Libyan leader/fashion icon Muammar Gaddafi might have to file for unemployment soon, as it seems rebel fighters in his country—emphasis on "his," at least until now—have put down their bongs and taken control of several cities. Now they're gearing up to take over Tripoli, the Libyan capital city. Like, for real this time.
The Libyan government under Muammar Qaddafi sent some feelers out last month to New York and London p.r. firms who might help to "present our just and fair case to the world." The pitch, emailed around by Tripoli's Peoples Media Center, is "very unorthodox" according to the world's most morally-sound superflack Ronn [sic] Torossian of 5WPR, who spoke with the Post. In fact, it's so bad that Torossian wouldn't even touch this pitch with your firm: "I highly doubt any p.r. firm will positively respond to this request."
Libyan rebels are telling the AFP that they "expect to get an offer very soon" from dictator Moammar Qaddafi. According to Abdel Hafiz Ghoga of the rebel government, they've heard ("though contacts with France and South Africa") that Qaddafi is ready to "present a proposal"; even if the rumors are true (and it's in the best interests of Ghoga and the National Transitional Council to convince NATO that hostilities will end soon), the NTC has said it cannot accept a deal that would keep Qaddafi in power. But according to Rep. Mike Turner, NATO didn't even want that on the table: The congressman told Foreign Policy that Admiral Samuel Locklear had admitted to him that NATO forces were trying to kill Qaddafi, which, if true, would be a violation of the stated objectives of the NATO mission.
The House of Representatives will actually hold two votes today on war funding. This is quite something: One vote to defund military action in Libya, another to authorize it for a year. Finally, many months after the Obama administration went into another MENA country with little-to-no strategy, we're having something akin to a congressional authorization process. This is healthy.
Because he didn't seek the approval of Congress to continue military operations in Libya past the first 90 days, a defiant President Obama is now in danger of having the war stripped of its funding. Even so, Obama isn't budging, and on tonight's Report, Stephen Colbert commended him for "[telling] Congress to suck it."
Several reporters have returned from Libya with tales of young gun-toting, hash-smoking rebels and really, can you blame these guys? By all accounts, the fighting in Libya is nasty and the alternative to victory over Qaddafi is death for most of them. But some rebels aren't feeling the front lines party vibe:
Here's an awkward scenario: Muammar Qaddafi's eldest son, Muhammad, throwing London 2012 Olympic Games ragers in Britain, attending high profile events, and maybe even scalping some tickets for a little extra cash. It could happen! The Telegraph reports that the Libyan Olympic Committee, which is headed by Muhammad, has been granted nearly 1,000 tickets to the Games, and they are free to sell them "at a 20 per cent mark-up."
Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi took some time out of his busy schedule hiding from NATO bombs, fighting a war against his own people, and getting so high to play a game of chess with the president of the World Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov yesterday in Tripoli. Russian news agency Interfax reports that Qaddafi and one of his sons went with the Sicilian Defense — a chess opening that is described as "combative." How fitting. He also said there's no way he's leaving Libya.
House Speaker John Boehner quickly put together some vague vote on American involvement in the Libya war today, which the Obama administration technically has been waging illegally for over two weeks, and which Congress has refused either to authorize or end.
For the past two weeks, President Obama has not had the legal authority from Congress to use military action in Libya. I know I'm being a stickler, but if we're going to get further and further involved in a third war with no plan in both the short and long term, then Congress should at the very least sign off on it as the law requires it to. The other option for Congress is to use its authority to end this altogether — which it appeared willing to do yesterday, before the Republican leadership pulled the vote from the floor.
Say you're in charge of a bloodthirsty dictator's stolen $1.3 billion sovereign-wealth fund. You make some risky investments with that money in the early days of the global financial meltdown, and end up losing 98% (!) of it. Then imagine you're Goldman Sachs dealing with Muammar Qaddafi's money!
Six armed Western men, possibly British special forces, were caught on tape by Al Jazeera, seemingly corroborating rumors that SAS soldiers are on the ground in Libya acting as spotters for NATO air strikes. The presence of Western troops is... well, the Guardian calls it a "sensitive" subject, because the UN resolution authorizing air strikes explicitly forbids a "foreign occupation force of any form." As far as the British government is concerned, they don't exist: "We don't have any forces out there," the Ministry of Defense says.
Some 259 women reported being raped by forces fighting on behalf of dictator Moammar Qaddafi during the ongoing civil war in Libya, according to a questionnaire distributed to refugees by child psychologist Seham Sergewa. The question was added to the survey after Sergewa was contacted by three separate victims — mothers of children she was treating — who told similar stories of assault by militia fighting to keep Qaddafi in power:
