“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose” – Me & Bobby McGee\u00a0 (1970)<\/p>\n
The war in Libya has taken a decidedly worse turn.\u00a0\u00a0 Since NATO bombed a school for Down’s Syndrome, and the only plausible reason was they thought Kadaffi was there, followed by the direct attempt to kill him, that leaves no doubt what the real objective of NATO is – regime change, occupation, and stealing the assets of the country.<\/p>\n
So Qadaffi and anyone who has supported him now have nothing left to lose.\u00a0\u00a0 Every attempt at compromise or negotiation has been dismissed without so much as a discussion.<\/p>\n
Up until now, Qadaffi’s forces have largely constrained themselves to not engaging in direct conflict with NATO assets, and avoiding random killing of civilians.<\/p>\n
Misrata has remained a thorn in Qadaffi’s situation – it’s in the Western part of the country, and Benghazi is using it as a transit point to supply people in the city who want to keep fighting.\u00a0\u00a0 Any notion of splitting the country into two won’t work if there is a “rebel” stronghold in Western Libya – not to mention it being in a strategic place relative to Tripoli.<\/p>\n
So this low grade siege has been going on for weeks – several ships have ducked in and out\u00a0to get people who wanted to escape and injured people, but it gets to be a fine line between “humanitarian aid” and “aiding combatants” when it is a civil war without a formal opposition.<\/p>\n
So this weekend, Qadaffi’s forces blew up the oil storage tanks in Misurata, which they could have done any time in the last two months.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to the “Rebels”, the helicopters used were flying Red Cross and Red Crescent insignia.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With the oil storage tanks blown up, electricity generation will soon stop, and when electriciy stops, desalinization plants will stop.\u00a0 (that may have already happened)<\/p>\n
Life inside Misurata will become impossible.\u00a0\u00a0 Even if NATO “won” today, it would take months to rebuild the infrastructure and some portion of the 650,000 people who used to live there will have to become refugees.<\/p>\n
It’s hard to say what Qadaffi might do “on his way out”….\u00a0 a few million gallons of crude pumped into the Mediterrean might slow down the tourist season on the beaches of France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose” – Me & Bobby McGee\u00a0 (1970) The war in Libya has taken a decidedly worse turn.\u00a0\u00a0 Since NATO bombed a school for Down’s Syndrome, and the only plausible reason was … Continue reading