Interesting little piece I read the other day. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programme...nt/9421899.stm

But as to the western leader choices. Maybe they have looked at the possible alternatives to the current governments, and have decided the devil they know is better than the one they don't. And as you mentioned there's always oil. Their primary responsibility is to their own country first, and if that means sacrificing some foreign rebels in a country that 99% of their population couldn't place on a map just to keep the quality of life in their country at an adequate level, then so be it they may think.

I'm not advocating that, just maybe that's what they are thinking.

I could have sworn that someone just wrote about the crazy terrorist supporting fundamentalist wahhibis with their religious tyrannys and "morality" police moving in to crush a demonstration against a dictatorship by the minority.
Luckily the west feels like skybird and doesn't want the religious lunatics with their tyranny overthrown as it may lead to errrr....religious lunatics being tyrants:har:

Islamist Group Is Rising Force in a New Egypt
 

CAIRO — In post-revolutionary Egypt, where hope and confusion collide in the daily struggle to build a new nation, religion has emerged as a powerful political force, following an uprising that was based on secular ideals. The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group once banned by the state, is at the forefront, transformed into a tacit partner with the military government that many fear will thwart fundamental changes.

It is also clear that the young, educated secular activists who initially propelled the nonideological revolution are no longer the driving political force — at least not at the moment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/wo...5egypt.html?hp


Note: Update Record,March 24, 2011

Beat Vendor to this one.

Libyan-rebel-commander-admits-his-fighters-have-al-Qaeda-links

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...eda-links.html

I'm not surprised if the information is credible in the article

If that gets confirmed, and gets demonstrated to reflect not an exception from the rule, but a rule for sure, then my hope and argument that our uncertainty about the rebel's nature could also mean that they would be a better alternative worth to be supported, would have been neutralised. That was always a possibility, but I hoped it would not be so.

If this news gets verified, then my/our support for the airwar was wrong, and I will u-turn immediately and withdraw any support for it, instead demanding to leave those people to themselves.

As long as the uncertainty about the rebels was existent, I still think it was the right thing to try it and push into that direction. But if we now learn that our hopes - once again - have been vaporised by Islamism in the region, then we have no argument anymore to help them to win.

Good find, Rockstar. I so far have not seen any comment on the rebel'S nature in German media.

Newspapers also reported there are suggestions to nevertheless release groundforces into Lybia now, both on NATO and US side. I ruled that out from beginning on. It would be another trigger for me to totally uturn immediately and not only no longer support the air intervention, but to attack it.

Maybe I really have forgotten this time that you can always trust blindly into the stupidity and unscrupelousness of Western politicians.

Like Sky states...if this gets confirmed everything from an Allied perspective could well change...which is the lesser of the two evils then? :hmmm:

When CIA head says that MB are secular then as well there is a chance that this may get confirmed.:ping:

Yes and no, in this case, from my point of view

If AQ is in he mix, perhaps we could have some unfortunate friendly fire incidents. Just wait for a really big crowd.

These cells, or militant groups, reproduce relatively rapidly, even in other global contexts

Q. Why is it we take out Gaddafis armour when it advances against the rebels?

A. Becuse it is deemed as a threat to civilians.

Q. Why is it we take out Gaddafis armour when it is in a static defensive formation and the rebels are advancing against it?

Just wondering if double standards are in operation here :hmmm:

"Double Standards", you are right in what you said Jim, but this thread comes from the unrest in Egypt from the beginning, (which you already know) so hence your questions and answers, I believe

A. Because the instant the first missile was launched we committed ourselves to taking a side and now we have no choice but to see it through. Obama in particular has to win as failure would probably cost him the re-election.

"Obama lied, people died"

"No blood for oil"

British military releases photos of when their attack plan strikes out Libyan military vehicles outside the urban Ajdabiya and Misrata.
http://i.imgur.com/wovhq.jpg