So, It Seems Yemen's Protesters Have Succeeded In Ousting Their President...

Developing story on Al Jazeera English, watch here: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/



LBN OP on this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4780483">Yemen's Most Powerful Army Officer (controls 60% of military) Says He Will Protect The Protesters

This is a "must watch" short (25 minute) documentary made by Al Jazeera Englsih if you want to see how the grassroots protest evolved in Yemen...

Yemen: A tale of two protests
As demonstrations advance across Yemen, People&Power follows activist Tawakkol Karman.
Last Modified: 16 Mar 2011 13:56
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/peopleandpower/2011/03/201131683916701492.html

The calypso caucus approves.

:(

Quick question. Are we bombing Libya because their military didn't defect? I've been so distracted by Japan that I haven't kept up with since about, oh, I don't know, maybe March 12th.

Gaddafi bombed the eastern munitions depots as soon as those defections happened. It was a very tactical move that he probably had planned for several decades.

Now, here's what I don't get. Should the Yemen military be considered enemy combatants since they defected? People were saying that for Libya. :(

liberation movements going on in the middle east? Suddenly, we're at war and I feel like I got left behind, way behind.

Libya, military defects, president bombs the fuck out of them.

That's how it's different.

Revolutionaries were losing ground bad and the UN decided to intervene as they begged the international community for help.

Libyan civilians. Okay, I can support that, then.

There's Benghazi (rebel stronghold in the east), and Tripoli (Gaddafi stronghold) in the west, with lots of distance between the two major cities. The rebels were advancing very well toward Tripoli but that made them stretched out along that distance, and Gaddafi simply used air power against them. There's no cover from it, and this has always been the problem with any military action in that area, even in WW2 (as John McCain said, whoever controls the air is going to win). So the rebels retreated back to Benghazi and Gaddafi had a very large convoy almost there when the NFZ strikes started just in time.

Also, there's no power or electricity or gas or cell/internet communications, and little food left by now since the uprising started about a month ago.

. . . please bear with my ignorance, I'm NOT trying to be an wise-*ss . . .

I'd have thought that imposing a "no-fly zone" would mean, we stop the Libyan old regime from flying, so as to prevent them from bombing their own people, which seemed to be doing them the greatest harm.

Instead, it seems to mean, WE're bombing THEM so as to take out the country's ability to defend themselves from US.

Wouldn't our "no-fly" goal have been accomplished simply by taking out their planes and airports? What exactly are we doing?

Thanks.

...taking out any attempts at aggression toward the revolutionaries.

The vast majority of the revolutionaries are unarmed protesters.

I wrote this to gateley last night in reference to counting and describing the nature of anti-Gadaffi support in Libya, so I won't just retype it:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=701450&mesg_id=702317

The Libyan social structure has really been morphed in the past 42 years and it's not easy to understand. I was quite puzzled by the idea of "how will they replace the existing structure when they are so much out of practice in the skills of organization building because all organizations have been banned." Then I realized the solution was simple: there are no organizations to replace. There are few places where there is a deep-set loyalty to Gadaffi, and even the traditional system of tribal loyalties has been weakened.

Nasser sent Egyptian troops there in the 60s, it was a Cold War battleground in the 70s and 80s and now with the "War On Terror". This country is more like Somalia than Libya...tribal in nature and very hard to govern. The military is the only unifying force and its been a constant battle among the tribes to control the military and thus the country. When one clan gets too powerful the others rise up. Thus trying to equate what's going on in Yemen with Libya is a stretch (btw Yemen doesn't have much oil...so there goes that strawman).

Not all "liberation" movements are the same...or for "liberation". In Bahrain, this has turned into a Shiite vs. Sunni struggle which is why the Saudis got all ferklempt and sent in their military. Libya is more of a "classic" revolution/civil war where a younger group of officers and military try to overthrow the establishment...that's how Gadaffi came to power in '69.

History can be a good guide in what has and will happen. You're not left behind...it's just a void of information from a lazy corporate media.

Then, the king tried to form a militant resistance to topple Gaddafi and get his throne back, the CIA stopped it.

They occupied what was then called Wheelus Air Base. King Idris like Farouk were the Mubaraks and Gadaffis of their age...who had corrupt regimes that led to a younger generation rising up and overthrowing them. That's one similarity I see in the various uprising around the Middle East. How they're achieved and their root causes are very different and thus why each should be watched closely and with an understanding of the history and culture of the particular country. Sadly we get a lot of one-size fits-all in the "analysis" and thus opens the doors to strawmen and false equivelencies.

Thank you for all your fine posts picking up the ball regarding Libya...it's been a very important resource in getting a better understanding and context to what's happening.

Cheers...

and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

Gaddafi started bombing his people in their sleep---he is ready to mustard gas them too. Yemen is a totally different situation to Libya.

...to deploy it. It'd have to be a suicide mission.

Al Jazeera Yemen Live Blog
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/yemen-live-blog-march-22