Posted on 02/22/2011 12:16:44 PM PST by SeekAndFind
There's been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos.
Two weeks ago this same man had told me the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt would never touch Libya. Gaddafi, he said, had a tight lock on all of the major tribes, the same ones that have kept him in power for the past 41 years. The man of course turned out to be wrong, and everything he now has to say about Gaddafi's intentions needs to be taken in that context.
The source went on and told me that Gaddafi's desperation has a lot to with the fact that he now can only count on the loyalty of his tribe, the Qadhadhfa. And as for the army, as of Monday he only has the loyalty of approximately 5,000 troops. They are his elite forces, the officers all handpicked. Among them is the unit commanded by his second youngest son Khamis, the 32nd Brigade. (The total strength of the regular Libyan army is 45,000.)
My Libyan source said that Gaddafi has told people around him that he knows he cannot retake Libya with the forces he has. But what he can do is make the rebellious tribes and army officers regret their disloyalty, turning Libya into another Somalia. "I have the money and arms to fight for a long time," Gaddafi reportedly said.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
He might as well, the protesters have already called for it.
Why wouldn’t he? Saddam did it in ‘91.
Reuters report:
Defiant Gaddafi vows to die as martyr, fight revolt
*************************EXCERPT************************************
"I am not going to leave this land, I will die here as a martyr," Gaddafi said on state television, refusing to bow to calls from his own diplomats, soldiers and protesters clamouring in the streets for him to go.
******************************EXCERPT***************************************
TRIPOLI |
Tripoli, a Mediterranean coastal city of 2 million, is key to controlling Libya, a mostly desert country of only 7 million.
Refugees streaming across the Libya's eastern border into Egypt said Gaddafi was using tanks, warplanes and foreign mercenaries to fight the growing rebellion.
Eastern Libya is no longer under Gaddafi's control, rebel soldiers in the city of Tobruk told a Reuters reporter there.
Tobruk residents said the city had been in the hands of the people for three days. They said smoke rising above the city was from a munitions depot bombed by troops loyal to one of Gaddafi's sons. There was the occasional explosion.
"All the eastern regions are out of Gaddafi's control ... The people and the army are hand-in-hand here," said the now former army major Hany Saad Marjaa.
The U.N. refugee agency urged Libya's neighbours to grant refuge to those fleeing the unrest.
Same can be said for TIME for the last 20 years.
RE: Why wouldn’t he? Saddam did it in ‘91.
If I remember correctly, the price of oil spiked at that time until the fires were contained.
The capitalist pig in me see a similar opportunity to buy oil ETF’s today.
A slightly riskier investment may be found in mediums used to channel the ghost of Red Adair.
Things obviously are becoming very nasty in Libya. Sort of like we saw in Iran when they brought in a lot of goon squads from outside their country and paid for inside trouble makers that hate the Shitte. Brutal bastards that is for sure.
“Brutal bastards that is for sure.”
No lack of those in that part of the world.....
I’ll second that statement.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
$5 gas helps nail shut the coffin on Baraq’s 2012 campaign.
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