That dude looks like a walking bazaar. And has the facial expression of one too.
"Sahib! I have many good ammunition for you! You buy, yes? Only the finest shells, freshly picked!"
I lol'd. "I go through many minefields to get this. I lose 4, no, 5 children! I give you good deal though." The blunderbuss pistol thing is what got me though. Pretty sure a musket ball against infantry armor at rifle range will be good for nothing.
This should also kinda put the kibosh on those rumors that these guys are all secretly al-Qaeda operatives. al-Qaeda knows how to build and use guns.
I was thinking that too. Taliban gunsmiths actually hand machine replacement parts for salvaged American weapons. They're gutting Soviet era weaponry, which must be....what, almost 20 to 30 years old?
Foolish, yes. Hopeless? Most likely. But considering their alternatives, you have to respect that they're fighting any way they can. And that AA platform looked mighty functional to me.
It's a rebellion of the desperate and the foolish, while all the army defectors who know what they're doing kick back in Benghazi and wait for somebody to win.
I take a slightly more glass-half-full view. The defectors know Gadahfi's capabilities. They're also aware of the rebel capabilities. And we all know the international hesitancy about taking the kid gloves off. Sure, his relatives have already died to missile strikes, but Gadahfi is already effectively in hiding. Without intelligence on the ground, this thing could go on forever waiting for the magic drone strike. Up until now they've been hitting government and military installations, the things you can see from a satellite. Gadahfi is most likely hiding in a fortified safe house, if he was smart. He watches the news, he's seen how the international community hunts for Taliban and Al Qaeda leadership. Without direct intelligence pointing to his safehouse, a drone strike seems pretty unlikely.
So I take the stance the defectors think they can actually win this on the side of the rebels if Gadafhi's forces are sufficiently demoralized and depleted. Better to be commanding the army that eventually storms Gadahfi's final stronghold and declare victory than trying to shout above everyone else for leadership when news breaks he was blown to pieces.