HOLLYWOOD
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Reading all the media reports and government statements the following military/DOD resources used to help evacuate military and Department of State personnel from the Tripoli Embassy. US drones, F-16s, E/F-18s, V-22 Ospreys, 500 Marines, convoy under air gunships of cover... According to reports, the US personnel were evacuated to Tunisia.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/u-turkey-evacuate-staff-tripoli-125957997.html#kg9MC2thttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-...llowing-biggest-local-violence-gadhafi-ousterUS Evacuates Libya Embassy Following Biggest Local Violence Since Gadhafi Ouster
07/26/2014 10:25 -0400
The middle east is burning again: first it was the fascinating ascent of the brutal Al-Qaeda spinoff ISIS, creating its own Caliphate in northern Iraq and in the process taking over a third of Syrian territory as well as all of its oil infrastructure. Then, the latest iteration of the Israel vs Gaza conflict has now claimed over 1000 lives and is dragging virtually all neighboring countries into it as well. And the cherry on top is that the Libyan "liberation" by the US has just gone full circle, as the country is is now witnessing one of its worst spasms of violence since Gadhafi’s ouster. End result: nearly two years after the deadly attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, moments ago the US once again shuttered its embassy in Libya, this time in Tripoli, evacuating more than 150 Americans to Tunisia. This is happening just 24 hours after the US Secretary of State was literally next door in Egypt, assuring the region that peace and stability are just around the corner.
From NBC:While it needs no reminding, CBS does so nonetheless, that "the move marks the second time in a little more than three years that Washington has closed its embassy in Libya. In Feb. 2011, the embassy suspended operations amid the uprising that eventually toppled longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. After the formation of a transitional government in July, 2011, the embassy reopened in September. Gadhafi was killed in October of 2011."
More than 150 Americans have been evacuated from the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, Libya, amid spiraling militant violence aimed at the Libyan government. "The U.S. together with other countries have decided that because of the freewheeling militia violence that is taking place particularly around the embassy ... it presents a real risk to our personnel," Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters during a trip to France.
American officials told NBC News that the 158 Americans, including 80 heavily armed U.S. Marines, left the embassy compound early Saturday in a caravan of SUV's and buses and drove west toward neighboring Tunisia. Besides the Marines who were the embassy’s security force, the caravan was also protected overhead by two American F-16 fighter jets and unmanned drones that shadowed the group on their drive.
At least two American warships, a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Ross and a guided-missile cruiser, the USS Vella Gulf, were nearby in the Mediterranean in case additional military protection was needed, officials told NBC News.
While there appeared to be no direct threat of an attack against the embassy, the rising violence in Libya recently prevented delivery of food and other vital supplies to the embassy over roads now largely controlled or threatened by rebel militant forces, the officials added.
But wait, didn't Brent drop recently because the political situation in Libya was getting better? Recall from Goldman:
The Obama administration has been particularly sensitive about security of U.S. government employees in Libya since the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. mission in the country’s second largest city of Benghazi that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The administration is still fending off criticism from Republicans and others that it did not either enhance security in Benghazi or evacuate the mission due to rising violence in that city in the months prior to the attack.
The Benghazi mission was abandoned after that attack and never reopened. The embassy In Tripoli has been operating with reduced staff since but has remained open even as the violence intensified.
On July 2, federalist rebels handed the central oil terminals of Ras Lanuf and Es Sider back to the Libyan government, with a combined capacity of 560 thousand barrels per day. The government lifted the force majeure on July 6, allowing the NOC to start marketing crude from the ports. This development points to a potential sharp ramp-up in Libyan oil production from its current 320 thousand barrels per day level as well as a ramp-up in exports that have been erratic so far this year. This has led to a decline in crude oil prices, with Brent prices down nearly $2.00/bbl since Reuters first reported this deal and currently trading near $110/bbl, although the lack of further deterioration in Iraq, where exports remain undisrupted, has also contributed to the broader decline in prices over the past two weeks.
U.S., Turkey evacuate staff from Tripoli
Reuters – 4 hours ago
PARIS (Reuters) - The U.S State Department said on Saturday it was temporarily removing its personnel from Libya because of fighting near the U.S. embassy in Tripoli.
Turkey had also removed about 700 personnel from the North African country, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Paris before holding talks there with Turkish and Qatari counterparts on the Middle East.
(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; editing by Michel Rose and Mark John)
US personnel leave Tripoli for Tunisia
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 26, 2014 7:28 AM CDT
(Newser) – The United States shut down its embassy in Libya today and evacuated its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia under military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli, the State Department said. Officials blamed intensified fighting between rival militias. The withdrawal underscored the Obama administration's concern about the heightened risk to American diplomats abroad, particularly in Libya where memories of the deadly 2012 attack on the US mission in the eastern city of Benghazi are still vivid.
The State Department also issued a travel warning urging Americans not to go to the country and recommending that those already there leave immediately. "The Libyan government has not been able to adequately build its military and police forces and improve security," it said. "Many military-grade weapons remain in the hands of private individuals, including antiaircraft weapons that may be used against civilian aviation." American personnel at the Tripoli embassy left the capital around dawn and traveled by road to Tunisia.
http://www.independentsentinel.com/u-s-flees-libya-after-obama-spread-tranquility/
U.S. Flees Libya After Obama Spread ‘Tranquility’
July 26, 2014
By Sara Noble
Libya is a failed state with intense fighting taking place among competing Islamic militias including the Muslim Brotherhood and a general who hopes to free his country from Ansar al-Sharia.
This entire situation is Obama’s fault though he thinks he’s spreading “tranquility.”
Barack Obama accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.
“There have been a number of situations in which you’ve seen this administration intervene in a meaningful way that has substantially furthered American interests and substantially improved the, you know, the tranquility of the global community,” Josh Earnest said mid-July.
Among the many nations to profit from this Obama inflicted ‘tranquility” is Libya which he went to war with the approval of the U.N. and without the approval from Congress in violation of the War Powers Act.
The law is meaningless to Mr. Obama. He picks and chooses which ones he will enforce.
We evacuated the last remaining U.S. personnel in Tripoli, Libya early this morning under protective air support provided by U.S. warplanes and spy aircraft.
The Muslim Brotherhood won the most recent elections – possibly through fraud – and some militias are attempting to dislodge them. General Haftar is fighting a war against Ansar al-Sharia, which is an al-Qaida “sympathizer.”
The U.S. under Obama toppled the admittedly-insane leader Muammar Gaddafi who was, however, working with the U.S. to rid the country of Al Qaeda and who had no beef with Israel. The American people were lied to when we were told he was going to massacre innocents in Benghazi. He never made any such move – it was bluster – and the ‘innocents’ were Al Qaeda.
We replaced his dictatorship with a weak puppet government and insisted they include the terrorist group, The Muslim Brotherhood, in the government.
The conditions in the capital of Tripoli have deteriorated and much of the fighting is taking place in the capital. General Haftar is concentrating most of his fighting in Tripoli.
The West portrays Haftar as a ‘renegade general’ who is ‘causing upheaval’, characterizations which he does not appreciate. He says he is not rebelling against the state because there is no state.
The U.S. and Europe heavily criticize him but little is said against the brutal Islamic extremists, the Muslim Brotherhood and Ansara al-Sharia, known to be an Al Qaeda affiliate.
General Khalifa Haftar who is trying to free Libya from Islamic extremist militias.
To digress for a moment, the use of the terms “affiliate”, “offshoot”, “sympathizers” of Al Qaeda and so on, is absurd and meant to deceive. They are all the same people. Most answer to al-Zawahiri but whether they do not is irrelevant. They are violent jihadists who want the Middle East to become an Islamic caliphate under Sharia law. Most seek the destruction of Israel and all Western life and values.
Embassy personnel were taken to temporary offices in neighboring Tunisia with security provided by U.S. forces. Spokes woman Marie Harf said the embassy is not closed but operations were temporarily suspended.
It’s only temporary, the disingenuous spokesperson assures us.
“Due to the ongoing violence resulting from clashes between Libyan militias in the immediate vicinity of the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, we have temporarily relocated all of our personnel out of Libya,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at the funeral of the murdered men of Benghazi.
Libya is a Hillary success as well as Obama’s. Benghazi was mis-portrayed. The deceit fostered by both to help Obama win re-election was noticed in Libya and around the world. It made the U.S. look weak and evil. Battles Rage in Tripoli
Jamahiriya News Agency
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