Topic: Libya action could last 'a while,' official says

[Highwind Dragoon]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110321/ap_on_re_af/af_libya

[X]

I also heard on friday of last week that the UN imposed the 'No Fly zone' over Libya and also Gaddafi has ceased fire too. But I have to wonder if Gaddafi's cease fire is nothing more then a simple ruse so that eventually the no fly zone will be dropped and he can get back to bombing the hell out of his own people.

-X

[Joachim]

I doubt that would be the case. I think he understands at this point, that others are willing to get involved; if he broke his cease-fire, the repercussions would likely be much stronger and more immediate.

we have a cease-fire, there's little point in keeping it up.

[uzo]

You really dont know the middle east very well, Joachim. They've been playing this very same game for decades.

[Joachim]

Circumstances shift, and the circumstances of the present are a little bit different than that of the past. There is far more attention being placed on the middle east than prior, and logically speaking (that isn't to state he must follow logic, simply what the best course of action (and thus what one would imply the most likely course of action) for him to take would be). The middle-east isn't so much a tool anymore, a means to an alternative end, something to be manipulated, as it is the desired end.

ugh this post is grammatically broken, deal with it

[Joachim]

and, you know, libya isn't in the traditionally defined middle east; only this "greater middle east" nonsense coined by Bush, motivated by primarily religious reasons.

[Mooning Freddy]

and, you know, libya isn't in the traditionally defined middle east; only this "greater middle east" nonsense coined by Bush, motivated by primarily religious reasons.

I was really close to pull the red card on this. Any references to A "Greater Middle East" makes me want to cry; that is some of the most ignorant bullshit I've ever heard. The Middle East, as you may know, is a Geo-political term for the states to the East of the Mediterranean Sea, such as Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, and Iraq.
Libya, as far as I know, is to the south of the Mediterranean, in a continent called AFRICA.
Calling Libya a part of a "Greater Middle East" is about as ignorant as calling Canada a part of a "Greater USA". 

Also, as a resident of the Middle East, I try to be very careful to not talk about "THA MIDDLE EAST" as one entity, as each country in here is different- in its government, its religion, its politics, everything.
Back in the 90's, following the Peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, groups of left activists, both in Israel and America, had illusions about a "New Middle East", a democratic world where people of all 3 religions could live in peace and prosperity. Unfortunately, to this moment, it's still an illusion, a childish dream that would take many more decades (or centuries) to achieve. 

[X]

I was really close to pull the red card on this. Any references to A "Greater Middle East" makes me want to cry; that is some of the most ignorant bullshit I've ever heard. The Middle East, as you may know, is a Geo-political term for the states to the East of the Mediterranean Sea, such as Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, and Iraq.
Libya, as far as I know, is to the south of the Mediterranean, in a continent called AFRICA.
Calling Libya a part of a "Greater Middle East" is about as ignorant as calling Canada a part of a "Greater USA". 

Citizen Freddy's got a point here.

-X