The Tunisia Effect - Continuing Coverage of the Revolutions of 2011

[amadeus]

Egypt...Supported by the US?

Bahrain...Supported by the US?

Tunisia...Supported by the US?

Yemen...Supported by the US?

Wow, Gadhafi was president of a lot of countries!

Libya...Now friendly with the US, apparently for their oil?

We must be friendly with Hugo Chavez too. Diplomatic relations + oil = friendship, amirite?

 

[Tee Kay]

Asia Times article

You know the fat lady is about to sing when a dictator unleashes hell from above over his own unarmed, civilian compatriots, and bombs parts of his capital city. That's a bridge too far even by the unspeakable standards of Western-backed dictators in the Arab world.

You know the (ghastly) show may be over when Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi, one of the most popular Sunni authorities in the world, not least because of his weekly show on al-Jazeera, issues a fatwa - "I am issuing a fatwa now to kill [Muammar] Gaddafi. To any soldier, to any man who can pull the trigger and kill this man to do so" - and then prays live, on al-Jazeera, for the end of the Libyan dictator ("O Lord save the Libyans from this pharaoh." When he finishes, the al-Jazeera anchor says "Amen").

You know the bells are ringing when your "Abu Omar Brigade", responsible for your protection, is still on a rampage; but your ambassadors around the world defect en masse; your own deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Omar al-Dabashi, says your government is carrying out genocide; your fighter pilots refuse to bomb your cities; your military officers, in a statement, ask all members of the army to head to Tripoli and depose you; a coalition of Islamic leaders tells all Muslims it is their duty to rebel against you because of your "bloody crimes against humanity"; and to top it off, people are calling for a "million man march" following the Egyptian model.

And what about the Maltese Falcons? In a day of volcanic activity, it's hard to beat the spectacular defection of two colonels of the Libyan Air Force, who flew their Mirages to Malta. They had refused to bomb protesters in Benghazi, telling Maltese authorities they had come so close to carrying out their mission that they could see the crowds on the ground. They also passed "classified" information about what the Libyan military has been up to.

And all this in just one day - Monday.

It was not enough to deploy "black African" mercenaries in a shoot-to-kill rampage in Benghazi. Already on Sunday, Sheikh Faraj al-Zuway, leader of the crucial al-Zuwayya tribe in eastern Libya, had threatened to cut oil exports to the West within 24 hours unless what he called the "oppression of protesters" in Benghazi was stopped.

Akram Al-Warfalli, a leader of the al-Warfalla tribe, one of Libya's biggest, in the south of Tripoli, had told al-Jazeera Gaddafi is "no longer a brother, we tell you to leave the country". The 500,000-strong Berber, Tuaregs from the southern desert, are also against him. When you have four of your key tribes - the spine of your system - marching on Tripoli to get rid of you, you better watch out.

History may eventually register how Gaddafi's appalling 41-year rule in Libya (he was already in power when "Tricky Dicky" Richard Nixon was the United States president) virtually collapsed in only 24 hours. There will be blood - a lot of blood; but "brother" is about to go down.

 

[amadeus]

I hope Gadhafi stays in Tripoli so the Libyans get to him.

 

[Dachs]

Asia Times article

The number of hackneyed cliches and mixed metaphors in that article caused me physical pain.

 

[Verbose]

Gadhafi... supported by the U.S.?

He kissed and made up over the Lockerbie bombing, with the US and the UK in particular, and what was in it for us in the west was clearly Libyan oil. So yeah, sort of, but oil is a failing of us all, not a specific US one.

The US-specific part is however Ghaddaffi turning out to be a rather willing partner in GWB's "global war on terror" (or whatever that monstrosity of a policy is supposed to be called today). He's been getting particular brownie points with the US for being helpful with the terrorists that matter to the US.

Otoh Berlusconi is his frikkin wing-man for skirt-chasing apparently, which must be regarded as taking things further than strictly necessary...

 

[Kyriakos]

Berlusconi, i am sure, would be getting a lot less negative publicity if he was not the architect of Russia's dominance in Europe regarding natural gas.

Certain countries want him out. Nothing to do with his personality, all has to do with european dependence on Russia as things are now.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Wow, Gadhafi was president of a lot of countries!

Wow. Someone must be really hard pressed to concoct strawmen of my statements instead of even thinking of discussing the real issues.

We must be friendly with Hugo Chavez too. Diplomatic relations + oil = friendship, amirite?

I bet that really pisses you off that Obama doesn't hate Chavez like GWB and the other reactionaries do!

And the point remains. The US government is indeed now on a friendly basis with Libya, despite all our differences in the past. Amirite?

Here's more news that will likely infuriate the reactioanaries as much as it did their good "friends", the Israelis. Iranian warships have just passed through the Suez Canal for the first time since 1979.

.Iran Warships Complete Suez Canal Voyage Amid Israel Objection

“The transit of the Iranian boats is part of Iran’s full- out struggle for hegemony and control of the Middle East,” Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said today at a conference in Eilat, according to an e-mailed statement from his office.

Shalom’s comments followed Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor’s depiction of the warships sailing through the canal as “a provocation” that should be “dealt with by the international community.” He said today that he was citing previous comments by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

It is amazing that a frigate and a supply ship in the Mediterranean can signal "hegemony and control of the Middle East" to warmongers like the Israelis.

 

[Formaldehyde]

I got a chuckle out of this:

Jon Stewart went bonkers last night on the talking heads who were claiming similarities between the two protests. 5:15 in...

Daily Show: Crisis in Dairyland - Revenge of the Curds

The Egyptian protestors risked being shot. The Wisconsin protestors risked being caught in a drum circle.

 

[Leonel]

I would hope that Qaddafi meets a fate similar to Mussolini's.

 

[Aegis]

Does this mean we'll have to listen to Dubya tell us all how he was right for "spreading democracy" ?

 

[Rashiminos]

I got a chuckle out of this:

Jon Stewart went bonkers last night on the talking heads who were claiming similarities between the two protests. 5:15 in...

Daily Show: Crisis in Dairyland - Revenge of the Curds

It did seem to veer into the territory of belittling the rights of the workers merely because the trampling of those rights did not involve black shiny boots accompanied by obvious weapons.

 

[GamezRule]

Can we have an Islamic awareness day?

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

Wisconsin and Egypt are not even close to the same thing

 

[Rashiminos]

Can we have an Islamic awareness day?

Not really.

 

[Cheetah]

Wisconsin and Egypt are not even close to the same thing

...

And A is not B.

Sad that you - or anyone for that matter - should have to remind anyone about that.

 

[Formaldehyde]

It's not the same at all in the sense of what each group is possibly sacrificing. But it is the same in the sense that protesting against leaders who don't actually have the best interests of their constituents at heart should always be admired and respected by those who promote freedom and democracy.

 

[Shekwan]

Does this mean we'll have to listen to Dubya tell us all how he was right for "spreading democracy" ?

I've been saying this line to people, and whilst I don't believe it myself, its really good fun! The anger that it inspires in people is astonishing.

 

[Silurian]

From the BBC

The price of Brent crude oil has hit $111 a barrel, and US crude also rose in price, as worries persist about the unrest in Libya.

Markets are concerned the trouble could worsen in key oil producing countries, affecting supplies and hitting growth.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...l83KBw&usg=AFQjCNFioOTi3TzC_H5y_k8fKLTHCday8Q

 

[Incodcito]

From the BBC





http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...l83KBw&usg=AFQjCNFioOTi3TzC_H5y_k8fKLTHCday8Q

Excellent. Here's hoping it reaches $200 before things return to "normal". That is the only way to get the investment necessary for alt-energy.

 

[innonimatu]

Excellent. Here's hoping it reaches $200 before things return to "normal". That is the only way to get the investment necessary for alt-energy.

Not only that, but it would also clearly break (its broken already, but patched over) the current world trade and finance structure.
There's a good side to anything, even civil war abroad, I guess.