What is going on in Libya?!?!

[Ekonk]

Yeah, shit's whack down there. Basically one nation(Tunis) overthrew their leaders, which inspired another nation(Egypt), which inspired a revolution in another(Bahrain I think it is, not too sure), and all these contribute to the inspiration for the current Lybian revolution.

Thats what I managed to gleam though. Basically, shit be whack in that part of the world yo.

It started in Tunis, yes. A poor, unemployed man set fire to himself in desperation, hoping to kill himself and bring attention to people like him.

Instead he sparked a revolution not only in Tunis, but also in Egypt, Yemen, Iran, and now, Libya. The only ones that have succeeded so far are the ones in Tunis and Egypt, but it looks like Gaddafi won't make it much longer. Ahmedinejad is also quite harsh for the protesters, but not as murderous as Gaddafi... yet.

 

[Private Custard]

just out of curiosity, does anyone know if the story about ordering the jets to bomb the protesters has been confirmed by a less west-oriented news organization like Aljazeera (sic)? i've only seen it from western news outlets, so it seems suspiciously propaganda-ish to me. not that i'd be terribly surprised if it were true...

Oh it's definitely true. Two migs ran away totally after refusing the order and landed in Malta. Libya are now demanding their return!

 

[Stoic raptor]

Basicly, it started in Tunisia. A man lit himself on fire because he was so depressed. He was depressed because he could not make enough money to feed his family. This started a revolution in Tunisia, which was succesfull.

Egyptian people saw this, and being in the same position (not able to make enough money to live, tyrannical government) they did the same. Then they found out that Mubarak (previous ruler in Egypt) was very rich. Like multi-billionare kind of rich. With the people already being extremely poor, it was not pretty. The Egyptian revolution was succesfull.

Now all the other Middle Eastern countries are noticing, and being in same conditions (very bad conditions, tyrannical government), they are starting a revolt. Not just Libya, but basicly all of the Middle Eastern countries. The governments were trying ahead of time to stop it when they saw Egypt, but it was too late.

Now in Libya, the leader (Gadhafi) is actually attacking the protesters, which is a precedent in this Middle Eastern revolution. The U.S. is stopping relations with Libya because of this, which is causing the rising gas pricing. Libya is an important supplier of oil to us. Gadhafi though plans to fight the protesters to his death, so it has been really ugly. Also is seems like Gidhafi is also really rich like Mubarak.

That is what is happining in Libya.

 

[Cpt Corallis]

well, yes, except that the only proof we have that they defected is what western news organizations have told us. that be what propaganda be, man. not saying it's definitely not true, just that when i see something that paints an enemy in that extreme a negative light, it sets of my BS alert. but if Aljazeera also reported it, that would totally confirm it for me.

again, i know Ghadafi is not a good guy, but if CNN reported that he eats babies, i'd start to wonder what's true and what's not.

So what if a western news group reported that? Do you think any other news organization would have? It's just a simple fact really; two pilots defected and bugged out to Malta. And the pilots explained why. The news just stated "Hey, these pilots just said this". That's not really putting a western spin on it.

Al Jazeera reported the first funeral bombing I believe, and didn't the Libyan ambassadors to the UN and India renounce their positions and criticise Gaddafi shortly after the malta defections? Anyway, as far as I know, Western Journalists have serious trouble in Libya, which would only be worse at the minute.

 

[Zaik]

just out of curiosity, does anyone know if the story about ordering the jets to bomb the protesters has been confirmed by a less west-oriented news organization like Aljazeera (sic)? i've only seen it from western news outlets, so it seems suspiciously propaganda-ish to me. not that i'd be terribly surprised if it were true...

This is what I've been worried about. The whole Russia/Georgia thing seemed to show that our "freedom of press" only extends to freely putting out material that will be rewarded with bribes.

 

[maturin]

Even the Libyan state press admits that airstrikes were carried out. They said that they were targeted at military arsenals, destroyed to prevent protesters from seizing them. But that doesn't mean no one has been killed. And Western press has reported on both defections of pilots plus the two that ejected and let their jets crash in the desert. You can generally believe Aljazeera's reporting when it gets carried over onto Aljazeera English.

This is what I've been worried about. The whole Russia/Georgia thing seemed to show that our "freedom of press" only extends to freely putting out material that will be rewarded with bribes.

No one needs to bribe our free press. They kowtow to certain interests of their own free will.