Brave, Stupid, Or Just A Set Up

[Shutpa]

Just watched bits and bobs of both News at Ten programmes and was surprised to see rebel soldiers standing straight up in the open firing at an unseen enemy.
Having been in a not dissimilar situation almost 50 years ago, I cannot recall a single colleague ever standing on full view firing at the enemy. All of us bar none, kept our heads down. Could it be that the news reports we are getting are just a little bit staged?

 

[Alarm]

Funny enough watching a programe about Pathe News during WW1 and the same happened. Concensus is it was a set up as no cameraman in his right mind would have " run over the top" with the troops.

 

[JohnD]

they're not soldiers, just excitable men with guns.

you also see them hide behind street corners, then rush briefly out into the street and fire blindly at nothing in particular, standing in plain view, then rush back.

 

[raebhoop]

This always makes me laugh too...many years ago I would have greatly added to the body count by picking them off from 5/600 yards with a scope.
Nobody in combat with any brains stands still and upright in daylight in full view of an enemy.And if they do...certainly not for long.

 

[joe-90]

They are Arabs - not trained soldiers.

 

[Shutpa]

They are Arabs - not trained soldiers.

Just like the rest of us, arabs have brains Joe. They have seen their comrades fall and are therefore most unlikely to set themselves up as sitting ducks. On yesterday's news, 3 rebels were standing in the open, firing then ducking and running for cover. At the same time 2 guys, presumably not fighters, were standing alongside the gunmen having a fag and a chat. As far as I saw, they did not run for cover but continued their conversation. It was because of this that I suspected that the 'gun show' was merely for the cameras. That the gunmen are not trained soldiers is crystal clear.

 

[joe-90]

You know the Arab saying:


*The enemy of my enemy is my friend.*

When that foe is defeated they go back to tribalism - and carry on the infighting. This will happen in Libya - you mark my words.

 

[JohnD]

Firing their guns into the air when excited seems a very silly practice to most non-arabs.

 

[raebhoop]

Firing their guns into the air when excited seems a very silly practice to most non-arabs.

Happened all the time in Tombstone when the cowboys rode in on a weekend....till our Wyatt came out and gave 'em a rollickin'...

 

[zanwan]

Just watched bits and bobs of both News at Ten programmes and was surprised to see rebel soldiers standing straight up in the open firing at an unseen enemy.
Having been in a not dissimilar situation almost 50 years ago, I cannot recall a single colleague ever standing on full view firing at the enemy. All of us bar none, kept our heads down. Could it be that the news reports we are getting are just a little bit staged?

they are clearly staged. Not only was the area swarming with gaddafi loyalists, they had snipers everywhere, who would pick these guys off at will.

But hey its good tv

 

[zanwan]

Firing their guns into the air when excited seems a very silly practice to most non-arabs.

Its also a silly practice to most arabs, especially those hit by these stray bullets. Remember, they are in an arab country, firing hundreds of rounds into the air, these bullets will eventually come down and probably land on some innocent arab wonderign the streets.

These rebels are just a bunch of lunatics who have been shown how to fire a weapon and now behave like madmen. I'm surprised they have taken relatively low numbers of casualties considering how they are fighting.

 

[Biker1959]

The big concern is the number of SAM's in circulation, any one of which could bring down a passenger jet.

 

[zanwan]

The big concern is the number of SAM's in circulation, any one of which could bring down a passenger jet.

this is worrying but there can be steps taken to minimise this. But the most worrying aspects to all this is the influence of Al-Qaeda on the rebels. They apparently have a large number of Al-qaeda fighters along with many more al-qaeda supporters. They are now close to having their own state.

 

[JohnD]

Maybe, or maybe not.

Whenever there is an outbreak of opposition to the unpopular, undemocratic and oppressive governments in Arab states, this scare is raised by supporters of the kleptocracy.

As far as I can see, apart from people with their snouts in the Oil Money trough, the only people to gain from maintaining the status quo are the Israelis.

 

[Whitespirit66]

Firing their guns into the air when excited seems a very silly practice to most non-arabs.

Not just the Arabs. Africans tend to fire into thin air too.

Perhaps the grouse season has just opened, or they have too much ammo.