured vehicles, 370 military facilities/bases, and 255 sites or storage facilities, including for SAM (surface-to-air missiles) and radar systems. Since then, Nato has intensified its air campaign, causing further damage.

Killing civilians in the name of protecting them

Nato spokesmen maintain a discreet diplomatic silence about the civilian targets the forces of this criminal fraternity have been hitting, causing huge damage and resulting in the deaths and injuries of thousands of civilians, including women and children.

According to the Libyan Red Crescent Society, which can be relied upon to tell the truth a thousand times more than the lying spokesmen of imperialism, in the first 100 days of the war 6,121 civilians were killed or injured, of whom 668 men, 141 children and 260 women were killed, while 3,093 men, 641 children and 1,318 women were injured.

In other words, Nato’s allegedly humanitarian mission to ‘protect civilians’ killed 1,069 and injured another 5,052. Of the injured, 655 were seriously injured and are still in hospital receiving medical care, whereas 4,397 have been sent home to their families for outpatient care.

[amborin]

7. more here, as well:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/aug2011/liby-a22.shtml

http://www.wsws.org/category/libwar.shtml

[malaise]

8. What rebels - this is a Western back coup

to steal oil.

[Starry Messenger]

9. kick. n/t

[amborin]

11. Waves of disinformation swamp truth in Libya:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/world/africa/24fog.html?_r=1&hp

[amborin]

12. Libya's Oil Industry was in Sad Shape....Kept Refineries from Producing at Their Peak....

"Libya’s oil industry was in sad shape even before the revolt. When Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi seized power in a coup in 1969, Libya produced more than double the amount of oil that it did last year. Swings in oil policy, political cronyism at the state oil company, international sanctions and uneasy relations with foreign oil companies have kept Libyan oil fields and refineries from producing at their peak potential, and the damage could take years to fix.

Among the most urgent tasks of the new government will be how to remake the national oil company into a professional bureaucracy and negotiate new relations with companies like Eni, of Italy, and Repsol YPF, of Spain, while balancing the benefits that will be distributed to competing tribes and regions. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/business/global/libya-faces-hurdles-in-reviving-its-oil-sector.html?ref=africa

[NNN0LHI]

13. This is shocking

[Hart2008]

14. K & R

:kick: