NYT Stunner: "In a Field of Flowers, The Wreckage of War in Libya"

I suppose I should give them points for sheer consistency.

Out: Kite-flying children

In: Wildflowers

In a Field of Flowers, the Wreckage of War in Libya

By KAREEM FAHIM

BENGHAZI, Libya — The attack seemed to have come out of clear skies onto a field of wildflowers.

Littered across the landscape, some 30 miles south of Benghazi, the detritus of the allied airstrikes on Saturday and Sunday morning offered a panorama of destruction: tanks, charred and battered, their turrets blasted clean off, one with a body still caught in its remnants; a small Toyota truck with its roof torn away; a tank transporter still on fire. But it did not end there.

For miles leading south, the roadsides were littered with burned trucks and burned civilian cars. In some places battle tanks had simply been abandoned, intact, as their crews fled. One thing, though, seemed evident: the units closest to Benghazi seemed to have been hit with their cannons and machine guns still pointing towards the rebel capital.

To the south, though, many had been hit as they headed away from the city in a headlong dash for escape on the long road leading to a distant Tripoli.

“They were retreating,” said Col. Abdullah al-Shafi...

Damn these neocon warmongers.

More: Qatar's the first Arab country signing up for actual military contribution to the Coalition effort.

Here's a video that really belongs with Drew's story about the Arab League suddenly changing its position. It appears, as many predicted, Arabs just like taking any position opposite the West.

It's my nature, said the scorpion.

The British commentator can hardly disguise his contempt for childish Arab politics as he relates their brand-new position: no-fly zone, yes, but apparently we were to not hit ground targets like radar stations and anti-aircraft positions because "civilians" might be killed in such strikes. So the idea was that our pilots fly around over hostile enemy airspace getting shot up.

(Actually he says they're criticizing attacks on tanks but I think the Arabs are really complaining about hits on radar and anti-aircraft sites on the ground; all those "civilians" manning those positions.)

posted by Ace at 11:24 AM

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