US pulls military from Libya as fighting approaches Tripoli

Not the Maid of the Mist

Tripoli, Libya -- The United States has for the time being, withdrawn some of our military forces from Libya due to "security conditions on the ground," a top military official said. As it now stands, a Libyan commander's forces are advancing toward Tripoli, the capital, and are clashing with rival militias.

A small number of American troops has been in Libya in recent years. Their mission it to help local forces combat Islamic State and al-Qaida militants, as well as protecting diplomatic facilities.

"The security realities on the ground in Libya are growing increasingly complex and unpredictable," Marine Corps General Thomas Waldhauser, the head of US Africa Command, said.

"Even with an adjustment of the force, we will continue to remain agile in support of existing US strategy."

Gen. Waldhauser didn't provide details on the number of US troops that have been withdrawn or how many remain in the country, but if we wait long enough, the someone in government or media will leak it.

India has also evacuated a small contingent of peacekeepers and now it's quite likely that the remaining food in Libya for the military will be bland and tasteless.

The Indian foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, said the country's 15 Central Reserve Police Force peacekeepers were evacuated Saturday from Tripoli because the "situation in Libya has suddenly worsened" and fighting has moved into the capital city.

The self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, launched a surprise offensive against the capital last week, a move that could potentially drag the country back into civil war. Libya has been gripped by unrest since the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed long-time dictator and dramatic fop, Moammar Gadhafi.

In recent years, the country has been governed by rival authorities in the east and in Tripoli, in the west, each backed by various armed groups. "It's a mess," an anonymous source told Brain Flushings.

Fayez Sarraj, head of government in Tripoli, accused Hifter of "betraying" him.

"We have extended our hands towards peace, but after the aggression that has taken place on the part of forces belonging to Hifter and his declaration of war against our cities and our capital ... he will find nothing but strength and firmness," al-Sarraj said Saturday in televised comments, followed by a commercial for My Pillow.

Sarraj and Hifter held talks in Abu Dhabi in late February, their first confirmed meeting since November 2018, when they agreed that national elections were necessary, according to the UN, but alas, it doesn't look good for democracy after all.

Hifter is seeking to capture the capital and seize military control of the whole country before UN-sponsored talks due to start next week that were designed to set a time frame for possible elections in the oil-rich country.

"Elections are overrated," Hifter said.

The airport was destroyed in a previous round of fighting in 2014. Hifter said his forces had launched airstrikes targeting rival militias on the outskirts of Tripoli.

The rival militias [aka "The Good Guys"], which are affiliated with a UN-backed government in Tripoli, said they had also carried out airstrikes, slowing Hifter's advance.

Armed groups behind the UN-backed government of national accord, or GNA, have announced an effort to defend Tripoli, vowing to recapture all areas seized by Hifter's forces.


Col. Mohamed Gnounou, a spokesman for GNA forces, said in televised comments Sunday that the counteroffensive, dubbed "Volcano of Anger," was aimed at "purging all Libyan cities of aggressor and illegitimate forces." 

Hifter, for his part, calls his offensive "Lava of Revenge."

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Cover Him Over "Fore He Stinks, Boys

Abu Anas al-Libi, died yesterday from liver complications. Anas (pronounced "Anus") was awaiting trial over charges involving the planning of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, killing 224 people.

Dead 50 years too late

The DoJ confirmed that al-Libi, who was 50 when he got his virgins, had "long-standing medical problems," unlike the innocent people he killed. 

This pond scum was captured in 2013 by Delta Force in Tripoli and brought to New York where he had been waiting for over ten years to stand trial (the wheels of justice move like the opening of the eye of the lotus, or when a cop is involved in a shooting of a thug). There was a $5 million reward for his arrest.

Anus' wife, Um Abdullah told the Associated Press: "I accuse the American government of kidnapping, mistreating, and killing an innocent man. He did nothing." She did not add: "Death to America, death to Israel too!"

If you recall, Anus sat in a European cafe bragging about how he carried out the killings of these innocent people who, in fact, were the ones who "did nothing" to deserve it. 

Back in December of 2013, Bernard Kleinman, al-Libi's smart, Jewish lawyer, said his client was  accused only of surveillance of the U.S. embassy in Kenya, and in 1993 was merely researching potential sites for other attacks with members of Al Qaeda in 1994. That's all. Just doing a little research for Al Qaeda.

The dead guy's wife told the AP she spoke with her husband on Thursday stating that he looked like he'd seen better days.

Now we should be the ones handing out candy to Americans for this guy's death instead of it always being the other way around.

Sorry, my sympathies lie with the dead this terrorist is responsible for killing. Obama, on the other hand, I'm not so sure.


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Latest Score: Terrorists 10 West 0

An Islamic terrorist group called the "Dawn of Libya" said that it has "secured" a U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya. U.S. personnel retreated from the area about a month ago to avoid the fighting going on inside this Third World country.

The Dawn of Libya is an umbrella group for Islamist militias and invited an AP journalist a walk around the compound. The group's commander, Mohammed, I'm guessing, told the AP that his Islamic lads had been in control of the joint for about a week. This has not been verified by the media as of late Sunday, but these guys never lie, except when doing taqiyya for the sake of Islam. Wait, that would be for the sake of Islam, wouldn't it?

Anyway, some of the windows of the compound had been broken, possibly from a rough game of stick-ball, but overall, the place looked intact. 

No American lives were lost in the "securing" of the compound but a hell-of-a-lot of

money was lost on the equipment the terrorists seized.

The "Dawn" dudes were seen on video cavorting in the pool but no bars of soap were noted. U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Deborah Jones, said it appeared that the video of the men in the pool with the oil slick appeared to have been taken in the embassy's residential annex, and overall, it looked like the embassy had not been "ransacked" but was being safeguarded by the Soldiers of Allah.

The Dawn of Libya is deployed around Tripoli and has now called on foreign diplomats to return to their posts as the fighting has subsided.

For those of you at home keeping score, the score is Terrorists 10 West 0. The difficulty you may have is their team doesn't wear a uniform and tends to play for both sides when it suits them.

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