Award-Winning War Photographer Dies in Libya

TELEVISION
1. Charlie Sheen's Colleagues Speak Out

For the first time, Charlie Sheen's Two and a Half Men co-workers describe his descent. "Gaunt," "withered," "strung out"—and "in denial." Maria Elena Fernandez reports.

Read it at The Daily Beast

TRAGEDY
2. War Photographer Dies in Libya

Prize-winning photojournalist Tim Hetherington has been killed in Misrata, Libya, Vanity Fair has confirmed. The news was broken on fellow photographer Andre Liohn's Facebook page, and Liohn is reportedly at the hospital. Photographer Chris Hondros was also reportedly injured. Both were decorated and respected practitioners. Hetheringon, 41 and born in Britain, shot both still photos and video, and worked from Liberia, Sudan, and other war zones. In 2010, he made the documentary Restrepo with journalist Sebastian Junger. The film, which chronicled a year in the life of an American infantry platoon stationed deep in the remote, dangerous Korengal Valley, was nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary. Hetherington wrote about the experience for The Daily Beast in 2010. Hondros, 41 and American, is also a war specialist, shooting from conflict zones in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Shooting for Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other leading publications, he is highly decorated. In 2004, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Spot News Photography for his work in Liberia. In 2006, he was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal—named for the famed photographer who was himself killed while working in Vietnam. As recently as Wednesday morning, The Daily Beast used one of Hondros' photos to illustrate a Libya story. (Correction: Earlier, The Daily Beast had reported, per Vanity Fair, that Hondros was also killed; Vanity Fair now says he is in "grave condition.")

Read it at Business Insider

Incoherent POTUS in Libya

Observations by Truth Provider:

Here is the deal about Libya.

First Syria.

1) Has been subverting and meddling in Iraq since the beginning of the war there.
2) Supports and supplies Hezballah (a terrorist organization) in Lebanon despite UN Res. 1701
3) Supports and supplies Hamas (a terrorist organization) in Gaza.
4) Cooperates with Iran.
5) Long history of violence against its own citizens. In 1982 Hafez Asad the father murdered between 17,000 and 40,000 thousands in the Syrian city of Hama to quell a revolt.
6) 6) in the last few days Bashar Asad killed some 150 demonstrators in several Syrian cities.
7) Syria is of no economic interest to the west.
8) Political institutions exist for regime change.

Libya

1) Stopped its nuclear program.
2) Paid compensation to the families of the Lockerby Pan Am 103 victims.
3) No military threat to America and the west.
4) Major petroleum supplier to the west.
5) Rebels are disorganized. Tribal warfare. No political institutions to take over.
6) Strong presence of Al-Qaeda in the country.

Yes, my friends, Kadaffi is a madman, a terrible dictator, a goofball, call him any name you wish, but there are many cruel and crazy dictators around the globe who pose a much more serious threat to the west's interests.

If President Obama's reason (pretext?) for attacking Kadaffi and Libya was to protect the rebels and save lives, why are we not attacking Syria? Iran? Yemen? Congo? North Korea? Etc. etc.

So, when you listen tonight to the President's speech, do not be swept away by his usual spins. We have already listened to several contradictory statements from his administration and himself.

Also, do not listen to NPR's comments with its usual bias in support of whatever the President does.

Al Qaeda Joins Libya Rebels to Fight Qaddafi

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
By Praveen Swami, Nick Squires and Duncan Gardham 5:00PM GMT 25 Mar 2011

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited "around 25" men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are "today are on the front lines in Adjabiya".

Mr al-Hasidi insisted his fighters "are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists," but added that the "members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader".

His revelations came even as Idriss Deby Itno, Chad's president, said al-Qaeda had managed to pillage military arsenals in the Libyan rebel zone and acquired arms, "including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries".

Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against "the foreign invasion" in Afghanistan, before being "captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan". He was later handed over to the US, and then held in Libya before being released in 2008.

US and British government sources said Mr al-Hasidi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which killed dozens of Libyan troops in guerrilla attacks around Derna and Benghazi in 1995 and 1996