Gadhafi orders destruction of several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to sea ports - TIME

[The Straight Story]

There's been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos.

Two weeks ago this same man had told me the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt would never touch Libya. Gaddafi, he said, had a tight lock on all of the major tribes, the same ones that have kept him in power for the past 41 years. The man of course turned out to be wrong, and everything he now has to say about Gaddafi's intentions needs to be taken in that context.

The source went on and told me that Gaddafi's desperation has a lot to with the fact that he now can only count on the loyalty of his tribe, the Qadhadhfa. And as for the army, as of Monday he only has the loyalty of approximately 5,000 troops. They are his elite forces, the officers all handpicked. Among them is the unit commanded by his second youngest son Khamis, the 32nd Brigade. (The total strength of the regular Libyan army is 45,000.)



http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2052961,00.html

[steve2470]

1. suicidal for Libya, truly nt

[madmax]

3. Shades of Iraq - first Gulf war and Saddam. nt

[steve2470]

7. exactly nt

[SpiralHawk]

2. Whoa Nellie

Gonna get freaky deaky now at the pumps...

[JCMach1]

4. Hate to sound cynical, but this will surely finish him off

The oil companies and the CIA will gladly finish him off now.

[villager]

9. Fuck with human rights all you want -- but *never* "oil rights!"

so I expect you're right...

[sufrommich]

13. I don't think it will be the CIA.I'm pretty sure the Libyans are

just as capable of understanding the economic chaos for their own country of such a move.

[Turbineguy]

5. He's toast

It doesn't matter how many people you kill, but once the stock markets start dropping you're finished.

[Badfish]

6. " It's either me or chaos. "

Ahhh , the Mubarak playbook.

[Raschel]

14. He's crazy. He'll do anything. Look at a picture of him, he's constantly high on something.

He's a different creature.

[WilliamPitt]

8. Fill your tanks now.

'Bout to get expensive.

[kenny blankenship]

10. If he's actually done this then he no longer has the THREAT of chaos and econ dislocation to use

Once you do what you threatened to do, the deterrence of your threat is used up. Unless there's much more of the same kind of destruction left for you to carry out, you have weakened your grip on the ppl to whom your threat was directed.

It could be a bad move in another sense as well. Continuous flow of oil is what western nations want most and call "stability". That is what makes them hesitant to see Gaddafi go and that is what causes them to be cautious in their pronouncements and quietly supportive in their acts.

Once Gaddafi has cut the oil, he has trashed most of his value to the west. It's so damaging to him it makes me doubt the report.

[sufrommich]

11. Gaddafi ordered the release from prison of the country's

Islamic militant prisoners, hoping they will act on their own to sow chaos across Libya"

He's following the Mubarak Plan For Ending An Uprising, apparently he missed the ending.

[tekisui]

12. Someone needs to stop him. As soon as possible.

[Dappleganger]

15. Kuwait, redux.

[Pirate Smile]

16. Oh, Gawd ....

[mod mom]

17. then we'll probably send in troops to protect business interests.

:sarcasm: