The Libyan Situation

BrianD

ANybody else find the situation in Libya as portrayed bu our news channels, bizarre? I say "as portrayed" because they are our window on this world.

On one side you have the rebels who seem to have loads of anti-aircraft weapons and small arms. They all seem to be constantly on the hard shoulder outside of some town or other. Very motivated but appear very disorganised,

On the other, you have the Libyan Army who have access to heavy armour and aircraft and seem to be ineffective at using both. One might suspect that they are not motivated to attack civilian populations but don't seem to be able for a coup d'etat.

Leaving out foreign intervention, is the situation heading for a stalemate?

Manic Moran

Seems like your Bog-Standard African Civil War to me, really. The incompetent but enthusiastic forces fighting the incompetent but well armed forces.

NTM

seanmacc

There is so much more going on in Lybia than meets the eye and a lot of questions are bound to go unanswered by our media.
Like where are these rebels getting their weapons from? Who has trained them in such away they've been able to hold off a better armed professional army? What do the rebels stand for apart form ousting Quadaffi? Do all of these rebels even come from Lybia?

It also must be noted that a lot of restraint has been shown by Quaddafi's forces so far when it comes to engaging the rebels. In most other African countries it could of been an absolute bloodbath by now.

Morpheus

seanmacc wrote: »

There is so much more going on in Lybia than meets the eye and a lot of questions are bound to go unanswered by our media.

Like where are these rebels getting their weapons from?

Libyan Army has defected in large numbers, theyve handed out weapons from their barracks which is why libyan airforce targeted military barracks in all major rebel towns in the immediate aftermath of the uprisings beginning.

Who has trained them in such away they've been able to hold off a better armed professional army?

they are being trained by the military, quadaffi is using mercs and an elite corps of infantry and armor that he has kept vehemently loyal to himself over the years and the airforce. he has deliberately neglected the national army since his own coup so that it would never happen to him that his own army would oust him.

What do the rebels stand for apart form ousting Quadaffi? Do all of these rebels even come from Lybia?

they are probably various factions with different ideoligies but most likely brought together to oust him first.... his removal and the ensuing power vacuum wil be interesting to say the least.

It also must be noted that a lot of restraint has been shown by Quaddafi's forces so far when it comes to engaging the rebels. In most other African countries it could of been an absolute bloodbath by now.

again he only has limited resources, small airforce,small infantry numbers, small amounts of loyal military elements and is probably only able to target pockets of densely packed resistance at any one time.

my 2 cents.

BlaasForRafa

seanmacc wrote: »

There is so much more going on in Lybia than meets the eye and a lot of questions are bound to go unanswered by our media.
Like where are these rebels getting their weapons from? Who has trained them in such away they've been able to hold off a better armed professional army? What do the rebels stand for apart form ousting Quadaffi? Do all of these rebels even come from Lybia?

It also must be noted that a lot of restraint has been shown by Quaddafi's forces so far when it comes to engaging the rebels. In most other African countries it could of been an absolute bloodbath by now.

Where are they getting their weapons from? - From regime army bases, ammo dumps and police stations.

Who has trained them? - Many are ex-conscripts of the libyan army. The rest as Manic has said are enthusiastic amateurs. You can see from footage that has come out that many fire off volleys of ammo without aiming properly.

What do these rebels stand for? Freedom from Gaddafi's regime.

Do the rebels come from Libya? Yes...unlike Gaddafi's forces, many of whom seem to come from Chad and Niger, some of whom were allegedly press-ganged by regime personnel.

Restraint? your f**king kidding right. Thousands have already been killed by the regime, many from indiscriminate fire on civilians. The reason the regime is penned in is because Gaddafi is basically relying on the loyalty of his own tribe in the Sirte and Tripoli areas and on mercenaries.

I guess theres always going to be at least one person on one of these threads thats going to come out with conspiracy theories rather than use logic and evidence.