Gaddafi troops force rebels back

Source: BBC News

Pro-government forces have intensified attacks on Libyan rebels, forcing them back to the key town of Bin Jawad.

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Anti-Gaddafi forces had made rapid progress westwards from their stronghold in Benghazi in recent days - greatly aided by international air strikes - seizing a number of coastal communities and important oil installations, including Ras Lanuf, Brega, Uqayla and Bin Jawad.

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They have been forced to retreat from the town of Nawfaliya, 120km (75 miles) from Col Gaddafi's birthplace Sirte, to the coastal town of Bin Jawad, some 30km further east.

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Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, said on Tuesday the US had not ruled out arming the rebel forces.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12892798

The rebels are yet to win a single battle or even to prevail in a single real engagement in this war.
All they are good for is riding their dinky pick-up tracks on an empty highway and shooting their
weapons in the air until they run out of gas or hear a sound of gunfire in the distance. Then it is
called "overextended supply lines". Give me a break. What supply lines? They are stealing petrol from
abandoned gas stations on their way. And that is the force which is supposed to liberate Tripoli and
depose Qaddafi? Without any help from the NATO ground troops? Get ready to hear how a ground invasion
of Libya is already authorized by the same UN SC resolution.

I do think it is probably more likely the west will be pacified before Sirte would fall to the rebel force. There is a bit of voluntarism going on, assuming that raw enthusiasm can win military engagements. There is also an underestimation of the support level of the Tripoli-based government, for better or for worse.

Source: BBC

Pro-government forces have intensified attacks on Libyan rebels, forcing them to abandon the key town of Bin Jawad.

The BBC's Nick Springate in Bin Jawad said hundreds of cars were fleeing eastwards from the town, which had been in rebel hands earlier on Tuesday.

The city of Misrata, closer to Tripoli, is also reported to be under heavy attack from government troops.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12892798

We heard about how the Libyan rebels were advancing quickly and pushing back Qhadaffi's troops. I suspected that it might have been a strategic retreat on the part of the government; to draw the rebels into a trap, in close contact, so the allies would be reluctant to bomb.

Within an article they'd talk about the rebels' advance and let the reader infer that the rebels' had actually engaged the Libyan forces in some sort of battle.

Then you read down 10 paragraphs and find that the Libyan forces retreated, so that the rebels were just driving into towns that the Libyan forces had already withdrawn from. Why? Because either they wanted to retreat prior to staging an assault or because US bombing raids had managed to disrupt their lines of communication or so damaged/threated their forces that they had little choice.

But the "rebels have scored a victory" narrative was more important than "the Obama administration has handed the rebels their victories." To do that would be to deny them any kind of dignity or honor: "We're brave and fierce rebels, able to get our asses handed to us at a moments' notice, which is precisely all we need to turn ass and run like hell." Hardly a way of winning enemies and influencing people.

Most of the rebels, with little if any military experience, may get overconfident and extend themselves too far. Then, Qadhaffi's forces could destroy them piecemeal. The rebels should also not make the mistake of relying too heavily on U.S. help. That has turned out badly for folks from the Bay of Pigs to Vietnam to Iraqi Kurds.
Aside from all that, I am not very confident that these rebels are good guys, either. Apparently, we have not examined them very closely. I think that whoever wins in Libya will not be our friend.

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Source: Associated Press

RAS LANOUF, Libya — Libyan government tanks and rockets pounded rebel forces into a panicked full retreat Tuesday after an hourslong, back-and-forth battle that highlighted the superior might of Moammar Gadhafi's forces, even hobbled by international airstrikes.

No such strikes were launched during the fighting in Bin Jawwad, where rebels attempting to march on Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte ended up turning around and fleeing east under overcast skies. Some fleeing rebels shouted, "Sarkozy, where are you?" — a reference to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the strongest supporters of international airstrikes.

World leaders in London, meanwhile, debated how far they should go to force an end to Gadhafi's 41-year autocratic rule. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the world must speak with a single voice to ensure that the North African country "belongs not to a dictator, but to its people."

Rockets and tank fire sent Libya's rebels in a panicked scramble away from the front lines. The opposition was able to bring up truck-mounted rocket launchers of their own and return fire, but they went into full retreat after government shelling resumed.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7495757.html

One day we will learn.......

I've said all along that a no-fly-zone wouldn't be enough to topple Gadhaffi. Tanks, missiles, and artillery can be just as efficient, if not more so, because of their mobility, and they're easier to hide or place in heavily populated areas.

Instead, we could very easily be creating yet another group of people who hate and despise us.

It's all about priorities....

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/03/wow-that-was-fast-libyan-rebels-have.html

We're going to have to expand our rules of engagement, if we're going to exterminate Qaddafi's forces inside the towns. We've been avoiding the risk of collateral (civilian) damage so far, but if the rebels start to lose, our ethical decisions may need to change.

If the rebels are shouting for Sarkozy to help, they are indeed in bad shape.

:hi:

Stomp the bastards.

:shrug: That would show 'em huh?

U.S. deploys low-flying attack planes in Libya


edit: oops, meant to respond to the same one you did.

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That is who his army mostly consists of, from my understanding. He is bringing in outside help, because he doesn't have any support from the people in his nation, to put down the people of his nation.