French jets protecting Libyan rebels

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by AeWingnut

are you saying this is just like Bosnia

I never heard this referred to as Genocide
I thought he was killing his own people not some other race

Who are these people? The Muslim Brotherhood?

Genocide is generally applied to the systematic destruction/killing of a certain group of people, Gadhafi has repeated said he will show no mercy to those who oppose his rule. There is evidence that his goon squads have fired into groups of civilians and this would surely be a slaughter were they to gain control of areas of Libya under control of rebels. Also, to be clear, this started as a peaceful movement on the part of Libyan citizens seeking basic human rights, it was Gadhafi who initiated the violence, those referred to as "rebels" are mostly innocent civilians forced to defend themselves, most are not trained in even the use of firearms etc. They are not "rebels" as we often think of them.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by somerfrost

Genocide is generally applied to the systematic destruction/killing of a certain group of people, Gadhafi has repeated said he will show no mercy to those who oppose his rule. There is evidence that his goon squads have fired into groups of civilians and this would surely be a slaughter were they to gain control of areas of Libya under control of rebels. Also, to be clear, this started as a peaceful movement on the part of Libyan citizens seeking basic human rights, it was Gadhafi who initiated the violence, those referred to as "rebels" are mostly innocent civilians forced to defend themselves, most are not trained in even the use of firearms etc. They are not "rebels" as we often think of them.

I don't know if they are as clueless as you think they are. They do have anti-aircraft guns. Not too many people have them hooked up on the old pickup incase a crazy dictator decided to bomb your hometown. I have no idea what has been happening in Libya before the uprisings. It appears that there was some organizing forces that wanted Gadhafi out and was actively working towards that which is probably why the reaction has been so harsh. Didn't they have a plane shot down the other day?

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I don't know if they are as clueless as you think they are. They do have anti-aircraft guns. Not too many people have them hooked up on the old pickup incase a crazy dictator decided to bomb your hometown. I have no idea what has been happening in Libya before the uprisings. It appears that there was some organizing forces that wanted Gadhafi out and was actively working towards that which is probably why the reaction has been so harsh. Didn't they have a plane shot down the other day?

OK, I cannot speak to exactly what they have or don't have or how long the discontent has been growing. My point is there is ample evidence that Gadhafi was planning on exacting violent revenge on his civilian population. His planes bombed towns and cities without regard for the civilian population, I'm not sure that any anti-aircraft weapons weren't confiscated from his forces. It is reported that the "rebels" had one aircraft that was shot down but the details of that are rather unclear at present.