4 Times Journalists Held Captive in Libya Faced Days of Brutality

The New York Times ^ | March 22, 2011 | ANTHONY SHADID, LYNSEY ADDARIO, STEPHEN FARRELL and TYLER HICKS

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

As the four of us headed toward the eastern gate of Ajdabiya, the front line of a desperate rebel stand against the advancing forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, a car pulled up alongside.

(snip)

When they did, rebels and journalists fled in a headlong retreat. If Ajdabiya fell, Colonel Qaddafi’s forces would be on the doorstep of Benghazi, the opposition capital, and perched on a highway to the Egyptian border, from where we had entered Libya without visas.

(snip)

If he died, we will have to bear the burden for the rest of our lives that an innocent man died because of us, because of wrong choices that we made, for an article that was never worth dying for.

(snip)

To the soldiers around us, they were fighting Al Qaeda or homegrown Islamists, and they couldn’t understand why we, as Americans, didn’t understand their battle.

(snip)

“How could you enter without a visa?” the man asked him. “Don’t you know you could be killed here and no one would ever know?” Anthony nodded. The man went on to denounce the rebels he said they were fighting — Qaeda fanatics, he said, and gangs of armed criminals.

“How could they ever rule Libya?” he asked.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

The sob story of the Slimes' reporters aside, the real nugget here is that the Libyan Army knows exactly who it is fighting.

[FormerACLUmember]

Boo hoo.

Like I believe one word from the Times.

They probably phoned this story in from a resort in southern Spain.

[Jim 726]

Sobs. The poor pinkos supporting the al Qaeda rebels were roughed up. Get out the violin.

[max americana]

FOUR times?...and the captors didn’t shoot them even once?

[bkopto]

Yaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwnnnnn......

[volunbeer]

the real nugget here is that the Libyan Army knows exactly who it is fighting

______________________________

Yep. Too bad our President does not see or care that he is promoting the goals of Iran, Jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQ.

[Aria]

Yep. Too bad our President does not see or care that he is promoting the goals of Iran, Jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQ.

Maybe he does see it and cares a lot about AQ, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and the Jihadists succeeding. He does nothing to our traditional enemies and denounces the USA and its friends.

It's so bad I can actually imagine him one day shedding his veneer of western culture - like an alien shedding its disguise - and suddenly he'll show himself as the Muslim potentate with a black soul, richly rewarded by our enemies for taking down the USA.

[jospehm20]

“Too bad our President does not see or care that he is promoting the goals of Iran, Jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQ.”

I think he does see and cares deeply abpout promoting their goals.

[newzjunkey]

the real nugget here is that the Libyan Army knows exactly who it is fighting.

I'm glad someone does. We sure don't.

[OnlyTurkeysHaveLeftWings]

They probably phoned this story in from a resort in southern Spain. ...Meanwhile, back here in reality, seven reporters have already been killed this year, and there have been 60 documented attacks on journalists in Libya this month alone. This happens in China, in Iran, in Somalia, and there's really no reason to think that it can't happen here if the SHTF.