Ghadaffy is a supporter of terrorism (Lockerbie). He has stolen tens of billions of dollars, stashed away in bank accounts, but his people remain poor.
His people hate him, and started to rebel, and so he had to hire African mercenaries to fight for him. The western press and the Catholic bishop of Tripoli repeat his "NATO is killing civilians" propaganda, but AlJezeerah has Arab speakers on the ground and they report most locals think the reports are exaggerated.
The western press also reports Algerian "rebels" killing "african civilians" (maybe soldiers, maybe just suspected friends of the hired soldiers) but ignore the estimated 10 thousand civilians killed so far by his people.
Since Ghadaffy has all the money for arms, and the rebels know little about being soldiers, NATO is trying to help them by leveling the playing field.
You may want to check out Strategy Page for the background...their latest article: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/libya/articles/20110615.aspx
I have found them accurate about countries where I have lived (e.g. Philippines, Zimbabwe) or have relatives (e.g. Colombia) so I trust their information here.
Obama's problem is that he hasn't bothered to explain all of this to Congress. But that's another issue.
Ghadaffy is a supporter of terrorism (Lockerbie). He has stolen tens of billions of dollars, stashed away in bank accounts, but his people remain poor.
ReplyDeleteHis people hate him, and started to rebel, and so he had to hire African mercenaries to fight for him. The western press and the Catholic bishop of Tripoli repeat his "NATO is killing civilians" propaganda, but AlJezeerah has Arab speakers on the ground and they report most locals think the reports are exaggerated.
The western press also reports Algerian "rebels" killing "african civilians" (maybe soldiers, maybe just suspected friends of the hired soldiers) but ignore the estimated 10 thousand civilians killed so far by his people.
Since Ghadaffy has all the money for arms, and the rebels know little about being soldiers, NATO is trying to help them by leveling the playing field.
You may want to check out Strategy Page for the background...their latest article:
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/libya/articles/20110615.aspx
I have found them accurate about countries where I have lived (e.g. Philippines, Zimbabwe) or have relatives (e.g. Colombia) so I trust their information here.
Obama's problem is that he hasn't bothered to explain all of this to Congress. But that's another issue.