Free Republic

The military targeting of civilian infrastructure, especially of water supplies, is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Yet this is precisely what NATO did in Libya, while blaming the damage on Gaddafi himself. Since then, the country's water infrastructure - and the suffering of its people - has only deteriorated further. Numerous reports comment on the water crisis that is escalating across Libya as consumption outpaces production. Some have noted the environmental context in regional water scarcity due to climate change. But what they ignore is the fact that the complex national irrigation system that had been carefully built...

In 2011 Barack Obama led from behind a NATO coalition bent on removing Moammar Gaddafi from power in Libya. The removal and death of Gaddafi was, Obama put it, a warning to "iron fisted" rulers everywhere. Syria, Iran and North Korea excepted, of course. Over at Foreign Policy this was hailed as a huge success. "Leading from behind" is an important element of this doctrine. It is no insult to lead but let others feel they too are architects of a plan, to lead without making others feel you are bullying, to lead but do so in a way in...

Schoolbooks will not be allowed to publish references to pork, for fear of offending Muslims or Jews. According to a speech made Monday on BBC Radio 4, a leading educational publisher, Oxford University Press, is banning the reference to pigs, sausages, or anything pork-related in their books. The wife of the 'Today' program's presenter, Eleanor Updale received a letter from the publishing company after pitching an idea for an educational series, the Daily Mail reported. "Among the things prohibited in the text that was commissioned by OUP [Oxford University Press] was the following: Pigs plus sausages, or anything else which...

In the wake of the shootings in Paris that left over a dozen people dead, Oxford University Press (OUP) has issued “guidance,” telling publishers to avoid “offensive” references to pork or pigs. During a BBC discussion, these guidelines were revealed by news presenter Jim Naughtie. “I’ve got a letter here,” he said, “which was sent out by Oxford University Press to an author doing something for young people. “Among the things prohibited in the text that was commissioned by OUP was the following; ‘Pigs, plus anything else which could be perceived as pork.'” Eating pork is strictly forbidden in Islam...

Libya’s Parliament Moves To Small Port City As Dangers In Tripoli Increase The Dar al Salam, a five-star hotel in Tobruk, Libya, is being used by members of paliament who have relocated to the small port city because of the dangers in Tripoli. By Yasmine Ryan October 5 TOBRUK, Libya — Being a parliamentarian in Libya is a death- defying act. Entissar Chennib’s car was blown up in the eastern city of Derna on election day in June. Another representative, Ali Omar Tekbeli, knows it is too hazardous to go home to the capital. “I receive death threats almost every...

An Islamic militant group said Sunday it has “secured” a U.S. Embassy compound in Libya’s capital city of Tripoli. American personnel evacuated the area roughly a month ago amid ongoing fighting in the country. An Associated Press journalist walked through the compound Sunday after the Dawn of Libya, an umbrella group for Islamist militias, invited onlookers inside. Windows at the compound had been broken, but it appeared most of the equipment there remained untouched.

CAIRO: Libya’s Islamist militias said Sunday they have consolidated their hold on Tripoli and its international airport, driving out rival militias to the outskirts of the capital following a weekslong battle for control of the strategic hub. ...

Two unidentified airstrikes targeting Islamist militia positions in Libya's capital killed 15 fighters and wounded 30 on Saturday. A senior militia leader accused Egypt and the United Arab Emirates of being behind the attacks on their posts. The mysterious airstrikes Saturday were the second this week to target Islamist militia posts in the capital. They have fueled speculation that foreign powers are covertly intervening in Libya's militia violence because Libya's air force does not possess the guided ordinance apparently used in the strikes, while the country's army is reeling from weeks of intense fighting driven by polarized politics. The violence...

A statement shown on screen on An-Nabaa television, regarded as close to the Islamists, said: "Fajr Libya announces that it totally controls Tripoli international airport." Earlier on Saturday, leaders of the Islamist coalition, partly comprising men from Misrata, east of Tripoli, said their forces were advancing on the airport, having taken a bridge and a military base. The strategic site 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the Libyan capital, has been shut since July 13 amid skirmishes between the Islamists and the Zintan force, allies of rogue general Khalifa Haftar, based at Benghazi in eastern Libya and hostile to the...

A group of U.S. diplomats arrived in Libya three years ago to a memorable reception: a throng of cheering men and women who pressed in on the startled group “just to touch us and thank us,” recalled Susan Rice, President Barack Obama’s national security adviser. The Libyans were emotional because the U.S. and its allies had toppled leader Moammar Gadhafi in a military campaign that averted a feared slaughter of Gadhafi’s foes. Obama administration officials called the international effort, accomplished with no Western casualties, a “model intervention.” But in three years Libya has turned into the kind of place U.S....

The US is sending 1,000 Marines in an amphibious assault ship to Libya's coast as a “precautionary” move should the US embassy require evacuation, a US official said. Security concerns also led the US to suggest Americans in Libya "depart immediately." Adding to tensions, gunmen attacked the Tripoli home of Libya’s new prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeq, on Tuesday. Businessman Maiteeq, 42, and his family escaped harm, according to AFP. An aide to Maiteeq said "there was an attack with rockets and small arms on the prime minister's house" in Tripoli at 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT). Maiteeq’s guards opened fire on...

Despite the latest security concerns in Libya - due to the recent escalation of violence in the terrorist infested country - and despite the recent decision by several other countries to shut down their embassies there, the Obama administration, thus far, has refrained from taking similar action, presumably because the apparent urgency to close down the embassy would reflect poorly on the administration's failed policies there. A defense official told CNN early last week that the decision to evacuate the embassy is "minute by minute, hour by hour," which means that the safety and security of US embassy personnel there...

Many Libyans compare the bumpy transition of both Arab neighbors since their "Arab spring" revolutions in 2011. Both have seen political unrest, though Egypt avoided anarchy like its neighbor where four decades of quirky one-man rule and an eight-month civil war destroyed state institutions. Enemies denounce Sisi as the author of Egypt's toughest crackdown in decades after ousting Islamist president Mohamed Mursi last year. But many Libyans say Mursi's removal was a blessing ending a chaotic year in power comparable to their unproductive government and parliament, dominated by an Islamist party allied with the Muslim Brotherhood, which failed to stop...

Washington (AFP) - The US State Department recommended Americans in Libya "depart immediately," in its latest travel warning on Tuesday.

Ralph Nader on Tuesday said President Obama has committed impeachable offenses dating back to the United States' effort in 2011 to create a no-fly zone in Libya. Nader, who has previously called for Obama's impeachment, said Congress would not take up articles of impeachment at the time of the Libya mission because it has “abdicated” its responsibility in matters of war. "Libya was the most egregious violation of the Constitution by President Obama," Nader told ABC News-Yahoo News. "He attacked Libya with European nations without a declaration of war, he didn't ask Congress for an authorization of funds. He didn't...

The Libyan civil war did more harm to the country, its people, economy and its neighbors in North Africa when NATO intervened at the behest of U.S. President Barack Obama, concluded a University of Texas-Austin professor Alan Kuperman. He gave his remarks at the libertarian think tank Cato Institute. Associate professor of public affairs Alan Kuperman is an associate professor of public affairs and he criticized NATO’s intervention in the Libyan civil war. The civil war pitted rebels against government forces loyal to dictator Muammar Qaddafi. Kuperman was grateful to Obama for outlining the definition of success in Libya for...

An anniversary passed this week that went almost completely unremarked — and for good reason. March 17th marked the three-year anniversary of the UN Security Council resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya to stop the Moammar Qaddafi regime from attacking rebel-held Benghazi and Ajdabiya, and the three-year anniversary on the 19th of the NATO war on Libya. French, British, and American planes began bombarding the Qaddafi regime, an air war that would continue for months — while Barack Obama refused to request Congressional approval for it. Later, Obama would claim that Libya represented the smart model of Western intervention....

- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com - Obama Asks: “Would Libya Be Better Off With Gaddafi in Power?”Posted By Daniel Greenfield On September 26, 2013 @ 4:07 pm In The Point | 16 Comments That’s an interesting question considering that the government has broken down, the country is on the verge of civil war and Al Qaeda terrorists are openly operating training camps there.“In Libya, when the Security Council provided a mandate to protect civilians,” Obama said at the UN “America joined a coalition that took action. Because of what we did there, countless lives were saved, and a tyrant could...

That’s an interesting question considering that the government has broken down, the country is on the verge of civil war and Al Qaeda terrorists are openly operating training camps there. “In Libya, when the Security Council provided a mandate to protect civilians,” Obama said at the UN “America joined a coalition that took action. Because of what we did there, countless lives were saved, and a tyrant could not kill his way back to power.” Obama went far beyond the UN mandate by bombing his way to regime change. His actions resulted in the ethnic cleansing of Africans in Libya,...

In Tripoli, protesters appeared to be inspired by events in neighboring Egypt, where millions took to the streets Friday to answer a call from the army chief, who said he wanted a mandate to stop "potential terrorism" by supporters of the country's ousted president, Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood. "We don't want the Brotherhood, we want the army and the police," Libyan protesters chanted, repeating a slogan also used in Egypt.