Here We Go Again

Conditions: Cold, Dusty.

That Old Sinking Feeling

Recently the western powers decided that Libya required a no-fly zone. This is because there is currently a civil war brewing in the country, and the leader, Gaddafi, was using his air force to wipe out the rebels. Since no one likes Gaddafi, Nato's response is to setup a no fly zone in order to allow the rebels to stay in the fight. But a funny thing happened once the resolution was passed. Because I was under the impression that a no fly zone only meant you were allowed to shoot down their planes which were, you know, flying in a no fly zone.

A coalition air strike has killed seven civilians and injured 25 injured, according to a doctor working with rebel forces.

Dr Suleiman Refardi said that the incident happened on Wednesday in the village of Zawia el Argobe, near Brega, when the air strike hit an ammunition truck in a pro-Gaddafi convoy and damaged two houses. According to the doctor, the dead were four girls aged between 12 and 16 and three youths aged between 14 and 20.

The doctor said that villagers considered the casualties a "sacrifice and a price worth paying" for stopping Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's troops from taking back rebel-held territory. Zawia el Argobe is nine miles from Brega, where rebels forces are massed.

Nato officials said that they were making inquiries "down our operations chain to find out if indeed there is any information on the operation side that would support this claim".

Details of the incident came as Libyan rebels called for a ceasefire after Gaddafi forces drove them back for a third day after sandstorms and clouds hindered Nato air strikes.

- telegraph.co.uk/news/

See from what I've been hearing, a lot of the action being carried out by the Coalition forces seemed to be more along the lines of straight up military action, rather than just "no-fly-zone" action. Unless of course that was some kind of new, flying, ammunition truck they were targeting in Zawia el Argobe. Are we actually at war in Libya? Who the hell approved that?

The House of Commons is debating the government stance on UN resolution 1973, having been invited to give its approval or withhold it. It's a bit late, as the prime minister made a statement to the Commons on Friday and within 24 hours the bombing had started. We are presented with a fait accompli.

The debate, however, takes place against a background of growing concerns about the nature of the military operation, the intensity of the air strikes, the implications for the whole region, and the real motive behind the Arab League in calling for this in the first place. India is the first country to publicly call for a cessation of air strikes. Others are likely to follow.

UN security council resolution 1973 was heavily trailed as a no-fly-zone resolution. Like most UN resolutions it is very long. It specifically welcomed the appointment of the UN special envoy Abdel-Elah Mohamed Al-Khatib and in its proposals under chapter 7 of the UN charter (mandatory for all member states) demanded a ceasefire, stressed the need to find a solution to the conflict through the UN special envoy, and demanded that the Libyan authorities fulfil their international obligations under humanitarian law.

- guardian.co.uk/

Look nobody likes Gaddafi, the man by most accounts is a monster, but I thought we learned (yet again) in the Iraq war that attacking a country to get them to depose their leader never, ever, works. Remember how we chiseled that lesson across George W Bush's forehead? Remember George W Bush?

We couldn't possible have forgotten that already, surely?



Film Review: World Invasion. Battle: Los Angeles

If you watched Black Hawk Down and thought to yourself 'Yes, not bad, but it would have better with aliens instead of Africans", then this is the film for you. Battle: Los Angeles tells the tale of one marine unit's adventures in the middle of a surprise alien attack on the Californian coastline. They're attacking everywhere else as well, but it's just L.A that we see, for this movie at least. Focusing on just the one unit allows the filmmakers to not have to bother too much with generals and presidents and Europe and all the other hoo-hah more ambitious alien-invasion films have to concern themselves with. Aaron Eckhart plays a staff sergeant fresh from a rough tour in the middle east, who's impending retirement is interrupted by some intergalactic bullies. We're quickly introduced to the cannon fodder, I mean, soldiers who make up the unit we'll be attached to, each with their own cliche to carry, and then we're into the chopper and away.

The film is shot handheld-style, and is constructed just like a video game. The only thing missing is a controller. Our task is to get to an abandoned police station that apparently is sheltering some civilians, and get them out before the air force levels the place. Once there we need to find a bus to escape in, and then a chopper to get the civilians out on. Then the finale where we take on the command and control ship in order to take out the Alien drone air force. But despite the video-game style plot, the actors do a heroic job in breathing some life and character into this film. The ongoing battle scenes are shot very realistically, and despite the annoyance of the shaky-cam you can experience the chaos and fear of close-quarters combat.

The underlying current, being pushed by Eckhart, is based on his last tour where a bunch of his men were killed, and he now carries that burden. Can he overcome his feelings of guilt to lead again and make the hard decisions? Will the marines trust him and fight by his side? Despite it being an alien invasion movie, it's actually a pretty fair war film, complete with gritty rubble-strewn camaraderie and grimy desperation. Unfortunately, I am not and will never be a fan of the relentless shaky-cam style of filmmaking, which always comes across to me as distracting and annoying. I believe this film would have been much much better without it, but of course without it they would likely have had to spend more money on the special effects. So in the end it's a small chaotic snapshot of a bigger overall war, full of bravery and sacrifice and a little bit of human drama thrown in as well, only really difficult to see. Three and a half grenades out of five.


- Peace out