Drumbeats of War - Libyan Ship Drifts Off Of Gaza
Here are the clear facts…
1. On Wednesday morning, Israel local time, the Amalthea, renamed the Hope by the activists aboard, breached what Israel calls the ‘closed military zone’ that extends seaward from the Gaza Strip.
We know that because the Israeli navy told the Amalthea that it had done so.
When initially declared on December 28, 2008, the zone extended unevenly from 1 to 2 miles from the Gaza shoreline. It has expanded exponentially since then. Now, apparently, it extends 80 miles or perhaps 100 miles.
2. But they have not actually broken the Gaza blockade, because they have not landed in Gaza.
Or anywhere else, as yet.
3. Now the Amalthea is drifting in the vastness of the ‘closed military zone’, in company with several Israeli Naval ships.
4. The Cuban captain of the Libyan ship told the Israeli navy that he was having engine troubles. He doesn’t know when they might be repaired.
5. He had earlier in the day requested and received permission to dock at the Egyptian port of El Arish.
6. The Israelis say they will not under any circumstances allow the Amalthea to proceed to a port in Gaza. They keep sending the Amalthea that warning over the radio.
7. The US has warned Libya not to allow the ship to try to land in Gaza.
Now for the foggy facts…
1. The reason given for the Amalthea’s inability to make headway is patently unbelievable. Engine trouble? How about radio trouble? Isn’t that on about the same level of movie script dialog? Who would fall for that? Who would think anyone would fall for that?
Seif al-Islam Qaddafi would. Founder of this bizarre event and owner of the Amalthea, he has pulled such stunts before and gotten away with it. He is the one who got the Pan Am Flight 103 terrorist out of jail with a scheme straight out of ‘Mission Impossible’ (see link).
But wait. The Executive Director of the Quaddafi Foundation, Seif’s spokesperson for this bizarre event, says the reason the Amalthea is moving slowly is “because of the Israeli warships that (are) trailing it”.
On the other hand, could the real reason the ship isn’t moving very fast is… they don’t want to move very fast right now? Possibly because they have some sort of tricky move in mind?
2. The Amalthea is going to Egypt. The Amalthea is going to Gaza. Take your pick. World media is about evenly divided.
An Israeli official reportedly, but by no means surely, said it best. “It’s far from clear that there is agreement about where the ship is headed”… and he was talking about possible differences between the crew of the ship and the activists on board as to whether they are want to move toward Egypt or Gaza.
The Quaddafi Foundation Director doesn’t know either. He told media there was “no co-ordination at the moment with the ship and we do not know where its final destination is.” He said that “communications with the boat had been jammed”. Ah. There’s the ‘radio trouble’ gambit. Amazing! What nerve!
But come to think of it, the Israelis are known to have such jamming equipment. Are they using it? Or are the Libyans conveniently using the possibility of Israeli jamming as an excuse for not communicating when that suits their purposes?
I think there is one foggy fact that is pretty much for sure. We are seeing the shadow of Seif Qaddafi obscuring his intentions until the last moment.
My hope is that he does not bring down the whole house of cards if he does try to pull a rabbit out of his hat.
