Video: How Protest Became War

July 14/15, 2011

This is a video I just uploaded on Youtube, part 1 of a planned series of probably very few videos, called How Freedom* Came to Libya. The asterisk means, more or less, the "freedom" sought by the rebellion and NATO - I chose not to spell it out. And the title may not prove accurate after all, but it was meant ironically enough I'll leave it.

Warning: as the "graphic" in the title suggests, there are some dead people and blood, but I did not go for the shock value of the more horrible footage available.



This opening salvo, How Protest Became War, expresses the Libyan government version, with supporting video evidence, of how "protesters" were led by Islamist extremists into stealing weapons to overthrow the government. It may not be 100% true, and is almost sure to have some omissions, but this stuff is, at the very least, worth more consideration than it's gotten yet in the West.

I chose not to go much into the Islamist, racist, or inhumane characters of the uprising (in this segment), just leaving them hinted at. The emphasis is mechanical - how the hell did "peaceful protesters" manage to take over half a country? That was my first question back at the end of February. I could see the defectors part, to some extent, and in fact I might have left it there if it weren't for being keenly aware by now that you trust the news regarding Libya at your own peril. They get framed and presented in fantasy colors all the time.

Lo and behold, the video evidence offers no proof for either the rebel or government version in toto, but the evidence seems to be leaning towards Tripoli's take.

I draw here, mainly, on three videos I've previously hosted - Goheda's video Libyan Crisis, events, causes, and facts, a Feb 28 press conference by Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, and a July 1 Russia Today interview with Seif al-Islam al-Gaddafi. I also used about a dozen downloaded Youtube videos, still images, and original animated graphics, plus my own music. I hope it's of some value.

Special attention is given to Az Zawiyah, to that one barrack, to the Katiba in Benghazi, and to the victims of the al-Baida massacre, taken it seems at Labraq airport.

Further notes likely ...