Super Moderator
Location: essex ma
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meanwhile, back out in the world
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4.25pm: Adam Gabbatt provides an evening summary:
• Benghazi appears to have fallen irretrievably beyond the control of Muammar Gaddafi, reports the Guardian's Martin Chulov, the first foreign journalist to reach the city. Troops who have defected from the Gaddafi regime are barricading a police station in the city to prevent it being seized back by Gaddafi's forces in the city, where doctors said at least 230 people have been killed. One air force officer told the Guardian he personally witnessed up to 4,000 mercenaries arrive on Libyan transport planes, each of them carrying 300 armed men.
• The cities of Zliten and Misrata, close to Tripoli, are reportedly under the control of anti-Gaddafi protesters. If the reports are correct they would be the first cities in the west of the country to fall to the demonstrators, whose support base is mainly in the east. The Guardian's Ian Black said the fall of Misrata suggests the west of Libya is now beginning to be seriously affected.
• The UK foreign secretary, William Hague, has said the UK will provide "as many planes as are necessary" to evacuate British nationals from Libya. He said that in addition to those Britons in Tripoli, Benghazi and other cities, there are some 170 Britons working in remote, isolated camps in the desert in Libya who are in a "perilous and frightening situation". One charter flight is en route to Tripoli to collect British nationals, while another will arrive later today. A third flight may be scheduled for Thursday morning.
• Mercenaries and militias are reported to be roaming Tripoli, with much of the capital deserted. Overnight a "heavy force of supporters and militiamen" were on the streets, brought out by Gaddafi's speech, Associated Press reported. Tripoli airport is "very, very chaotic", an English teacher who flew out last night told the Guardian. "There was a real crush – it was a very frightening experience," Peter Thomas said. "Our tickets had been bought in Turkey so we didn't have them with us. We just had to persuade the guards at various checkpoints that we should be allowed through."
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Libya on the brink as Gaddafi promises showdown - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk
and the international community does nothing.
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Intervening in the Libyan tragedy
The unfolding situation in Libya has been horrible to behold. No matter how many times we warn that dictators will do what they must to stay in power, it is still shocking to see the images of brutalized civilians which have been flooding al-Jazeera and circulating on the internet. We should not be fooled by Libya's geographic proximity to Egypt and Tunisia, or guided by the debates over how the United States could best help a peaceful protest movement achieve democratic change. The appropriate comparison is Bosnia or Kosovo, or even Rwanda where a massacre is unfolding on live television and the world is challenged to act. It is time for the United States, NATO, the United Nations and the Arab League to act forcefully to try to prevent the already bloody situation from degenerating into something much worse.
By acting, I mean a response sufficiently forceful and direct to deter or prevent the Libyan regime from using its military resources to butcher its opponents. I have already seen reports that NATO has sternly warned Libya against further violence against its people. Making that credible could mean the declaration and enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya, presumably by NATO, to prevent the use of military aircraft against the protestors. It could also mean a clear declaration that members of the regime and military will be held individually responsible for any future deaths. The U.S. should call for an urgent, immediate Security Council meeting and push for a strong resolution condeming Libya's use of violence and authorizing targeted sanctions against the regime. Such steps could stand a chance of reversing the course of a rapidly deteriorating situation. An effective international response could not only save many Libyan lives, it might also send a powerful warning to other Arab leaders who might contemplate following suit against their own protest movements.
I don't have any illusions that the outside world can control what happens in Libya, if the regime really wants to try to hold power by force. I don't call for a direct military intervention. And I am keenly, painfully aware of all that could go wrong with even the kinds of responses I am recommending. But right now those fears are outweighed by the urgent imperative of trying to prevent the already bloody situation from getting much, much worse. This is not a peaceful democracy protest movement which the United States can best help by pressuring allied regimes from above, pushing for long-term and meaningful reform, and persuading the military to refrain from violence. It's gone well beyond that already, and this time I find myself on the side of those demanding more forceful action before it's too late. The steady stream of highly public defections from the regime suggest that rapid change is possible, yesterday's speech by Saif al-Islam Qaddafi and today's events suggest that so is terrible violence.
There is no avoiding what is happening in Libya. Al-Jazeera Arabic has been covering the Libyan situation heavily for the last couple of days and has powerfully conveyed the gravity of the situation, including broadcasting some truly disturbing images and video of protestors. I've been stunned by what Libyans inside the country and outside have been willing to say on the air about the regime --- prominent Libyan diplomats declaring Qaddafi to by a tyrant, major tribal leaders calling for his overthrow, Yusuf al-Qaradawi calling on the air for someone to shoot Qaddafi, and more. The Arab world's attention is focused on Libya now, after several days of a fragmented news agenda divided among Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt and more. Voice after voice, Libyans and other Arabs alike, denounce the silence of the international community and call for action. Qaddafi has few friends, and Qatar has called for an urgent Arab League meeting to deal with the crisis. While history doesn't suggest we can expect all that much from that club, their public support for international action could go a long way towards overcoming any suggestion that this is an imperialist venture.
That's all for now.
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Intervening in the Libyan tragedy | Marc Lynch
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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