The situation sounds dire in Libya

[tpsbmam]

These are the two most recent posts on the Al Jazeera-Libya live blog

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/17/live-blog-libya

February 20

1:14am Ahmed, a Benghazi resident, told us: "Right now, the situation is even worse than earlier today. Shooting is going on until now. And at a nearby hospital, at least 150 people have been admitted, those injured and dead. As far as African mercenaries being seen in Benghazi, I have not seen any. But the military is all over the place."

1:03am: Mariam, a doctor speaking from a hospital in Benghazi, Libya tells Al Jazeera: "It's a massacre here. The military is shooting at all the protesters with live bullets, I've seen it happen with my own eyes. The military forces are everywhere, even from the hospital I work, we are not safe. There was an 8-year-old boy who died the other day from a gunshot to the head - what did he do to deserve this?"


My heart goes out to the Libyans fighting for their freedom from the brutal tyrant Gaddafi. They'll be in my constant thoughts until their victory over the tyrant (I hope).

[Warpy]

1. Anybody who doubts a country's military will follow orders

and attack the civilian population needs to keep up with this one.

Military conditioning is intense. They will follow orders. If the orders are to hold back, they will hold back.

If the orders are to kill friends, family, neighbors, and other fellow countrymen, they will kill them.

[uppityperson]

4. Different countries have different militaries indeed. Poor Libyans.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. And in this case they also have mercenary troops

which makes it that much easier.

This is according to BBC

[Warpy]

13. That has been reported on Twitter

but not confirmed by people on the street, who report only a large military presence everywhere.

[Catherina]

16. It's been confirmed with film via twitter. Several films of dead African mercenaries n/t

[midnight]

2. So much chaos made worse when they are shooting children...

[Imagevision]

3. Gaddafi trying to score points as keeping his country in check, just kill em all...

[gateley]

5. Horrifying. I don't know what those people can do. Even if they stop protesting,

there will be retribution. :cry:

So may brave people are taking up the fight all over the world. At times like these I wish we COULD swoop in and just pluck the dictators out and let the people live in freedom and peace.

[BeFree]

6. kick

Tweet thread here, thanks Catherina.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x459855

[applegrove]

7. There are snipers in trees. Terrible.

[Desertrose]

8. and the silence from the rest of the world is deafening.

Where are the heads of state that speak up about this dictator killing his own people?

What has the US said about this? Is oil & power more important than so many lives?
(Yeah, I know...stupid question.)

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. It is, and I am following for it to truly spread to Tripoli

he has no control fo the East, but once it gets to the capital, it is bad nooz.

Also many of the units are mercs from outside.

[Electric Monk]

11. I read a tweet earlier that Gadaffi was executing some of his senior military

to try and prevent a coup. That was about the time he ordered the military to start shooting civilians. I bet the ones who said no were the ones he killed, to keep the rest in line.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x457955

[lunasun]

12. Bush made Gaddafi a friend of the USA

circa 2006 Condi Rice
The Bush Administration has been quick to stress Libya's comeback as a model that Iran and North Korea should now follow

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1194766,00.html#ixzz1ETLTvvGz

[Cleita]

15. There isn't a tyrannical oil king that Bush hasn't

made his friend, is there?

[Cleita]

14. Didn't we bomb Gaddafi at one time and even killed one

of his children? Also, wasn't there a suspicion that the Lockerbie airplane bombing came from him? There's a lot of murky back story here that maybe we need to bring to the fore again.