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Libya SIGINT Jamming Satellites, Towers
h00manist writes "Libya's Gaddafi apparently loves radio hacking. Signal jamming is being used to disable Thuraya satellite phones. Also being jammed is satellite TV network provider Arabsat, affecting vast areas in the Middle East, Gulf, Africa and Europe. Cellphone and internet transmissions are working only intermittently. Soldiers are confiscating electronics, too. This has gone on for days, allowing killing to be carried out largely hidden from the rest of the world, quite different from what happened in Egypt. The locations of the jamming signals are known to company executives — around the capital, Tripoli — but nobody can do anything. Only POTS is available, and it is monitored. Technically speaking, could this happen everywhere? Alternatives?"
They could be going with SIGKILL. Of course, SIGQUIT would be a nice improvement.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Clearly Qadafi is going to do the full Tiananmen Square on his people
Tiananmen Square was Army firing on unarmed demonstrators. The situation in Libya is way past that already - Ghaddafi has been using fighter jets to do airstrikes, and ships to shell areas, while opposition has taken over several regions of the country entirely (organizing brand new power and law enforcement structures in place in a grassroot manner), and in large cities, has captured large amounts of weapons. At this point, it's pretty much a civil war already.
Of course the Libyan UN delegation will be in favor of UN intervention. But before we go into a Muslim country YET AGAIN and start fucking around with their affairs YET AGAIN after we've been told repeatedly for decades that our continual meddling in Muslim affairs is the prime reason behind Islamic terrorism, maybe we should, you know, ask whether the Libyans really want our involvement? It's true that people are being killed, but it also seems like the revolt is gaining the upper hand over the old regime.
Do you really think a UN or American intervention in Libya is going to end with freedom for Libyans, or don't you think it's more likely that we'll just install another puppet regime like we have done dozens of times in this region of the world? Do you think the people of Libya are too stupid to realize that would happen?
Gaddafi's government is defecting left and right, the man is on TV saying bin Laden is drugging the children of his country with hallucinogens, the man has clearly COMPLETELY lost his mind and will not be in power for much longer. Let the Libyans handle this their own way. Treat them like adults.
If I were there right now
Either you'd be:
1. Shitting in your pants hiding in the basement, praying not to get blown up
or
2. At the port, begging for a ride on a ferry out.
Sadly, our western, basement dwelling nerdiosity doesn't begin to comprehend the potential of violence in such a situation.
Your post pretty much explains why nobody - the U.S. included - is exactly going in with blazing guns there.
As tempting as it is to say "Europe should go in!" or "USA should go in!" (or Russia, or China, or the Australians), I'm not entirely sure it would actually -help- the population. It may end the killing a little sooner, but then what?
Libya doesn't really have a modern political and legal structure. If outsiders were to go in now, they'd have to commit to 10-20 years of essentially building a country from scratch with many of its inhabitants extremely displeased with the status quo and who emotionally want to see complete change overnight - blinding them from rational thought and understanding that this takes time.
Drop out of the 10-20 years and you antagonize the people because they feel you've abandoned them (Afghanistan/Russia skirmishes). Stay there for the 10-20 years and you antagonize them because clearly you're the western oppressor simply replacing the old oppressor (Iraq, current).
If Libyans in the street (not the embassy workers/etc. - the people seen in the few videos that make it out of the country) were clearly calling for intervention from outsiders, that would be a different thing. As it is, though, they're in their own revolution not calling for any such help.
Gaddafi has indeed completely lost it - first blaming western (U.S.) pressure (much like Mubarak did in Egypt), now blaming Al Qaida, tomorrow.. who knows - the Pope?
I was thinking more along the lines of he'll have purged the majority of his supporters before the UN forms a committee on it. As it's going right now, you've got his thugs running around hacking people up(house to house). You have mercs from some of the bloodiest intra-africa conflicts there, opening fire on people and dragging the bodies away.
Of course there is some heartening stuff like the fighter pilots who ran to malta, or the couple that ditched in the desert and ran like hell. He doesn't have absolute control on his military, but he has enough that a lot of people are going to die.
And regardless of that, this is going to be the status-quo for the next 10 years in the middle east.
Om, nomnomnom...
Shaking hands, that's your evidence? Shaking hands with someone doesn't mean you like them, particularly if you're a politician or a diplomat. It's true that NOT shaking hands with them is a rather major public snub, but in politics you can shake hands with someone and declare war on him the next day.
The best tweet: "I hope programmers worldwide will join me in calling for M[ou]'?am+[ae]r .*([AEae]l[- ])? [GKQ]h?[aeu]+([dtz][dhz]?)+af[iy] to step down."
Yes, but the French (believe it or not) helped us out in 1776, changing the course of our War for Independence. They hated the English, so their enemies enemy was their friend. We should assist anyone who is fighting for democracy if asked. Pay it forward with a couple of well aimed HARM missiles. Put a well armed ship off the coast (screw the 12 mile limit) to receive wifi broadcasts and retransmit to the world. Gaddafi needs to relive the whupping we gave the Barbary pirates in Tripoli.
Everybody is running around talking about military intervention, but you're forgetting a basic point: This is an internal matter of a sovereign nation. We might not like what's happening, but going into Libya with guns blazing is just as illegal as doing it to Iraq. There is a long list of people who complain about america running around invading countries for their oil, and yet they will happily stand there and say that the americans should rush into this country and do the same. If you want your opinions and morals to be respected you have to be consistent in them. The people of Libya haven't asked for outside aid.
Just what the world needs, another reason to shoot at hospital ships. Real smart.
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)