In case anyone's interested, it looks like the Libyan rebels have had their biggest breakthrough in the ongoing civil war against Gaddafi since April.

Story:

"Libyan rebels claimed Sunday they were trying to cut off two key supply routes to Moammar Gadhafi's stronghold in Tripoli after capturing more towns in the west of the country. The opposition fighters also battled government forces for control of the strategic city of Zawiya, just 30 miles from the capital...

...Col. Jumma Ibrahim, a rebel spokesman in the western mountains, said his fighters are moving closer to blocking major supply routes to Tripoli from the south and west. The routes are critical for moving food, fuel and weapons over land to the capital...

...He said rebel forces captured the town of Gharyan, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Tripoli, which he said controls the supply road from southern Libya to the capital."

Here is a map with territories held by each side on the western front as of August 14th (approximate). Compare that to this just 16 days ago (large map images, so 56k of course).

Note that not all this information can be verified, but it is clear on all independent accounts that the rebels have made dramatic progress and if they can keep it up and hold their ground, they've got a good chance of checking Gaddafi.

[QUOTE="Calvin079"]

[QUOTE="jetpower3"]

No love for Mao communism :( ? His policies led to perhaps the most wonderfully deadly peacetime era in history.

Tokugawa77

I'd say Stalin in the 1930s was worse. 60 million people were directly murdered by his regime.

I always thought that was a little high. Isn't that like more than a third of the Soviet Union's population in in 1939 (which I believe was 170 million)? The only country or state I can think of that has ever suffered that much in the modern age is Belarus (upwards to 40% of its population killed by the Germans). Not to say he couldn't do it, but did he?

[QUOTE="jetpower3"]

I think a better question is what would a post war Europe look like if the Soviets carried their campaign forward alone.

sonicare

No love for Mao communism :( ? His policies led to perhaps the most wonderfully deadly peacetime era in history.

[QUOTE="mr_zombie60"]

America helped crush Germany in Africa and the italians to revolt against Mussolini.. Not to mention our island hopping during the pacific theatre and our swift action upon Japan when they refused to surrender (the bombings). I highly doubt they could have won without America.

Tokugawa77

The British were on the offensive in North Africa before the US entered the war. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, most recourses were diverted there, anyway.

Do you know anything about the total men that Nazi Germany committed to the Eastern Front? I knew the Soviets had up to 34 million conscripts/volunteers/soldiers serve during the war, but I can't find any numbers for the Nazis.

I think a better question is what would a post war Europe look like if the Soviets carried their campaign forward alone.

Yes, and they are slowly becoming more common for me it seems. Often, my dreams are slurred beyond belief, and I cannot often tell where one dream ends and the other begins. But the distinction is there.

Its that triangle stuff. They had a tv show about it with the dude from Jaws.Wilfred_Owen

Which dude is that? The only one I can think of who is still alive is Richard Dreyfuss.

[QUOTE="jetpower3"]

That's still slower than a space rocket, isn't it? And what advantages does this offer for military purposes over, say, a ICBM?

Kcube

I think its slower ...13,000 MPH.

The Pie wedge is supposed to be a manned aircraft though inside earths atmosphere.Makes me wonder if someone can survive those kind of G's

I'd be pretty interested in knowing how you would navigate such a craft with pinpoint accuracy. It would seem that even minor miscalculations could cause you to overshoot your destination by at least hundreds of miles. And I'm also interested in knowing how much and what kind of fuel it would use, especially if it currently needs to be launched with the assistance of a rocket.

That's still slower than a space rocket, isn't it? And what advantages does this offer for military purposes over, say, a ICBM?

It's a jamahiriya.