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.