Winter Patriot Community Blog

These are some ongoing notes I have made on the Libyan upheaval. A lot of the information I've noted is coming from Al Jazeera coverage. So, keep in mind that most of these reports were not, or cannot be confirmed, as many forms of communications in Libya are very limited right now. (And of course, that AJ is part of the MSM gang of propagandists that shill for the Evil Ones .) I've added links to the information I have gotten from elsewhere.

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Feb 21, 2011

Al Jazeera is reporting that they are firing on protesters in Libya from warplanes and helicopters.
Two pilots (senior colonels in the air force) have landed in Malta rather than carry out their orders to bomb the protesters.
They are some reports of planes bombing the protesters.
Heavy military equipment such as anti-tank missiles used in Benghazi
Groups of Gaddafi thugs have attacked the crowds using machine gun fire.
Reports of naval ships firing on Tripoli. 250 people are reported killed on Tuesday.
There are cars full of armed mercenaries roaming the streets attacking homes, killing people and raping women.
Al Jazeera is not showing some of the pictures because they say they are too graphic.
There are large numbers of people fleeing over the border to Tunisia.
The UN is said to be considering instituting a no-fly zone over Libya and the security council is holding a closed door meeting on the situation today.
There are calls for the US and NATO to intervene as the situation is out of control (surprise, surprise).

"The unfolding situation in Libya has been horrible to behold. No matter how many times we warn that dictators will do what they must to stay in power, it is still shocking to see the images of brutalized civilians which have been flooding al-Jazeera and circulating on the internet. We should not be fooled by Libya's geographic proximity to Egypt and Tunisia, or guided by the debates over how the United States could best help a peaceful protest movement achieve democratic change. The appropriate comparison is Bosnia or Kosovo, or even Rwanda where a massacre is unfolding on live television and the world is challenged to act. It is time for the United States, NATO, the United Nations and the Arab League to act forcefully to try to prevent the already bloody situation from degenerating into something much worse." http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/21/the_libyan_horror

Libyan State TV JANA is reporting (another surprise) that the government was fighting an Israeli-inspired scheme to create anarchy in the country. It said that there were no genuine popular grievances behind the protests. Israel is financing "separation" forces in the Arab region, JANA added. Al-Shams newspaper, which is controlled by an arm of the information ministry in Tripoli, reported online that the government has exposed "foreign network elements" in several Libyan cities." http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/02/201122113343795447...

Some notes: (Here we go again I may have to move this to the forum. We'll see how it goes )

That envoy of peace Tony Blair and his foreign policy success in Libya...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1284132/Tony-Blair-special-advis...

"Colonel Gaddafi is understood to be on first name terms with Mr Blair, who saw his work in Libya as one of the great foreign policy successes of his premiership.[...] Mr Blair's trip to Tripoli in 2004, where he shook Colonel Gaddafi's hand and declared a 'new relationship'. The meeting led to lucrative Libyan oil contracts for Shell.
A month before stepping down as PM, Mr Blair visited-Colonel Gaddafi in Tripoli again at the same time that BP signed a $900 million deal with the Libyan National Oil Company.[...] Since becoming a part-time Middle East peace envoy on leaving office in 2007, Mr Blair has exploited his contacts to amass a personal fortune in excess of £20 million.
He has a lucrative contract to advise JP Morgan, which pays him £2million a year. Part of his job for them is to develop banking opportunities in Libya. It is understood that British firms Mr Blair is linked to are also being given contracts to tap Libya's massive natural resources, and to help rebuild the country's outdated infrastructure.
The details are sketchy because he has built a labyrinthine business empire of interlocking partnerships designed, it seems, to conceal the sources and scale of his income."

Balkanization ??:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/gadhafis-contro...

"...there is unemployment, as in most Arab countries where there is a bulge in the youth population.
And there is the traditional enmity between Libya’s eastern Cyrenaica region and the western region of Tripolitania. “They still remember that Gadhafi overthrew King Idris who was born in [Cyrenaica],” said Israeli historian Yaakov Hajaj-Lilof, a specialist on Libyan Jewry.
But when protests started more than a week ago in Benghazi, capital of Cyrenaica, the Brotherly Leader failed to nip them in the bud. "

Sept. 2, 1969 Herald Journal

"A third of the population in Libya, and fewer in Sudan, are still affiliated with the Sanusi organization."
http://www.reference.com/browse/Sanusi

I know nothing about the history of Libya. I did a bit of checking yesterday and it seems to me it may be ripe for balkanization which seems to be a US/Israeli/NATO specialty for stealing resources and grabbing power. It was colonized by the Greeks, then the Romans, retaken by the Arabs, became part of Ottoman Empire, split up by the Allies after WWII and had just about everyone else messing around in it over the centuries. In 1969, when Gadhafi seized power in a coup that overthrew King Idris, I read somewhere that it was four states. So, I am thinking that one report likening it to the Kosovo or Serbia is an interesting analogy. Sans the oil of course, which makes Libya an especially juicy piece of real estate for the evil ones to salivate over.

Here is a snip from a BBC Timeline:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/1398437.stm

4th century BC - Greeks colonise Cyrenaica in the east of the country, which they call Libya.
74 BC - Romans conquer Libya.
643 - Arabs under Amr Ibn al-As conquer Libya and spread Islam.
16th century - Libya becomes part of the Ottoman Empire, which joins the three provinces of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan into one regency in Tripoli.
1911-12 - Italy conquers Libya.
1942 - Allies oust Italians from Libya, which is then divided between the French, who administer Fezzan, and the British, who control Cyrenaica and Tripolitania.
1951 - Libya becomes independent under King Idris al-Sanusi.
1956 - Libya grants two American oil companies a concession of some 14 million acres.
1961 - King Idris opens a 104-mile pipeline, which links important oil fields in the interior to the Mediterranean
1969 - King Idris deposed in military coup led by Col Muammar Gaddafi, who pursues a pan-Arab agenda by attempting to form mergers with several Arab countries, and introduces state socialism by nationalising most economic activity, including the oil industry.

Wed. Feb 22 3:15 am UTC
LIBYA is one of the most tribal nations of all the Arab countries. There are four major tribes.

Gaddafi gives a 75 minute speech on state TV. Says he is not going anywhere and he will die a martyr in Libya.
There is a Libyan warship off the coast of Malta and they cannot contact it or any officials in Libya to find out what it is doing there. The Libyan embassy there is distancing itself from the Libyan government and do not know why the ship is there.
The Maltese army is on high alert as well the Italian army.
Gaddafi has paid hundreds supporters to demonstrate in the streets in support of his government.

Gaddafi's ridiculously long speech was said to be rambling and not very intelligible. He blamed a half a dozen or so countries for the uprising and just about everything but himself. He said the crowd had been given psychogenic drugs. The pics of him really mad him look like a madman flaying his arms around and pounding his fist etc.

Americans to be evacuated out of Libya tomorrow by ferry to Malta. Other countries are sending ships. Turkey has two ships on the way. Italians are also being evacuated. Apparently, there are problems evacuated foreigners on airplanes. A steady stream of Tunisians are leaving over the border but are reportedly being stopped, searched and looted as they leave by the military. Libyans are not getting over the border so they are speculating that the military is stopping them from leaving.

Libyan regime is believed to be falling apart with high ranking members wanting to leave however afraid to do so. Civil workers are leaving their jobs and joining the protesters.

From James comment Tue, 02/22/2011 - 20:41:
http://www.winterpatriot.com/node/529#comment-15192
The crews of two Libyan warships have mutinied and are refusing to obey Muammar Gaddafi's orders to attack the eastern port city of Benghazi. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/166583.html

Libya Conquered in the Dark
BBC's Breathtaking Propagandizing.
by Tony Cartalucci
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/02/libya-conquered-in-dark.html
"Since the mainstream media is obviously compromised, it is up to us to discern what is really happening. The greatest clue that all is not what it seems and that foreign hands are meddling in the affairs of these nations is the fact that paid propagandists like BBC and AlJazeera are clearly taking sides instead of doing their supposed job of objective reporting.
While the designs against Libya are somewhat ambiguous, we have already noted beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Egyptian and Tunisian protests are entirely the result of Western meddling, where even the props used by the protesters were "recycled" from a previous and admitted US-backed plot in Serbia. The hallmarks are there, and absent of objective reporting, caution is urged, further research is required, and without a doubt, our mainstream media is not to ever be trusted again.

"Another tell-tale sign the globalist's are ruffled over Qaddafi's defiance is simply looking at BBC's one-sided coverage. In a recent report, BBC once again concedes that reports coming out of Libya are "impossible to report." Despite this admission buried within their article, they continue relaying reports coming out of the US State Department's Movements.org's translations of protester accounts. Movements.org's efforts can be observed by following them on Twitter via @AYM, revealing nearly everything reported by the mainstream media is coming from the US-backed "Twitterati." http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/02/russia-todays-americas-new-reg...

Feb 22 - 9:28 am UTC
Surprise! Oil prices are going to skyrocket.

Italian radio is reporting that Cyrenaica is no longer under Gaddafi's control.
hmmm - Did the civilian protesters take it over - I don't think so.
This is definitely beginning to look like it is organized from the outside.
There are numerous reports of foreigners involved in the attacks. Some that are said to have been seizing military equipment were French speaking.

"Qadaffi’s Norma Desmond Moment"
Justin Raimondo, February 22, 2011
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2011/02/22/qadaffis-norma-desmond-moment/
Editorial note: Moammar Qadaffi’s Norma Desmond moment has finally arrived. Here is my transcription of his address to the Libyan nation:

What's with the thugs with yellow hard hats. Is this so the snipers who have reportedly been shooting people from rooftop positions can readily identify them at a distance?
(Note: Again as in Egypt lots of gunshot wounds to the head/chest apparent from photos being shown.)

Thur 7:45 pm UTC

Video from CNN in Benghazi, Libya
I don't know whether you all will be able to view this if you are not on FB - haven't got time to search for on the CNN site right now it is Ben Wederman reporting from the celebrations in the city:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=139663419433861&oid=1195521281...

Sat. 5:35 pm UTC
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Side Note:
In Iraq, gunmen attack the largest refinery and detonate explosives starting a huge fire.
Huge demonstrations continue in Yemen and Algeria as well as continuing demonstrations in Bahrain.
A prominent human rights activist has returned to Bahrain. (Mr. Hassan Mashaima (aged sixty-one) - from Jidhafs region. Mr Mashaima, a retired teacher, is the current Secretary General of the Human Rights Committee of the Movement of Civil Liberties and Democracy Movement (HAQ)[17]. He was the previous Vice President of the Al-Wefaq political society. Mr Maishama is a known human rights activist who has been campaigning for democratic reforms and human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain for more than fifteen years. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:49zVv7fETXcJ:www.ba... ).
In Egypt, the army has attacked the crowds gathered in Tahrir square with tasers and batons etc. (no live fire reported). Witness says it was terrifying.
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5:40 pm UTC
Gaddafi is reported as arming civilians to fight other civilians. Gaddafi makes another speach and AJ reporter characterizes it as Gaddafi saying he is arming Libayns to fight Libhans for the good of Libyans. He was also on again about foreigners giving the protesters drugs. Experts are saying Libya could be split into two - East and West.

6:05 pm UTC
Head of Libyan Special Forces has defected and says he is putting his resources at the disposal of the "youth movement." I found that characterization very strange because as far as I know it hasn't been described that way before. Perhaps this ties into the Gaddaffi's continued insistence of saying outside forces are giving the youth drugs, the so called "Taxi of Jedayi".

Reports of vicious attacks on the protesters in Tripooli by security forces who are said to be using machines guns, ak 47's, on crowds and hunting down and killing anything that moves.

Planes from Kenya said to be bringing in foreign fighters.

Revolutionary force is being organized in Benghazi with young men from all over Libya going there to join. Gaddafi's home town is only a short distance away and there are 400 heavily armed security forces there.

UN Security Council is close to passing a resolution saying Libya is a "threat to international peace and security". This is being heavily promoted by France, Britain and the US - China is very cautious. This resolution will include some heavy sanctions.

Obama says "military option" still on the table.

hmmm- everywhere one of these people's revolution pops up Wiki Leaks has a timely, 'pertinent' release on that country.

8:32 pm UTC
Libyan ex Justice minister said to be forming government in Benghazi.

Mon 10:22 am UTC

Ghaddafi's Ukranian nurse flees country and arrives in the Ukraine.
Thousands of migrant workers are fleeing Libya over the Tunisian border. They are saying there is a 'refugee crisis'. Not to make light of the plight of these people, however it seems to me this is not a refugee crisis in the traditional sense. It is more of a problem of getting them back to their home countries. They are setting up tent cities and need food and medical supplies etc., locals and NGO's are helping but the Tunisians are being overwhelmed. The camps being set up can be characterized as transit camps.

Big meeting in Geneva happening today over the crisis. Hilliary Clinton shown getting off a plane.
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Side Note:
Australian Jihadi's!! Australian Al Qaeda in Yemen. Abu Nassir??
AJ is doing a special report on Al Qaeda in Yemen. They are focusing on so called foreign jihadis. They are showing training manuals meant for impressionable young Australian, American and British men. Money for training is coming from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Really stressing these trainees are holding Australian passports. From the bit a caught of this "People In Power" special painted, Yemen was being painted as the new stronghold of Al Qaeda all under the direction of the American Anwar al-Alwaki and with a whole bunch of Australians training there to commit terrorists acts. It was really kind of weird.
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Az Zawiyah has apparently taken by anti government protesters. The government troops are said to be set on mounting a counter offensive. The area is quiet right now, there are no more attacks. Witness on phone says lots of the military have joined them.

Russian foreign minister speaking now to UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. He says that these mid east countries in upheaval should be left alone to sort out their own internal affairs without external intervention - I think he is meaning that there should be no outside military help or political pressure not that the people shouldn't be helped. It needs a multi lateral cooperative approach. Use of military force against civilians is unacceptable.

Russia voted for the recent sanctions on Libya by the UN security council.

Human rights council has ordered an investigation into the violation of human rights in Libya and individuals can be tried for war crimes in the international criminal courts. They are hoping this may act as a deterrent in Libya.

10:40 am UTC

British reports that UK Gov stopped - 900 million Pounds (in Dinars) ordered by Qaddafi to be printed out and sent to Libya. The UK Gov has been in a panic to stop this money from being shipped. Used a bunch of stalling techniques till they could put rules in place to seize this money.

Interesting report on a group of foreign fighters who had been captured by anti gov protesters. They were exhausted and confused. They all said they had been hired by Qaddafi to provide security for a 'celebration' and did not come there to suppress the uprising. They said they had just been caught up in the events. They looked like they were all young black Africans.

11:00 am UTC

First I've heard of this. A reporter from Geneva is saying that the US, Russia and other Western countries have used special forces to go into Libya and secretly fly out their citizens.

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Side Note:
Egyptian government has issued a travel ban on Hosni Mubarak and his family. So, I guess he is still in Egypt.
They are questioning whether they intend to put Mubarak on trial or whether this is a gesture to appease the people, to make a show they taking their demands seriously. They have also frozen his and his family's domestic assets.
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While I have been watching the coverage they show lots video clips with traffic in the background. I notice that most all of the vehicles look new or in good shape - lots of trucks, vans and SUV's.

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Side Note: Some quotes and links for Benghazi explosion and SAS capture and release.

Brittish bungle Lybian SAS mission http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/07/3156530.htm?section=justin
It is understood they were escorting British diplomats trying to establish contact with opponents of Libyan leader Moamar Gaddafi.
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http://www.presstv.ir/detail/168558.html
The British team was in Banghazi to hold talks with opposition leaders. Witnesses say their helicopter landed in Libya on Friday.
The members of the delegation were carrying weapons, maps and passports from four different countries.
Revolutionary forces had earlier said that the Britons were detained in Benghazi because their identities could not be established.
**
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1363187/Libya-unrest-UK-spies-SA...
British diplomats and spies have been engaged in intensive efforts to speak to opposition forces, which are led by Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebel National Libyan Council.
**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benina_International_Airport
Benina International Airport (IATA: BEN, ICAO: HLLB) (Arabic: مطار بنينة الدولي) serves Benghazi, Libya. It is located in the town of Benina, 19 km east of Benghazi, from which it takes its name...
**
Now ministers have approved a presence on the ground to gather information and boost the chances of the rebels.
The liaison teams will be primarily composed of envoys but will include some intelligence officers.
They will link up with Special Forces already in Libya to provide protection and give informal military advice to the Libyan opposition.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1363187/Libya-unrest-UK-spies-SA...
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Explosion about 30 miles outside Benghazi - http://audioboo.fm/boos/294127-lpc-from-benghazi-explosion-30km-outside-...
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http://www.npr.org/2011/03/05/134288545/Explosion-Rocks-Libyan-Rebel-Str...
huge explosions at a military munitions depot just outside the city. Located in a rural residential area, the base was the scene of utter destruction last night.
They came in and planted explosives around the buildings. Who would do this with so many civilians living right next door? It's not human.
ROBBINS: At leased for(sic) fires blazed with various colors of smoke washing sour fumes over the area. Rescue crews scrambled to distribute medical masks as they and nearby residents stumbled through the rubble of destroyed concrete buildings and wrecked cars, looking for survivors.
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http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/national/watch/24417132/7805482/3/
There were 12 hangers in the complex - only one of them exploded.
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http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/benghazi-arms-dump-blast-death-to...
"We're not quite sure whether it was sabotage, an accident or an air strike, but nobody saw any planes," Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebels' self-declared national council in Benghazi, said.
**
http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/benghazi-arms-dump-blast-death-to...
"We have eight killed by the explosion at the Rajma military base as well as more than 20 injured," Imad Talahma, a neurosurgeon at Benghazi's medical city.
"We don't expect to find people intact (on the site). It has been estimated that around 40 people were in the compound. The explosion destroyed a large area and affected the residential area," he added.
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Explosion in al-Rajma http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/03/05/140230.html
In another incident, at least 19 people were killed and dozens wounded when twin blasts ripped through a weapons depot at the al-Rajma military base, southeast of Benghazi, doctors said.
The cause of the explosions was not immediately clear, but most residents ruled out an air strike by Gaddafi loyalists.
Resident Abdallah Bubakr told AFP rebels turned up at the base demanding weapons to take to the front at Ras Lanuf.
"Two cars rode up with people at the place and said they wanted weapons to take to Raslanuf. They entered the store and just after they left Rajma, there was the first explosion, followed five minutes later by another," he said.
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http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA20110304T222233ZARZ42/Libyan%20weap...
"The two explosions took place at 6:30 pm (1630 GMT). The casualties started to arrive at hospital an hour later," he said.
Residents say the military base, about 20 kilometres (12mi) from the city, is the main warehouse for weapons in the area
**
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/06/liam-fox-sas-unit-libya
A senior member of Benghazi's revolutionary council said: "They were carrying espionage equipment, reconnaissance equipment, multiple passports and weapons. This is no way to conduct yourself during an uprising.
...The Sunday Times reported Libyan and British sources confirming the SAS unit had been detained by rebel forces it had approached to secure a meeting with a junior diplomat to offer help in their fight against Gaddafi. The mission backfired when rebel leaders in Benghazi objected to foreign interference from governments which had not yet formally recognized them as Libya's legitimate rulers, it said.
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So the two explosions took place at 6:30 pm March 5, 2011 at the al-Rajma military base located 20 km (some reports say 30 Km) southeast of Benghazi. As far as I can tell, the SAS team was arrested March 5, 2011 about 10 km from the airport, which I assume would be the Benina International Airport which is located 19km east of Benghazi. I can't establish when they were arrested or if that was shortly after they landed (because they were spotted by locals) or at a later time. I don't think so because many reports say they were escorting British diplomats which sounds more to me like they were traveling in vehicles as opposed to being arrested shortly after leaving the helicopter. In one report it says they landed on March 4, 2011. It is also reported that the Brits approached the rebels. I also seriously question why these guys were let go so quickly considering they were carrying espionage equipment, reconnaissance equipment, multiple passports and weapons. Who from the Libyan rebels intervened on their behalf and why?

"We refused to discuss anything with them due to the way they entered the country," spokesman Abdul Hafiz Ghoqa told reporters in the rebel stronghold Benghazi. "Now we're trying to negotiate a way for them to go back home."
http://www.smh.com.au/world/covert-british-diplomatic-team-forced-out-of...

Why would they want to negotiate a way home for them?? It doesn't make sense.