Arab World

A NATO official has told Agence France Presse that it is the “firm view” of NATO member states that they reject the idea of sending any ground troops to Libya. And, they want the UN to authorize any extension of the no-fly zone. Gee, it doesn’t sound to me as though NATO is the kind […]

Libya

What the UN Can and Cannot do for Libya

Juan Cole

China and some others have been pushing for a strong United Nations role in Libya, presumably in an attempt to forestall a continuation of the NATO mission in that country or the placing of European troops on the ground. Not just China, but everyone should be concerned that the NATO air intervention, which is likely […]

Libya

Qaddafi reportedly South of Tripoli as Algeria offers Family Members Safe Passage

Juan Cole

An Italian news service, Ansa, reported Monday that Muammar Qaddafi, his eldest son Saif, and another son, Saadi (a military commander during the failed attempt to put down the uprising) are hiding in Bani Walid southeast of Tripoli. Saif, the de facto ruler of Libya in recent years, had been reported taken prisoner (a report […]

Libya

Lockerbie Bomber in Coma in Tripoli, as retreating Qaddafi Troops use Human Shields

Juan Cole

CNN’s intrepid Nic Robertson gets the scoop. He discovered that Abdel Basit Ali Megrahi, the convicted Lockerbie bomber, is in a coma in a villa in Tripoli. Megrahi suffers from prostate cancer. Megrahi was freed by UK authorities on health grounds, but there had been reports that he may have been in remission, producing some […]

Libya

Rebels Consolidate Control over Tripoli as Qaddafi’s Mass Killings Discovered

Juan Cole

The systematic war crimes of the Qaddafi regime continue to be uncovered, with the discovery Saturday in Tripoli of the charred remains of nearly 60 bodies in a warehouse. The victims had been prisoners of the regime, among some 150 who have disappeared, nearly a hundred of them probably hastily buried. But these 58 bodies […]

Libya

Fall of Tripoli Echoes Loudly in Damascus

Juan Cole

Protesters in Syria have cheered on the revolutionaries in Libya, and the fall of Tripoli to a popular uprising last Saturday and Sunday gave new heart to the Syrian reform movement. So far the Syrian demonstrators have been hampered by relative lack of support in the capital of Damascus itself. Damascus is controlled by the […]

Iraq

Iraq Adopts Iran’s Backing of Assad

Juan Cole

Interview with me, mirrored from The United States Institute of Peace Iran Primer. Q. What impact will the call by the United States and major European powers for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down–followed by heightened U.S. and EU sanctions–have on Syria-Iran relations? Cole: They will push Syria even more into the arms of […]

Iraq

How to Avoid Bush’s Iraq Mistakes in Libya

Juan Cole

The illegal American invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation was so epochal a catastrophe that it spawned a negative phrase in Arabic, “to Iraqize” or `arqana. Tonight I heard an Alarabiya anchor ask a spokesman for the new government in Libya whether there as a danger of the country being “Iraqized.” He was taken aback […]

Libya

TV, Twitter, Facebook and the Libyan Revolution

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center summarizes what is known about television and social media penetration in Libya (see below). Television is light years more important than the internet. Almost everyone has access to television, while only 5.4% have internet (and of course Qaddafi cut off the internet for the past few months). All those wonderful […]