Reply
Thu 20 Oct, 2011 09:19 am
Context:
The battle for Surt was supposed to have been a postscript to the Libyan conflict, but for weeks soldiers loyal to Colonel Qaddafi, fiercely defended the city, first weathering NATO airstrikes and then repeated assaults by anti-Qaddafi fighters. Former rebel leaders were caught off guard by
the depth of the divisions in western Libya, where the colonel’s policy of playing favorites and stoking rivalries has resulted in a series of violent confrontations.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/libyan-fighters-say-qaddafi-stronghold-has-fallen.html?_r=1&hp
No, it means different groups of people in western Libya had very widely differing and incompatible goals, ideas, viewpoints and priorities and Khaddafy had intentionally worked to increase those differences.
. . . the depth of the divisions (of the loyal soldiers) in western Libya, where the colonel’s policy of playing favorites and stoking rivalries has resulted in a series of violent confrontations.
In this sentence, "depth" means level of loyalty, intensity or strength.
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