Libya Wages Counterattack Against Rebels on 3 Fronts

Libya Wages Counterattack Against Rebels on 3 Fronts

By KAREEM FAHIM and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: February 28, 2011

BENGHAZI, Libya — Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces struck back on three fronts on Monday, using fighter jets, special forces units and regular army troops in an escalation of hostilities that brought Libya closer to civil war.

The attacks by the colonel’s troops on an oil refinery in central Libya and on cities on either side of the country unsettled rebel leaders — who earlier had claimed they were close to liberating the country — and showed that despite defections by the military, the government still possessed powerful assets, including fighter pilots willing to bomb Libyan cities.

An international campaign to force Colonel Qaddafi from power gathered pace on Monday as the Obama administration announced it had seized $30 billion in Libyan assets and the European Union adopted an arms embargo and other sanctions. As the Pentagon began repositioning Navy warships to support a possible military intervention, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton bluntly told the Libyan leader to surrender power “now, without further violence or delay.”

<snip>

In Zawiyah, a city with important oil resources just 30 miles from the capital, residents said about 200 heavily armed soldiers in uniforms approached from the east early in the morning. At around 4:30 in the afternoon they tried to break through makeshift barricades at the city gates but came under heavy fire and were rebuffed, said the residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals against themselves or their families.


More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/world/africa/01unrest.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

________________________________________________________




(Ed. to add graphic.)

That fool is causing even more death and destruction by resisting the inevitable.

From AJE Live Blog - Libya March 1:

(All times are local in Libya GMT+2) < (USA EST +7, PST +10) >

1:40am Abdullah, a witness speaking to Al Jazeera from Misurata, about 200km east of Tripoli, says:

"There’s now artillery shelling on the suburbs of Misurata and on the Air force college, south west of Misurata. There are also helicopters trying to bomb the local broadcast.

"They are also using heavy weapons against the protestors ... also last night helicopters dropped leaflets and threats from the regime.

"A plane fell in the sea and we arrested five of its crew ... we have weapons trying to use to defend ourselves but it is normal weapons that cannot be compared to the planes or tanks or armored vehicles or the heavy weapons they use to bomb us ... we are the defending righteous and freedom ... we want him to leave."

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/live-blog-libya-march-1

Gadaffi is a fucking lunatic. First he tries to drum up American support by claiming it was "Bin Laden" and "hallucinogenic drugs" causing this. Nice try picking the right wings two biggest boogymen. THen he claims that there are no protests and his people love him.

Where the fuck is Jack Reacher when you need him.