WASHINGTON (
FinalCall.com) -
Buoyed
by what they cite as reports from military analysts as well as
rebel forces in Libya, hundreds of protestors organized by the
International ANSWER Coalition paraded in front of the White House July
9, to protest U.S.-led NATO air attacks on Libya.
Libyan rebels
are
now convinced that they have the upper hand in the battle against
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi (Wikipedia says his full, formal title is
"Leader and Guide of the Revolution of Libya"), but are themselves
accused of
human
rights violations. Human Rights Watch says:
"We documented fairly widespread
looting of homes and shops, the
burning of some homes of suspected Gaddafi supporters and - most
disturbingly - the vandalisation of three medical clinics [and] local
small hospitals, including the theft of some of the medical equipment."
The BBC
has
provided an map of the actions in Libya. The Russian Foreign
Minister
has
declared that “
Gaddafi
must go. There is no place for him in the new Libya.” Roughly four
months after the war started, Libyan rebels are
sitting down
with EU officials, including the President of the European Commission
Jose
Manuel Barroso.
In
an
embarrassing rift within NATO over Libya, French defence minister
Gerard Longuet
called for the
Transitional National Council in Benghazi to open direct negotiations
with the government of Muammar Qaddafi, while the US stuck to its
position that Qaddafi must go. In the French system cabinet members
seldom have much discretion to carve out their own positions, so
Longuet’s remarks almost certainly simply conveyed the current
sentiments of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Very interesting piece from Al Jazeera
on why it is that the US can sustain these
apparently-endless
wars that seem to just drag on forever without reaching any
conclusion. It's very much a matter of money and who pays it. Further
commentary on
rebel
atrocities in Libya.
Of course, Libya is
not
the only place where the US maintains a military presence, so the
peace movement will battle that as well.