Libya Live Blog - March 20 | Al Jazeera Blogs
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
Source: US Defence Department
12:09pm
The US Defense Department released this photo of briefing on Odyssey Dawn that shows approximate coalition target areas in Libya. One appears to be an airfield around 120km west of Tripoli (or roughly 30km east of the Tunisian border). Here's a Google satellite map image of the airfield:
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
11:49am
Gaddafi spoke for about 15 minutes, a comparatively short address by his standards. During his remarks, Libyan state TV showed a static image of monument at the Bab al-Azizia - a giant gold fist crushing a fighter jet with "USA" written on the tail. Gaddafi was never shown, perhaps out of fear that he would reveal his location and expose himself to a coalition attack.
The Libyan leader was characteristically pugnacious, promising an endless war against the "Christian" enemy - France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and others.
"There is no justification for this cold war against Islam," he said.
Gaddafi also pointed to the wars in Vietnam and Iraq as well as US military efforts against Osama bin Laden and armed militias in Somalia as examples of the fate that awaits foreign military intervention in his country.
9:31am
Women have often stayed off the streets of east Libya during the uprising against Gaddafi for reasons of safety and religion, but this lady is most definitely not hiding indoors:
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
According to Reuters, she is a rebel fighter celebrating the withdrawal of Gaddafi troops from Benghazi on Saturday.
8:35am
Issandr el-Amrani gives a critical, some might say pessimistic, analysis of the international intervention on his Arabist blog, wondering how the coalition will topple Gaddafi's regime while avoiding the side effects of a prolonged civil war.
Amrani predicts that the coalition's mission will move from air strikes to ground attacks and wonders how the rebels - whom he refers to as "insurgents" - will treat pro-Gaddafi civilians and the remnants of the regime.
It gets more complicated [if] the Qadhafis are gone, both Westerners and Arabs may be ready to deal with regime remnants (particularly if they play a role in getting rid of the Qadhafis) but the insurgents may not want anyone associated with the former regime in place. So prolonged civil war is one possible outcome, yet again. This is why some kind of recognized leadership for the insurgency that is able to negotiate with whoever comes after Qadhafi is necessary.