Libyans protest, Gadhafi orders troops to open fire

[zerogravityfat]

yea the ship is still there i think. italian jets are circling it trying to figure out what it wants.


also, it's pronounced in such a way that you would spell it qaddafi if you are an a-rab, and kaddafi if you are a turk.

[ResultsMayVary]

I think the universe name/term "FuckFace" will do. That way I won't get confused with all the different spellings and pronounciations...

[El Barto]

Last I saw, the ship was just parked out there.  There are conflicting reports that it might have lowered it's flags.  Smart money's on defection.  Mutiny is another contender.  The Italians (along with everyone else with an interest in the region) are sending ships of their own.  Ostensibly to assist in evacuation, but it wouldn't have any trouble dispatching a 30 year old Soviet era frigate.  (From what I've read about the Libyan armed forces, me, and a handful of DTF'ers could probably kick their ass sailing that floating restaurant TTP used to work on)

[YtseBitsySpider]

Doesn't Spain have an Air Craft Carrier?
or am in the wrong water way entirely.

[zerogravityfat]

Doesn't Spain have an Air Craft Carrier?
or am in the wrong water way entirely.

spain is pretty far west, libya and italy are mid mediterranean.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

I think the universe name/term "FuckFace" will do. That way I won't get confused with all the different spellings and pronounciations...

I approve of this

[Chino]

Gaddafi is now threatening to bomb all of his oil fields.

[zerogravityfat]

Gaddafi is now threatening to bomb all of his oil fields.

saddam much?

[emindead]

Please do it!!!

Also, lets not forget that some soldier hero's preferred to crash their own jet rather to follow orders and bomb some people.

[TheVoxyn]

(From what I've read about the Libyan armed forces, me, and a handful of DTF'ers could probably kick their ass sailing that floating restaurant TTP used to work on)

Let's do it!

[El Barto]

I believe they ejected, but a noble gesture still.  

Nobody has any real clue where the 32nd is, and I think that's the key to how this thing works out.  From what I've seen, while plenty of army units are choosing to defect, none of them are actually fighting for the resistance.  They're described as "putting down their weapons and just sitting to watch."  That's going to be problematic when loyal troops show up at Benghazi.  Libya's military is a joke for the most part (these are the people who got their asses kicked by Chadian rebels using Toyota trucks for mobility).  It's not surprising that the revolutionaries are beating soundly the rank and file in the outlying regions.  However, there are still some elite units that are going to be a completely different ballgame.  If the 32nd moves to retake Benghazi, it's doubtful that they'll be beaten back even with the support of defected units (which they don't seem to have).  Against untrained civvies, it could be a real bloodbath.  Khamis, who is well trained and respected, was seen in Tripoli yesterday, so it seems most likely that they're still there protecting Moammar.  Sooner or later he's going to have to cut them loose.  Whether or not he has enough other competent and loyal units to hold Tripoli is going to be the question.  

[Chino]

Gaddafi is now blaming the protest on Al Qaeda. He also says only 4 people have been killed by security, eventhough the death toll is now over a thousand.

[zerogravityfat]

he's probably technically right, the military does not kill anyone, his mercenaries do.

[Chino]

he's probably technically right, the military does not kill anyone, his mercenaries do.

Fixed my post. I meant to type security, not military. He says that everyone out in the streets are under the age of 20, and are brainwashed on drugs.

[ResultsMayVary]

he's probably technically right, the military does not kill anyone, his mercenaries do.

Fixed my post. I meant to type security, not military. He says that everyone out in the streets are under the age of 20, and are brainwashed on drugs.

The "Everyone Else is Fucking Insane Except For Me" argument. If you had any doubts about whether or not FuckFace is crazy, you should have no doubts now.

[Progmetty]

It's easy to blame stuff on Al Qaeda but no one buys it anymore.

[El Barto]

The conventional wisdom is that al qaeda are the losers in these revolutions.  However, if this Libya thing turns into years of tribal warfare, which seems like a real possibility, they'll benefit from that. 

[ResultsMayVary]

The conventional wisdom is that al qaeda are the losers in these revolutions.  However, if this Libya thing turns into years of tribal warfare, which seems like a real possibility, they'll benefit from that. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Al Qaeda is working in Libya right now. Hopefully the people can prevail and set up a legitimate government.

[El Barto]

The conventional wisdom is that al qaeda are the losers in these revolutions.  However, if this Libya thing turns into years of tribal warfare, which seems like a real possibility, they'll benefit from that. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Al Qaeda is working in Libya right now. Hopefully the people can prevail and set up a legitimate government.

Up until 2 weeks ago, Moammar had too much to lose by associating with them.  I seriously doubt they would have been welcome.  Currently, this isn't the destabilization they want to see.  Arabs uniting to fight other more oppressive Arabs doesn't help them in any way.   They need Christians and the West to be the source of anger.  This actually empowers more moderate and reasonable Arabs.  The only way I see any of this helping al Qaeda is if Libya sees many years of tribal warfare, and only then because it'll be good training for the next generation of jihadists. 

[ResultsMayVary]

The conventional wisdom is that al qaeda are the losers in these revolutions.  However, if this Libya thing turns into years of tribal warfare, which seems like a real possibility, they'll benefit from that. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Al Qaeda is working in Libya right now. Hopefully the people can prevail and set up a legitimate government.

Up until 2 weeks ago, Moammar had too much to lose by associating with them.  I seriously doubt they would have been welcome.  Currently, this isn't the destabilization they want to see.  Arabs uniting to fight other more oppressive Arabs doesn't help them in any way.   They need Christians and the West to be the source of anger.  This actually empowers more moderate and reasonable Arabs.  The only way I see any of this helping al Qaeda is if Libya sees many years of tribal warfare, and only then because it'll be good training for the next generation of jihadists. 

I meant my comment in a way for Al Qaeda to try to take over the Libyan Government. As unlikely as that would be, that would probably be a best case scenario for them if they were working in Libya right now.

[7StringedBeast]

Protestors burnt down Gadhafi's family palace.

[El Barto]

A pretty nice rundown of what we do know of the tactical situation (which isn't a whole lot)
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june11/libya_02-24.html

The 32nd mech seems to still be in Tripoli, and I'm guessing that's the only thing that can keep him secure.  If he can't cut them lose, then he can't go anywhere else.  The regular army can't/won't hold the rest of Libya, so if this thing drags on, it'll probably turn into a siege of Tripoli which will be pretty ugly.  I'd say the best outcome is for somebody in Moammar's inner circle to blow his brains out.  That's really the only way I see this thing ending well.  If it turns into a siege, it'll drag on and on until they have no choice to but break out and that's going to mean a slaughter. 

Much less likely is that he manages to win things back, in which case the experts agree that he's the type of asshole that'll execute people by the tens of thousands in the aftermath, or he surrenders, and that seems pretty unlikely. 

[Chino]

Protestors burnt down Gadhafi's family palace.

as well as a few government building.

[emindead]

https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/23/how-do-you-spell-gaddafi-the-linguistics-behind-libyas-leader/
How Do You Spell 'Gaddafi?' The Linguistics Behind Libya's Leader
By: Zoe Fox

Better hope you don't get stuck with this one in your next spelling bee.

You may have noticed reading the news recently, that there is no agreed upon way to spell the name of the current Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. The controversy is well illustrated by a May 1986 letter to Minnesota second graders; the leader signed his name in English "Moammar El-Gadhafi." The AP reported the event, "Second-Graders Get Letter From Khadafy." In 2009, ABC News listed 112 different ways to spell Gaddafi, which have appeared in various news outlets. The leader's name was even the topic of a 1981 Saturday Night Live sketch, offering the most creative spelling a one-way ticket to Tripoli.

The explanation, you may have read, is due to discrepancies transliterating Arabic. While true, this is not the whole story. Gaddafi (Google's most frequent spelling) is spelled القذافي in Arabic. The first letter "ق," qoph, is pronounced as a "k" sound and usually transliterated as a "q." Likewise, the second letter of his name, thal, "ذ," is pronounced as a deep "d" or "th" ("the" not "with") and transliterated "dh." Given these standardized spellings, the Libyan leader's name should be spelled "Qadhafi."

The reason the most common spelling of Gaddafi begins with a "g" is due to the Libyan dialect, which pronounces qoph like a "g" sound. English translations of Arabic leaders names generally are consistent with their local dialects, rather than standard translation. The best example of this would be late Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser. His first name beginning with a jim "‫ج‬" would be traditionally transliterated Jamal. Instead, the Egyptian pronunciation of his name is the norm for English transliteration.

So, while the Libyan dialect certainly isn't as widely spoken as the Egyptian, there should at least be a standardization of the first letter of the leader's last name. As for the "dh" versus "dd," "i" versus "y," including an "el" or an "al," and spelling "Muammar", we'll have to save that for the next time NewsFeed writes about linguistics.

[Dr. DTVT]

A pretty nice rundown of what we do know of the tactical situation (which isn't a whole lot)
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june11/libya_02-24.html

The 32nd mech seems to still be in Tripoli, and I'm guessing that's the only thing that can keep him secure.  If he can't cut them lose, then he can't go anywhere else.  The regular army can't/won't hold the rest of Libya, so if this thing drags on, it'll probably turn into a siege of Tripoli which will be pretty ugly.  I'd say the best outcome is for somebody in Moammar's inner circle to blow his brains out.  That's really the only way I see this thing ending well.  If it turns into a siege, it'll drag on and on until they have no choice to but break out and that's going to mean a slaughter. 

Much less likely is that he manages to win things back, in which case the experts agree that he's the type of asshole that'll execute people by the tens of thousands in the aftermath, or he surrenders, and that seems pretty unlikely. 

Gaddafi = 21st century Nero?  I could see him doing something like that now.

[ResultsMayVary]

The U.S. seems to be re-positioning it's forces around Libya. Just saw that on the news. No link at this time.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Maybe if he hadn't given them a shoddy bomb casing full of used pinball machine parts, they wouldn't be protesting?

[Chino]

They found him, I don't tknow how but they found him.

[Progmetty]

Who?!

[glaurung]

They found him, I don't tknow how but they found him.

Source?

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

[ResultsMayVary]

Can you say Civil War?

[emindead]

They found him, I don't tknow how but they found him.

Source?

BACK TO THE FUTURE, DAMMIT!

[PlaysLikeMyung]

They found him, I don't tknow how but they found him.

Source?

[Volk9]

Accidental POTY?