Are the rebels of Libya really the good guys?

No, Gadaffi is insane and no, the rebels started the revolution, how would they be the bad guys?luisen123

the people have the right to fight their governor, we on the other hand should not be taking part in a civil-war.

[QUOTE="Desulated"]

Gadhafi ordered his military to fire on his own people. I don't think that's a sign of a good and reliable government figure. :P

BluRayHiDef

You have to look at it from his perspective. If you were a monarch, or a king, or a dictator, you'd do everything you could to maintain power. I'm assuming that the people whom he ordered to be fired upon were rebelling against him. A ruler has to suppress rebellions quickly so that they don't motivate others to join it and remove him from power. Also, a ruler has to suppress rebellions to maintain order and peace. What he did was reasonable.

[QUOTE="luisen123"]No, Gadaffi is insane and no, the rebels started the revolution, how would they be the bad guys?Born_Lucky

Is freedom evil? No. The Rebels are the good guys.

We didn't take the time to find out who the rebels are.

You think Al Qaeda is about freedom?

Aren't Gadhafi supporters Libyans too.?

Apparently there's a quite a few of them.

Why is it okay to for the U.S. to kill Libyans who support Gadhafi?

Why are we helping rebels who support Al Qaeda.?

Most importantly -

*Why aren't we staying out of it?*

Also -

Why aren't we protecting these innocent civilians?http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/24/thousands-christians-displaced-ethiopia-muslim-extremists-torch-churches-homes-2057387870/

I don't know. It's possible, but doubtful.

it is true that Qaddafi has massive support from Libyans though the media is trying to make it look like everyone hates Qaddafi and only has mercenaries and a few crazy loyalists on his side. imho Qaddafi > most if not all Arab leaders.

You guys/gals DO realize that al-Qaeda is part of the rebel group, right? LINK

You guys/gals DO realize that al-Qaeda is part of the rebel group, right? LINK

YellowOneKinobi

[QUOTE="YellowOneKinobi"]

You guys/gals DO realize that al-Qaeda is part of the rebel group, right? LINK

mucgoo

Whoa, contrarianism? In OT? I am shocked.

We know very little of the Libyan rebels, if you ask me I wish our government would have tried to find a little more information than going in to strike Libya. Granted they we're slaughtering their own civilians, it's important that we also at the same time look at the rebels and see how friendly they will be towards us, or if they'd attack us. We don't need another Osama.

No, Gadaffi is insane and no, the rebels started the revolution, how would they be the bad guys?luisen123

just because you start a revolt doesn't mean you're right

I just don't fully understand why we are in Libya at all (or launching attacks from our ships/bases to be more accurate since we aren't IN Libya yet).

I mean, there are people getting slaughtered all around the globe. Why is Libya so different?

[QUOTE="luisen123"]No, Gadaffi is insane and no, the rebels started the revolution, how would they be the bad guys?DoomZaW

just because you start a revolt doesn't mean you're right

No, Gadaffi is insane and no, the rebels started the revolution, how would they be the bad guys?luisen123

just because you start a revolt doesn't mean you're right

[QUOTE="Person0"][QUOTE="DoomZaW"]

just because you start a revolt doesn't mean you're right

surrealnumber5

Friendly counties in the middle east would be very helpful.

even if they are the "good guys" (I have no idea what their personal values are, or if they can be categorized at all), anyone could take over the possible new regime and become the new monster, Stalin/Castro-style. (heck, in the case of Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood-style)

there is no such a thing as a good dictator.whoever stays in power and doesn't let his ppl to choose whether they want him there or not,is on the wrong side,no matter how good his true intentions are.

I wonder what it is like to live in a world so magnificently simple that political factions can be divided neatly into "good guys" and "bad guys"xaos

[QUOTE="DoomZaW"]

[QUOTE="luisen123"]No, Gadaffi is insane and no, the rebels started the revolution, how would they be the bad guys?Person0

just because you start a revolt doesn't mean you're right

Im not questioning the good or evil roles here, i was just skeptic of luisen123's logic. I think gadaffi has to go too.

[QUOTE="Desulated"]

Gadhafi ordered his military to fire on his own people. I don't think that's a sign of a good and reliable government figure. :P

BluRayHiDef

You have to look at it from his perspective. If you were a monarch, or a king, or a dictator, you'd do everything you could to maintain power. I'm assuming that the people whom he ordered to be fired upon were rebelling against him. A ruler has to suppress rebellions quickly so that they don't motivate others to join it and remove him from power. Also, a ruler has to suppress rebellions to maintain order and peace. What he did was reasonable.

He is neither a monarch nor a king. Dictators need to be put down immediately.

No, Gadaffi is insane and no, the rebels started the revolution, how would they be the bad guys?luisen123

Just because Gadaffi is the bad guy, doesn't mean the other side can't be the bad guys either.. Many people revolts against dictators have led to other hostile regimes.. Iran is a key example of this.

[QUOTE="Person0"][QUOTE="DoomZaW"]

just because you start a revolt doesn't mean you're right

surrealnumber5

Of course it isn't, thats why its through the UN.

[QUOTE="surrealnumber5"][QUOTE="Person0"] Well Gadffi has ordered air strikes on his own cities killed civilians and then blamed the U.N on deaths that he caused he also personally ordered the bombing of a civilian jet. . I'm pretty sure that makes him the bad guy.Person0

Friendly counties in the middle east would be very helpful.

[QUOTE="xaos"]I wonder what it is like to live in a world so magnificently simple that political factions can be divided neatly into "good guys" and "bad guys"rawsavon

I wonder what it is like to live in a world so magnificently simple that political factions can be divided neatly into "good guys" and "bad guys"xaos

No matter what, Gadaffi is worse guy.

No matter what, Gadaffi is worse guy.

789shadow

[QUOTE="xaos"]I wonder what it is like to live in a world so magnificently simple that political factions can be divided neatly into "good guys" and "bad guys"sonicare

No matter what, Gadaffi is worse guy.

789shadow

There's a difference in civilians being injured by accident when someone bombs a military target, and ordering Soldiers and Mercenaries to fire into a group of people demonstrating.Treflis

That depends, collateral damage can be willfully disregarded.. Which makes it as bad as the demonstration in which the government could claim there were rebels in the crowd.

[QUOTE="Treflis"]There's a difference in civilians being injured by accident when someone bombs a military target, and ordering Soldiers and Mercenaries to fire into a group of people demonstrating.sSubZerOo

That depends, collateral damage can be willfully disregarded.. Which makes it as bad as the demonstration in which the government could claim there were rebels in the crowd.

You either actually believe in your (stated) values or you don't.

I do; therefore I am supportive of taking this nutjob out. Indeed, I am supportive of more than airstrikes and I would like to see us work more closely with arming, supplying and coordinating attacks with the rebels against the regime.

Similarly, we should be supporting the reasonable aspirations of average Arab citizens against their oppressive regimes regardless of which country they are in. Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and yes I am looking at you too Saudi Arabia:evil: To the extent possible we should be pressuring these places to change their goverance and provide more for their people instead of pissing away their money on imperial palaces and what not. A lot can be accomplished peacefully if we are on the right side of our values. And for those resorting to crimes against their own people - let them burn.

Too often we compromise because of very narrow short term self interests. We can't and shouldn't try to force the average Arab citizen to demand change, but when they do on their own we owe it to them to support their aspirations. Forcing our beliefs on them is pointless; but helping them realize their own dreams in line with our values us golden. The reason extremism exists beyond a handful of true whack jobs is because every day people live without hope and are manipulated. The way to defeat extremism is to support the legitimate aspirations of the average person. We owe them our support.