Topic: War and Peace News - on March 19, 2011 at 10:40:00 AM CET
Gaddafi forces 'try to storm Benghazi'
Reports from Libya say pro-government forces have entered the western outskirts of the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, with the city coming under attack also from the coast and the south.
Witnesses in Bengazi, in the east of the country, said they heard large explosions early on Saturday. Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from the city, told of multiple explosions taking place and a fighter jet getting shot down.
Government troops reportedly bombed the southern Benghazi suburb of Goreshi among other places.
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 19, 2011 at 10:36:00 AM CET
Abdul Jalil also tells us that Benghazi hospitals are now being flooded with victims.
He says that the pro-democracy fighters do not have enough weapons and numbers to confront Gaddafi: "We only have light arms - Gaddafi seems to have new and powerful weapons."
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 19, 2011 at 10:30:00 AM CET
The Myth of the Useful Dictator
In a recent column mocking the argument for a military intervention in Libya, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd cited John Quincy Adams's famous dictum that the United States "goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy." Foreign-policy realists count Adams as their founding father; like him, they view American meddling in the internal struggles of faraway places as a species of national folly.
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 19, 2011 at 10:26:00 AM CET
Sounds of the fighting at frontline in Benghazi - Libya Alhurra TV: Mo is on the phone heavy battle
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 19, 2011 at 10:14:00 AM CET
Mig-23 shot down over Benghazi
A Mig-23 belonging to the [Gaddafi’s Libyan Arab Republic Air Force (LARAF) ??? ] was shot down over the outskirts of Benghazi, eastern Libya, in the morning of Mar. 19, 2011. Explosions shook the Libyan city of Benghazi early on Saturday while what could have been the downed Mig was heard flying overhead, and residents said the eastern rebel stronghold was under attack from Gaddafi’s forces in a clear violation of the ceasefire announced yesterday. A No-Fly Zone will be established in the next few hours over Libya to prevent LARAF from attacking rebels
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 19, 2011 at 10:12:00 AM CET
Libyan families tell of unfolding nightmare
Yesterday, I managed to speak by phone to a family that I met last week when I was in Ajdabya, a town about 160km west of Benghazi which has been pounded by Colonel al-Gaddafi’s military forces in recent days. The offensive was still continuing, the phone networks had been down and it had been impossible to reach anyone in the town.
The family told me they were sheltering in the desert about 40km east of Ajdabya. They were very distressed and very scared. They said there had been heavy shelling and bombing by Colonel al-Gaddafi’s forces, and that they did not know whether their home was still standing.
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 18, 2011 at 8:57:00 PM CET
Telecommunications have been cut off from Benghazi - powercuts around Bengazhi acording to aljazeera
LibyanYouthMovement City of Misrata facing continued shelling by gaddafi forces
Benghazi is preparing it self for any attack
ChangeInLibya Breaking from French TV TF1, the Corsica airbases have lit up the runways...maybe this is it.
Al Jazeera - Gaddfi forces advancing to Benghazi [reuters.com]
BREAKING Al Jazeera Arabic reporting the following from Benghazi
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Geminis and Sullog areas (approximately 50km south west of Benghazi) currently under heavy attack
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Gaddafi has used the navy to deploy troops in Gargoora region to make headway
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Gaddafi’s troops have progressed 60km in 2 hours towards Benghazi
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Reports that Gaddafi’s troops entered Misratah hospital today and killed the wounded
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Reports of 1200 families fled Ajdabiya via Al Kufrah headed towards Qubbah and Tobruk
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AlHurra Radio in Benghazi is calling on the Benghazi youth to take arms and prepare for battle
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The majority of media crews have left Benghazi after Saif’s threats. Al Jazeera is the only media
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Reports that Gaddafi forces fell into an ambush between Ajdabiya and Benghazi right now
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Sfwat Zayat, military analyst: I expect the UN sponsored air raids to start very soon, in hours. Obama gave clear threats to Gaddafi.
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Timestamp: 10:07pm Libya GMT+2 An AFP correspondent in Benghazi reports hearing a loud blast, followed by anti-aircraft fire. aljazeera.net
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CONFIRMED via Satellite phone frm Benghazi Gaddafi's troops have broken through Ajdabiya & r 23kms frm Benghazi with tanks & heavy artillery
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Loud explosion and anti-aircraft fire heard in Libyan city of Benghazi.
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AJA report on Ajdabiya, Mercenaries were killing anyone and everyone women children and elders, tanks on residential areas
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afp:benghazi has called on its people to defend the western gate leading into the city in antcipation of adavancing troops
Timestamp: 11:07pm GMT+1Finally! U.S. Ambassador to UN: #Gaddafi is violating UNSC resolution demanding immediate ceasefire
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 18, 2011 at 8:42:00 PM CET
Tripoli on edge as regime enters new phase in fight to survive
A radio broadcast of Col Muammar Gaddafi promising "zenga, zenga" (ally by ally) to root out his enemies in the east blared out across the gathering crowd. In its midst an unshaven minder wearing a dirty trench coat moved slowly listening to the conversations on the pavements.
A vendor of mobile phone top-up cards shrugged awkwardly when asked if the situation was calm as Col Gaddafi's regime entered a new phase in its battle for survival. "There is no problem in Libya. It does not exist except for foreigners making trouble," he said. "The policemen here know this – that's why they are only here when foreigners are around."
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 18, 2011 at 8:40:00 PM CET
Radio Free Libya in Benghazi calls on the youth to take up arms and prepare for battle
Qadaffi units bypassing Ajdabiya and heading towards benghazi
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 18, 2011 at 7:33:00 PM CET
West overzealous on Libya
Al Jazeera's senior political analyst discusses the risks and opportunities inherent in UNSC Resolution 1973
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 18, 2011 at 7:32:00 PM CET
How Obama turned on a dime toward war
At the start of this week, the consensus around Washington was that military action against Libya was not in the cards. However, in the last several days, the White House completely altered its stance and successfully pushed for the authorization for military intervention against Libyan leader Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi. What changed?
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Topic: War and Peace News - on March 18, 2011 at 7:24:00 PM CET
The White House - March 18, 2011 2:00 PM EDT
President Barack Obama demanded Friday that Moammar Gadhafi halt all military attacks against civilians and said that if the Libyan leader did not stand down the United States would join in military action against him.
Still, Obama also said the United States “is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya.”
In a brief appearance at the White House, Obama said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton would travel to Paris on Saturday to join in a meeting of allies called to discuss next steps in Libya, where Gadhafi has launched a brutal crackdown against rebels trying to end his 42-year reign.
I was awaiting a speech by Obama. It's unlike the USA to start a military operation without a statement from the President.
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