Who are the Libyan Rebels?

I see a lot of chatter out in the media world about WHO these 'rebels' are, but I haven't seen a lot of real evidence either way.

Can we have a thread dedicated to examining the evidence showing the various theories of who these 'rebels' are, from the claims they are the 'muslim brotherhood' to 'every day people'

I understand there are a few threads floating out there discussing one particular point of view, and I would encourage you guys to post links to those with a brief write up, but I'd love to see collection of the competing info all in one place

So, what you got? Muslim Brotherhood? Al Queda from Iraq? Freedom Fighters? The backup singers from Michael Jackson's last tour?

CIA stooges.
I actually read an article in the NY times that said the CIA has been in Libya for weeks and has been arming the rebels.
The very next day there was an article about an official trying to get us to arm the rebels. Then the next day on fox news they say we probably won't arm the rebels. I'm glad I don't have the memory of a goldfish, but apparently most Americans do.

reply to post by incrediblelousminds
At least edit your title to the correct spelling of Libyan rebel's. To answer your question as I have on the other 2 threads asking this question.....I don't know, but would like to see more of these "rebels" than the 4-5 pickups with machine guns on a road in the desert with the power lines in the background.

Maybe all of the above.
Except mj backup singers.

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds
Who are the Libyan Rebels?

Rebels and patriots are players on the field owned and operated by the stadium owners.

Polarity is a natural phenomenon.

robots

Originally posted by Ghost375
CIA stooges.
I actually read an article in the NY times that said the CIA has been in Libya for weeks and has been arming the rebels.
The very next day there was an article about an official trying to get us to arm the rebels. Then the next day on fox news they say we probably won't arm the rebels. I'm glad I don't have the memory of a goldfish, but apparently most Americans do.

edit on 11-4-2011 by Ghost375 because: Second line, and third line, etc

I've seen some of the news and info showing the cia is helping them. Does that make them their 'stooges'?

It sounds to me like there are a lot of conflicting reports of 'who' they are depending on who you ask. But i'm not seeing a lot of evidence that they are any one thing.

It seems to me that certainly a lot of the people fighting are regular Libyans tired of Gadaffi. Clearly there are also several competing interests who stand to gain from gadaffi's fall. But inferring who they are based on who might stand to gain from gadaffi's fall is not necessarily evidence, is it?

The left seem content to say they are all freedom fighters. Those critical of the west, or of obama, or of the UN, say they are 'muslim brotherhood' or even al queda. But none of these claims appear completely substantiated.

I

reply to post by incrediblelousminds


CNN Anderson cooper have stated in march the rebels are only in 1000s or 1,500 number compare that with libyas population of 6 million.

That is true with the news footages we have seen coming the rebels number look to be in the few not in a million.

reply to post by incrediblelousminds


Who cares? Everything that has happened in the Middle East for the past 30 years has been nothing but old wine in new bottles. Who are they? Just another group of jokers who will use extremism and play every side against the other to extort cash and diplomatic concessions out of the western world. Just another group of misguided thugs who will be propped up by the US government to the tune of millions of dollars a year. Just another group of folks who the Neocons will call stooges who will be smart enough to work the military industrial complex, make those folks rich and themselves rich in the process.

Pete Townsend had it right. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"

If you are treating this business in the Middle East as anything more than a spectator sport, you are wasting your time

They are the radical Islamic fundamentalists who dominate the eastern portion of the country.

The eastern part of Libya have ever strove against the western portions of Libya - who are more tolerant and educated.

Originally posted by FarArcher
They are the radical Islamic fundamentalists who dominate the eastern portion of the country.

The eastern part of Libya have ever strove against the western portions of Libya - who are more tolerant and educated.

Interesting. Can you point me towards some good background sources for that sort of history?

Thanks!

The rebels don't seem to have a definate command and we've seen two different men named as leader by the media. one is the leader of the national transitional government who was Gaddaffi's Justice minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil and the other is Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi who I can't find much information on.

Definately looks like their is no command and no one has them under control which is a very bad thing if the west arms them.

reply to post by Ghost375


Come on, guys. Of the six people who starred this opinion, none of you can provide some credible sources giving substance to it?

This is not a surprise to me. It is obvious that the rebels are Shiites who want control of Libya's resources, they also want Sharia.

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited "around 25" men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are "today are on the front lines in Adjabiya". Mr al-Hasidi insisted his fighters "are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists," but added that the "members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader". His revelations came even as Idriss Deby Itno, Chad's president, said al-Qaeda had managed to pillage military arsenals in the Libyan rebel zone and acquired arms, "including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries". Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against "the foreign invasion" in Afghanistan, before being "captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan". He was later handed over to the US, and then held in Libya before being released in 2008.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Benghazi is also very close to the Nubian sandstone aquifer system.

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds
I see a lot of chatter out in the media world about WHO these 'rebels' are, but I haven't seen a lot of real evidence either way.

all that matters is that our establishment has labeled them "Rebels".

If they were against certain western interests, they'd be labeled terrorists obviously...

where was that - o yea some X-men comic ... when the mutants are being labeled terrorists... Wolverine busts out and goes :"Terrorists is just the name the big army gives the little arm!" ....hahahah... so true...


-

This just in today.

The international contact group on Libya has agreed to set up a temporary "trust fund" to help the international community channel assets to the opposition Transitional National Council in Benghazi. In a statement issued at the conclusion of Wednesday's one-day summit in Doha, Qatar, the group united to call on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to step down. "Gaddafi and his regime has lost all legitimacy and he must leave power allowing the Libyan people to determine their own future," the group said. The financial mechanism being set up will allow international donations to be made - possibly from frozen assets of the Gaddafi administration - and made directly available to Gaddafi's opponents. Libyan rebels want to borrow at least $2 billion, with short-term loans "an option on the table" at the Doha discussions, Bloomberg reported, citing an interview in Benghazi with Ali Tarhouni, the Interim Transitional National Council’s finance minister.

www.atimes.com...

Seems like a conflict of interest to me for Germany to be involved in this when they have a 400 bn euro plan to build solar electricity systems in North Africa.

William Hague, British foreign secretary, told al-Jazeera that arming Benghazi-based fighters would not be contrary to international law. "The UN resolutions do allow for the provision of weapons," he said. "But we are making our contribution through our own military, as well as providing non-lethal support, such as communications equipment." He earlier told reporters that "the arms embargo applies to all of Libya, but it is appropriate to equip people with what is needed to protect themselves".

www.atimes.com...

reply to post by deessell


Excellent.Thanks for the sourced info.

In fact a 2007 West Point study confirms that that the rebels are the very same terrorists that killed US and Nato soldiers in Iraq!

The most striking finding which emerges from the West Point study is that the corridor which goes from Benghazi to Tobruk, passing through the city of Darnah (also transliterated as Derna) them represents one of the greatest concentrations of jihadi terrorists to be found anywhere in the world, and by some measures can be regarded as the leading source of suicide bombers anywhere on the planet. Darnah, with one terrorist fighter sent into Iraq to kill Americans for every 1,000 to 1,500 persons of population, emerges as suicide bomber heaven, easily surpassing the closest competitor, which was Riyad, Saudi Arabia.

Today, it is clear that the United States is providing modern weapons for the Libyan rebels through Saudi Arabia and across the Egyptian border with the active assistance of the Egyptian army and of the newly installed pro-US Egyptian military junta.14 This is a direct violation of UN Security Council resolution 1973, which calls for a complete arms embargo on Libya. The assumption is that these weapons will be used against Gaddafi in the coming weeks. But, given the violently anti-American nature of the population of northeast Libya that is now being armed, there is no certainty that these weapons will not be soon turned against those who have provided them. A broader problem is represented by the conduct of the future Libyan government dominated by the current rebel council with its large current majority of northeastern Islamists, or of a similar government of a future Cyrenaica rump state. To the extent that such regimes will have access to oil revenues, obvious problems of international security are posed. Gamage wonders: “If the rebellion succeeds in toppling the Qaddafi regime it will have direct access to the tens of billions of dollars that Qaddafi is believed to have squirreled away in overseas accounts during his four-decade rule.”15 Given the northeast Libyan mentality, we can imagine what such revenues might be used for.

The west point report can be downloaded from here
www.globalresearch.ca...

Guess this information won't be making MSN or Fox!

reply to post by deessell


Wow, that's a pretty damning collection of information there if true.

Thanks so much for the link.

Edit-okay, after a few reads I'm left with the impression the globalresearch article is highly speculative and based on military information we are supposed to accept as fact (info on 'al queda in iraq' captured on the battlefield??).

I'd like to read the actual West Point report, but I dont trust the download link. Can you provide a better link?

reply to post by incrediblelousminds


C.I.A. Backed Al Quada Mercenaries . Insurgents who's Sole Purpose is to Topple a Sovereign Nations Leader who apparently will NOT Play Ball with them .........Just a Guess ? ...Hmm........