a thread about the civil unrest in egypt (& elsewhere in 'the region' if necessary)

the top gun look is tight

haha huntsman is such a goof, you guys know hes a HUGE dream theater fan right

Huntsman is also a self-proclaimed fan of the progressive rock genre and on July 30, 2007, attended a concert by progressive metal band Dream Theater. Later that day, Huntsman signed a proclamation creating "Dream Theater Day" on that date for the state of Utah. According to Dream Theater's website, Huntsman is a keyboard player. Huntsman also joined REO Speedwagon on the piano for two songs during their concert at the Utah State Fair on September 16, 2005.

god eff this nonsense about bp employees stuck at tripoli airport. who gives a shit?

I sort of care that our government is too incompetent to run a rescue operation from a war zone actually.

haha huntsman is such a goof, you guys know hes a HUGE dream theater fan right

Jesus H and up until now I didn't mind the guy.

i think the problems are due to single flight cancellation due to mechanical problems at gatwick

also imo a very well insured and resourced oil company operating in a country like libya, in which the airport is still open and safe, and which has a contractual obligation to its employees to get them out, should take care of its own business.

Everybody else's government seems able (and willing) to do it

Some of them, unlike us, weren't even buddies of Gadaffi

xpost It's not like BP are paying all their UK taxes. I know, let's persecute some single mothers instead!

BBC comments thread on this subject predictably blaming the nanny state for the fact that people expect the British taxpayer to pay for them to be airlifted out of a country where people are being shot on the street. "LOL they chose to sell out and work in a country run by a dictator" isn't really a very constructive line of argument either.

Radio 4's World at One was pretty harrowing today. Interviews with a Tripoli resident who started crying halfway through and an expat describing the hideous scenes at Tripoli airport, especially for Tunisian, Egyptians, and Palestinian workers. People sleeping outside in the rain, the international departures area transformed into a giant open toilet, etc.

Matt OTM. No excuse for lack of compassion here.

i think most non-libyans are getting out with the help of their employer, or taking the flights to malta that are still leaving regularly.

i guess my main point is i don't really think this should be the top story at the moment.

also seems relevant that the foreign office chartered plane that was supposed to pick them up got stuck at gatwick

Kind of assuming that not every British national in Libya is a BP employee but wau they are dicks if they're not doing anything about it.

true. my friend's husband got out via malta overnight. he has libyan parents.

Think I prefer "hey British readership will your relatives be able to get out of Libya?" to "what do Libyan protestors think about The_West?" as a story anyway.

Now Gadaffi is trying to say the whole thing is Bin Laden's idea.

Like any man-in-bubble situation, we see that mental illness eventually results if your every whim is satisfied by minions and Ukranian nurses.

stole the joke from someone else but blaming Europe, drugs and Bin Laden sounds like Q hired a Tea Party PR guy

Apparently pre-chaos, the only way to get out of Libya at all was to get two separate permits, in Tripoli, one from the military and one from the government, beholden no doubt to any number of hoops, bribes, exemptions and catches. I can only imagine the average Libyan with any inkling of an inclination is jumping at the opportunity to finally get off this sinking ship.

Washington Post says Obama has been too passsive re Libya (but they don't say what he should do):

Dana Millbank:
The passivity wasn't the fault of the new spokesman. He merely had the uncomfortable task of articulating a coherent policy in the absence of one. The problem was most glaring on the Libyan uprising, which the president has handled with the detachment of a powerless observer.

Finally, after days without speaking publicly about Libya, Obama addressed the cameras Wednesday evening.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022304672.html

Washington Post official editorial(likely written by neo-con Ed. Page editor Fred Hyatt) :
Administration officials explained this weak stance by saying they were worried about U.S. citizens, hundreds of whom were being extracted by ferry Wednesday afternoon. There were fears that the desperate Mr. Gaddafi might attack the Americans or seek to take them hostage. But the presence of thousands of European citizens in Libya did not prevent their government's leaders from forcefully speaking out and agreeing on sanctions.

Shouldn't the president of the United States be first to oppose the depravities of a tyrant such as Mr. Gaddafi? Apparently this one doesn't think so.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022305993.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

i kind of have no opinion on how obama is "handling" this; if anything i believe his stance of not really handling publicly it is the right one.

but fuck if isn't clear that his domestic critics just have to come up with something negative to say since they don't have anything else to go on. iran, not enough, egypt, too much, libya, do something, blah blah fucking blah

have any bushies claimed that the iraq war started all this yet (the wave of democracy spreading through the middle east)?

many

Today, in a surprise move. President Obama entered the White House press room to deliver this short statement, "Speaking as the President of these United States, I oppose each and every depravity of the tyrant Gaddafi."

When reached afterward for comment, Fred Hyatt said, "That was weak. I know for a fact Obama was not the first to oppose those depravities. Countless others have been there ahead of him. He's lagging behind the curve on this crisis in every conceivable way."

um

how does that rebuttal actually address anything in the statement Obama made

it's not like he said "I am the first person to oppose these depravities" or anything remotely like it

lol xp

also lol poe's law

have any bushies claimed that the iraq war started all this yet (the wave of democracy spreading through the middle east)?

kinda expect Rummy to spout this line on his Daily Show appearance

wasn't the US more unofficially 'neutral' on Kh/Qa-daffy in recent years bcz he let us use his airspace for our latest crusades or something?

In further breaking news, mice have been discovered on the moon. "This came as a shock," said NASA spokesperson Natalie Wood, "Especially now, when we know there is no cheese up there."

he gave us AQ Khan iirc

xp

man, who knew Natalie Wood was working for NASA now?

Huntsman is also a self-proclaimed fan of the progressive rock genre and on July 30, 2007, attended a concert by progressive metal band Dream Theater. Later that day, Huntsman signed a proclamation creating "Dream Theater Day" on that date for the state of Utah. According to Dream Theater's website, Huntsman is a keyboard player. Huntsman also joined REO Speedwagon on the piano for two songs during their concert at the Utah State Fair on September 16, 2005.

― max, Thursday, February 24, 2011 10:24 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is amazing news, when can i vote for this man to be president of usa

But the presence of thousands of European citizens in Libya did not prevent their government's leaders from forcefully speaking out and agreeing on sanctions

I doubt this scared Colonel K.

In a rambling discourse, he blamed the uprising on the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, saying he had drugged the people, giving them “hallucinogenic pills in their coffee with milk, like Nescafe.”

How will Obama respond to statements like this?! And will neo-cons say that if only Obama had spoken up sooner neither Khadaffi nor Bin Laden would be running Libya

i expect crazy republicans to assume the u.s. is the center of the universe and what the president does is the most important thing in the world in all situations and what he does should always be v assertive and invasive - but the press really needs to cure itself of this way of thinking

ice cr?m OTM. Especially since the real story re: Libya is China and what they're doing, since at this point in the game they're way more invested (economically primarily) in the region than we are. It's gonna take a bunch more years for the American Press to realize that if the US is still the top dog, it's only barely so, and going into the future is going to have to share these kinds of questions with a host of other groups (primarily imho the EU - which the Press sometimes discusses - and China), and certainly the President's opinion needs to be carrying much less weight in our media assuming we want to know what's actually going on in the world (haha self-centered Americans) and not just how Libya affects Washington (cause really who gives a shit? i certainly don't).

Clearly everyone is missing the real story, namely that Qaddafi is blaming the uprising on hallucinogenic drugs. This should only underscore the importance of our war on drugs. If hallucinogenic drugs can take down Libya, why not America!?!?!?!

also maybe kaddafi is dead now they say

khadafee

uhhh link pls mr ice cr?m

kdfy

BreakingNews Breaking News
More: U.S. cannot confirm rumors that Libyan leader Gadhafi is dead, U.S. official tells NBC News http://bit.ly/f7iLmt
19 minutes ago

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/blog/2011/feb/24/gaddafi-speech-libya-turmoil-live-reaction

see 7:50pm GMT, appears to be some oil traders mucking around and getting rich.

loving the caption on that picture

xp

clear, to the point

what if QDF is the only one of these guys to hang on?

He ends up like Caecescu