# Libya too?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 16, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595 "2011-02-16T16:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/441 "2011-02-27T14:08:16Z")
Some of the Thais who made it out had [some scary tales to tell](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/223656/first-evacuees-tell-of-libyan-horror). Fortunately, their lucky Buddhist talismans saved them. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/442 "2011-02-27T14:21:03Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Fortunately, their lucky Buddhist talismans saved them. Maybe I should get some of those…just to keep in the glove compartment, you understand. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/443 "2011-02-27T14:52:54Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Some of the Thais who made it out had [some scary tales to tell](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/223656/first-evacuees-tell-of-libyan-horror). Fortunately, their lucky Buddhist talismans saved them. Do not underestimate the power of the Dharma! ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/444 "2011-02-27T15:54:23Z")
On another note, we may start to see some ripple effects due to the turmoil among the foreign workers. Reading about the evacuation of Indian and Turkish nationals, their remittances have been a major means of support for their home economies. The financial crisis has put every regime only ‘one paycheck’ away from major strife. Congratulations neocons/neolibs (really they are one and the same - money uber alles) - you found a way to unify the world. Though perhaps not in the manner you had in mind. I also wonder what effect this will have on other authoritarian regimes allowing internet access and smart phones. They can be the great equalizer, but only if the people have access. 19th century - they ransacked the newspapers and printers. 20th century - they ransacked the television and radio stations. 21st century - they ransack the ISP and cellular providers. The thing is that those regimes also need those services to get their message out and to support business interests. China has been playing a dangerous game in trying to find out a balance, but in the end, you can’t stop the signal! ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/445 "2011-02-27T16:05:28Z")
Guy killed me, Mal. He killed me with a sword. How weird is that? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/446 "2011-02-27T17:42:08Z")
> [@Agnostic\_Pagan](#): > > I also wonder what effect this will have on other authoritarian regimes allowing internet access and smart phones. They can be the great equalizer, but only if the people have access. > > 19th century - they ransacked the newspapers and printers. > > 20th century - they ransacked the television and radio stations. > > 21st century - they ransack the ISP and cellular providers. > > The thing is that those regimes also need those services to get their message out and to support business interests. China has been playing a dangerous game in trying to find out a balance, but in the end, you can’t stop the signal! [US Has Secret Tools to Force Internet on Dictators](http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02/secret-tools-force-net/#) ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/447 "2011-02-27T18:11:25Z")
If it weren’t for that minor issue of being considered an act of war, I am beginning to think the most effective humanitarian aid for regimes like Myanmar or North Korea would be air drops of cheap solar-powered satellite smart phones. I’ve wondered how good anti-jamming tech is. It looks like that we are approaching the point of effective counter-measures. The good thing with Africa is I doubt most of those regimes could afford adequate jamming equipment in the first place. [QUOTE=FinnAgain] Guy killed me, Mal. He killed me with a sword. How weird is that? [/QUOTE] I do have the occasional nightmare where Google changes it name to Blue Sun. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/448 "2011-02-27T18:15:36Z")
> [@Agnostic\_Pagan](#): > > I also wonder what effect this will have on other authoritarian regimes allowing internet access and smart phones. They can be the great equalizer, but only if the people have access. > > [snip] > > The thing is that those regimes also need those services to get their message out and to support business interests. China has been playing a dangerous game in trying to find out a balance, but in the end, you can’t stop the signal! You have the problem in a nutshell, here. You impoverish yourself if the people don’t have access to telecommunications. Even if you censor the internet (as China does, and as most Middle Eastern countries do), the ability of people within the country to communicate with each other is the really decisive factor, and a bit of censorship isn’t really going to stop that. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/449 "2011-02-28T19:25:50Z")
[Gaddafi: “All my people love me.”](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12603259) Denies there have been any protests in Tripoli. Dude, next stage after bargaining is depression; you’re slipping back to denial. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/450 "2011-02-28T20:17:27Z")
Gadaffy is channeling Charlie Sheen. They both are beloved and misunderstood by the press. But the people just love them to pieces. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/451 "2011-02-28T21:17:10Z")
[U.S. Military moving around its forces near Libya](http://www.voanews.com/english/news/US-Military-Moves-Forces-for-Possible-Libya-Mission-117086358.html) “to be ready to carry out any orders it is given related to the crisis there. But officials say no decision has been made on whether or how to use U.S. military power.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/452 "2011-02-28T21:18:31Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Gadaffy is channeling Charlie Sheen. They both are beloved and misunderstood by the press. But the people just love them to pieces. I dunno about Sheen, but if Gaddafi leaves the protection of his Hot Chick Praetorians and goes out to meet his people, they will love him to pieces. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/453 "2011-03-01T00:46:36Z")
Saw Ben Wedeman on CNN reporting from Benghazi. He said Gaddafi has regained a bit of ground around Tripoli. The rebels face a problem if they want to march on Tripoli, as it’s a very long way from their power base in Benghazi – 400 miles as the crow flies, far longer as the army marches, across a long, sparsely populated strip of coast with no good roads and no railroads, and right in the middle is Surt (or Sidra), Gaddafi’s home town, which his loyalists still control. So, in short, they can’t get a large body of troops there right away. Transportation infrastructure should be one of the new government’s first priorities . . . You have to wonder if Gaddafi planned it that way. If so, he might be regretting it now, as the transportation situation must also have limited his ability to dispatch loyal troops eastward. (Apparently, his plans for keeping control were based on the mistaken assumption that he could rely on troops on the ground wherever they were.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/454 "2011-03-01T15:04:12Z")
[Rebels repel Gaddafi assault on Zawiyah, west of Tripoli.](http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/20113195230586880.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bibliovore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Bibliovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliovore)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/455 "2011-03-01T15:34:18Z")
ICRC spokeswoman Anna Nelson tells the BBC the organisation has received disturbing reports from hospitals in Libya’s west. “We do have credible but unconfirmed reports of patients being executed in hospitals, of ambulances being misused, and of wounded people not being able to reach medical care. So, we do indeed highlight the need for medical workers to be respected and for the wounded and sick to get the help they need.” ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/456 "2011-03-01T20:53:48Z")
I’ve read reports of Gaddafi having security forces using ambulances to ambush protesters. All kind of fucked up. The immediate crisis is refugees flooding into Tunisia. Current reports are over 100,000 so far. I can’t blame them, and I hope the UN has people on the ground there. Several groups have said they have humanitarian supplies ready to lift off. If they can’t get to Tripoli, they should be able to get to Tunis. I don’t see the refugees settling in like most conflicts. I think they will return as quickly as they arrived once Gaddafi is gone. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/457 "2011-03-02T00:22:53Z")
Like I said in the pit, Gadaffy has 200 tanks circling Tripoli. How do the people win against that. We can not give them tanks. If we arm them and train them to fight, we might wind up sending our kids to face them someday like in Afghanistan. We can do nothing unilaterally. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/458 "2011-03-02T00:44:11Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Like I said in the pit, Gadaffy has 200 tanks circling Tripoli. How do the people win against that. We can not give them tanks. Send the rebels 200 bazookas with armor-piercing shells. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/459 "2011-03-02T00:57:30Z")
If you send them some box tops as well they will get the magical decoder ring…which always seems helpful. -XT ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595/460 "2011-03-02T01:02:19Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Like I said in the pit, Gadaffy has 200 tanks circling Tripoli. How do the people win against that. We can not give them tanks. Well, the rebels have tanks too. Problem is, right now they’re mostly in the east. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libya-too/571595.md?page=24)