And now, Libya...

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And now, Libya...

Post by StupidBunny »

I've been closely following events in Libya over the last day or so, and it's amazing how much has happened within the last 24 hours. In that short time, events have evolved from widespread protests to a near total breakdown of law and order, with Gaddafi sending warplanes and armed mercenaries to gun down protesters and literally bomb his own capital, the country's own ambassadors and representatives have condemned his regime and the state, elements of the military and formerly loyal tribes have arrayed themselves against the regime, and erstwhile allies or neutral parties, including his fellow dictators, have condemned the man and called for his overthrow.

What do you all make of the events in Libya? I'm personally amazed and generally thrilled with the unending wave of popular power bringing down one autocrat after another, and don't imagine Gaddafi will last much longer, although he will probably go out in the most horrendous scorched-earth murderfest he and his revolutionary councils can muster. And also, where do you suppose it's all going to end up? There's lots of fears being bounced around of these power vacuums being filled by dangerous fundamentalist governments, either by election or by seizure of power, but I suspect such fears are at least somewhat overplayed. Your thoughts?
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Post by DHeadshot »

Until now I sort-of liked Gaddaffi. He'd calmed down with age and seemed like he wouldn't have done anything this stupid, while still giving accidentally hilarious speeches and making the world a better place through it laughing at his craziness. Now however...

He needs to go, but to remain in the public eye for entertainment value. Give him a TV show alongside Chavez's.
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Post by Djaser »

Unfortunately, it is almost certain that Qadhafi at some point during this revolution. He is more of a fighter than Ben Ali, or even Mubarak.
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Post by Levellass »

Until now I sort-of liked Gaddaffi. He'd calmed down with age and seemed like he wouldn't have done anything this stupid, while still giving accidentally hilarious speeches and making the world a better place through it laughing at his craziness. Now however...
Gotta love the guy, like the Hussein twins, with their hi-larious torture and repression. And what about the president of South Africa? Raped someone with AIDS then took a shower! Hah! Oh human rights abuses are tolerable when they're done in a funny way. I'm thinking of cutting up some ginger people for their organs for magic rites myself.


The whole country is screwed, nobody wants to leave power. If he wins, the army will support them and slaughter and rape the populace (More than is already happening.) if he loses the country will fall into chaos and possibly civil war, maybe another dictatorship. Even Egypt isn't looking too steady, and Tunisia still has a horde of problems.
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Post by DHeadshot »

Levellass wrote:Gotta love the guy, like the Hussein twins, with their hi-larious torture and repression. And what about the president of South Africa? Raped someone with AIDS then took a shower! Hah! Oh human rights abuses are tolerable when they're done in a funny way. I'm thinking of cutting up some ginger people for their organs for magic rites myself.
No need for the flippancy: he really is hilarious! E.g.: About an hour into his 96 minute 2009 speech (comprised entirely of non-sequetering Crazy) to the UN (alloted time: 10 minutes), he burned out his translator, who screamed "I can't take it anymore!" in Arabic into his microphone and collapsed!

.
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Post by Dynamo »

Looks like gheddafi is setting up a plane to escape the country before the population besieges his stronghold.

After 30+ years of dictatorship, time to get the fucl out buddy.
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Post by DHeadshot »

CKeen wrote:Looks like gheddafi is setting up a plane to escape the country before the population besieges his stronghold.

After 30+ years of dictatorship, time to get the fucl out buddy.
You're hoping this sets a precedent for all dictators everywhere, especially those involved in sex-scandals while governing large European nations, right? :P
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Post by Scarlet »

Well, most regimes are collapsing... many of which were supported and held on for so long because of the US... the US supported tyrants and all sorts of awful dictators. Says a lot now that they are not letting them fall.

But for Libya... they actually were not in the whole pro-US camp. So, I have sympathy for their leadership.

I think it is a matter of time until Ghadafi takes back much of the country. I think he'll just go town by town until he takes it all back.
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Post by PandoricaShark »

Scarlet wrote:So, I have sympathy for their leadership.
Are you fucl serious?

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/lib ... 52474.html
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Post by Scarlet »

I think you did not read the whole thing that I wrote. In the context of US backed dictators and regimes that the US opposes - I have sympathy for those who the US opposes. More often than not the US is pissed because they do not get their way, and so they set up a coup or do some garg like that, which they have done over and over again.

So, since Gadafi is a US target, I have some sympathy for him. At any rate, when the US was dombing my country's hospitals and schools for three months, he lent out a hand. There is some respect there.
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Post by StupidBunny »

Oh, well good for him for not being a US prop! That makes his slaughter of unarmed protesters, totalitarianism and corrupt nepotism okay. I just hope he can put those America-loving imperialist protesters in their place before this is all over.
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Post by DHeadshot »

Everyone has both good and bad sides - even murderous dictators! Neither one cancls out the other.
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Post by Levellass »

Indeed, however one may outweigh the other. People should be judged absolutely on the morals of what they do, not relative to who they support or like. A murder is a murder whether against those western infidels or to protect American freedom, both are the same to me as a stabbing in an alley somewhere.

I do so love the attitude of for us or against us. It'd be nice to see it on a smaller scale. 'Sure, he's a convicted rapist, but he supports my sports team, so he's alright with me!'

Mind, you do tend to see this in fiction a lot, maybe that's where we get it. (This person is evil, anyone who doesn't think he's a kitten eating bastard is also evil. This is guaranteed by the laws of the universe.)

Of course logic seems to go out the window when your country is bombed but I have become rather jaded towards finding some sort of universal human good guy. (I'm sure Obama is nice enough, but the US is not a country I could unilaterally support. Nor is mine, the communist state or any dictator.)
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Post by Djaser »

Scarlet wrote:At any rate, when the US was dombing my country's hospitals and schools for three months, he lent out a hand. There is some respect there.
So you live where exactly?
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Post by Grimson »

In all simplicity, it's history repeating itself. It was but a century ago when series of revolutions swept across Europe. Now the time has come for the (mostly) Islamic world. I may be naïve, but hopefully these events will lead to a more liberal era in the Middle-East and North Africa.
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