Libyan militias now want to keep their arms after all. Go figure?

When the armed-struggle phase of the anti-Qadaffi uprising began and the Libyan state aresenals were being liberated those people and groups making off with all the guns and ammo vowed that they'd turn them all over to the new government when the revolution was successfully concluded. Now it seems that they're having a change of heart about disarming themselves.

It seems that after nearly a century or so of foreign occupation (the Italian Fascists) and misrule by both an unelected King (Idris II) and a bat-shit crazy dictator (Qaddafi) the people of Libya don't trust governments or political elites. Go figure?

That being unarmed renders one contemptible in the sight of one's rivals is a reality of practical politics in unsettled places like Libya; A practical point of existence that you won't learn of at places like the Kennedy School of Government or the Sorbonne. 

NYT story link here.

Qadaffi dead: Libyan dictator goes out Mussolini-style

BBC news story with video from Al-Jazeera link here. A captured and wounded Qaddafi was beaten and then shot to death. His corpse was dragged through the streets behind a truck.

Bottom line: Those who make peaceful change impossible make violence charge inevitable. Dictators of all stripes please note.

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Thousands of man portable anti-aircraft missiles missing from Libyan state arsenals.

One way or another we'll probably see those missiles again I fear. Hopefully not at an airport near us though. Yikes.
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What I did on my summer vacation

Chris Jeon, a 21-year old UCLA math major went to Libya and "fought" with the rebel alliance to overthrow the government of  Col. Mohammar Khaddaffi. Admirable of Jeon and yet appallingly stupid. A nice story he'll have to tell his grandchildren some day themed along the lines of For Whom the Bell Tolls  no doubt. But holy smokes man.  It all could have went really bad for Jeon had Khadaffi's minions gotten ahold of him or he'd took a bullet through the neck as George Orwell did during his volunteer warrior service in the Spanish Civil War. Youth is wasted on the young as someone wiser than I once noted. But still I do kind of admire Jeon for being so ballsy and then getting away with it. But I don't recommend following his example though. To paraphrase every mother's advice: It's all fun until someone gets arrested and executed as a mercenary/spy or gets shot through the head by a sniper.

Sign of the times: Americans are getting tired of perpetual war

So says historian and retired Army colonel Andrew Bacevich (TomDispatch.com/)
I sure hope so.

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A photo essay of the improvised weapons of the Libyan rebels (Alan Taylor, The Atlantic)
I give those guys credit. They are quite brave to be hammering, welding and otherwise monkeying around with live weapons and ammo salvaged from the battlefield. Some of their improvisations (e.g., an aircraft missile launcher mounted on a pick-up truck bed) are quite ingenious if insanely dangerous.

US bases in Afghanistan for decades? (T.P.M. Barnett, Battleland blog)
"We reached success when the Iraqis started demanding we leave. That is what success looks like - not pretty, not perfect, actually kind of awkward. The Afghans want us to stay - after a decade of trying. That is failure staring you in the face."

NATO: An alliance who's time has passed (Ted Galen Carpenter, Daily Caller)

"Washington needs to ask what the purpose is of having allies. This country should not be simply a security partner collector — acquiring allies for the sake of having allies. The NATO “partners” now seem to fit that description."

Review: McMillan DiamondBlade Knife (Dave Petzal, The Gun Nuts blog)
Petzal says it's the best knife he's ever seen. Costs around five hundred bucks not counting tax and shipping. For that price it had better be. Me, I just can't see it. An Opinel knife with a old school style carbon blade is a better value in my opinion. It costs less than fifty bucks (price includes tax, shipping and handling) although it'll rust if you don't take care of it. But if you happen to lose it out in the woods or it gets dropped into the river or whatever you can cheaply replace it.

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U.S. warplane lost over Libya during "no-fly zone" operation
And so it begins.

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Killer’s return unnerves west Michigan residents
But he's okay as long as he stays on his meds though, so no worries.
Bankrupt Hollywood Video still out to collect late fees on video rentals
One guy had his $2 late return fee snowball into $125 by additional fees added by a collection agency.
Motown legend and ex-Detroit City Council member Martha Reeves admits she's no politician
True enough on several levels.
The fading appeal of Glen Beck
I never could see what his appeal was.
Libya: inside the SAS operation that went FUBAR
Yet another justification for a MYOB foreign policy.
 The Actual Reasons the BATF Smuggled Guns Into Mexico
Incompetence and corruption head the list.
Californian Democrats face the reality of class warfare 
Government employees live, work and retire better than the taxpayers.
Is there a such a thing as a "thug gene"?
That would sure would explain a lot.