FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
Oh, and in case there's people who haven't found this yet:
Here's a live broadcast from the BBC, in case you wanna keep really up-to-date.
Apparently Gaddafi's gonna speak soon, so I'm staying up for a while longer (more than 2 AM here).
0008: Almost as soon as Col Gaddafi appeared on the screen he disappeared. State TV now showing partiotic [sic] images of marching soldiers and playing Arabic music.He spoke from the back seat of a car, holding an opened umbrella for no discernible reason; the reporter in the broadcast described the scene "surreal". The entire "speech" took about 10 seconds and was shown in the middle of a ballet about Gaddafi's life on national TV.
What he said was apparently "I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela." And that was all.
They announced he was going to speak several hours ago, and that's all he had to say?!
Goddamn it!
0012: Reports of poor weather in Tripoli tonight do seem to back up Col Gaddafi's statement that he is still in the Libyan capital. As you see, I'm updating this post as I go along, so I'm sorry if this is confusing. (Confusion about the content of this post might have more to do with Gaddafi's announcement and the manner in which it was given than this post's structure, but well.)
Just now I noticed that I double-posted; since there's nothing I can do about that, I'm leaving the older post as-is.
c. 02:25 (GMT+2): Lord Owen, former British Foreign Secretary, interviewed by BBC; calling for UN to impose (via US and European fighters in Cyprus, Malta, Italy or France) a no-fly zone on Tripoli to prevent further attacks by Libyan air force against civilians. He also warns that if no action is taken, we might wake up tomorrow to another several hundred dead. He's saying stuff like "We've done this before."; "The UN exists to take action in case of emergency."; and that "Gaddafi's regime will fight to the last" and "will bomb civilians again if given the chance". He described Gaddafi with the word "unhinged", adding that he's not merely "eccentric".
0022: Former British Foreign Secretary Lord Owen tells the BBC Col Gaddafi is "unbalanced" and that the situation in Libya now represents a direct threat to world peace.For clarity, the difference in time between my estimate and the BBC quote is due to the length of the interview; it took several minutes and the time was the last thing I added. As for the word "unhinged", he did use it - together with the word "unbalanced". (Interesting how the BBC chose a different word to quote from the interview.)
0023: The imminent threat from Libya should be discussed at an immediate meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, Lord Owen tells the BBC. Military action is the only thing Col Gaddafi and his sons are going to listen to, he says.From the BBC Live broadcast:
0033: Full text of Col Gaddafi's 20-second speech, according to BBC Monitoring: "I am satisfied, because I was speaking in front of the youth in the Green Square tonight, but the rain came praise to God it bears well. I want to clarify for them that I am in Tripoli not in Venezuela. Do not believe these channels they are dogs. Goodbye." Here's an article about Gaddafi's appearance on state TV.
Quote from it:
Earlier, the new General Committee for Defence said its forces would cleanse Libya of anti-government elements.
A statement described the protesters as "terrorist gangs made up mostly of misguided youths", who had been exploited and fed "hallucinogenic pills" by people following foreign agendas.
But Libya's diplomats at the United Nations in New York called for international intervention to stop the government's violent action against street demonstrations in their homeland.
Deputy Permanent Representative Ibrahim Dabbashi said Libyans had to be protected from what he called a "genocide".
Mr Dabbashi urged the UN to impose a no-fly zone over Tripoli, where there have been reports of warplanes attacking protesters.
edited 21st Feb '11 4:39:42 PM by BestOf
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Earlier, the new General Committee for Defence said its forces would cleanse Libya of anti-government elements.
A statement described the protesters as "terrorist gangs made up mostly of misguided youths", who had been exploited and fed "hallucinogenic pills" by people following foreign agendas. ...Wow. Like father, like son, I suppose.
And if anyone was wondering, apparently Al-Jazeera is being blocked.
edited 21st Feb '11 4:42:15 PM by OurGLORIOUSLeader
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
Classy.
Update: Reuters' very simple report on Gaddafi's appearance.
edited 21st Feb '11 5:05:16 PM by BestOf
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Hmm. Interesting developments here on the home front. I'll let you guys know when I figure out if I'm allowed to or not.
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
Considering what your job is, you don't need to say more.
And with that note, it's off to bed with me; I'll be discussing an essay with one of my professors 8 hours from now.
edited 21st Feb '11 5:08:26 PM by BestOf
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
AJ is reporting that parts of the navy are firing into Tripoli, while others are firing on each other. Oops. Misheard. Just firing on Tripoli.
EDIT: Italy is sending out its navy. This isn't good.
edited 21st Feb '11 5:24:26 PM by Pentadragon
I couldn't find the navy thing for the life of me, but I happened upon this article there. I posted a while ago about Uganda, which seems to be fine as of now, but it brings up a good point: what are the other countries that are protesting? Just Sudan and Somalia? And apparently Gabon?
edited 21st Feb '11 5:36:46 PM by OurGLORIOUSLeader
- Sudan's President has just announced that he will not be running for office again. However, it is unknown whether this will end demonstrations.
- Saudi Arabia may have just annoyed their Shiite minority by threatening to intervene with Bahrain. Minor protests seem to be ongoing in parts of the country, but I am really not sure.
- Clashes between police and protest groups in Iran are still in progress. Parts of Tehran were shut down yesterday when anti-regime protesters tried to converge on central squares from across the city. Iran's opposition party is wondering whether they should continue. Their leaders have been under house arrest for over a week.
- Thousands have shut down major major cities in Morocco. Demonstrators are demanding a "more fair, less corrupt government". So far, things have been peaceful.
- Western Sahara seems unstable mostly due to the instability in those countries neighboring it.
- Algerian protests are quickly gaining momentum.
edited 21st Feb '11 7:26:55 PM by Pentadragon
So I guess I can talk about it, but we're waiting for the green light on an op to go to Tripoli and pick up Americans still stuck there, as commercial flights aren't coming at the moment.
No idea if we'll go yet, but I'm volunteering for it if we do, they better not scrub this fucking mission.
edited 21st Feb '11 5:50:34 PM by Barkey
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Considering the EU is thinking about the same thing, I doubt they'd pull out.
Morocco is of least concern. Like I said, the protests are peaceful because the king is a pretty cool guy. *
Unchanging Avatar.
I'm not sure if the latest developments in Libya are good or bad. Reserving judgement...
Except for 4/1/2011. That day lingers in my memory like...metaphor here...I should go.
On the bright side if they turn on us and blow us up, there'll be a fast solution to the Libyan problem!
Course I'll be dead.. That's a drawback. But at least my name and portrait will go on the wall at the Academy and young Airmen will be forced to write a biography about me or risk getting in trouble.
edited 21st Feb '11 7:25:51 PM by Barkey
"So I knew this dude who like totally made it with Gaddafi's personal security detail; the dude was a BOSS".
Oh...wow. I honestly don't know much to say, other than observing that the world today is...very interesting and exciting.
What's the scoreboard currently?
- Morocco
- Western Sahara
- Algeria
- Tunisia*
- Libya
- Egypt*
- North Sudan
- Palestine
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Syria
- Saudi Arabia
- Yemen
- Bahrain
- Iraq
- Iran
- China
- Albania
- Somalia
Who's next? Bahrain or Libya?
Also, mostly unrelated, but still very significant protests, in the United States, most notably in Wisconsin, but also in Indiana and Ohio, if not more states.
edited 22nd Feb '11 12:18:10 AM by GlennMagusHarvey
House Lewis: Sanity is Relative
Morning all! Here's today's BBC news live feed, this probably wants to be reposted a few times today as it could get lost if the thread is as busy as yesterday: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698
News. The second city in Libya is under the control of protesters, but the State still has presence in the airport and suburbs.
Tripoli is under lockdown and people are scared, after a busy night. What will happen later on today remains to be seen.
This is worth noting (copied from BBC) # 0943: UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has called for an international investigation into the violence used by the Libyan authorities to suppress the protests, saying that such "unconscionable" violations must end immediately.
Air strikes are being used on major urban centers.
EDIT: This is certainly... something.
Link Contains Graphic Depictions of Violent Injuries
edited 22nd Feb '11 1:06:38 PM by Pentadragon
I wonder if Egypt's military, as a way to show solidarity with its own people AND the West, would intervene on behalf of East Libya? Perhaps unlikely, but a week ago most thought Gaddafi would still maintain himself.
Her with the hat
Last I heard, Egyptian doctors and so on were setting up camps on the border. I'm not sure how busy the Egyptian military is right now with their own problems.
Could you make a note that that link contains Graphic Depictions of Violent Injuries.
I did not expect to see what I just saw.
House Lewis: Sanity is Relative
Holy God, there's a man with most of his head missing in that link, you could PLEASE warn about such things in future? Jesus man...
To be fair, I doubt that guy expected it either.
But that's fairly shocking behaviour from the ruling classes, there. What exactly do they think is going on?
Maybe it's just me, but that's really not that shocking.
House Lewis: Sanity is Relative
The UN are meeting just now. This is a preliminary meeting though to decide whether a statement can be made by the security council, with Russia and China saying "stay the fuck out" and Britain and the US, maybe France, saying "condemn it in as strong a way as possible".
My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.
Moldova, never change.
It looks like Gadhafi about to speak again. I wonder if he's going to say "I'm here" again.
Maybe it's just me, but that's really not that shocking.Kino: Did you mean the behaviour of the royalty people, or the headshot?
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]")
Nope, just me and my poor English. Too bad; woulda been a half desent joke.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.