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?
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