More than 600 reported dead as violent unrest sweeps Libya (250+ Mon according to HRW)

[maddezmom]

Source: Haaretz

According to Human Rights Watch, at least 250 of those died on Monday alone after the violence spread from the eastern city of Benghazi to the capital of Tripoli.
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies

More than 600 people have been killed in the violent clashes that have swept Libya since the demonstrations to unseat longtime leader Moammer Gadhafi began last week, various media sources reported on Monday.

According to Human Rights Watch, at least 250 of those died on Monday alone after the violence spread from the eastern city of Benghazi to the capital of Tripoli.



Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/more-than-600-reported-dead-as-violent-unrest-sweeps-libya-1.344829

[notesdev]

1. It has gotten very serious there

Apparently Libyan Air Force units have been carpet bombing villages, and the Libyan Navy has been firing shells into neighborhoods in Tripoli. Also reported are planeloads of mercenaries landing, presumably to be used to further the massacre.

If ever there were a good time for military intervention, this is it - we have a government there that has literally gone to war against its own people.

[David__77]

2. No to intervention. Libya for the Libyans.

The people of Libya will reject subversion and treason against their country.

[Posteritatis]

5. Lotta the defectors seem to disagree with you regarding intervention. (nt)

[boppers]

3. Other kinds of intervention are more powerful.

Food drops, IT drops (get some engineers and equipment in there to keep their information networks running), and petrol drops (to keep mobility going).

Food+Information+Mobility = Building Blocks of Freedom.

If they need it in a few years, weapons drops and foreign forces could help, but they have side effects that tend to make things worse.

[notesdev]

4. There is an immediate need

that won't be solved by a food drop.

Given that it's being requested by Libya's own defected diplomats, it is time someone took some leadership and acted to protect the Libyan people. What the hell is our $600B/year defense establishment worth if it can't prevent a petty tyrant on from slaughtering his own people by the hundreds of thousands in what will clearly be a futile attempt to maintain control?

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/201122275739377867.html

Let's go earn some friends and do the right thing here.

[boppers]

6. There are immediate needs.

More bullets are not what they need, though.

"What the hell is our $600B/year defense establishment worth..."

Not much, really, in this situation.

You cannot buy peace with weapons contracts.

Sure, the US can wage war, but you cannot wage peace with the same tools.

[David__77]

7. So, did you support the war against Iraq?

You are perfectly articulating Bush's internationalist "democratic revolutionary" neo-liberal foreign policy.

[Dash87]

8. We should do absolutely nothing to help.

It will make things worse.