Arab League chief: We respect UN resolution on Libya military action.
“We respect the UN resolution and there is no conflict with it, especially as it indicated there would be no invasion but that it would protect civilians from what they are subject to in Benghazi,” he said.
I guess Barack didn’t get punked?
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March 21, 2011 at 3:33 pm
“…and especially since we don’t have to spend our oil-riches MONEY! and we don’t have to risk our lives (not even the lives of our SLAVES!” continued the Arab League Chief chortling gleefully!
March 21, 2011 at 3:34 pm
As an added bonus, he added, this means we can still BLAME the U.S. of A and it’s 57 states Obama is Resident of!
March 21, 2011 at 4:38 pm
You get the picture Buttered.
March 21, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Amr Moussa (the head of the AL) is a presidential candidate in Egypt. Jmo that was probably a factor in his decision.
March 21, 2011 at 6:29 pm
they agreed to the no fly zone which they thought would protect civilians, not bombing civilians.
The African Union wasn’t so naive and refused to sign off on the new war for oil plan. Somehow the media likes to mention the ARab League and forget all about the AU.
March 21, 2011 at 6:48 pm
The African Union is just as corrupt as the Arab League. Hell, they won’t even clean up their own backyard (Darfur). Hopeless bunch.
March 21, 2011 at 6:53 pm
The USA is hardly fit to be a moral arbiter.
March 21, 2011 at 6:56 pm
Oh please! Then who is? I get really tired of anti American comments. What country is perfect?
March 21, 2011 at 7:15 pm
“Oh please” yourself. I get tired of inaccurate extrapolation. I said, the US isn’t fit to be a moral arbiter and it’s not: this is the sort of sh#t we do, routinely: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/revealed-afghan-chief-accused-of-campaign-of-terror-is-on-us-payroll-2245369.html
It’s not my fault you want to bury your head in the sand about the evil done with our tax dollars around the globe.
I haven’t said I think any country ought to act as moral arbiter for the world, I’ve only said we’re a piss poor choice for one.
March 22, 2011 at 6:21 am
I disagree Nom. World expectations are that we give and care continuously.
I think that all of us are very tired of trying to “fix” the world’s problems only to have those countries turn around and bite the hand that feeds them.
The Arab League (according to my readings) requested the help with Gaddafi. IMO the ME understands that the man is a menace. Interestingly, I have also heard that quite a bit of the oil from Libya goes to Europe and not to us (something about how crude it is)?
Politics will always play regardless of what we would like the world to be. It is an ugly fact that people will die. Civilians as well as those who are fighting will die. It is a fact.
Is this a war? I believe that it is an “illegal” war. No request was made of Congress. That is in the Constitution. I would love to live in a perfect world, but that is a fantasy that will never happen in my lifetime.
I think that Eisenhower was spot on…the military industrial complex will become powerful (not just in this country), and will not go away no matter what we want.
March 22, 2011 at 6:33 am
Well, there goes WP again. If you all have not ever heard this before, the comments may or might not be attached to the appropriate place.
Compared to the African Union, I think that the US has a far better moral compass.
March 22, 2011 at 11:53 am
“I think that all of us are very tired of trying to “fix” the world’s problems only to have those countries turn around and bite the hand that feeds them.”
Except that our false government does NOT try to fix anyone’s problems, it tries to exploit them.
The common American irritation at the ingratitude of other nations that you cite is based on this lie of our good will.
If we really had good will, we wouldn’t have a thousand of our military bases in other peoples’ countries nor would our “government” kidnap and exile or murder other nations’ leaders, or start wars to steal their resources.
And we can protect our own nation from within our own borders very very well. But we don’t stay there, do we?
March 22, 2011 at 11:58 am
Why don’t we forget about the ME and drill at home?
March 22, 2011 at 12:01 pm
You are correct that Libya’s oil is bought in Europe and our oil that is imported comes from Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria; Venezuela, and others. http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html
But to assume this means Libya’s oil production does not affect us is false. Oil is a fungible commodity: that is to say, it is “freely exchangeable or replaceable, in whole or in part, for another of like nature or kind”. The world supply of oil is just abut exactly equal to demand: that’s by design to maintain prices. So a drop in Europe’s supply raises our prices, because Europe will then have to buy oil from someone other than Libya: ie, one of our sources. This is why we are always crying for net oil exporters to increase their production whenever there is a drop in supply anywhere, as with Katrina, for example: so our prices don’t rise. It doesn’t matter where the drop in supply is.
March 22, 2011 at 12:09 pm
I think that we should let the ME turn itself into a parking lot. We need to use our assets. This bs lease to Brazil is ready made for us to purchase oil from them. Enough is enough. There are 45 billion barrels in Alaska. This Brazil lease also creates jobs for Brazil, not the US.
March 22, 2011 at 12:17 pm
“Why don’t we drill at home?
The answer is 2fold: The first part is, we do. The US produces 12% of the world supply of oil. We pump a godawful amount of the stuff every day. And we use it, too, the US is a net importer not exporter of oil.
Think for a moment about the ramifications of this: we have perhaps 350 million citizens of, say to make the math easy, 7 billion citizens world wide. So we make up 5% of the world population yet even our 12% of world production is not enough and we must import more.
Most US oil reserves are either offshore, in Alaska, or in a form that is difficult to extract: so it’s expensive to get it and carries a high risk of serious environmental toll.
And that’s the 2nd part: your beloved oil companies will only drill when they get an assurance from your beloved leaders (who happen to include your beloved oil companies) that they won’t have to pay for any of the negative externalities associated with drilling, like the BP disaster, or the contamination of pretty much the entire state of Pennsylvania’s water, or those hundreds of earthquakes and the weird animal deaths caused by fracking in Arkansas. Ordinary citizens have to pay. On top of the insane profits the energy companies already get. And it’s still presently cheaper to import and re-sell.
March 22, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Companies do as they will benefit. Lives are certainly more valuable. I think that we need to drill at home. It the ME wishes to be come a parking lot, so be it. Once they figure out that they must play by themselves, it won’t be fun anymore, will it?
March 22, 2011 at 1:28 pm
I think we should mind to our own business at home. Rather than ramping up drilling of a finite resource, the best way to reduce usage is to withdraw the military from foreign countries, because the US military not the US citizens is the biggest user of oil in the world. And there’s a truth one will seldom hear. http://www.energybulletin.net/node/26194
Switching military vehicles to diesel and increasing the use of corn as ethanol (it has exceeded the former legal limit of 17% and now a whopping 40% of all corn is diverted for this use) only hikes food prices globally and domestically and does not stop the underlying problem of resource depletion.
we need also to look to better design to reduce consumption, and begin looking for and trialing new sources of energy such as perhaps these:
http://www.ecogeek.org/wind-power/2815-high-altitude-wind-could-power-big-cities-and-beyo
http://www.ecogeek.org/wind-power/3304-cheaper-than-coal-power-from-a-tethered-kite
http://inhabitat.com/new-piezoelectric-railways-harvest-energy-from-passing-trains/
http://www.bargaintraveleurope.com/09/Switzerland_Bucherer_Clock_Lucerne.htm
okay, the last one is just for fun, but who says the same couldn’t be done for other uses?
March 22, 2011 at 6:40 pm
I don’t believe that wind is all that it is cracked up to be. Quite frankly, I am still wondering what the heck we are going to do with all of the car batteries in the hybrids?
March 22, 2011 at 8:27 pm
I don’t believe that wind is all that it is cracked up to be.”
I agree if you mean ground based, but this is high altitude, and it is very different, see first link in particular.
I agree as well about the batteries, I do not think batteries containing heavy metals are at all a good idea.
These are a start for household batteries, one is sure better tech will follow if research is done.
http://www.ecotechninja.com/outdoor-devices/nopopo-non-pollution-batteries-charged-with-liquid/
I still believe the best solution is to build better and use less energy even if this means a big step downward in lifestyle. Solar cookers and water heaters; composting toilets and septic systems rather than water treatment plants; rammed earth construction; limiting night driving and night lighting outside of that needed to move freight; bicycles instead of cars.
There are cities all over the world where bicyclers act as taxis, it could be done here as well.
I do not mean these as absolutes, but they can be used in many places and certainly can be used supplementally.
As for energy generation, actually I am thinking really radical change: kinetic energy. It worked for centuries in weirs and mill races. It’s already being proven effective in harnessing the energy from trains and could be from highways as well. Crap, put everyone able bodied on treadmills a few hours a week, it’s good exercise.
I refuse to believe there are no better solutions than continuing down paths that are destroying our planet.
March 23, 2011 at 6:27 am
There maybe better solutions, but they are not going to be welcomed by anyone who is used to easy. I, for one would never use a bicycle unless I was planning my suicide. lol
March 23, 2011 at 10:11 am
with better planning, one could have a community laid out with most things within walking distance including one’s work; the whole world was organized this way until about a century ago.
this seems imo more feasible now than ever as so much manufacturing has been shipped overseas, and so many jobs are now in the service industry.
one could easily have neighborhood gardens to grow a preponderance of local food eaten; there are communities now that practice car sharing.
the alternative is going to look a lot like this:
http://detnews.com/article/20100226/OPINION03/2260330/Downsizing-city-could-raise-Detroit-from-ruins
an involuntary downsizing organized from above. Better to start now from below.
March 27, 2011 at 10:13 am
an interesting article/site on the same topics
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2011/03/trouble-with-vaporware.html
March 21, 2011 at 7:18 pm
You still haven’t said who the saint country is??? The US acts in it’s own interests, no doubt….that doesn’t make us immoral. We also are the first country to help in a disaster, not just as a country, but as private citizens. You can “hate” on the US all you want….I just want to know who the “moral” country is and why aren’t you there?
March 21, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Killing civilians in another war for oil does make us immoral.
Your idea that we are always the first to help in a disaster is not supported by facts. Many nations are as charitable as we; even poor nations like Bangladesh. And the majority of EU countries give more as a percentage of gdp than does the US.
Also: You really need to learn to chill with the bizarre extrapolation of my comments. I haven’t said I think any country behaves in a saintly fashion, I’ve said, WE DON’T.
And furthermore, THIS IS MY COUNTRY and I have a great attachment to my country, just not to those in it who are evil and or morons. Our government is a bunch of billionaire bankers, energy companies, military contractors, media, and companies that support them: you may not have the wit to appreciate this fact and its significance, but I do.
March 21, 2011 at 7:34 pm
I have no intention of leaving my country nor have I ever wished to leave my country. I want all the halfwits in this country to grow a brain and the spineless people in this country to grow a backbone, and for Americans to rid themselves of the freaking tyrants with their bootheels on our necks.
I’ll be damned if I’ll tolerate my patriotism being questioned by the likes of you. BITE ME.
March 21, 2011 at 7:42 pm
& in case you hadn’t noticed, your “President” just did an end run around Congress being the entity with the authority to declare war according to the Constitution; so I wouldn’t be so smug about the glory of bombing Libyan civilians for the purpose of installing a bunch of rebels widely known to include Al Qaeda, followed by a partition of yet another nation so our dear govenment can seize their assets yet maintain an excuse for yet another occupation.
March 21, 2011 at 7:52 pm
This isn’t just OUR country, check the list. And I don’t think anyone declared war, they are enforcing a UN resolution. The idea is to weaken the Gadhafi forces and then we’re in a better position to negotiate his stepping down. I don’t consider myself a dim wit, quite the opposite. But in your world, you seem feel that you are so superior in intellect that any disagreement with your opinion must mean that the person “has no brain”. You might want to “rethink” that position with your super-sized, mega mind.
March 21, 2011 at 7:56 pm
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/03/libyan-war-gloalists-bluffing-their-way.html
you call it whatever you want to make yourself feel all warm and fuzzy they’re dropping bombs on kids: it’s a WAR.
March 21, 2011 at 8:00 pm
See, there you go again. “feel all warm and fuzzy”?? Dropping bombs isn’t something anyone feels “fuzzy” about. Strawman much?? Grow up, seriously. You care so much about people eh? So lets just let the genocide go on. Let him kill off people who doesn’t agree with him or fall in line….come to think of it, sounds just like your cup of tea. Bite yourself btw.
March 21, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Read the link: there hasn’t even been confirmation of mass deaths. They’ve already admitted as much.
Don’t you remember the incubator lies with Hussein?
http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html
For godssake get a clue: do you really think BHO was elected legitimately? If not, how can the government installed with him be legitimate? Do you really think people who rig your elections are such fine upstanding people you’d trust your country to them? I don’t.
Every single war in which we’re presently involved started with a pack of lies. I haven’t seen any evidence this one is different. They said they wanted a no fly zone to protect civilians, then they started bombing civilians. What they really want is regime change, probably followed by a partition of Libya, and a permanent occupation or order to get their oil.
And the “they” that = “our government” is also the same “they” that is the “government” of all the other nations involved in this new war for profit.
Drop bombs on people in order to save them from having bombs dropped on them. I take it all back, IMust, plainly you’re a freaking genius.
March 21, 2011 at 8:25 pm
and that would be, read the first link posted above: http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/03/libyan-war-gloalists-bluffing-their-way.html
March 21, 2011 at 8:47 pm
I haven’t said I care so much about people, I have said, I don’t care for oligarchs using my tax dollars to murder people around the globe for profit; and I have said, screw semantics, when you drop bombs you’re at war, just like the Indian Wars that slaughtered millions of native americans— that was a REAL genocide by the way, in the event you need an example since you don’t seem to understand the meaning of the word— and the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, etc.
And while these wars were undeclared also, they did have congressional authorization in accordance with the War Powers Act, something the Libyan war has dispensed with.
March 21, 2011 at 9:55 pm
http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4777
Q: Do you see any evidence that he actually has fired on his own people from the air? There were reports of it, but do you have independent confirmation? If so, to what extent?
SEC. GATES: We’ve seen the press reports, but we have no confirmation of that.
ADM. MULLEN: That’s correct. We’ve seen no confirmation whatsoever.
Q: Mr. Secretary, could you give us your assessment of the situation on the ground? How bad is it? Can the rebels take Tripoli? Are thousands dying?
SEC. GATES: Well, the — I think the honest answer, David, is that we don’t know in that respect, in terms of the number of casualties. In terms of the potential capabilities of the opposition, we’re in the same realm of speculation, pretty much, as everybody else.
March 21, 2011 at 7:57 pm
and you’ve always been such a fan of the UN, too.
Hypocrite.
March 21, 2011 at 8:01 pm
yeah everybody’s evil……they’re all out to get you.
March 21, 2011 at 8:23 pm
non sequitur. answer the charge: you criticize the UN as illegitimate but then state it has the legitimate authority to order nations into bombing other nations. Which is it?.
March 21, 2011 at 8:32 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_war_by_the_United_States
March 21, 2011 at 9:46 pm
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/03/21/congress_war_powers_the_president/index.html
March 22, 2011 at 6:22 am
I don’t know imust, there are a lot of very unhappy congress critters calling it an “illegal war.”
March 21, 2011 at 8:29 pm
[sigh} First, when did i charge the UN as "illegitimate". Second, when did the UN "order" nations to bomb??
March 21, 2011 at 8:40 pm
I doubt there is a poster on this site who hasn’t said they don’t believe the UN should have authority over the US in any fashion; if you do believe the UN should have the power to enforce its charter over US laws, then I am sorry to have mischaracterized your position
though I don’t think I have, because I don’t think you do.Authorize, then: the UN has given its good housekeeping seal of approval to bombing Libya, knowing that this will immediately commence. If they didn’t want it to happen, they wouldn’t authorize it. If you regard the distinction as of importance, fine, change “order” to “authorize”. I’m sure the distinction of giving the greenlight and ordering means so much to everyone bombed.
March 22, 2011 at 5:39 am
Your reasoning is convoluted. I will just say this and be done with it. I don’t agree with every decision by the UN, but I don’t think they’re evil, nor are they trigger happy. If you don’t believe that Ghadafi is and was firing on and killing the rebels that opposed him…..no point in continuing.
March 22, 2011 at 12:27 pm
read them:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/22/cnn-accuses-fox-news-of-outrageous-lie-over-human-shields-in-libya/ (of course it took the not even remotely leftwing CNN weeks to admit they knew the story was a lie all along…)
http://rt.com/news/airstrikes-libya-russian-military/
this is just now getting some coverage here
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-libya-benghazi-jet-idUSTRE72I2XM20110319
to sum: the human shields story has been shown to be a lie, the initial strikes on the rebels and the claimed strikes on then during the ceasefire were shown to be a lie, and the story that Qaddafi’s forces shot down the rebel plane have all been shown to be lies.
Qaddafi is now presently firing back at the rebels, he announced that he was no longer abiding by the ceasefire. But everything the msm and our “government” said at the start of this illegal war was a lie, just like always.
March 22, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Come on, msm lying? NOOOOOOOOO. They would NEVER do that.
March 22, 2011 at 6:26 am
The UN shouldn’t be able to say squat. Nom, you are very good at finding numbers. How much money do we pour into this dumpster?
March 22, 2011 at 12:53 pm
We are one of the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (the others are: France, UK, Russia, and China) and obviously the one with the most authority. All of the permanent members and also wealthier nations tend to pay more than those who are no permanent members of the UNSC and poorer nations.
The US pays around 20% & the top 10 richest nations pay around 75%. The general operating budget is 1.9 billion a year, the “peacekeeping” raises this another 156 billion a year. Of course, the US is notorious for not paying its dues, BHO paid off a lot of it in 2009, but we still owe over a billion in back dues and we’re stillrefusing to pay another 700 million or something. I’d say our total amount per year is probably 7-10 billion, but beyond the base operations of the UN part I’m completely guessing. I imagine we pay a lot more of the military operations budget, but I don’t have a statistic. In any event: it’s high, but is not a huge part of our trillion a year budget either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_and_the_United_Nations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council#Permanent_members
http://www.un.org/geninfo/ir/index.asp?id=150#q3
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/25/us-un-usa-arrears-idUSTRE70O7DW20110125
March 22, 2011 at 12:55 pm
TYPO, TYPO, TYPO
serious typo alert: that’s 15 billion total spent by UN each year ABSOLUTELY NOT 156 billion
March 22, 2011 at 6:25 am
I have said the UN is an illegitimate compound filled with despots and liars. I go by their history. I look at Ban Ki Moon (however you spell it) crying for more money, yet his own budget has increased 38%.
IMHO, the UN should have been dismantled decades ago. It is a recipe for disaster.
March 28, 2011 at 6:44 pm
http://thewestandothers.blogspot.com/2011/03/un-and-principle-of-unanimity_27.html
I’m not crazy about the UN either but more from this point of view; if we’re to have a UN, jmo, it ought to be more egalitarian; but I’d rather not have one, I just don’t think it can be done equitably
March 22, 2011 at 6:29 am
Again, jmo:
I heard that France told the US that they could join them or not. It didn’t matter to them because they are fed up with our indecisive behavior.
BTW, I cannot link to something that I listened to on the radio while driving. Sorry. I try to leave links, but if I don’t it is because it was a radio program. I usually listen to the BBC just so you all know.
March 22, 2011 at 12:59 pm
France may have said this but the French air force doesn’t have the capability to do the job. They just want to try out their new Rafales. Their transport is a joke.