Middle East: Discussion

[HareKrishna]

Britain sold Libya more than $6 million in ammunition, including riot-control ammo, in the third quarter of 2010 alone—a chapter in shame that Prime Minister David Cameron (who recently flew to Egypt to strike a relationship with the nascent regime there) might wish to rectify.



More tangibly, in 2007, BP signed a $900 million deal with Libya to dig 17 exploratory wells across an area 10 times the size of BP's quite extensive operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Libya's lucrative ties

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/...18658.html

The difficulty of reporting from inside Libya



http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/20...libya.html



Who are Egypt's Protesters?

http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/0...rs_09.html

The Globalists' Egyptian Gambit: ElBaradei

http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/0...radei.html

Exporting Nonviolent Revolution, From Eastern Europe To The Middle East

http://www.rferl.org/content/exporting_n...16231.html

[HareKrishna]

Why is official Washington so obsessed with the idea of overthrowing these governments? The answer has everything to do with Iran, China, and Russia. As regards Iran, the State Department policy is notoriously the attempt to assemble a united front of the entrenched Arab and Sunni regimes to be played against Shiite Iran and its various allies across the region.

http://tarpley.net/2011/01/16/tunisian-w...ks-putsch/

[dhu]

http://weeseeyou.com/wp-content/uploads/...peless.jpg



One of endless recycled images being used in this revolution..

What are chances of a Libyan coming up with on his own..

[HareKrishna]

U.S. Government Chartered Ferry Evacuation

http://libya.usembassy.gov/wm-022311.html

[Guest]

NBC says there is a rumor of Qaddafi being shot

[Guest]

[url="http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20110224/tpl-uk-libya-gaddafi-minister-43a8d4f.html"]Gaddafi will take his own life and not flee [/url]

Muammar Gaddafi will commit suicide the way Adolf Hitler did at the end of World War II rather than surrender or flee, a former Libyan cabinet minister told a Swedish newspaper in an interview published on Thursday. Skip related content



"Gaddafi's days are numbered. He will do what Hitler did -- he will take his own life," former Justice Minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil told Expressen in an interview in Al Bayda.



Al Jeleil resigned this week in protest at violence used by the government against demonstrators opposed to Gaddafi. The leader is battling to preserve his 41-year rule.

[Naresh]

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[center][size="5"][color="#006400"]HEROIC OIL COMPANIES OFFER TO FLY LIBYAN OIL TO SAFETY[/color][/size][/center]



TRIPOLI - As chaos mounts in Libya, concerned petroleum firms across the globe have made a courageous pledge to fly all of Libya’s oil to safety.



[center][/center]



[center]Oil barrels await their plane ride to safety.[/center]



“We have watched the events in Libya unfold in horror, and we cannot stand idly by and allow billions of innocent barrels to be in harm’s way,” said CEO James Mulva of ConocoPhillips, one of 10 firms to send planes and ships to rescue oil from Libyan leader Muamar Gaddafi.



Energy companies said they were particularly alarmed after rumors spread that Gaddafi plans to destroy oil fields, much as Iraq’s Saddam Hussein did during the Gulf War. Executives said they were shocked and saddened the admittedly ruthless dictator would stoop so low.



“Gaddafi used to be someone you could count on,” said BP spokesman Keith Hart. “Yes, he was behind the Pan Am 103 bombing, which killed 280, and the French airplane downing that killed 170, and the Berlin disco bombing that killed and wounded 200, and he funded the Irish Republican Army, which killed thousands. But he always treated oil with dignity.”



Libya produces 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, or roughly 2 percent of the world’s output. Gas and oil prices have surged as the continued violence threatens to interrupt operations. This makes any rescue attempt dangerous, but the risk is worth the effort, said Hess CEO John B. Hess.



“Two percent may seem small, but put it in perspective,” Hess said. “If 2 percent of the world’s population were in danger, we would be talking about 120 million people.



“That would be a frightening number,” he added. “If people were as valuable as oil.”



According to energy firm officials, millions of barrels of oil are stranded in Libya, many cowering in fear as they await liberation from the widening crisis. Billions more are laying low, untapped and underground, hoping for a chance to escape to Europe and the West.



In Spain, energy company Respol says it has been scrambling to get information on its oil’s whereabouts.



“We have not seen or been in contact with any of our oil for the past two days and we are very concerned for its welfare,” said company spokesman Xavi Torres. “The situation is chaotic, but we will do everything we can to free the oil from this barbarous dictator. Unless he remains in power, in which case please replace ‘barbarous dictator’ with ‘valued ally.’”



Italian firm ENI, meanwhile, has set up a toll-free number for anyone who has seen its oil. German company Wintershall has posted flyers across the country with pictures of its missing product. “Have you seen this barrel?” the caption reads.



In anticipation of rescue, thousands of barrels of oil have packed into Tripoli’s airport, competing for space with foreign nationals who also hope to escape the widening crisis. The fight for seat space has proven volatile as passengers protested, with many chanting “People first, oil second!” Repeated attempts by oil company officials to correct their math were rebuffed.



“I have a first-class ticket out and I want to sit next to my husband, not a barrel of crude oil,” said British national Helen Gerrard, hoping to make it back to her home outside London.



Marathon Oil spokesman Lee Heardly, however, promised passengers this would not happen. “Only refined oil will be in first class,” Heardly said. “Crude oil will fly economy. Obviously.”



On the political front, governments from the United States to Italy have been criticized for not speaking out stronger on Libya. Many, including President Obama, have threatened sanctions against Gaddafi and come out in support of Libya’s people, but nothing more.



“Frankly, we are disappointed that the President of the United States and other leaders have not clearly demanded that Libya’s oil be free,” said Ray Irani, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, America’s fourth-largest U.S. oil company. “What do we pay these people for?”



Cheers

[Guest]

[url="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/25/obama_declares_national_state_of_emergency_over_libya"]Obama declares national state of emergency over Libya [/url]

The executive order itself condemns the "wanton violence against unarmed associates" perpetrated by Qaddafi, his sons, his government, and his close associates. Effective immediately, all U.S.-based assets of Qaddafi and his four sons are to be frozen and transactions intended to move those assets are prohibited. The order allows the measures to be expanded to include any member of the Libyan government who are determined to be complicit in Qaddafi's brutality.

The National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601-1651) is a United States federal law passed in 1976 to stop open-ended states of national emergency and formalize the power of Congress to provide certain checks and balances on the emergency powers of the President. The act sets a limit of two years on states of national emergency. It also imposes certain “procedural formalities” on the President when invoking such powers.



The perceived need for the law arose from the scope and number of laws granting special powers to the executive in times of national emergency (or public danger).



At least two constitutional rights are subject to revocation during a state of emergency:



The right of habeas corpus, under Article 1, Section 9;

The right to a grand jury for members of the National Guard when in actual service, under Fifth Amendment.



In addition, many provisions of statutory law are contingent on a state of national emergency, as many as 500 by one count.[1]



It was due in part to concern that a declaration of “emergency” for one purpose should not invoke every possible executive emergency power that Congress in 1976 passed the National Emergencies Act. Among other provisions, this act requires the President to declare formally a national emergency and to specify the statutory authorities to be used under such a declaration.

[Guest]

Using National Emergencies Act for Libya is not too much, I think they are anticipating something in Saudi Arabia, coz "Day of Rage" on 3/11.

[Guest]

[url="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/2011libya.idl_.rel_.pdf"] THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary - on Libya[/url]

[HareKrishna]

Gaddafi is toasted.

[shamu]

Gaddafi is now a toast. Future awaiting him is that of Adolf Hitler or that of Milosevic.



[url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12589434"]Libya: UN Security Council votes sanctions on Gaddafi[/url]

The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to impose sanctions on Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan regime for its attempts to put down an uprising.



They backed an arms embargo and asset freeze while referring Colonel Gaddafi to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.



US President Barack Obama has said the Libyan leader should step down and leave the country immediately.



He still controls Tripoli, but eastern Libya has fallen to the uprising.



Discussions on forming an anti-Gaddafi transitional government are reportedly under way.

[Guest]

Libyan jets bomb base held by protesters...

Kuwait opposition group calls for PM ouster...

Oman protesters stage third day of unrest...

Saudi royals stomp internet for uprising...

GADHAFI PASSING OUT CASH

Egypt bans gold exports...

[Guest]

[url="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt"]Mubarak's wife, son prevented from boarding plane[/url]

The officials said Monday that Mubarak's wife Suzanne and younger son Gamal tried to board a private jet Sunday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, where they have been staying since Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11.

Authorities told them they cannot leave without special permission.

[Guest]

[url="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e588cd5c-4338-11e0-aef2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1FJ5Z0biI"]West moves military assets around Libya[/url]

[Guest]

Saudi Arabia sends tanks to riot-hit Bahrain...



Saudi market tumbles 7%...

Yemeni president says US and Israel behind unrest...



Pakistan hikes oil prices, fueling anger...

Oman deploys army units fearing more unrest...

Iran forces on streets to block protest...

Kremlin calls Gaddafi 'living political corpse'...

Pro-Gadhafi forces try to retake strategic city...

[Guest]

More Than 140,000 People Flee Libya...

Gadhafi forces retake towns near capital...

[color="#FF0000"]Cameron backtracks on no-fly zone plan...[/color]



Looks like, US backed off.

[Capt M Kumar]

Remittances are such a key component of Kerala's finances, earning the state the sobriquet of being a money-order economy.



In 2010, of Kerala's total commercial bank deposits worth Rs 1,43,404 crore, NRI deposits accounted for Rs 36,886 crore, or 26%. And in the near future, crores of rupees were expected to flow into Kerala through the Islamic NBFC route, to fund mega infrastructure projects.



The plans may have just hit the pause button, as national capitals as diverse as Manama and Muscat are witnessing uprisings. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news...616128.cms

[Guest]

Drudge headlines -



Libyan Troops Strike Rebels; Battles Rage in Oil Ports...



Army shells Zawiyah; at least 30 civilians killed...



MASSACRE...



Yemeni army 'fires on protesters'...



Iraqi forces use water cannon to disperse protests...



[color="#FF0000"]Sunnis, Shi'ites clash in Bahrain...[/color]



New Egyptian PM cheered in Tahir Square...

[Guest]

[url="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/04/us-bahrain-clashes-idUSTRE7227N420110304"]Sunnis and Shi'ites clash in several hurt Bahrain, [/url]