Western nutjobs destroyed Libya - another of their wrecks. Here are the results

[galdur]

IS group builts a base in Libya from which to exploit tribal conflicts
“IS is provoking tensions and making alliances,” particularly between the competing Tuareg and Toubou tribes

PARIS, FRANCE - Libya’s collapse into a chaotic mess of competing militias since the overthrow and death of dictator Moamer Kadhafi has made it an ideal stomping ground for Islamic State.

Islamic State (IS) group has built a base in Libya from which to exploit tribal conflicts and expand across Africa, though experts say the militants remain exposed even if the West’s attention is elsewhere ng ground for Islamic state.

Islamic State militants gradually built up control of several towns that were of minimum interest to other militias, particularly Kadhafi’s coastal home town of Sirte, east of Tripoli.

Libya not only offers an alternative base if the group is forced out of Syria and Iraq, experts fear it could also take advantage of tribal conflicts to expand south into the Sahel desert region of central Africa, particularly Chad, Niger and Sudan.

“IS is provoking tensions and making alliances,” particularly between the competing Tuareg and Toubou tribes, said Kader Abderrahim of the Institute of Strategic and International Relations in Paris.

For now, Islamic State has only a limited foothold in Libya, but it is enough to project violence into neighbouring countries, particularly Tunisia where the group has claimed three attacks this year.

“Tunisia is the most threatened,” said Abderrahim. “The terrorists cannot accept the idea of a functioning democracy just a few dozen kilometres away.”

Libya also lies just 500 miles across the Mediterranean from Italy, and is a route for thousands of refugees, another weakness Islamic State could exploit.

Libya nonetheless represents a much less hospitable environment for IS than Syria and Iraq.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/04-Dec-2015/is-group-built-a-base-in-libya-from-which-to-exploit-tribal-conflicts

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[bryant.coleman]

(CNN)A report released on Tuesday by a United Nations monitoring group examining terrorist groups in Libya warns ISIS has built up a significant presence in Libya and could further expand the territory it controls through local alliances, but will likely face a number of challenges and constraints in the months ahead.

Outside Syria and Iraq, Libya has proved to the most promising ground for ISIS expansion with the group entrenching its control of the former Gadhafi stronghold of Sirte in recent months and over a hundred miles of coastline bordering the city. The group also retains a presence in eastern Libya where it is in a pitched contest with al Qaeda affiliated groups......

Not only Libya, but the Islamic State seems to be expanding in the other parts of the world as well, including Yemen, Sinai, Nigeria (Boko Haram), Afghanistan, and Pakistan. They are no longer asking their followers to travel to Syria. Instead, they are distributing them to territories such as Sirte, Hadramawt, and Sinai.

[galdur]

(CNN)A report released on Tuesday by a United Nations monitoring group examining terrorist groups in Libya warns ISIS has built up a significant presence in Libya and could further expand the territory it controls through local alliances, but will likely face a number of challenges and constraints in the months ahead.

Outside Syria and Iraq, Libya has proved to the most promising ground for ISIS expansion with the group entrenching its control of the former Gadhafi stronghold of Sirte in recent months and over a hundred miles of coastline bordering the city. The group also retains a presence in eastern Libya where it is in a pitched contest with al Qaeda affiliated groups......

Not only Libya, but the Islamic State seems to be expanding in the other parts of the world as well, including Yemen, Sinai, Nigeria (Boko Haram), Afghanistan, and Pakistan. They are no longer asking their followers to travel to Syria. Instead, they are distributing them to territories such as Sirte, Hadramawt, and Sinai.

Yes, and when they´re entrenched enough in all those places the bombing will start. It should be a familiar script to most people by now. Bomb, entice more terrorism, suffer terror attacks at home, act all dumb and indignant, bomb more and so on.

[bryant.coleman]

Yes, and when they´re entrenched enough in all those places the bombing will start. It should be a familiar script to most people by now. Bomb, entice more terrorism, suffer terror attacks at home, act all dumb and indignant, bomb more and so on.

The same mistake which was committed in Syria and Iraq should not be repeated ever again. The ISIS affiliates in Libya, Afghanistan and Yemen should be nipped in the bud. Just send in the ground forces (with air support) and take them out. If this is not done, then in the near future it will be almost impossible to defeat them militarily. 

[galdur]

It isn´t mistakes, it´s policy. It works so well that it keeps getting repeated in country after country. Which means that totally certifiable nutcases are in charge. The other possibility that they are expecting different results from these repeats, well that´s insanity as well, so there you are.

[alrachid]

And this is only one of the many reasons we don't need Hillary in office.  She played a role in it and she has ulterior motives IMO.

[bryant.coleman]

And this is only one of the many reasons we don't need Hillary in office.  She played a role in it and she has ulterior motives IMO.

Unfortunately, it is a foregone conclusion that she will become the POTUS in 2016. The US voter demographics has changed very dramatically. The spike in the Hispanic and Asian population will make it extremely hard for any GOP candidate to secure an outright win. Right now, Hillary is leading against all her potential GOP opponents by a wide margin.

[galdur]

[galdur]

Italy PM: ‘No Thank You’ to Joining ISIS War
Warns He Doesn't Want Another Libya

by Jason Ditz, December 06, 2015

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has rejected calls to join the US-led war against ISIS by announcing airstrikes against targets inside Syria, saying that more airstrikes would only add to the chaos in the region.

Renzi has been facing growing pressure from the center-right opposition to join the war, and told a newspaper today that he was interested in defeating ISIS, but not just to “multiply on-the-spot reactions, without a strategic vision.”

“If being a protagonist means playing at running after other people’s bombardments, then I say ‘no thank you,'” Renzi insisted, comparing the new strikes to the 2011 NATO attack on Libya, and saying he doesn’t want a “repeat of Libya.”

Libya was expected to be a huge boost for Italy, its neighbor across the Mediterranean, with Italian companies lining up for huge business deals in post-Gadhafi Libya, only to see those opportunities dry up as fighting grows. With ISIS and others establishing presences in Libya, Italy is finding the country less a source of business opportunities and more an endless supply of refugee ships.

http://news.antiwar.com/2015/12/06/italy-pm-no-thank-you-to-joining-isis-war/

[bryant.coleman]

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has rejected calls to join the US-led war against ISIS by announcing airstrikes against targets inside Syria, saying that more airstrikes would only add to the chaos in the region.

He is correct, up to an extent. The only way to destroy the ISIS is to mount a ground offensive, after sealing off the ISIS-Turkish border. But as long as the border remains open, it will be impossible to defeat the ISIS. Also, the Turks should be given strict instructions on not to purchase the ISIS oil. If they don't obey, then drop bombs and obliterate the Turkish oil refineries.

[galdur]

Why isn´t she running for president? Seems to have more brains than Obama and Hillary put together. Not to mention that unlike them she appears perfectly sane.

U.S. Congresswoman: CIA Must Stop Illegal, Counterproductive War to Overthrow Assad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHkher6ceaA

[Beliathon]

IMHO Nuke Libya

[bryant.coleman]

Why isn´t she running for president? Seems to have more brains than Obama and Hillary put together. Not to mention that unlike them she appears perfectly sane.

U.S. Congresswoman: CIA Must Stop Illegal, Counterproductive War to Overthrow Assad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHkher6ceaA

Tulsi Gabbard? LOL. She is a good politician, but unfortunately ended up with the wrong party. I am sure that Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden would deny her a re-election in 2018. How can she remain in the Democrat party, with such outspoken views against the American intervention in Syria? Very courageous, I should admit.

[mohsin qureshi]

What has the West wrought in Libya?
Now Libya is a dangerous wreck, and no Western countries want to take responsibility for restoring its civil order.

I totally agreed some countries strikes in Libya, what they got from there??? nothing only killing of more than 10 thousand peoples, simentaniouly attacks in Iraq, (for in search of so called weapons of mass destructions), I think if only Saddam dismissed from his post, then there is no need for war there.

Same in Afghanistan, now Afghanistan become a nightmare for ally forces, over 14 years have been passed, but no peace there, a number of ally troops killed there.

all above said countries forces attacks, for their own intrest i guess, but no peace there, and the people of that countries now become an enemy of western countries. Thats why ISIS formed, it is the reason behind it i guess, we have another chance, we do not more attacks because then the situation become more worst, and that is the final alarm for WORLD WAR - III

[galdur]

IS aims to extend caliphate and grab oil in Libya

BEL TREWTHE TIMESDECEMBER 16, 2015 10:31AM

Islamic State has seized vast swathes of the Libyan coast in an attempt to grab the largest oil wells and establish headquarters to replace its northern Syrian stronghold, which has been pounded by western and Russian air strikes.

French reconnaissance missions and residents in Sirte, the coastal hometown of Colonel Gaddafi, have revealed that ISIS has sent large convoys east towards the oil terminals of Ras Lanuf and Sidra.

The French government, whose drones and jets have been spying on Isis movements in Libya, warned that the terror network was also expanding inland into the expansive oil crescent.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French defence minister, who has overseen several missions in the past two months, said: “They are in Sirte, their territory extends 250km along the coast, but they are starting to penetrate the interior and to be tempted by access to oil wells and reserves.”

The French believe that ISIS is desperately trying to secure a new safe haven after massive aerial bombardment on Raqqa, the terror network’s effective headquarters, in northern Syria. ISIS already controls Sirte and would be able to extend the territory it controls by taking advantage of the chaotic state of the country, which has been effectively ungovernable since Colonel Gaddafi was killed and his regime collapsed. Grabbing Libya’s oil assets would also replace revenue for the terror network lost after the bombing of Syrian oilfields.

With two rival governments and no functioning army, Libyan authorities have been powerless to stop the insurgency.

ISIS now holds a stretch of territory several hundred miles long just across the Mediterranean from Europe, as well as pockets in the far east and far west of the country.

The group issued a decree at the weekend, which has been seen by The Times, stating that Sirte was governed by “the caliphate” and setting out a 13-point manifesto. It said that there would be strict punishments for those who flouted its rules.

The decree included details of a Sharia courthouse to oversee all financial transactions in Sirte. Those who attempt to evade the courthouse’s oversight will face trial, the fighters wrote. This week, Isis beheaded a woman for “witchcraft” and shot dead a Palestinian man accused of spying in the city. They also cut off a Libyan man’s hand for stealing.

Last month, they beheaded two men accused of “sorcery” and lashed two others for drinking alcohol and having extramarital relations. The brutal punishments were broadcast in a gory eight-minute propaganda video.

The ISIS police who now run Sirte have been tasked with enforcing the new constitution, which bans alcohol, smoking and drugs. All political activity, such as joining a party, holding rallies or interacting with “apostate governments” is to be punished by the sword, the makeshift constitution states. Women are ordered to “stay home unless there is an emergency” and to wear the full face veil.

The document refers to pagan images and sculptures, rousing fears for Libya’s heritage sites, many of which now lie within Isis’s growing territory. “If you see paganism, in the form of sculpture do not let it be until you destroy it,” the fighters wrote, echoing the actions of their counterparts in Syria and Iraq, who demolished the ancient cities of Palmyra and Nimrud and executed the officials who managed them.

Libya is rich in ancient archaeological sites that were once protected by Unesco, including Cyrene, which was founded in 630BC and was one of the most important cities in the Hellenic world.

Last week, ISIS fighters swept into Sabratha, about 500km east of Sirte. It was the first time that the ISIS fighters, who run several international jihadist training camps, had displayed such a brazen show of force so far east in the country.

Archaeologists fear for Sabratha’s third-century Roman amphitheatre, one of the best in the world, and the fully stocked museum on site, which could easily be looted.

ISIS first appeared in Libya in October last year, but has rapidly expanded across the country, exploiting a complete breakdown in security after the armed coalition Libya Dawn took over Tripoli and set up a rival administration, sparking a civil war.

The United Nations is desperate to secure a peace deal for Libya with delegates meeting today in Morocco. The UN is pushing for both administrations to form a united government and help stabilise the country, but few hold out much hope. Neither government has expressed support for such a deal.

In a recent conference on Libya held in Rome, officials from 17 countries, including the UK and the US, together with the European Union, the African Union and the Arab League, urged Libya’s politicians to push forward with a deal.

The Times

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/is-aims-to-extend-caliphate-and-grab-oil-in-libya/news-story/ef8616d00f5b15e7cb4a1df571cb414e

[zenitzz]

IS aims to extend caliphate and grab oil in Libya

BEL TREWTHE TIMESDECEMBER 16, 2015 10:31AM

Islamic State has seized vast swathes of the Libyan coast in an attempt to grab the largest oil wells and establish headquarters to replace its northern Syrian stronghold, which has been pounded by western and Russian air strikes.

French reconnaissance missions and residents in Sirte, the coastal hometown of Colonel Gaddafi, have revealed that ISIS has sent large convoys east towards the oil terminals of Ras Lanuf and Sidra.

The French government, whose drones and jets have been spying on Isis movements in Libya, warned that the terror network was also expanding inland into the expansive oil crescent.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French defence minister, who has overseen several missions in the past two months, said: “They are in Sirte, their territory extends 250km along the coast, but they are starting to penetrate the interior and to be tempted by access to oil wells and reserves.”

The French believe that ISIS is desperately trying to secure a new safe haven after massive aerial bombardment on Raqqa, the terror network’s effective headquarters, in northern Syria. ISIS already controls Sirte and would be able to extend the territory it controls by taking advantage of the chaotic state of the country, which has been effectively ungovernable since Colonel Gaddafi was killed and his regime collapsed. Grabbing Libya’s oil assets would also replace revenue for the terror network lost after the bombing of Syrian oilfields.

With two rival governments and no functioning army, Libyan authorities have been powerless to stop the insurgency.

ISIS now holds a stretch of territory several hundred miles long just across the Mediterranean from Europe, as well as pockets in the far east and far west of the country.

The group issued a decree at the weekend, which has been seen by The Times, stating that Sirte was governed by “the caliphate” and setting out a 13-point manifesto. It said that there would be strict punishments for those who flouted its rules.

The decree included details of a Sharia courthouse to oversee all financial transactions in Sirte. Those who attempt to evade the courthouse’s oversight will face trial, the fighters wrote. This week, Isis beheaded a woman for “witchcraft” and shot dead a Palestinian man accused of spying in the city. They also cut off a Libyan man’s hand for stealing.

Last month, they beheaded two men accused of “sorcery” and lashed two others for drinking alcohol and having extramarital relations. The brutal punishments were broadcast in a gory eight-minute propaganda video.

The ISIS police who now run Sirte have been tasked with enforcing the new constitution, which bans alcohol, smoking and drugs. All political activity, such as joining a party, holding rallies or interacting with “apostate governments” is to be punished by the sword, the makeshift constitution states. Women are ordered to “stay home unless there is an emergency” and to wear the full face veil.

The document refers to pagan images and sculptures, rousing fears for Libya’s heritage sites, many of which now lie within Isis’s growing territory. “If you see paganism, in the form of sculpture do not let it be until you destroy it,” the fighters wrote, echoing the actions of their counterparts in Syria and Iraq, who demolished the ancient cities of Palmyra and Nimrud and executed the officials who managed them.

Libya is rich in ancient archaeological sites that were once protected by Unesco, including Cyrene, which was founded in 630BC and was one of the most important cities in the Hellenic world.

Last week, ISIS fighters swept into Sabratha, about 500km east of Sirte. It was the first time that the ISIS fighters, who run several international jihadist training camps, had displayed such a brazen show of force so far east in the country.

Archaeologists fear for Sabratha’s third-century Roman amphitheatre, one of the best in the world, and the fully stocked museum on site, which could easily be looted.

ISIS first appeared in Libya in October last year, but has rapidly expanded across the country, exploiting a complete breakdown in security after the armed coalition Libya Dawn took over Tripoli and set up a rival administration, sparking a civil war.

The United Nations is desperate to secure a peace deal for Libya with delegates meeting today in Morocco. The UN is pushing for both administrations to form a united government and help stabilise the country, but few hold out much hope. Neither government has expressed support for such a deal.

In a recent conference on Libya held in Rome, officials from 17 countries, including the UK and the US, together with the European Union, the African Union and the Arab League, urged Libya’s politicians to push forward with a deal.

The Times

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/is-aims-to-extend-caliphate-and-grab-oil-in-libya/news-story/ef8616d00f5b15e7cb4a1df571cb414e

looks like France might get a little chilly this winter. libya was their main source of oil when Gadahfi was in charge. I'd say France shot itself in the foot getting rid of Sarkozy's money man Ghadafi

[galdur]

Yes, French and Italian oil companies primarily and also British ones had high hopes for Libya but their political assets didn´t deliver. First and foremost they picked the worst possible crap (like obviously seeks like, as always) in Libya to help overthrow Ghadafi and second they actually let that crap develop the aftermath. The rest is history. It seems that the weapons manufacturing political ownership side has proved much more powerful, especially as the French are concerned. Their weapons sales to the Middle East warzones have totally ballooned in recent years and the region is by far their most important market.

[galdur]

US Special Ops Kicked Out of Libya
Troops Outed by Libyan Air Force on Facebook

by Jason Ditz, December 17, 2015

A US military ground operation began and ended without much fanfare earlier this week in Libya, the Pentagon admitted today, in a shockingly bungling effort to secretly establish a presence of US special forces in the country.

A group of about 20 US soldiers, armed with assault rifles and bulletproof vests, but conspicuously not wearing uniforms, showed up in the Wattiya airbase, just south of Tripoli Monday. Pictures of the US troops were published by the Libyan Air Force on their Facebook page.

The Air Force pointed out the troops arrived with no coordination and apparently no approval, though the Pentagon claims to have gotten an okay from some government faction or other, but apparently not the right ones, as local commanders quickly demanded that the US troops leave, and the Pentagon says they did to “avoid conflict.”

Pentagon officials further claimed the deployment was a “training mission” aimed at enhancing ties with the Libyan National Army, but didn’t explain why they sent the troops in wholly unannounced, nor why the troops were clearly combat-ready but out of uniform.

Recent conferences on Libya among NATO members, including one earlier this month in Rome, have had several nations talking up the idea of sending troops. It is surprising to learn, then, that the US went first, bungling their way into Libya and almost immediately getting chased out.

http://news.antiwar.com/2015/12/17/us-special-ops-kicked-out-of-libya/

[galdur]

Libya Seeks Russia’s Help in Battling Terrorism

11:51 19.12.2015 (updated 15:22 19.12.2015)

The Libyan Armed Forces' Commander Brigadier General Khalifa Hafter has voiced his country's readiness to cooperate with Russia in fighting terrorism, according to the Iranian news agency FARS.

"We welcome support from Russia in fighting terrorism," the agency quotes Hafter as telling reporters after his meeting with United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Chief Martin Kobler in the city of Marj, Northeastern Libya.


Will Syria Repeat the Fate of Libya, ‘Which No Longer Exists’?

The military leader assured that if Russia proposes a plan for fighting terrorism in Libya, Tripoli will cooperate with Moscow, adding that “Russians are serious in [the] fight against terrorists”.
Libya is currently run by two main rival governments, which are entangled in a violent, nationwide power struggle. Each side is backed by powerful armed groups which have dominated the Libyan scene since the elimination of the country’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The country's capital Tripoli, is controlled by a political faction, known as the General National Congress, which was set up after an armed group called Libya Dawn seized the capital, Tripoli, last summer.

The UN-recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni is based in the eastern city of Bayda; its elected parliament moved from the capital Tripoli to Tobruk.


Moving Closer to Europe: ISIL Sets Its Sights on Expansion in Libya

On Thursday, rival Libyan politicians signed a deal on a unity government despite opposition on both sides, in what the United Nations described as a "first step" towards ending the crisis.
World powers have urged the warring factions to break a political deadlock that has allowed jihadists and people-smugglers to flourish.

Meanwhile, the jihadist group Daesh (also known as ISIL/ISIS) has increased its presence in the Libyan Mediterranean city of Sirte, having apparently established its new base there, where it can “generate oil revenue and plan terror attacks”.

http://sputniknews.com/world/20151219/1032011120/libya-russia-help-terrorism.html

[bryant.coleman]

^^^The Russians are unlikely to attack the ISIS in Libya. They intervened in Syria, only after Bashar al Assad requested for assistance. Also, Syria is a strategic location in the Middle East, and the city of Tartus is having a Russian naval base. On the other hand, Libya is having Zero strategic importance. Why should Putin waste his money and equipment there?