Althouse: "[P]eople... in eastern Tripoli were woken by the imam at the local mosque singing the national anthem of the pre-Gaddafi monarchy."

August 22, 2011

"[P]eople... in eastern Tripoli were woken by the imam at the local mosque singing the national anthem of the pre-Gaddafi monarchy."

"There is very much a sense that the end is near and the rebels have achieved what they wanted."

20 comments:

Crimso said...: It's unfortunate that they feel like toppling Qadaffi is the final achievement of their goal. Wasn't there a famous French quote that roughly translated to "After me, the storm?" Their goal should include the "after me" part. It's even more important than what they've done so far.; 8/22/11, 7:10 AM
Lucius said...: What do the rebels want with the Bond girls, that's what I wanna know.

Besides an asswhuppin'.; 8/22/11, 7:14 AM
Scott M said...: Yay! Cheaper gas for the French! Now...given that the bar has been set, what about that Assad character next door that seems to be way, way over it?; 8/22/11, 7:21 AM
Clyde said...: Hopefully he gets the full Ceaucescu. And we get the PanAm bomber douchebag extradited here for his just deserts.; 8/22/11, 7:25 AM
Paul said...: And it's the start of Lebanon... Civil war will break out once the 'factions' start suspecting each other and personal vendettas come to the surface.

This ain't no American Revolution.; 8/22/11, 8:03 AM
garage mahal said...: This thread will get about 6 comments.; 8/22/11, 8:19 AM
Phil 314 said...: Insofar that Gaddifi is out, this is good. But as we've seen in both Iraq and A stan, its only the end of one chapter.

Honestly, this feels a lot like Iraq (but without the messy search for WMD's ahead).

And I assume that BO won't be landing on any carriers soon.; 8/22/11, 8:23 AM
Scott M said...: Why, GM? Do you consider this a "win" for US foreign policy? It's not. Despite the troubling manner in which we got involved, the exact same arguments for getting in can be easily applied to other hotspots, but aren't. The message, therefore, both home and abroad, is inconsistency. That's a "loss" for US foreign policy.; 8/22/11, 8:25 AM
David said...: Victory Lap prep from AP:

"President Barack Obama says it's time for Moammar Gadhafi to recognize that his rule over Libya has come to an end and he should relinquish power to stop the violence and bloodshed of six months of civil war aimed at toppling his autocratic regime.
"The future of Libya is now in the hands of the Libyan people," Obama said Sunday in a statement from Martha's Vineyard, where he's vacationing with his family. The U.S. says it will work closely with the rebels.
After a day of dramatic developments, Obama said the situation in Libya had reached a "tipping point" and control of the capital was "slipping from the grasp of a tyrant."
"The surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple: Moammar Gadhafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end," Obama said. "Gadhafi needs to acknowledge the reality that he no longer controls Libya. He needs to relinquish power once and for all." Obama issued the statement after conducting a conference call with members of his national security team, who had provided him with updates throughout the day."; 8/22/11, 9:04 AM
Christopher said...: I'll be happy if Gaddafi is ultimately tossed from power but what makes my heart just tingle with joy is seeing all the new neo-cons springing up on the left.

Mission Accomplished, eh fellas?; 8/22/11, 9:22 AM
Gabriel Hanna said...: It's good that one of our five current wars seems to be winding out, hopefully without any further involvement on our part.

Of course, we have no idea what will take its place, or whether we'll just be back there again a couple of years.

In the meantime it's up to the Libyans, as it should be.

One war down, four to go, and of course GITMO is still open and the Patriot Act has Obama's signature on it.; 8/22/11, 9:27 AM
Calypso Facto said...: It's good that one of our five current wars seems to be winding out, hopefully without any further involvement on our part.

Will this one "wind down" like Iraq did in 2003 once Saddam was deposed? I do hope you're right and we can manage to stay out of the occupation/police action/reconstruction.; 8/22/11, 9:51 AM
MikeinAppalachia said...: All hail the newest Islamic Republic. Or is the prior Monarch returning?; 8/22/11, 10:10 AM
edutcher said...: And our objective in this was what, again?

Christopher said...

I'll be happy if Gaddafi is ultimately tossed from power but what makes my heart just tingle with joy is seeing all the new neo-cons springing up on the left.

Unlike the old ones, who did it legally.; 8/22/11, 10:32 AM
Christopher said...: edutcher,

I completely agree with you that there was never any actual objective. Frankly I just think it was Obama trying to look tough on the cheap. Anyway I can't exactly be angry that Gaddafi is most likely out of power.

As for the authorization of force, or lack thereof, I agree that it was required. I simply enjoy seeing an entire political party act so hypocritically, I mean it's almost refreshing in a way.; 8/22/11, 10:49 AM
Phil 314 said...: So at this point Libya was "successful mission creep" in that we went in to protect civilian abuse/slaughter by Gaddifi. Good so far.

But if we start to see civilian deaths in the post-regime chaos what will that say?

Garage, I appreciate your partisan doubts about the likely commentary here but I'd expect a bit more circumspection.; 8/22/11, 11:44 AM
Anonymous said...: I'm glad for Libya and you can rest assured that American money, know-how, and armaments played a pivotal role thus far.

I hope for a peaceful transition. There's a lot of reason for optimism as Libya is much closer in its infrastructure than Iraq still is to places like Serbia, which is a perfectly respectable country now.; 8/22/11, 12:25 PM
Clyde said...: Why the hell does the spamblocker block me when I comment from my cell phone? >:-(

Anyway, I wrote earlier (around 7:25) that I hope he gets the Full Ceaucescu, and that I hope the PanAm bomber douchebag gets extradited to the U.S. to face real justice.; 8/22/11, 1:51 PM
Clyde said...: Also, I have exactly zero hope in a good outcome once 'Dafi is ousted. Like other Muslim societies, Libya is tribal, and tribal societies only seem to function well under a strongman who can keep the lid on things. Without one, you're probably looking at anarchy. For tribal societies, the philosophy is "I and my brother against my cousin; I and my cousin against my neighbor; I and my neighbor against the stranger." Not the sort of thing that encourages the rule of law, property and human rights, etc.; 8/22/11, 1:54 PM
Joanna said...: ... and the draft constitution is based on sharia. awesome.

the inescapable clause lies right in Part 1, Article 1: “Islam is the Religion of the State, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).”; 8/22/11, 3:33 PM