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Before NATO invaded Libya, the media were trying to generate hatred for Colonel Gaddafi. One night while sitting in a WiFi cafe, I saw something on the news that got my attention. It was claimed that Gaddafi ordered some of his pilots burned alive after they refused his orders to bomb rebels.

My question is simple: Can you offer any details, particularly the date of the broadcast and the name of the channel or news affiliate that broadcast it?

A similar lie alleging that Iraqi troops removed babies from incubators was circulated before the invasion of Iraq. It is well documented by many sources online. However, a Google search doesn't reveal a single clear source that discusses the story about the Libya pilots who were allegedly burned alive. The story was broadcast on national TV, then fell off the map.

It's possible that this story is buried among the thousands of Google hits you get when typing in general terms like Libya + pilots + "burned alive." However, I've had no luck so far.

Anyway, do you know of any references to this story? If not, do you remember seeing this on the news? If so, would you remember any details, such as the approximate date or channel?

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  • I found no such news stories in any archive. – Tyler Durden Oct 18 '15 at 1:42
  • Yes; that's what makes this question so interesting (for me, at least). It aired on national TV, yet all evidence has seemingly vanished. It looks like the only record might be stored in the memories of people who saw the same broadcast. – David Blomstrom Oct 18 '15 at 2:13
  • @DavidBlomstrom You seem to be suggesting some gigantic conspiracy to put out a propaganda story and then remove all trace of it from the internet. Isn't it more likely that you simply misunderstood or misremembered the news story you heard? For example, in the same way that you've misremembered the allegations about Iraqi soldiers removing babies from incubators. That claim was made after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and was used to justify the 1991 Gulf War, not the invasion of Iraq, which happened in 2003. – David Richerby Oct 18 '15 at 9:10
  • David Richerby - Sorry, I connected the incubator story to the wrong war...which completely nullifies the incubator story, right? No, it really doesn't change the fact that the media broadcast a LIE about Iraqi soldiers taking babies out of incubators. Also, your opening sentence sounds eerily similar to the anti-conspiracy tirades we heard ad nauseum. Yes, there are some truly gigantic conspiracies out there, and news scrubbing aren't even the biggest of them. – David Blomstrom Oct 18 '15 at 15:09
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    On second thought, I did NOT cite the wrong war. The "Gulf War" was literally an INVASION OF IRAQ. We've invaded Iraq two or three or maybe three dozen times, depending on how you define "invade." – David Blomstrom Oct 18 '15 at 15:22
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Here is a blog post analyzing something close to the incident you describe which contains links to many articles, blogs, videos and reports on the subject. For example...

Five charred bodies were found Monday in military barracks in Benghazi, the second-largest city in Libya and a stronghold of anti-Gaddafi protesters. According to one of our Observers, the bodies were those of soldiers savagely massacred for refusing orders to fire against Libyan civilians protesting in the African nation.

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  • Interesting, though it appears to describe a different incident; it discusses "soldiers," not pilots. – David Blomstrom Oct 18 '15 at 3:23
  • @DavidBlomstrom - Perhaps you are conflating that Libya story with the story of the Jordanian pilot captured by ISIS-- ISIS released a video of them burning him alive. – antlersoft May 9 '17 at 15:18
  • Wow, I forgot all about this thread. I checked Schwern's answer as correct because it has the same general theme, and it's an (alleged) incident I didn't even know about. However, I'd still like to find details specific to what I mentioned in my post. I'll ask the question on some pro-Gaddafi websites and see if I can find anything. At the very least, I'd like to know the name of the news channel. – David Blomstrom May 10 '17 at 1:42
  • @DavidBlomstrom There are pro-Gaddafi websites?! Wait, I don't want to know. – Schwern May 10 '17 at 2:00
  • @ Schwern - Are you really that out of touch? – David Blomstrom May 11 '17 at 12:25

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