Posted on 04/21/2011 10:32:56 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
The graves outside the shrine are packed tightly together, thick stripes of cement with small concrete blocks poking out of the earth at either end. Some of the graves are about six feet apart, like those marking the remains of Khalid Abushahma, the first protester to be shot dead by Muammar Gaddafi's forces in this Libyan port city on 20 February, and of Ali al-Hadi, who died just two days ago.
Other graves barely span two feet. Ibrahim Omran, a baby buried on 7 April. Amina Abdullah, a small girl, two weeks before. Sanad Aduraat, a toddler killed by a bullet on 6 March. Carved into the cement next to Aduraat's name, next to all the names, is the word al-shaheed, meaning martyr.
"Gaddafi is the reason for all this," said Abdullah Almohandis, an old man in a brown hooded cloak who oversees the cemetery.
Heavy explosions boomed in the distance, as they do here for many hours of each day and night. Almohandis held his open hands to the sky, shaking with rage.
The war in Misrata is now two months old. The graveyards are filling up and the hospitals are overflowing. In their attempt to end the uprising, Gaddafi's forces have killed at least 1,000 people. Around 90% are civilians who have died because of indiscriminate shelling or shooting, doctors here say.
Fighting has been so heavy that parts of the city centre are now almost completely destroyed. Buildings, homes and mosques are pockmarked with bullet holes. Walls have been completely blown away, or are blackened by fire. Entire suburbs near the front lines are empty of families, who have crammed into other parts of the city, closer to the sea. Communications have been completely cut.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
1) Rebels declared war on Gaddafi. It's certainly their right, but it's a bit illogical to complain that the opponent shoots at them. What did they expect?
2) It is indeed unfortunate that the innocents are being killed. But then why do the rebels stay among them? Aren't the rebels, by any chance, using civilians as shields?
3) But if the rebels are surrounded, have nowhere to go and want to protect civilians, the only logical choice for them is to surrender. The fact that they are surrounded in a city is a defeat already; the complete destruction is only a matter of time (which they try to delay by inviting foreign troops.)
Wacko violent muslims killing wacko violent muslims. Someone explain why we should give a ratsass.
This entire article, and if you comment without reading it you are ill informed, is one of the best on urban warfare I have ever read. It is highly descriptive of what is going on in Misrata, how the defense is being handled, etc. A serious problem is Qadaffi’s mercenary snipers who are killing anyone they can, who sticks their head out a door, including children who just want to play outside. It also describes in detail how the whole mess started with a few demonstrators who supported Banghazi, and how it escallated with Qadaffi’s ham fisted handling of the situation.
Like most articles in The Guardian, you are less informed after reading the propaganda than before it. Nowhere does the article explain who the rebels are or why we should “give a rat sass”.
Clearly the article wants us to believe that one side is responsible for all the bad things. And that this evil side is opposed by the al Qaeda side. If that doesn’t get your nose twitching at the aroma of BS... you’ve never worked in a barn.
The only intervention we ought to consider in Libya is selling Pay Per View as our enemies fight it out.
Ill informed??? You are delusional to think this article is anything but another piece of disinformation to boost these ‘rebels’ aka Islamic invaders. I read this Guardian piece and it’s just typical of the captured press hoping to force the weak minded westerners into putting boots on the ground. These rebel scumbags will hopefully be wiped out soon w/o the West putting any forces on the ground to fight in this hellhole! The only silver lining is an escalation will further damage the Obama Administration.
I got halfway through but I couldn’t go on. The sob stories were using up all my hankies. Does propaganda have a purple-prose genre? If so, this guy wins the Nobel.
I see that you and Al Guardian are on the same side here.
“the night cometh, when no man can work”
I hope I don’t end up saying I told you so anytime soon.
Ah.
Tried the link. It didn’t work for me.
What do you expect?
Dead muslims are dead muslims, I don’t feel sorry for any of them on either side.
Thinning the herd.
Nonsense. The terrorists who started this have been using innocent civilians for their own purposes. Unfortunately, they started a war to take over from Kaddafi, and when you have people shooting at each other in cities, innocents will get hurt.
The rebellion was nearly over, when the jerks stepped in for “humanitarian” reasons and started bombing the government forces. Now, thousands more have been killed, and the war has been extended, for no good reason.
The press is entirely one-sided. Left-wing propagandists doing their best to portray Muslim terrorists and leftist agitators as the good guys.
Kaddafi certainly has his bad points, but he has done more for the people of his country than most Arab leaders. They hate him for that.
Libya has (had?) the highest per capita in North Africa.
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