Tunesia, Egyt and now Yemen: a domino effect in the Middle East?

I have become thin-skinned on this point in the past weeks - reading the most ridiculous, diametrically opposed opinions about a "US role."

But, in the case of the post you cite, I was directly agreeing with a poster's familiar story...hence the repetition.

Glad military intervention seems roundly dismissed.

We do differ about what constitutes hypocrisy.

Pakistan, Diplomat, CIA.
It's ok because everybody does it.

Sad truth - and great post.

It is the great unwashed masses who in the main have come out the losers, first deprived of control over what was our domain and then needing to sit through lectures about how we don't have the right to run our own lives as we find our pockets increasingly empty while watching the thieves party. We have had just about enough of the indignity though, our Arab and Persian brothers are slightly ahead of the curve, but as we see with the rise of the Tea Party America is not too far behind. I am thinking that there are signs of hope that the Europeans are not a lost cause as well.

What does lock-kneed mean?



It's not at all popular to bash the US. It's not even popular to point out the numerous war crimes. In fact folks avoid the issue like the plague.

I still can't get over the hypocrisy that you are failing to address, Lash, purposefully failing to address, big time, on these specific events. It's as clear as the nose on your face. The US, with the help of some bit players, has caused the vast majority of problems in the ME. The US is the one who has supported the dictators, same ole scenario, to the detriment of the people, same ole story.

Now you fly off on these fanciful tangents, because "they interest you"; yeah right! It's so you don't have to face the realities.

He has a hat! And an umbrella! He should really lose the hat.

Overnight and early morning Updates

In other developments:

• The US ordered all non-emergency staff to leave Libya – a sure sign that the crisis is worsening.

• Libya's justice minister announcing he was quitting, as did ambassadors in at least seven countries.

• Benghazi, Libya's second city and the scene of alleged massacres in recent days, was reported to be in the hands of anti-government protesters, but violence continued unabated. Residents were organising vigilante groups to protect themselves and distribute food.

• Information remained fragmentary and confused, with phone lines and the internet intermittently cut and al-Jazeera satellite TV reportedly jammed by Libyan intelligence.

• Qatar condemned the use of military aircraft and machine guns against unarmed protesters and called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League. (This is an important first step! (jpb))

• The death toll passed 250 after six days of unrest but this is a conservative estimate. Al-Jazeera quoted medical sources in Tripoli saying 61 people had died in the latest protests there. The International Federation of Human Rights estimated the death toll at 300 to 400.

Mid-afternoon summary:

2:02pm GMT: Here is a summary of key events so far:

• Muammar Gaddafi remains Libyan leader, despite intensifying calls for him to step down. Overnight Gaddafi appeared on state TV to refute claims he had fled the country. The station claimed he was speaking from outside his house, but rumours persist as to his actual whereabouts.

• Mercenaries continue to roam the streets in Tripoli, preventing people from gathering to protest, according to accounts given to the Guardian. Relatives of people in Libya have told of dead bodies in the streets of the capital, while people are running out of food and water as they feel too threatened to leave their houses.

• BA, KLM and BMI have cancelled their flights out of Libya today, according to the Foreign Office. Turkish Airlines, Air Malta, Alitallia, Austrian and Egypt Air are operating flights, but they are all full. The Foreign Office is advising Britons in Libya who do not have a pressing need to remain to travel to the airport carrying "sufficient cash to buy tickets". The FO has so far stopped short of providing a charter flight for Britons to leave, amid reports of people struggling to leave Libya.

• The UN security council is meeting in closed session in New York later today to discuss Gaddafi's brutal crackdown. Libya's deputy ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim al-Dabashi appealed for international intervention, starting with a no-fly zone over the country, to help stop "a real genocide".

3:18pm GMT: In Bahrain, the king has ordered the release of some political prisoners, "conceding another opposition demand as the embattled monarchy tries to engage protesters in talks aimed at ending an uprising that has entered its second week", as the Associated Press puts it.

3.14pm GMT: Al-Jazeera says "a Libyan naval asset" off the coast of Malta has been spotted by Italy. The implication seems to be that this may be a military ship that may be defecting – as fighter pilots did yesterday.

2:47pm GMT: Reuters is reporting that rebel soldiers have said the eastern region of Libya has broken free from Muammar Gaddafi, who witnesses said was using tanks, warplanes and mercenaries to fight a growing uprising against his rule.

"All the eastern regions are out of Gaddafi's control now ... The people and the army are hand-in-hand here," said the now former army major Hany Saad Marjaa.

2.43pm GMT: Reuters is reporting that Gaddafi is going to announce a plan to devolve power to local governments in his speech today.

2.39pm GMT: Hundreds of students in Gaza City have rallied in support of Libyan anti-Gaddafi protesters.

Thanks, I think

There's a difference between " 'breaking news' purity" and a digression that has completely lost the plot. The two (now three) posts I have in this thread that don't relate to the Middle East were pleas to stay at least somewhat on topic. They were both made when the subject had completely turned to "us" and how we interact with each other. There are a few thousand threads here that have devolved into the same meme and, like rjb, I find it tiring. Also, as rjb said, that's our problem and the thumb down button and scrolling works for the most part.

I don't think anyone is looking for purity of any kind, just a request to keep the snowball fights in perspective.

Gaddafi speaking now. He's rambling about his father. It's all about him.
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

3:57pm: He is speaking from the same former home that he filmed his last message from.

"I have given up the status," he says – it's unclear as yet what he means.

3.57pm: It is a rambling speech and unclear so far what point Gaddafi is trying to make.

3.55pm: Muammar Gaddafi has no status and no throne to give up, as other leaders do, he says. The revolution means to sacrifice till the end, the last breath of his life. This is his country and your country, he says, watered with our blood. May Allah curse those rats, he says, presumably his enemies.

3.55pm: Now Libyans can hold their heads high with pride, he says.

3.54pm: Gaddafi says others wanted to disfigure "your revolution" and disfigure the image of Libya.

3.53pm: Gaddafi started by praising the rebels – much as Hosni Mubarak tried to do in Egypt.

4:01pm: Libya and Africa will not give up on this glory, he says. We defeated superpowers – the USA and Great Britain – and we shall remain here, defiant, he says.

4.00pm: He talks about his own home being bombed by "superpowers" and his children killed in the past – because they know he is the leader of a revolution. When this happened, where were the rats and rodents? They were with the USA, he says.

3.58pm: This bunch of rats and cats have been paid to disfigure and tarnish the reputation of Libya, he says. I'm not going to leave this land; I'm going to die here as a martyr, he says.

4:10pm: The number of committees will be increased from 23 to 30, he says, talking presumably about reforms to increase the power of local government.

4.07pm: He is talking about previous wars against the French, the Egyptians, and "colonial masters".

Here's a quote from earlier in the speech:

A small group of young people who have taken drugs have attacked police station like mice ... They have taken advantage of this peace and stability ... However it is not their fault these young people; they tried to imitate what happened in Tunisia ... However there is a small group of sick people that has infiltrated in cities that are circulating drugs and money.

He said he had "resolved the issue of power in Libya" insisting the power lay not with him but with the "people's committee" and the Libyan people.

If that is his political concession to the protesters it may not go very far in meeting their demands.

4.05pm: We entered Benghazi to free it, he says.

We entered a war against America and Britain on Libyan soil, he says.

We do not have any authority, he says – the Libyan people do.

4.02pm: He does not blame the youth - they are young people, 16, 17, emulating what happened in Tunisia, he says.

4:17pm: Do you want America to come and rule you, like Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, he asks.

Go out to the streets, chase them, take away their arms, arrest them, prosecute them, hand them to security. The rebels are "a bunch of terrorists", he says.

4.15pm: He is saying the rebels "mean nothing" – they are insignificantly small in number and just imitating Tunisians and Egyptians.

Tomorrow hope lies with the Libyan people and with security.

Tomorrow – follow them, get out of your homes, chase them, he says. Do you want Benghazi to be destroyed, cut off from water? These rats can reach the oil fields and blow them up, he says.

He says he built Benghazi block by block, is still building it, and "they" have come to destroy it.

4.13pm: Families should collect their children, and get out of their houses if you love Muammar Gaddafi, he says, and secure the streets and take the greasy rats out of the streets.

He is asking his supporters to rise up against the rebels.

If we have to use force we will use it, according to international law and the Libyan constitution - tomorrow and even from tonight.

He is not a president so can't resign - he will fight until the last drop of his blood with the Libyan people behind him. "You are a solid rock."

4:22pm: I haven't even started giving the orders to use bullets, he says.

4.19pm: Putting a different pair of glasses on, he reads from a book on law: "Any Libyan who lifts an arm shall be punished with the death sentence. Those who spy for other countries shall be punished with the death sentence. Anybody who undermines the sovereignty of the state" – same punishment. Those who commit crimes against the army, anyone working for a foreign country undermining the defence of the country – same punishment. "We will not blame the youth," he says, but adds: when they are caught and prosecuted they will be begging for mercy but this time we will not be so merciful.

4:35pm: Tomorrow a new administration will be formed - new municipalities, new people's authorities, Gaddafi says. His son Saif will have some role in this, it seems.

4:30pm: We can rehabilitate the rebels and make them more effective members of the community, Gaddafi says.

All men and women should go out and take the streets back, he says.

I am the head of the people's revolution, he says.

He finally just said, "finally". Oh, wait... he's going to go back and repeat a portion due to a technical difficulty

Thanks for the updates. I was watching him on CNN, but they gave up after 15 or 20 minutes, plus their translator appeared to be struggling a little.

At one point, it appeared he said that the planes that fired on the Libyan people yesterday were U.S. planes...and that there were 170 of them.

He also thinks the protesters are "youth that have been given hallucination drugs".

I think he's insane.

quite!

5:03pm: Al-Jazeera just pointed out a line Gaddafi used in comparing his reaction to unrest to the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989: "The unity of China was more important than the people of Tiananmen Square."

5.00pm: Gaddafi claims: "It's impossible for the youth to follow anyone else. If not Gaddafi, who else would they follow? Somebody with a beard?"

Obama is specifically staying away from the subject of Libya, letting Kerry and Hillary be the public faces.

Also, Al Jazeera is discussing Obama's silence as "almost deafening". They are questioning now if Obama will make a statement now that Gaddafi has spoken.