Libyan Revolution Tweets, Day 6, Part 8 (Richard III in a bad & dangerous way)

[Catherina]

Libyan Revolution Tweets, Day 6, Part 8 (Richard III in a bad & dangerous way)

"Let fall thy lance: despair, and die!" - Shakespeare, The Life and Death of Richard the Third, Act 5, Scene III, Bosworth Field

The world’s 100 largest arms dealers, excluding Chinese vendors, sold weapons for $401 billion in 2009, with US vendors remaining in first place

Today's threads: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Threads for previous days are in my journal

To make sure the Army doesn't swing the revolution to the people, with the silent complicity of world leaders more concerned about the stability of oil prices than people's lives, Qaddafi has brought in more than 35,000 North African mercenaries specifically from Chad, Nigeria, Guinea and Darfur. There's a Facebook video of a captured mercenary from Chad (Youtube here). Captured mercenaries confessed they were paid between $12,000 - $30,000 each. Today pamphlet ads were found in Nigeria offering them $2000/day for their savage work.

Is Qaddafi the only one paying these mercenaries? Or are EU governments, with their long history of hiring mercenaries, chipping in? I demand to know.

LibyanThinker The Libyan Thinker
Remains of Soldiers Burned to Death for Not Shooting Protesters in #Libya http://www.twitvid.com/YXKOT & http://tinyurl.com/4d6a57n

MAP of Protests across the Middle East

]



Please rec if you read these so I know if the effort here is worth it.

[pinboy3niner]

1. K&R

[Catherina]

3. Dangerously quick there!

:hi:

[pinboy3niner]

5. LOL!

Well, I had a nap. :)

:hi:

[Catherina]

2. Libyan army under Mahdi Alarbi " pro protesters" are Preparing to move into Tripoli!! finely our arm

libyans_revolt omar
by MushuThaLohari
a call fon from zawia 2 AJ: Libyan army under Mahdi Alarbi " pro protesters" are Preparing to move into Tripoli!! finely our army gona do it
7 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[Catherina]

4. Large army force attempting to suppress revolt in Sebrata, shows #Gaddafi is still able to command s

MilitantNews MilitantNews
#Libya - Large army force attempting to suppress revolt in Sebrata, shows #Gaddafi is still able to command some troops outside Tripoli.
4 minutes ago Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

[Catherina]

6. Beyonce performed for Qaddafi's son?

Anything for $2 million I guess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_nuFFCbruU&NR=1

Please don't ask me how I found this. Ok, I found it from when I was checking a really silly tweet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpDNbVeS2P8

[steve2470]

you rock Catherina, such hard work for Libya nt

[Catherina]

13. Thanks. I feel honored to do this small part to help, also if anyone ever wants to write a book

or do a thesis or something :)

[Lars77]

7. You are doing a great job, Catherina nt

[Raksha]

8. K & R

[Poboy]

9. I honestly do not know how you are able to keep doing this, but thank you.

Its like you're super human. What can I say....wow.
Be sure to get rest when you need it.

[Catherina]

15. Slept 6 hours last night. Feel SO good now! And all else is on hold during this n/t

[UndertheOcean]

10. k&R n/t

[TriMera]

11. k&r. Thank you, Catherina. n/t

[maryf]

12. K&R

your effort is invaluable!! still catching up...

[steve2470]

14. some govt. guy lying so much on Libya state TV now

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

[CJvR]

17. Have...

...Bagdad Bob found a new job?

LOL! He mentioned that the situation is calming down, yeah that is because the Gaddafi forces have been defeated!

[steve2470]

18. I think it's his brother :p nt

[Dennis Donovan]

24. Jeb Qadaffi?

:D

[Dennis Donovan]

21. The stooge is saying they're setting up a "commission" to out the troublemakers...

Hitler and Stalin did the same thing...

[Catherina]

22. Must be the guy who handed Qaddafi the note reminding him to attack Al Jazeera

during his psychokiller 90 minute ramble.

[Catherina]

16. Thank you for all the thank yous and the extra hearts! Feel overwhelmed and honored!

:loveya:

Now back to work, someone crack that whip for me.

[Catherina]

19. Embracing Gaddafi was Canada’s shame

12fevrier Ouled Eldzair
John Ivison: Embracing Gaddafi was Canada’s shame | Full Comment | National Post: http://bit.ly/i6G4aN via @addthis
10 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Embracing Gaddafi was Canada’s shame

John Ivison February 22, 2011 – 4:30 pm

...

Canadians shaking their heads in disbelief that such a monster is still in power should be aware of our own role in keeping him there.

...

Mr. Martin tried to rationalize his visit to Tripoli, claiming it was about rewarding Gaddafi for a “fundamental shift in position” away from terror and toward the league of nations.

In reality, it was a trade mission to make the case for Canadian companies, just as Libya was getting ready to fling open its doors to foreign investment in its oil industry. The scramble for North African oil saw more than 40 companies flood into Libya, including BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Canada’s Petro-Can. As the oil industry flooded Libya with petro-dollars, the Gaddafi regime bought jet aircraft, machinery and wheat from Canada. SNC Lavalin, the Canadian engineering giant, has since been awarded a $450-million contract to develop part of a water system that will transport potable water from the southern Libyan desert to the Mediterranean coast. In trade terms, Mr. Martin’s gambit was a complete success — bilateral trade has risen from zero in 2006 to nearly $300-million.

Canada and other Western countries, including (unforgivably) Britain, ignored the fact that the man whose government was reaping the benefits of all this commerce once ordered that a bomb be put on a PanAm airliner that blew up over Lockerbie — still the worst act of mass murder in British history.

...

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/02/22/john-ivison-embracing-gaddafi-was-canadas-shame/

[Dennis Donovan]

23. The Neocons in the US did the same thing...

They paid him to say "ooh! The US invading Iraq has made me renounce terrorism, therefore their invasion of Iraq was a GOOD thing!"

OK, I paraphrased a bit...;-)

[Lars77]

20. Ben Johnson was Saadi Ghadaffi's personal trainer in 1999

In 1999, Johnson made headlines again when it was revealed that he had been hired by Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi to act as a football coach for his son, Al-Saadi Qadhafi, who aspired to join an Italian football club. Al-Saadi ultimately did join an Italian team but was sacked after one game when he failed a drug test. Johnson's publicist in Canada had predicted in The Globe and Mail that his training of the young Qadhafi would earn Johnson a Nobel Peace Prize.

Shortly after his leaving Libya, it was reported that Johnson had been robbed of $7,300 by a Romany gang in Rome. His wallet was taken, containing $7,300 in cash, the proceeds of his pay for training Qadhafi. Johnson gave chase, but was unable to catch them after they vanished into a subway station.

From Wikipedia, i can't vouch for the secont paragraph but the first one is true. He actually joined several Italian clubs, probably because they were paid to take him. Udinese and Sampdoria are both top level professional clubs in Italy and well-known in Europe. His last contract was with Red Star Belgrade, the fascinst/nationalist club in Belgrade. Arkan recruited a lot of his death squad goons from their ultraviolent fans, and their fans still openly hail Milosevic today.



Swell guy.

[Catherina]

25. BBC says Gaddafi is attacking army bases who defected. A warning that the beast is not dead, but des

MilitantNews MilitantNews
#Libya BBC says Gaddafi is attacking army bases who defected. A warning that the beast is not dead, but desperate tactic that will back fire
5 minutes ago Favorite Undo Retweet Replyon this issue?

[maryf]

27. full on civil war it sounds like...nt

[Catherina]

34. I don't think he'll get his wish, everyone seems very united against him

A man who has to hire 35,000 mercenaries at $2000/day doesn't have enough support to wage a civil war.

I read he can only count on 5000 of the 45,000 military corps.

[maryf]

54. That's good to hear!

thanks again enormously!

[maryf]

26. Not a historian, but here's some history I got today

I show the first two and last two paragraphs, a whole lot in between

http://www.counterpunch.org/prashad02222011.html

The Bang That Ends Qaddafi's Revolution?
The Libyan Labyrinth

By VIJAY PRASHAD

In 1969, Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi (age 27) surprised the aged King Idris, then in Turkey for medical treatment. Inspired by the Free Officers in Egypt, Qaddafi and his fellow Colonels force-marched the fragile Libyan State and even more fragile Libyan society into socialism. Libya’s main product was its oil, and by the time Idris was deposed the country exported three million barrels of oil per day. Scandalously, it received the lowest rent per barrel in the world. Idris feasted on the rents, and the people suffered immeasurably. It is the reason why there was barely any opposition to Qaddafi’s coup.

Qaddafi’s regime pushed forward a series of radical developments to transform Libyan society. Libya had the misfortune of being a distant outpost of both the Ottoman Empire and the Italian colonial adventures. It wanted for the most basic social development. Over the first decade of the Qaddafi regime, the state took charge of the oil fields and raised their rents. That money was then diverted toward social welfare, mainly an increase in housing and health care. Over the second decade (1978-1988), the regime constrained private enterprise and encouraged workers to take over control of about two hundred firms. Redistribution of land on the Jefara plain west of Tripoli was the rural cognate. The State stepped in to manage all macro-economic functions, at the same time as the Central Bank redistributed wealth by putting a ceiling on bank account holdings.

<snip>

Uprisings in the east combined with the neo-liberal efforts from Tripoli have alienated large sections of the population against the Gaddafi regime. Little of the luster of 1969 remains with the old man. He is a caricature of the aged revolutionary. We are far from the “revolutionary instigator” whose watchword was “the masses take command of their destiny and their wealth.” The game will be up when the military tilts its support (that two Colonels in their Mirages have sought refuge in Malta rather than fire on the crowds in Tripoli is an early indication of one direction, but on the other are those other pilots who did open fire on the crowd). The issue is not yet settled.

The masses have come out. Old rivalries and new grievances are united. Some of them are for reactionary tribal purposes, and others seek liberation from “reforms.” Some cavil that a country of 6 million with such oil wealth does not look like the Emirates, and others simply want to have some more control of their lives. But most want release from the hidden corridors of the Libyan labyrinth.

Vijay Prashad is the George and Martha Kellner Chair of South Asian History and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT His most recent book, The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World, won the Muzaffar Ahmad Book Prize for 2009. The Swedish and French editions are just out. He can be reached at: [e-mail]

[Catherina]

31. Benghazi youth are running the city...cleaning, directing traffic, people donating food, money & med

EndTyranny01 End Tyranny
by monasosh
Benghazi youth are running the city...cleaning, directing traffic, people donating food, money & medicine..Amazing scenes of unity #libya
11 minutes ago

[maryf]

55. good strong hearts!

the people will prevail!

[ancient_nomad]

28. Gadhafi attacking army bases who defected

MilitantNews MilitantNews
by Catherina_Guate
#Libya BBC says Gaddafi is attacking army bases who defected. A warning that the beast is not dead, but desperate tactic that will back fire
7 minutes ago

[ancient_nomad]

29. Two battleships have arrived in Malta......

SultanAlQassemi Sultan Al Qassemi
Al Jazeera breaking: @AJArabic Correspondent: Two battleships have arrived in Malta after refusing Gaddafi's orders to shell Benghazi #Libya
4 minutes ago

[Catherina]

41. What kind of depravity is this? How do you shell your own people?

He doesn't have any suitcase nukes does he? Really I shiver, with all the merc contacts he has, I worry, he has no moral boundaries.

[Catherina]

30. Egyptian regime trick: getting ppls accts suspended for "security reasons"

NancyAngela Nancy
@Sabrology account been suspended ad he's experiencing numerous take-over attempts over his FB profile. they are still at it #Egypt #Jan25
20 Feb

so he reregisters

SabrologyIsMad Ahmed Sabry
@waelabbass @alaa @monaeltahawy My twitter account has been suspended for no reason, and i am suspecting the Egyptian gov! i am @sabrology
21 Feb

SabrologyIsMad Ahmed Sabry
. @twitter suspended my account @sabrology for no reason and they are not answering in the help forum or emails for 2 days now! #twitter
21 Feb Favorite Retweet Reply

SabrologyIsMad Ahmed Sabry
.@twitter do not reply to emails and they just suspended @Sabrology for no reason, #FreeSabrology it was suspended due to political reasons
43 minutes ago


And of course, once they figured out he was back, suspended again

[Catherina]

32. "Drivers are scared to take food to Benghazi because the are people on hallucinogens

SultanAlQassemi Sultan Al Qassemi
Bel Qasim, the Sec Gen of the People's Commitee: Drivers are scared to take food to Benghazi because the are people on hallucinogens #Libya
32 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply

OMG. This would be so comical if not so tragic.

[Dennis Donovan]

44. Sounds like a waste of perfectly good hallucinogens...

;-)

[steve2470]

33. Reports: Defecting Libyan warship near Malta, AFM denial

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110222/local/naval-asset-monitored-off-malta

A Libyan warship carrying defecting Libyan officers is sailing close to Malta and is being closely watched by the Italian frigate Fenice, according to reports in the international media.

The AFM, however, has denied the reports and said it was not monitoring any vessel near Malta.

The AFM is known to be on alert. An Islander maritime patrol aircraft took off from Luqa about an hour ago.

[Dennis Donovan]

39. Cal Perry on AJE said there's unconfirmed reports that the sailors on the Libyan ships were...

...tossing their weapons overboard. Unconfirmed...

[Catherina]

35. thousands more #mercenaries arriving all time, now roaming towns firing wildly at everyone possible

MilitantNews MilitantNews
#Libya Reports of thousands of more #mercenaries arriving all time, now roaming towns firing wildly at everyone possible
42 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[Dennis Donovan]

37. Any illustrious Xe personnel involved?

I'd really be interested to know if American mercenaries are involved...:grr:

[Catherina]

46. They were spotted bit I have nothing more than that they were there to protect

oil execs.

[Kali]

50. Xe hired non Americans too

[Catherina]

52. Word. And not just XE. Govt black ops do it all the time. I especially don't trust

the UK and Italy here.

[Catherina]

36. State TV: Mercenaries were used to make a mess in Benghazi by protesters, not us

Abdulla_AlAthba عبدالله العذبة
by acarvin
TV state speaker: Mercenaries were used to make a mess in #Benghazi by those who claim to be prosesters, not us. #Libya #Gaddafi
5 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Really? The poor drug-crazed protesters had all that money? Or was it the US/Al-Qaeda Cooperative?

[Catherina]

38. Did the UN even announce anything there? All I heard was noise n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

40. Something about official genocide, Gaddafi said something in code in speech

"and now genocide has started".

[Catherina]

49. & it took them that long to decipher the code?

Ibishblog Hussein Ibish
by blakehounshell
Wow. That's kind of amazing. The UN Security Council has reportedly adjourned without issuing any statement. #epicfail
7 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[dixiegrrrrl]

53. WTF????? NO statement??????

Guess there is no problem.

Or, worse yet, guess there are covert operations being planned, to protect the oil.
Get Gaddafi out, put another malleable idiot in place.

[Catherina]

42. CONFIRMED: #FASHLOOM and #Tajoura are under attack now.

Libyayalibya Libyan Kid
by ChangeInLibya
CONFIRMED: #FASHLOOM and #Tajoura are under attack now. #CNN #UN #FREE #LIBYA.
5 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[Catherina]

43. Defected Int. Min. said to Al Arabiya he could not accept Gaddafi's orders 2 open fire & bomb protes

Dima_Khatib Dima Khatib أنا ديمة
Defected Interior Minister said to Al Arabiya that he could not accept Gaddafi's orders to open fire on protesters & bomb them #libya #feb17
4 minutes ago

[Catherina]

45. Unconfirmed: guns were being dumped in to the sea from the Libyan navy ship off the coast of Malta

shaistaAziz Shaista Aziz
by acarvin
AJE: Unconfirmed reports guns were being dumped in to the sea from the Libyan navy ship off the coast of Malta #Feb17 #Libya
16 minutes ago

[steve2470]

47. Schlumberger Shuts Down Libya Operations - CEO

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110222-717341.html

[Catherina]

48. Peru just suspended its diplomatic relations with Libya until violence against the people stops.

gr33ndata Tarek Amr
by Zeinobia
Peru just suspended its diplomatic relations with Libya until violence against the people stops. #Feb17 v @emiliosalcedot @Dima_Khatib
8 minutes ago

[Catherina]

51. Part 9 here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x484467

for dial up reasons