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Call To Power 2 Cradle 3+ mod in progress: https://apolyton.net/forum/other-games/call-to-power-2/ctp2-creation/9437883-making-cradle-3-fully-compatible-with-the-apolyton-edition
Libyan rebel forces may have been infiltrated by al-Qaida, a senior American military commander warned on Wednesday.
Admiral James Stavridis, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, said that American intelligence had picked up "flickers" of terrorist activity among rebel groups. Senior British government figures described the admission as "very alarming".
It came as the American, Qatari and British governments indicated that they were considering arming rebel groups, who suffered a series of setbacks on Wednesday in their advance along the coast towards Tripoli.
The plan is likely to spark further splits in the international coalition, with NATO and Italian sources indicating that it would require another United Nations resolution. Hillary Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state, said rebels could be provided with arms under the current UN resolution.
More than 40 ministers from around the world met at a London conference to discuss the situation in Libya.
They agreed to establish formal links with opposition groups in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi with several countries sending official envoys. Libyan opposition leaders also travelled to Britain for talks with David Cameron, the Prime Minister, and Mrs Clinton.
Britain and America signalled that they would allow Colonel Moammar Gadhafi to seek exile, rather than face a war crimes trial, if he steps aside immediately.
However, the emerging plan for the political future of Libya was undermined by the growing military doubts over the make-up of the rebel groups.
"We are examining very closely the content, composition, the personalities, who are the leaders of these opposition forces," Admiral Stavridis said in testimony to the U.S. Senate. While the opposition's leadership appeared to be "responsible men and women" fighting the Gaddafi regime, he said: "We have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al-Qaida, Hizbollah. We've seen different things.
"But at this point I don't have detail sufficient to say there is a significant al-Qaida presence or any other terrorist presence."
The remarks are likely to be seized on by Col Gaddafi who has repeatedly claimed that the uprising is driven by terrorists.
A series of powerful explosions rocked Tripoli on Tuesday and state television said that several targets in the capital had come under attack from "crusader aggressors".
Residents of Tripoli said that the latest explosions had taken place in the east of the city but their exact location was not clear. Aircraft were heard above Tripoli earlier in the day. Rebel forces retreated from attacks on Sirte, Col Gaddafi's birthplace, after meeting heavy resistance in the town.
The front line was reported to be close to Bin Jawad again, a town only recaptured by rebels on Sunday. There were also unconfirmed reports that the rebels were in trouble further back on the road heading east, around the oil town of Ras Lanuf.
Baroness Warsi, the Muslim cabinet minister and co-chairman of the Conservatives, said the comments about the composition of the rebel force were "very concerning".
"That is the first I'm hearing of the news, of course it is very concerning," she said. "What we've heard today is their [the Libyan Interim National Council's] version of a new Libya. I'm confident it is not a post-Gaddafi Libya that includes al-Qaida."
William Hague, Britain's foreign secretary, sought to play down worries, welcoming a document from opposition leaders backing the creation of a free democracy in Libya. He said that there was a greater risk of terrorist threats if Britain and other countries did not intervene.
But Mr Hague said: "We can never be complacent about the way events like this could turn out Ö Of course, there is a danger, if things go wrong in the region on a sustained basis, there could be opportunities for terrorism."
Mrs Clinton said America did not have any "specific information about specific individuals from any organization who are part of this but of course we are still getting to know the leaders of the Transitional National Council".
Mr Cameron accused the Gaddafi regime of "murderous attacks" on people in Misurata, Libya's third largest city. Its tanks surrounded the city and fired on apartment blocks. Snipers were also said to have taken rooftop positions to fire on rebel fighters.
The Prime Minister said: "There are people suffering terribly under Gaddafi's rule. Our message to them is this: there are better days ahead for Libya."
It was announced that NATO would be in full control of the military operation by Thursday. Several other countries pledged to support the action.
Humanitarian groups will be encouraged to offer assistance to Libyans in safe areas.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
When unrest exploded in Libya last month, Khamis Gadhafi--the youngest son of the country's embattled leader Muammar Gadhafi--wasn't around. He was on an internship program in the United States.
Khamis, who runs Libya's special forces, quickly returned to his home country, where he has led a military unit that has brutally suppressed rebel forces.
The internship, which lasted a month, was sponsored by AECOM, a Los Angeles-based global engineering and design company that has been working with the Libyan regime to modernize the country's infrastructure. Khamis made stops in San Francisco, Colorado, Houston, Washington, and New York City, meeting with high-tech companies (including Google, Apple, and Intel), universities, and defense contractors like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. While in the Big Apple, Khamis even took in the Broadway show "Mamma Mia."
News of Khamis's internship, which was approved by the State Department, was first reported by ABC News.
Since coming home, Khamis appears to have played a key role in helping his father's regime in its violent campaign to quell the uprising. He has led the elite 32nd Reinforced Brigade, known at the Khamis Brigade, which reportedly has been involved in brutally suppressing rebel forces.
Vice Adm. William Gortney of the Joint Chiefs of Staff described the Khamis Brigade, whose headquarters were the target of U.S. Tomahawk missiles, as "one of the most active in terms of attacking innocent people."
On Monday night, Libyan television showed Khamis dressed in his military uniform and greeting people at his father's Tripoli compound.
A spokesman for AECOM told CNN that the company was "shocked and outraged" to learn of Khamis' military role.
AECOM added in a statement: "The educational internship, which consisted of publicly available information, was aligned with our efforts to improve quality of life, specifically in Libya, where we were advancing public infrastructure such as access to clean water; quality housing; safe and efficient roads and bridges; reliable and affordable energy; and related projects that create jobs and opportunity."
This isn't the first time that Gadhafi's sons--and their ties to the west -- have hit the headlines. As we've written, the regime was embarrassed after Wikileaks cables shed light on the lavish New Year's parties that another son, Muatassim, has held on the Caribbean island of St. Barts, at which Mariah Carey, Usher, and Beyonce have all been paid to perform. And the current crisis also has spotlighted the Libyan leader's own personal eccentricities.
This is the son that is believed to have died from the kamikaze plane attack on the Gaddafi loyalist compound.
"Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
"I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi
The overall point, however, should be that the vast majority of people in the countries conducting this little intervention have no knowledge whatsoever concerning the identity of the rebels, their history, their goals (other than the obvious, the overthrow of Gman). I don't know if they're a bunch of AQ sympathizers (I actually tend to doubt it).
It wouldn't be the first terrorist organisation who NATO fought a war for.
What terrorist stuff have they done so far in Libya? And since this erupted in line with similar action in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, now Syria etc. - does anyone really want to argue that the whole movement is primarily 'terrorist' in nature? Or is it now in Libya only? What evidence is there for it (yeah, I read the article, it's concerned that there 'may be' AQ influence/infiltration, but that's not the same thing by a mile)?
Although there are still minerals at Trepca they would be expensive to extract and not a motive in themselves. However the sheer scale of camp Bondsteel suggests a strategic, long-term purpose.
Which will no doubt be revealed by the Socialist Workers' Party at some point in the very distant future.... I'll try not to hold my breath waiting for that particular revelation.
Vive la liberte. Noor Inayat Khan, Dachau.
...patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone. Edith Cavell, 1915
Gosh, not part of the Worldwide Jewish Conspiracy, as outlined in 'The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion' ?
Or maybe it was the Illuminati, or the Bilderberg Group, or the P2 Lodge and Opus Dei.... where's Jason Bourne when you need him ?
It was a pilot project. NATO wanted to redefine itself now that it had no reason for actually existing anymore, with the cold war over. Ayatollah Blair and his legions of liberal laptop bombadiers had invented the new jihad of humanitarian warfare, and Kosovo was the starting point. Of course, the moral argument turned out to be nonsense, as the moment NATO occupied Kosovo they did nothing to prevent the immediate expulsion of some quarter-million non-Albanians, but that doesn't matter because we don't talk about it.
12 years later and we're still at the humanitarian war, having left carnage in Iraq in the name of regime change, and a mess in Afghanistan in the name of ... I can't remember which of the myriad of reasons we've been told for that war is now the official one.
Which will no doubt be revealed by the Socialist Workers' Party at some point in the very distant future.... I'll try not to hold my breath waiting for that particular revelation.
You clearly enjoy doing both smug and glib. You have a lot of experience of this, after all.
It was a pilot project. NATO wanted to redefine itself now that it had no reason for actually existing anymore, with the cold war over. Ayatollah Blair and his legions of liberal laptop bombadiers had invented the new jihad of humanitarian warfare, and Kosovo was the starting point. Of course, the moral argument turned out to be nonsense, as the moment NATO occupied Kosovo they did nothing to prevent the immediate expulsion of some quarter-million non-Albanians, but that doesn't matter because we don't talk about it.
12 years later and we're still at the humanitarian war, having left carnage in Iraq in the name of regime change, and a mess in Afghanistan in the name of ... I can't remember which of the myriad of reasons we've been told for that war is now the official one.
Umh, Kossovo. Wasn't that humanitarian intervention intended to stop one lot murdering and ethnic cleansing another lot. It stop that so successfully that one lot started murdering and ethnic cleansing another lot. Seems to have just reversed who got to do the murdering and kicking out.
Umh, Kossovo. Wasn't that humanitarian intervention intended to stop one lot murdering and ethnic cleansing another lot. It stop that so successfully that one lot started murdering and ethnic cleansing another lot. Seems to have just reversed who got to do the murdering and kicking out.
Fortunately NATO has given forewarning that they will bomb indiscrimanantly.
“In a democracy, I realize you don’t need to talk to the top leader to know how the country feels. When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person and that’s the dictator, because he speaks for all the people.” - Jimmy Carter
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