The new Libya: various aspects

[davidbfpo]

That is my sad conclusion after reading this excellent summary of the position today in The Atlantic:http://www.theatlantic.com/internati...as-oil/385285/

It is now four years since the 'revolution' and there is no sign that the men with guns and pick-ups are ready to stop.

My only question after reading the article is whether the Libyan people are leaving. Again, as many left slowly whilst Gadafy was in power for decades.

[davidbfpo]

The result of touring around a long article in the New Yorker:http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...23/unravelling

I was wondering what happened to those Libyans who went home to oust Gadafy, the author says:

Many of the young Libyans I met during the revolution are now in Tunisia, Egypt, Bulgaria, London—anywhere but Libya. The exiles who came back to build a new country have largely left.

[AdamG]

Dual posting -

Sixty-four Islamic State fighters have been killed and dozens wounded in Egyptian-Libyan military airstrikes on Libya, announced the spokesperson of the Libyan military, reported Al-Ahram.

http://egyptianstreets.com/2015/02/1...s-in-24-years/

[davidbfpo]

Some of the recent reporting on Libya (not linked here) reminds me of the WW2 British slogan 'Don't Panic, Stay Calm and Carry On'.

Caveat aside there is a report by the London-based Quilliam Foundation, based on:

On 23 January 2015, a prominent supporter of Islamic State (IS) – the group that now controls much of Iraq and Syria – uploaded an essay, written in Arabic, entitled “Libya: The Strategic Gateway for the Islamic State”, on why jihadists needed to urgently flock to Libya to assist supporters of the so-called caliphate in their jihad.

Link to report, note the actual ISIS document is only 6 pgs in 15 pgs:http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp...for-the-is.pdf

Whilst Quilliam do not name the author, the Daily Telegraph do:

The Isil propagandist, who uses the alias Abu Arhim al-Libim...

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...to-Europe.html

[davidbfpo]

An excellent BBC World Service podcast 'Who Wants What in Libya?' and not a single UK or US expert cited. It lasts 24 mins:http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/inquiry

Nice comparison drawn between the Paris peace talks on Vietnam and the UN talks with Libyans, akin to:

There's no table yet, we have not got that far.

[davidbfpo]

A short explanation by Carnegie of the Islamic State’s Strategy in Libya; an example:

..the Islamic State’s strategy in Libya seems to be directed instead at hastening state failure and fracturing the population’s sense of common nationhood. Meanwhile, it is also intensifying the conditions that will allow it to deepen its influence and form a national-religious identity in line with the caliphate’s own views.

Link:http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/20...-in-libya/i4w6

[davidbfpo]

The civil war, now with a dash of ISIS, does get some attention in the media, albeit with rare in-country reporting. Instead the consequences of the absence of a working Libyan state is seen in the number of emigrants, refugees and possible terrorists transiting the country to get a boat north to Europe - invariably Italy - are well reported here in Europe.

Just whether anyone will intervene in Libya is a moot point. One Italian minister has murmured about 'protection', but Italy has a rather violent history pre-1939 when it occupied and colonised the country. Egypt and another Gulf kingdom sometimes launch air strikes.

Just whether this headline is justified, even true is debateable and it is in The Daily Mail, albeit by a Franco-Algerian Muslim journalist:

Britain is 'helping turn Libya into a cradle of terrorism' exporting killers to Europe amid thousands of illegal immigrants

Link:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...mmigrants.html