Bryan Denton for The New York Times -- A rebel surveyed the main road leading to Brega, an oil port that rebels were struggling to take on Saturday.
Posted on 04/02/2011 10:17:04 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
...Perhaps in response to the Western airstrikes, the Qaddafi forces are increasingly plunging into combat in equipment similar to what the rebels are using, mainly pickup trucks mounted with machine guns or artillery. The move makes it increasingly difficult for even the combatants to distinguish one group from the other at first sight...
"You have to look at the big picture," the spokesman, Mustafa Gheriani, told Reuters. "Mistakes will happen. We are trying to get rid of Qaddafi, and there will be casualties, although of course it does not make us happy."
The strike occurred after dark on Friday as rebels were continuing their efforts to retake Brega. The Qaddafi forces had positioned forward observers in the desert outside of the city with a view of the road, enabling their superior artillery crews within Brega to hit the rebels as they tried to approach...
Around the scene of the airstrikes, rebel fighters speculated that Qaddafi forces had infiltrated the rebel lines and fired at the planes, or that celebrating rebels shooting guns into the air had drawn the allied fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Bryan Denton for The New York Times -- A rebel surveyed the main road leading to Brega, an oil port that rebels were struggling to take on Saturday.
I left just the spin-doctoring — see, this isn’t bad because, well, to make a souffle you must break a few eggs. And it was after dark. And Gaddafi’s forces have started using the only equipment available in the country, which happens to be the same kind the rebels are using. Oh, and someone drew the fire by shooting at the planes — maybe it was Gaddafy infiltrators, or some of the rebels got a little too enthusiastic over their coming freedom.
Good riddance!
maybe they forgot to disable the ‘SeekAQ’ option on the ordnance
No problem, it was done with "good intentions".
If only they'd give war a chance.
>>>”You have to look at the big picture,” the spokesman, Mustafa Gheriani, told Reuters. “Mistakes will happen.
Ahhh, the best use of the passive sentence: “Mistakes were made.” No one is guilty of the foul-up. This must be in the 1938 Bureaucrats Manual.
Khadaffy duck is outsmarting Obummer. Of course Khaddafi would adjust his tactics after watching his armor get obliterated out in the desert. He has moved what is left to populated cities to protect it, knowing NATO will not chance civilian casualties to attack him in the cities.
Once Khaddafi realized that even with massive airpower, the goofs in the rebel pickup trucks were still a bunch of untrained buffoons. Now Khaddafi is resorting to using the ‘technicals’ 4X4’s with mounted weapons that are so popular in third world countries. When you are facing an opposition as weak as the rebels, why risk multi millions $ russian t-72’s when some Toyotas will do.
Without having trained boots on the ground calling in precision airstrikes, the rebels will not even hold up against Khaddafi’s technicals. Obama is like some of Lincolns first civil war generals, arrogant and incompetent both.
Rants: In Libya, the coalition of hypocrites
Richard Hermann
http://www.mpnnow.com/opinions/x583203718/Rants-In-Libya-the-coalition-of-hypocrites
[snip] Suddenly we are soooo concerned about innocent Libyan civilians when we did not give a fig for the more than 10 million innocent Rwandans, Congolese, Darfurians or, most recently, Yemenites that were slaughtered by their leaders? Rwanda, the Congo, Sudan and Yemen are not exactly major oil suppliers. [end]
Obama ,Ghadaffi, MB and Iran have out smarted America.
Darn. Just Darn it all to heck!
,,, and, the problem is.
I never thought I would find myself rooting for Gaddafi, but I am rooting for Gaddafi.
Oh well, too bad, so sad, buh bye.....
This whole ME thing is just stoopid.
These “rebels” are just another bunch of towel heads playing like little boys but with real guns.
If real combat looms, they run for the hills. But they just love to shoot their guns aimlessly in the air to show the ignorant liberal journalists what brave warriors they are.
The biggest danger to civilians in Libya right now is falling bullets from these idiots shooting into the air.
+1
It would not surprise me.
I do not want to disagee with you, but let me add the true picture. Obama is in bed with Qaddafi up to his teeth. Qaddafi will go on and...with soul brother Obama’s blessing. The rest of the “Middle East” will turn Muslim-Terrorist just as Obama, Farrakhan, Wright, etc. want it to. Farrakhan ranting at Obama is just another “good cop/bad cop” showcase for the “Dummies” (us)!!! Too bad most Americans are too dumb to figure this out. Sad!!!
You mean the fact that it exists? I agree.
What a giant Fustercluck!
The storyline was similar to the OP. One difference was that the Spiegel article reported that the celebratory shooter was using tracer rounds.
I thought I read a story yesterday that the 'rebels' consisted of doctors, lawyers, assorted professionals, etc.
Right.
Its a fine mess you got us into this time Barry.
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