Rebels halt Red Cross mission into Libya's Sirte

Here is a devastating MSNBC report showing what the NTC rebels think of protecting civilians:

SIRTE, Libya — A Red Cross convoy trying to take medical supplies into Libya's besieged city of Sirte had to turn back on Monday because forces seeking to capture the city from fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi opened fire on the town.

Aid agencies say Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown, is suffering a humanitarian crisis because civilians are trapped inside by the fighting while food, water, fuel and medical supplies are running out.

"The city is under siege, encircled and the fighting is very fierce," International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman Soaade Messoudi in Tripoli told msnbc.com. "The situation is therefore very difficult, especially for civilians still in the city

The ICRC assembled a convoy of two trucks carrying aid, and accompanied by two four-wheel drive vehicles.

The convoy set off from a bridge a few miles west of Sirte, but came to a halt after travelling only about 100 yards because interim government forces started firing into the city.

They fired a heavy barrage of mortars, artillery, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft weapons just as the convoy was starting to move. The ICRC convoy turned and headed west, away from Sirte.

An anti-Gadhafi commander at the scene, Ismail Al-Sosi, told Reuters: "The rebels secured the way for the International Red Cross to go but as soon as they entered the city they returned because of the (pro-Gadhafi) militias firing."

"We did not start the firing. The militias started the firing," he said.

However, a Reuters team who witnessed the incident said they saw no incoming fire from the Gadhafi loyalists inside Sirte.

On Sunday, medical workers fleeing the city said people wounded in fighting were dying on the operating table because fuel from the hospital generator had run out.

The interim government, the National Transitional Council (NTC), declared a two-day truce to allow civilians to escape, but people emerging from the city said they knew nothing of the ceasefire, and that the shooting had not stopped.

"Doctors start operating, then the power goes. They have a few liters of fuel for the generators, then the lights go out when they operate," said a man who gave his name as Al-Sadiq, who said he ran the dialysis unit at Sirte's main hospital.

ICRC workers who brought medical supplies into Sirte Saturday could not reach the hospital because of shooting.

"It's a catastrophe. Patients are dying every day for need of oxygen," said Mohammed Shnaq, a biochemist at the hospital who fled early Sunday during a lull in the shooting.

"We want to deliver oxygen, which is lacking at the hospital," ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard told Reuters in Geneva.

"But it has to be done carefully, oxygen is very delicate. A stray bullet would be a disaster."

We've covered the backstory of the lack of oxygen in Sirte below. NATO inexplicitly bombed the factory in June.

NATO Lie Exposed: Gaddafi Forces NOT Using Civilians as "Human Shields"

A recurring theme throughout this war has been that the Green pro-Gaddafi forces have been using the civilian people hostage as "human shields." This has been repeated by NATO spokespeople of late to justify continued NATO bombing. But is it true?

Given the heavy fighting of the last 2-3 weeks on all exit roads leaving from Sirte, it is certainly true that leaving the City has been a difficult proposition. Yet hundreds of cars have been able to leave each day in a constant trickle.

Civilians who have left have mostly blamed the intense fighting on the main roads for the difficulty leaving and why many have stayed behind. Yet some have also said things like Gaddafi's forces were not letting people go down certain roads out of the City because of the dangerous fighting. This has been interpreted as meaning Gaddafi's forces were keen on keeping civilians behind so they can be used as "human shields." Of course, it could not mean that soldiers were simply trying to protect civilians from driving straight into people firing wildly on anything that moves.

This weekend's 2 day "cease fire" announced by the NTC appears to have thrown NATO's narrative off however - as long lines of of thousands of cars have taken advantage of the lull to clog up the the main roads (at least in some areas - it appears fighting remains in others). It s the biggest exodus of people by far.

So what has changed? Quite obviously the difference is that the rebels stopped attacking for a couple days. If Gaddafi's troops were the only thing holding people behind, they would still be enforcing the roadblocks. Obviously they are not given the massive amount of cars blocking the road.

So another NATO lie used to justify violence against civilians gets exposed. And the mainstream media does not take notice. What new?

Libya: NATO Bombed Oxygen factory in Sirte - Civiians Suffer

After a visit by the Red Cross to Sirte, the dire situation for civilians in that besieged city is finally being reported. As Reuters says: in a rare brutally honest headline "Shortages "killing patients" in Libya siege hospital."

Well, beyond NATO and the rebels cutting off fuel, food, water and electricity, the main hospital in the City lacks Oxygen, which is an essential part of almost any major surgery. Why is the City lacking Oxygen when it had a functioning Oxygen manufacturing plant within the city limits?

Upon reading the report, I remembered that I thought I'd heard something about NATO bombing an Oxygen plant a few months ago. A bit of searching and indeed, here is the video evidence showing the destruction of what is very clearly an Oxygen plant. Check it out:


Skip past the first minute and a half to get to the report (in English)

What possible military justification can there be for bombing an Oxygen factory? Has anyone care to ask NATO about this or any of the other bombing of civilian infrastructure?

"It's a catastrophe. Patients are dying every day for need of oxygen," said Mohammed Shnaq, a biochemist at the hospital who fled early on Sunday during a lull in the shooting.

So we have a situation where the rebels are shelling and attacking residential districts indiscriminately sending hundreds to the hospitals, where NATO is again being brought in to act as the rebel's air force. The result is clearly an increase the suffering of the everyday people of Sirte. What happened to protecting civilians? The people of Sirte and Bani Walid (and other places) must wonder how an attack on their neighborhood with heavy weapons is actually protecting them. Have NATO's lawyers explain.

Misurata Rebels Accused of Ethnic Cleansing

A rebel drives through Tawerga as buildings burn in the background

The fact that 35,000 black Libyans who lived in a town called Tawerga are completely missing should be a tad bit alarming. Add to that the fact that most of the town has been looted and torched to the ground with racist grafitti everywhere makes clear the evil nature of what has happened.

Even this is not enough, as this NY Times article makes clear.

As the Tawergans have sought safety in other cities, including Surt and Tripoli, they say Misurata’s fighters are stalking them and rounding up their men.

Tawergans say Misurata has ignored betrayals by its other neighbors, singling out Tawerga because most of the residents are black. Graffiti on their emptied homes deepens their conviction: “Misurata’s slaves” appears on many walls. Fighters from Misurata say race had nothing to do with it. The Tawergans’ crimes were unforgivable, they said, and as far as they were concerned, the town had ceased to exist.

“They can’t live next to us,” said Salem Hussein Kanemo, an official from Misurata (seen loading up trucks with stolen food and furniture.)

On the wall of an apartment occupied by young fighters from Misurata, someone else had scrawled, “Don’t buy slaves without a stick."

Anywhere in the world human rights organizations would be calling this a crime against humanity - evidence of ethnic cleansing. Instead it goes largely ignored, particularly by Western political leaders ultimately responsible for supporting the perpetrators - the NTC rebels.


Tawerga residents make do in a deserted naval completx in Tripli where they are subject to arbitrary arrest - as well as rape and beatings

The question of who exactly is responsible for these crimes is becoming even more significant. The piece makes clear that it is rebels from Misurata. This is significant because the leader of these fighters might just soon be the most important man in Libya. Stay tuned, but the Islamists and Misuratans have put forward the name of Misurata commander Abdul Rahman al Swehli to lead the NTC once they oust the Western educated elites now in charge. "Free Libya" may soon be led by Al Qaeda and warlords responsible for ethnic cleansing.

Libya's New Leaders Face Opposition

This piece by Darfur expert Rob Crilly makes clear that the Libyan NTC rebel facade is crumbling. The people are getting to know the rebels and slowly come out of their shell.

While still absolutely afraid to express themselves in the presence of armed rebels, the Libyan people are beginning to talk to Western reporters.

A stranger fell into step alongside me... "We don't all support the NTC here," he said, referring to the rebel National Transitional Council which now controls Tripoli.

My new friend didn't say much more, other than to praise Saif Gaddafi and the office he ran as a sort of government ombudsman, helping petitioners sort out their local disputes.

He wasn't the only one. A few days earlier, several hundred marchers had demonstrated against the country's new leadership. At about the same time, I had been in Ras Lanuf, where a girl -- not much older than five I would guess -- was sitting on the curbside. The town had only recently been taken by rebels. "Gaddafi for ever," she shouted at me in Arabic, which my fixer translated for me before explaining that the town's residents had done well from the oil boom years.

In fact, the whole of the country had done well. That was Gaddafi's deal. He would rule as he wished... but at the same time he provided good roads, schools and hospitals and a standard of living that was the envy of much of the rest of Africa. On the edge of Benghazi, Saif was building an entire new city of apartment blocks to replace old, dilapidated buildings in the centre. This unstable-seeming equilibrium lasted almost 42 years.

Libya: Who is Attacking Civillians Now?

Consistent reporting from two raging battlefronts in Sirte and Bani Walid, Libya shows the attacking rebel army getting their butt kicked. Despite having thousands of men, all the heavy ammunition, artillery and even tanks they need, the rebels have have faced a "disorderly retreat" now on multiple occasions.

As the rebels themselves make clear the main problem is that the people in these cities are not with them. There are thousands of residents defending their own homes and neighborhoods. Rebels suspect pro-Gaddafi traitors in the form of locals the NTC insisted be part of any attack to make it seem less like an invasion (a plan since scratched in favor of bringing in the battle tested). The Times also cites battle fatigue, inexperience and lack of discipline.

As this merciless attack unfolds with NATO bombs raining down on these cities every night, the main question the press should be asking itself is the question NATO is supposed be asking itself before any action - exactly who is attacking civilians? In Bani Walid and Sirte, along with the "pro-Gaddafi region" north of Sebha now under attack, the answer is not at all hard to figure out. Peaceful cities are being attacked by a ragtag group of insurgents who are not afraid to fire aircraft artillery and mortars totally indiscriminately.

How many have died from rebel ammunition will never be told by the NTC - and the West/Western press don't care to find out either. And this is not at all a new situation. The rebels have been the main attacking force throughout the 6 month conflict - a situation no one in the UN has apparently cared to make note of because it would undermine the entire legal rationale of NATO's attacks.

We've Just Put the Taliban in Power in Libya

Despite being ignored by almost everyone, an extraordinary development occurred this week in Libya. This excellent piece of NY Times journalism lays bare what is really going on in there. It ain't pretty - but wholly expected.

To put it short, Libya is well on its way to turning into Saudi Arabia or Iran - an Islamic Republic. The once hidden split between the radical Islamists and the more secular liberals has become became very public and already it seems clear who will be calling shots very soon (hint: if you were US educated and a secularist, it ain't good).

In the emerging post-Qaddafi Libya, the most influential politician may well be Ali Sallabi (Muslim Brotherhood cleric linked to the LIFG)...The most powerful military leader is now Abdel Hakim Belhaj, the former leader of a hard-line group once believed to be aligned with Al Qaeda...a Muslim Brotherhood figure, Abel al-Rajazk Abu Hajar, leads the Tripoli Municipal Governing Council, where Islamists are reportedly in the majority...

Mr. Belhaj has become so much an insider lately that he is seeking to unseat Mahmoud Jibril, the American-trained economist who is the nominal prime minister of the interim government, after Mr. Jibril obliquely criticized the Islamists...“Jibril will be gone soon,” one aide to Mr. Belhaj said.

Fathi Ben Issa, a former Etilaf (powerful Islamist grouping issuing directives now) member who became an early representative on the Tripoli council, said he quit his position after learning that the Muslim Brotherhood members who dominate that body wanted to ban theater, cinema and arts like sculpture of the human form. “They were like the Taliban,” he said...The final straw, he said, came when Etilaf began circulating a proposed fatwa, or decree, to bar women from driving.

So the people in charge of the most important "council" in this new Libya are nuts like the Taliban and the most important military man is the leader of an Al-Qaeda affiliate/terrorist group? Since Islamists are predicted to win a majority in elections, "liberals" are already calling for a delay before any vote.

Job well done NATO. Die to kill Taliban-like Muslim fundamentalists in Afghanistan. Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, etc - and also die to put them in power in Libya. It's about to get confusing. How long before you have to begin "operations" against these "partners in arms" - NATO and Libyan Islamists.