Monday - September 09, 2013

Spring Has Sprung

Three bits of news flying a bit below the radar ...



So much for Obama’s Arab Spring. Libya has become a anarchist hellhole. Thanks ever so much, Barry.

A little under two years ago, Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, urged British businessmen to begin “packing their suitcases” and to fly to Libya to share in the reconstruction of the country and exploit an anticipated boom in natural resources.

Yet now Libya has almost entirely stopped producing oil as the government loses control of much of the country to militia fighters.

Mutinying security men have taken over oil ports on the Mediterranean and are seeking to sell crude oil on the black market. Ali Zeidan, Libya’s Prime Minister, has threatened to “bomb from the air and the sea” any oil tanker trying to pick up the illicit oil from the oil terminal guards, who are mostly former rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi and have been on strike over low pay and alleged government corruption since July.

...

Libyans are increasingly at the mercy of militias which act outside the law. Popular protests against militiamen have been met with gunfire; 31 demonstrators were shot dead and many others wounded as they protested outside the barracks of “the Libyan Shield Brigade” in the eastern capital Benghazi in June.

Though the Nato intervention against Gaddafi was justified as a humanitarian response to the threat that Gaddafi’s tanks would slaughter dissidents in Benghazi, the international community has ignored the escalating violence. The foreign media, which once filled the hotels of Benghazi and Tripoli, have likewise paid little attention to the near collapse of the central government.

Oh, well done.



We paid how much??? A billion? And most of it went to the Dem’s buddy, the guy in charge it now seems like we want to depose? Or nuke, bomb, or send nasty letters to? What’s up with that??

U.S. Spent $1,010,354,195 on Syrian Humanitarian Aid 2012-2013

U.S. taxpayers have spent at least $1,010,354,195 on Syrian humanitarian aid for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, according to official numbers from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID, which was created by President John F. Kennedy, is the federal government’s primary agency in charge of distributing civilian foreign aid.

Last month, President Barack Obama pledged $195 million in additional humanitarian support to Syrians affected by the country’s civil war, tipping U.S. taxpayer spending over the $1 billion threshold.

“To help the many Syrians in need this Eid al-Fitr, the United States is providing an additional $195 million in food aid and other humanitarian aid, bringing our humanitarian contribution to the Syrian people to over $1 billion since the crisis began,” Obama said in a White House statement. “For millions of Americans, Eid is part of a great tapestry of America’s many traditions, and I wish all Muslims a blessed and joyful celebration. Eid Mubarak.”

Hark unto Captain Bullshit, above.

“The vast majority of aid is going to territory controlled by President Bashar al-Assad, and the small amount reaching opposition-held areas is all but invisible,” the New York Times reported.

Humanitarian workers in Syria like Ghassan Hitto, the chief coordinator for the Western-backed Syrian national coalition, say they are frustrated with the poorly-run relief efforts.

“We believe we are owed an explanation over where this money is going, but every time we ask, we can’t get an answer.”

This is how it works in any tin-pot dictatorship we flood with cash. Nearly all of it gets stolen by the leaders, and the rest is used as a weapon against the local opposition. Every. Single. Time. So let’s do it again, harder. Idiots.



That terrible military junta in Egypt ... is kicking the shi-ite out of the Muslim Brotherhood. Ooorah!

Egypt launches Sinai offensive targeting Islamic militant hideouts

Egyptian helicopter gunships and tanks pounded suspected hideouts of Islamic militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, in what officials described as a major new offensive in the insurgent stronghold. Residents who witnessed winding columns of trucks and armoured vehicles pour into the area said the operation was one of the largest there in years.

A security official said “dozens” of insurgent suspects were killed and wounded in the Sinai offensive, which comes two days after a failed suicide bombing targeting the country’s top policeman in Cairo. Smoke could be seen rising from the towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweyid, and troops set up a cordon to prevent militants from escaping as others combed the area, he said.

The northern Sinai, which adjoins Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, has long been a haven for militants including al-Qaida-inspired groups. Attacks have spiked in the area since Morsi’s July 3 ouster, prompting the latest army offensive.

In the past, militants used a vast network of underground tunnels linking Egypt with Gaza as a way to escape security crackdowns. However, over the past two months, the military has destroyed more than 80 per cent of them, stemming the flow of weapons, militants and goods into Gaza, a territory under an Israeli-imposed blockade.
...
The government says it is waging a “war on terrorism” against both the Sinai militants and supporters of Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood has organized street demonstrations to protest his overthrow and government assaults on protest encampments. Some followers have also staged apparent retaliatory attacks against police stations, churches, and other targets.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/09/2013 at 12:35 PM   
Filed Under: • Middle-East • Obama, The One •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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