On the front lines with the opposition in Libya

As I watched this video a number of thoughts came to me.  One was the sense of pride and jubilation of the participants despite the real life dangers.  It is not the phony individualistic bravado of Hollywood and Rambo fame, portraying war as some some sort of macho game fought by individuals.  But ordinary people in the midst of struggling to lift the boot of oppression from their necks.  People participating in making history and not simply being victims of it. There is great joy and a certain amount of freedom in this.

The other thing that I kept thinking about was the bravery of the reporter from Al Jazeera.   It's one thing when your in the midst of the battle yourself.  But a reporter is not, they are outsiders in a way looking in.  What must it be like to be in the path of mortar fire? And as a woman there are added fears.  The fear of rape.  It is something that must always be present in the minds of women.  After all, rape is practically a weapon of war.  Human beings are capable of great courage.

It does appear though that Gaddafi is holding his ground or even possibly making gains.  It is hard as an outside observer to determine what the outcome will be, possibly a further sinking in to civil war, the east and west.  A partition of the country? A complete defeat for the rebel opposition?

We are privy to so much more when the dominant news media is not US based and the US military are involved.  In those cases, everything is so staged Hollywood style. Remember the young woman in Iraq, Jessica Lynch who was rescued by US troops but it was all staged?  There are no dead bodies, no horrors of war.  We saw none in Panama, none in Grenada. 

The truth is there though if we seek it out.