Qaddafi continues brutal attacks on people of Libya
Image via WikipediaCol. Muammar el-Qaddafi counterattacked with brutal force on Friday, battling rebel forces on two fronts, firing on unarmed protesters in front of international news media and leaving the rebels seeking his ouster in disarray.There are many in the US opposed to getting involved with the fighting in Libya. A lot of the retired brass are dubious. It looks like Obama is being pulled along by the international community rather than leading. He has been slow and dithering in his reponse although lately he has seemed to be more assertive.
His militia’s actions seemed likely to stir renewed debate over international intervention to limit his use of military power against his own citizens, possibly by imposing a no-flight zone.
About 30 miles outside the capital, the elite Khamis Brigade, a militia named for the Qaddafi son who commands it, surrounded the rebel-controlled town of Zawiyah and opened fire with mortars, machine guns and other heavy weapons, witnesses said, in two separate skirmishes.
The first was arguably provoked by rebels who tried to attack the better-equipped militia because it was blocking rebel supporters from entering the town, the witnesses said. But the second, called a “massacre” by rebel witnesses, took aim at a group of unarmed protesters who attempted to march through the militia lines toward the capital.
A rebel making a count at the Zawiyah hospital said that at least 35 rebels and an unknown number of militia soldiers died in the fighting, with more than 60 rebels missing and more than 50 wounded. Among the dead, rebels said, was Col. Hussein Darbouk, a defected Libyan officer who had been commanding rebel forces in the town.
“We killed a lot of their people, but obviously they have more power than us, to be quite honest,” said one rebel, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Others spoke of violence directed against unarmed civilians.
“I cannot describe the enormity of the violence they are committing against us,” one resident said in a telephone interview, with gunfire in the background.
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At this point it is likely to take a greater effort than it would have early on in the uprising. Qaddafi appears to be organizing his efforts finally and pushing hard against his adversaries. The days of his muddled response maybe behind him.
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