Saturday, March 19, 2011

The French Start the War on Libya

BBC
March 17, 2011

A French plane has fired the first shots in Libya as enforcement of the UN-mandated no-fly zone begins. The target was a military vehicle, the French defence ministry said. 

It came hours after Western and Arab leaders met in Paris to agree (sic) a course of action to confront Col Gaddafi.

"Our air force will oppose any aggression," Mr Sarkozy said. ...

In other developments:
  • Italy has offered the use of seven of its military bases which already house US, Nato and Italian forces
  • Canada says its fighter jets have now reached the region but will need two days to prepare for any missions
Read the rest here.

Comment: Ummmm Canada ... what the hell hey?  They must be trying to escape that fridge they call a country.

It's obviously open season as the rush to be at the table after the shock doctrine reduces Libya (like Iraq and Afghanistan) to a marketplace for all kinds of 'development' contracts.

The Canadian government knows that game too well.

Onward!

6 comments:

BMAG said...

Ridwan,
We never met, but I heard lots of good things from one of your former students at PSU (Kahiro from Kenya) who is also a good friend of mine. I'm from Kenya, too. Anyway, love your blog. I'm learning more and more about South Africa on it. I write a less political blog than yours, but your jottings encourage me to go rogue a lot more on it.
Again, thank you.
Kweli

Ridwan said...

Hey there Kweli. Thank you kindly for your words of praise ... I appreciate it a ton.

Please say Hi to Kahiro from me. He is a good brother and I miss him.

I spent five weeks in Kenya in November and December last year.

My research on the Endorois decision took me to Nairobi where I worked with CEMIRIDE and the Kenyan Human Rights Commission.

I also went to Lamu to work on indigenous issues there with INUKA and LEPAC.

I love Kenya and miss it so much. Luckily and I am due back next month for a meeting with various indigenous groups in Nairobi.

Be well. I will look in on your blog.

Peace to you.

Ridwan

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Ridwan. I found out about the Endorois issue and CEMIRIDE online. I should look more into it--and similar issues around the continent. (My blog is more updated on Wordpress than on Blogspot). OK, sir, more later.

Onward!

Anonymous said...

Thanks. I see I should have logged on through wordpress rather than blogspot--my blog on wordpress is better updated.

Onward!

Ridwan said...

Hi Kweli:

I did look at your blog on wordpress yesterday but wanted to read more.

I was unable to link to your blogspot address but found your wordpress address in my stats feeder.

The post on living in the US and the one-way ticket is impressive. It made me remember living there from my late teens through my early forties.

Will comment there some more.

Be well brother.

Peace,
Ridwan

Atlanta Roofing said...

President Obama has insured his reelection with his humanitari¬an actions in Libya. Any challenger for the White House in 2012, if they criticize the president for his participat¬ion in maintainin¬g the no-fly zone, will be branded as a supporter of Gaddafi.