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Unarmed people power drums Libya's jihadists out of Benghazi

Red_Dave

Libertarian socialist
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Unarmed people power drums Libya's jihadists out of Benghazi | World news | The Observer

As fires blazed and protesters danced in the ruined compound of a vanquished jihadist militia, I watched as the citizens of the Libyan city of Benghazi staged a dramatic display of raw people power.Numbed by the murder of an American ambassador in their city, furious with jihadist militias lording it over them and frustrated by a government too chaotic and intimidated to react, ordinary Benghazians took matters into their own hands.


Damn Islamist Arab Spring....
 
This is good.. they are standing up to the radicals and two militias have disbanded.
 
This is good.. they are standing up to the radicals and two militias have disbanded.

Goes to show that democratization is the best remedy for backwardness and extremism in the region..
 
Goes to show that democratization is the best remedy for backwardness and extremism in the region..

Libya had an enlightened constitution before Qaddafi.. It guaranteed equality under the law regardless of creed, ethnicity, tribal affiliation or economic status.
 
Libya had an enlightened constitution before Qaddafi.. It guaranteed equality under the law regardless of creed, ethnicity, tribal affiliation or economic status.

And you think that means something why?
 
Because they remember what that was about.............

How many people remember a constitution that ended ~45 years ago? They'd have to be old enough to read and understand it, say 15, minimum. That makes them 60+ now. Anyone who was an adult, working under that constitution? 70+

And that excludes the (stunningly naive) assumption that reality was as on paper.
 
How many people remember a constitution that ended ~45 years ago? They'd have to be old enough to read and understand it, say 15, minimum. That makes them 60+ now. Anyone who was an adult, working under that constitution? 70+

And that excludes the (stunningly naive) assumption that reality was as on paper.

King Idris was an able leader and under him literacy flourished.
 
King Idris was an able leader and under him literacy flourished.

I'm sure they had chocolate fountains and cotton candy clouds. :rolleyes
 
How many people remember a constitution that ended ~45 years ago? They'd have to be old enough to read and understand it, say 15, minimum. That makes them 60+ now. Anyone who was an adult, working under that constitution? 70+

And that excludes the (stunningly naive) assumption that reality was as on paper.

Well, I am sure the people who remember the constitution told their children about it. 45 years isn't too long. I learned a lot about WWII from my grandparents before I learned about it in school. It takes a lot longer than 45 years to change a culture.
 
I'm sure they had chocolate fountains and cotton candy clouds. :rolleyes

I remember and I am not that old..nor am I Libyan. We rented a house across the street from the US Embassy in Tripoli.
 
I remember and I am not that old..nor am I Libyan. We rented a house across the street from the US Embassy in Tripoli.

I don't find tourism relevant to geopolitics, except as an income source in economic evaluation. It does not qualify as sociology or anthropology in my opinion. Some oil guy dragging his daughter through the shtholes of the earth? I'm not impressed and no creds for that.
 
I don't find tourism relevant to geopolitics, except as an income source in economic evaluation. It does not qualify as sociology or anthropology in my opinion. Some oil guy draging his daughter around the shtholes of the earth? I'm not impressed and no creds for that.

Tourism? LOLOL.. My father was senior mgmt with advanced degrees in petroleum engineering and a Harvard MBA.
 
Tourism? LOLOL.. My father was senior mgmt with advanced degrees in petroleum engineering and a Harvard MBA.

You saw what they wanted you to see. And your father working does not change that you were a mere (child) tourist being told to act like an ambassador. I'm sure it was very important that you had this special ambassador job as a kid, but the fact is your experience lends NOTHING to the debate.

The little fantasy world they show engineer's kids is just that - fantasy world. That you bought it, hook, line and sinker, doesn't mean crap to me. I guess we're lucky you didn't watch Farfur.
 
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You saw what they wanted you to see. And your father working does not change that you were a mere (child) tourist being told to act like an "ambassador". I'm sure it was very important that you had this special ambassador job as a kid, but the fact is your experience lends NOTHING to the debate.

By the time I was in Libya I was of age.. and I understood the importance of both the oil business for the US and the importance of US foreign policy. My family was there several years. I had to go back to university in the US.I also knew Tariki's anti-western stance before Qaddafi hired him and nationalized the Libyan oil business prematurely...
 
Your ambassador fantasy means nothing to me. You have no insight, no special knowledge. You were shown what they wanted you to see. It means nothing. You're gonna need a different angle than "well, it seemed nice to me when I was the 'special' US ambassador".

Your anecdotal evidence is of the worst kind, it's absolutely useless.
 
Your ambassador fantasy means nothing to me. You have no insight. No special knowledge. You were shown what they wanted you to see. It means nothing. You're gonna need a different angle than "well, it seemed nice to me when I was the 'special' US ambassador".

Your anecdotal evidence is of the worst kind, it's absolutely useless.

I think you are one of those people who don't know that adults have the right to change their mind... and your bias is an obstacle to your intellegence.
 
I think you are one of those people who don't know that adults have the right to change their mind...

That's a stupid accusation.

and your bias is an obstacle to your intellegence.

Well, I'm not making claims of special secret knowledge just because I went on vacation.
 
That's a stupid accusation.



Well, I'm not making claims of special secret knowledge just because I went on vacation.

You are fairly typical in my experience..
 
You are fairly typical in my experience..

Have I not explained that your experience means nothing? Are you trying to make that clear?
 
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That's a stupid accusation.



Well, I'm not making claims of special secret knowledge just because I went on vacation.

Where did you go on vacation? Myrtle Beach.

There is no "secret knowledge".. its only secret from YOU.
 
Where did you go on vacation? Myrtle Beach.

If I did, I wouldn't try to tell everyone what people in Myrtle Beach think and do, or pretend I'm some kind of anthropologist.
 
Well, I am sure the people who remember the constitution told their children about it. 45 years isn't too long. I learned a lot about WWII from my grandparents before I learned about it in school. It takes a lot longer than 45 years to change a culture.

Arguably those in Saudi Arabia or the UAE would know far more about such things due to higher literacy rates. Are we really going to argue that a country having experienced such a constitution for a 10 year interval half a century ago is really going to make such a difference? Iraq and Iran were both parliamentary democracies in the 1950's .
 
ecofarm,

Why are you working so hard to tear down the efforts of otherwise peaceful, ordinary citizens to reclaim their country from extremism? I don't get your attacks on Sharon's commentary one bit.

I mean, here we had radicals Islamits storm U.S. diplomatic compounds and murder said diplomats - dignitaries the Libyian people and their government respected - and now that the PEOPLE are fighting back against such extremism instead of you applauding their patriotic efforts you've gone out of your way to bash them. Why?
 
Arguably those in Saudi Arabia or the UAE would know far more about such things due to higher literacy rates. Are we really going to argue that a country having experienced such a constitution for a 10 year interval half a century ago is really going to make such a difference? Iraq and Iran were both parliamentary democracies in the 1950's .

Well, during our countries early years we didn't do much better. Did our contry go on to make a big difference? Every culture going through change will have a time of evolution. Cultures do not change over night.
 
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