Libya, Will Gaddafi prevail?

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by tw

US has been so severely depleted with unnecessary wars that the US should not supply fighter aircraft for (what will be) their only remaining aircraft carrier.

Fixed it.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Brianna

Fixed it.

Your editting makes no sense. The UK is down to its last aircraft carrier. And may need even French fighter pilots and planes to arm it.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by tw

Your editting makes no sense.

Your entire life makes no sense. And 99.9% of your posts.


So there.

Nyah.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Brianna

Your entire life makes no sense. And 99.9% of your posts.

These are topics for adults. You should not be reading what is too advanced for you.

[tw]

From the Washington Post of 20 Mar 2011:

Arab League condemns broad bombing campaign in Libya
The Arab League secretary general, Amr Moussa, deplored the broad scope of the U.S.-European bombing campaign in Libya on Sunday and said he would call a new league meeting to reconsider Arab approval of the Western military intervention.

Moussa said the Arab League's approval of a no-fly zone on March 12 was based on a desire to prevent Moammar Gaddafi’s air force from attacking civilians and was not designed to embrace the intense bombing and missile attacks—including on Tripoli, the capital, and on Libyan ground forces—that have filled Arab television screens for the last two days.

"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone,” he said in a statement on the official Middle East News Agency. "And what we want is the protection of civilians and not the shelling of more civilians."

As noted previously, interesting will be how that UN resolution is interpreted. In part, because some Arab governments may view it as also justifying attacks on their nation. And may make future necessary interventions impossible.

Also is a question of where was the Arab league when it came to being a responsible neighbor? Again, these concepts are extremely new. The world is so far away from learning about responsibility, ethics, respect for citizens, the purpose of government, etc. Good thing mankind is maybe 100 years from spreading to other planets. This world is still dominated by barbaric thinking. Basic social and ethical concepts are so new and so little understood throughout the world. The galaxy does not need contamination by Neanderthal and Cro-magan barbarians.

But so far only the Western-oriented Gulf emirate of Qatar has announced it would participate despite Western efforts to enlist Arab military forces into the campaign.

Maybe we did not let things get bad enough. Maybe there have not yet been enough massacres so that other nations finally learn what they and most of the world has not yet learned. Responsibility, social ethics, and the purpose of government. These concepts did not even widely exist in the US 70 years ago.

[Trilby]

Kisses, tw! you make my day -as always!

[smoothmoniker]

I'm appalled by the cowardice of the Arab League. After asking for Western intervention to declare and defend a no-fly zone, they are now condemning the military action need to enforce it.

Did they think that KGQuiddaffi's air defenses would be gently removed with unicorn kisses and rainbow sprinkles?

[tw]

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

I'm appalled by the cowardice of the Arab League. After asking for Western intervention to declare and defend a no-fly zone, they are now condemning the military action need to enforce it.

Apparently what they heard is not what they were told. The UN resolution was worded to permit interpretation. Attacks were implemented without support for Arab nations. So many were invited to participate and rejected the invitation. Could not make a decision fast enough.

Appreciate Sarkozy's position. Benghazi would have been conquered in days had the French not pushed for action. Tobruk also probably conquered. The Arab league did not care. Sarkozy did not have enough time to rally Arab support.

Ironically, it was Kaddafi's own words (threatening a massacre) that may have gotten the UN resolution approved. But that did not give Arab nations enough time to appreciate a problem.

[classicman]

I wonder if the attack on Gaddafi’s compound was nothing more than a near miss.
I find it far too convenient that an administrative building gets bombed within Gaddafi's compound when journalists repeatedly report that location has no "command control capabilities." Additionally, the responses from the allied side seem less than genuine. Some telling quotes:

neither Gadhafi nor his residence were intended targets of the bombing late Sunday.

A coalition military official

then another from the US Commander:

"We are not targeting his residence."

U.S. Vice Adm. Bill Gortney

While the US denied targeting Gaddafi, whose whereabouts were unknown yesterday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague refused to rule it out, saying it depended on "circumstances at the time".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@smooth - Thats what they have done for ages - they speak from both sides of their mouths. They never actually say anything definitive. They have always played both sides. Thats why they cannot be trusted.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by classicman

I find it far too convenient that an administrative building gets bombed within Gaddafi's compound when journalists repeatedly report that location has no "command control capabilities."

From what it seems, the quickest way to end this conflict is just to put a bullet in Gaddafi's head. The military hierarchy is very unstable, by design, so there is a good chance everything will fall apart if Gaddafi is taken out. But, publicly acknowledging this would send out a shit storm that Obama, and the US military in general, really doesn't want right now. The response he is getting from both sides right now is ridiculous.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

From what it seems, the quickest way to end this conflict is just to put a bullet in Gaddafi's head. The military hierarchy is very unstable, by design, so there is a good chance everything will fall apart if Gaddafi is taken out. But, publicly acknowledging this would send out a shit storm that Obama, and the US military in general, really doesn't want right now. The response he is getting from both sides right now is ridiculous.

No government is going to agree to kill a leader that still has nominal control of their country! Talk about opening the floodgates. Oh, bye Obama! Bang-bang, now you're just like JFK. Oh sorry David (actually too dull to assassinate).

You do not set up a mandate for assassination, no matter how psychotic they are.

And if "we" killed Gaddafi, wouldn't we then be responsible for the mess left behind? This is a dictator who has personally acted as Libya's government for FORTY TWO YEARS. The world was a very different place in 1969, and Gaddafi has hardly been interested in sharing progress in infrastructure and development with his country. Oh sorry, I mean outside of his own family.

About the only thing Libyan society is replete with is spies and censorship. Do we really want to be captain of this ship? The choice for the next leader of Libya has to come from the Libyans, once they have overthrown him. And yes, it's going to be messy. We aided the Mudjahadeen in getting the Russians out of Afghanistan. And left the door open for the Taliban. Let's try not to get too involved this time.

[tw]

Originally Posted by classicman

I wonder if the attack on Gaddafi’s compound was nothing more than a near miss.

American military spokesmen were very quick to state that Kaddafi was not a target.

Most interesting is the building that was hit. Visitors wait there before meeting Kaddafi. Sound strangely like a message to Kaddafi and anyone who might meet with him.

[smoothmoniker]

TW - it's hard to see their reversal as more than political pandering to their own populace. They want Kadafi gone, but they also know there is political capital to be gained at home by being "anti-western".

The courageous act would be to stand up and say "The arab world and the west hold the value of human life in common, and we act together to protect that value. This is a model of cooperation to be respected" even if there is a political cost to that action.

[infinite monkey]

I know! Let's get SADDAM! Mission accomplished!

[smoothmoniker]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

I know! Let's get SADDAM! Mission accomplished!

Troll.