War In Libya, Gen. Haftar became a Naturalized US Citizen, lived near Langley.

[Richard Rubio]

For the record, I don't claim to be an expert or well-informed on what is going on in Libya; but it's intriguing.  I will say, I have some "hunches", I read a fair amount of information from somewhere. I do have my sentiments but it's hard to discern some things from over there.

Now, to the General:

Khalifa Haftar

...


War with Chad

By 1986, Haftar had attained the rank of colonel, and was then the chief officer in command of Gaddafi's military forces in Chad in the Chadian–Libyan conflict. During the war, in which the Libyan forces were either captured or driven back across the border, Haftar and 600–700 of his men were captured as prisoners of war, and incarcerated in 1987 after their defeat in the Ouadi Doum air raid.[31]Shortly after this disastrous battle, Gaddafi disavowed Haftar and the other Libyan prisoners of war who were captured by Chad. One possible contributing factor to Gaddafi's repudiation of Haftar and of other captured prisoners of war may have been the fact that Gaddafi had earlier signed an agreement to withdraw all Libyan forces from Chad, and Haftar's operations inside of Chad had been in violation of this agreement.[32][33] Another possible reason given for Gaddafi's abandonment of Haftar was the potential that Haftar might return to Libya as a hero and thus pose a threat to Gaddafi's rule itself.[25] In any event, Gaddafi's repudiation clearly served to embitter Haftar towards Gaddafi.

In 1986 and 1987 the Government of Chad accused Libya of using toxic gas and napalm against central government forces and against rebel forces. Libya may have used mustard gas delivered in bombs by AN-26 aircraft in final phases of the war against Chad in September 1987. The wind blew the agent back onto the Libyan forces.[34]

Opposition from the United States

Gaddafi demanded Haftar's soldiers be returned to Libya, but the Americans arranged for them to fly to Zaire instead. There, half of his soldiers decided to return to Libya. In late 1987, Haftar and a group of officers aligned themselves with the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL), a U.S. supported opposition group.[12][26] On 21 June 1988, he declared the establishment of the military wing of NFSL, named Libyan National Army under his leadership.[26] When U.S. financial aid to Zaire was not forthcoming, Zaire expelled the remainder to Kenya.[33] Kenya only provided temporary residence, and the American CIA negotiated a settlement around 1990, enabling Haftar and 300 of his soldiers to move to the United States under the U.S. refugee programme.[27][33] In fact, the end of the Cold War diminished Libya's geo-strategic relevance and the CIA funding program to Haftar's brigade was suspended.[35] During the time, he gained American citizenship. 

From:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalifa_Haftar

Okay, believe it or not, USA is NOT a player in Libya, we will hit ISIS terrorists and things like that.

But it is said, you have the side of the UN recognized government, in Tripoli, Turkey supports the Government of National Accord (GNA)... on the other side, the LNA of Haftar, they are supported by Russia, Egypt, (UAE I believe), LNA stands for Libyan National Army.

I could be wrong and as said, I don't claim to be an expert but I don't get a good feeling about this Haftar fellow and the LNA.

You read up on this matter,  you could think both sides might be the good guys.   Repeating too, USA is NOT involved.

I have also heard it said Haftar lived in Langley, (home to the CIA  I am told) but the wikipedia article seems to mention these other places in VA. So, I will go with that.

News today:

Massive deployment of Russian mercenaries bolstering Libya's Haftar: UN experts
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/5/6/un-massive-deployment-of-russian-mercenaries-bolstering-libyas-haftar

So, I don't care for this whole situation.  Is it over oil? Or for other reasons? The Haftar side will say they are fighting terrorism. Maybe so.... maybe not.

[Richard Rubio]

First off, here is an interesting movie on Libya from yesteryear, "Lion of the Desert"...  wikipedia article and yes, the Libyan government under Moammar Gaddafi helped fund it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_of_the_Desert

The "Lion of the Desert" lived back during the Italian occupation (coloniization) of Libya cerca 1911 to 1929, so a long time. Mussolini shows up in the movie as well, in fact, right off early in the film. As a movie I find it entertaining, per history and my sentiments, on that I'm a bit divided.  Another topic is the Italian occupation of those years, does it exaggerate their ferocity? I think maybe but it's up to each viewer.  Just as a movie, I think it's pretty good, lots of action. Nearly 3 hours long.

IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base:    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081059/   (see reviews too)

The movie, yes, with Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger as Mussolini, it dates from around 1981 I believe.: 

"Lion of the Desert".

Haftar (or "Hifter" per the next article, may have worked for CIA forces but the thing is, in the Cold War era, he went to school in the Soviet Union as well, college.

Excerpted, see rest at link:

Is Russia pulling support from Libyan strongman Hifter?


Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Hifter leaves after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Nov. 29, 2016.  Photo by REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov.
Kirill Semenov

May 13, 2020
While Washington has been accusing Moscow of inflaming the conflict in war-torn Libya by sending mercenaries to fight on behalf of strongman Khalifa Hifter, signs have been emerging that Russia is increasing contacts with the Hifter-aligned eastern-based parliament at the expense of Hifter himself.

On May 7, US State Department spokesman Chris Robinson said Moscow’s support of Hifter had led to “a significant escalation of the conflict and a worsening of the humanitarian situation in Libya." Meanwhile, late last month, the head of Libya’s eastern-based parliament said his political road map, presented to the parliament in late April, was drafted by Russian experts working with parliamentarians in Libya.

Read more at: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/05/russia-pull-support-hifter-libya-gna-army-aguila-saleh-issa.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

So, a lot of propaganda on this war over there. I'd not claim to ever be an expert but in my opinion, this Haftar fellow is the agressor, I do believe there is needless bloodshed going on. People are being killed, drones are being used.  It's unfortunate.

Combing twitter, one can find out a fair amount about what is going on. Mixed signals to me, just like the war that has been in Syria. These wars need to end.

Turkey is helping out the UN recognized government in Tripoli:

Report: Child soldiers deployed to Libya by Turkish-backed Syrian National Army

Factions of the Turkish-backed opposition Syrian National Army are recruiting minors to fight in Libya, according to a report laying out in exhaustive detail Turkey’s use of Syrian rebels to prop up Libya’s Government of National Accord.

The 40-page document, prepared by Syrians for Truth and Justice and shared exclusively with Al-Monitor, cites sources on the ground in Syria and in Libya who say Syrian teenagers have been recruited and are part of their units in the battlefield. The report will be published Monday by the nonpartisan not-for-profit organization, which documents human rights abuses in Syria.

More: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/05/child-soldiers-libya-syria-national-army-turkey.html

So, this part isn't good.   I read everything to try to decide what's going on, mostly everything. If something looks like outright propaganda, I will be wary of that.

[Richard Rubio]

Syrian Rebel And Regime Forces Now Fight In Libya
https://www.ibtimes.com/syrian-rebel-regime-forces-now-fight-libya-2978642

This is a problem now in Libya and really a lot of wars, mercenaries.....there's a lot more in the news on all of this. Even a story this morning of some "western" mercenaries in Libya.  I tend to think they are not there in real numbers though.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/western-mercenaries-arrived-libya-support-haftar-report-200516160022383.html

The renegade general suffered a huge loss yesterday:

Haftar’s Forces Suffer Major Setback in Libya
https://themedialine.org/mideast-daily-news/haftars-forces-suffer-major-setback-in-libya/

A secretive proxy drone war just exploded in Libya
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/a-secretive-proxy-drone-war-just-exploded-in-libya-628600

I'd judge the Jerusalem Post per this last story above, is probably among the more credible sources. Still,  they aren't the end word on this.  The author, Seth Franzman is fairly well respected as a journo.

So, this war needs to end, and with mercenaries coming in, despite Haftar's setback, I don't see that happening soon. Could but probably won't.

[Richard Rubio]

Good graph here, strange bedfellows and France and Italy actually on different sides? Logic tells me, Italy gets a lot of fuel and has for a long time from Libya across the Med.

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/6/12/us-court-hears-torture-case-against-libyas-haftar

Yes, I definitely think the left side is a better alternative but my knowledge certainly is not expertise. I'm glad we, the US, are being neutral.   Though, we have asked that a ceasefire that has been established in the past, be followed.

Just in:

UN chief shocked at Libya mass graves in recently freed town
By EDITH M. LEDERER and SUZAN FRASER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep shock late Friday at the discovery of mass graves in Libyan territory recently recaptured from forces commanded by Khalifa Hifter, and called for a transparent investigation.

The U.N. chief also called on Libya’s U.N.-supported government to secure the mass graves, identify the victims, establish the causes of death and return the bodies to next of kin. He offered U.N. support in carrying it out, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

More:  https://apnews.com/c154f450d6490fd68065b3232c40fd42

Bad, bad news.