Libyan rebels in Benghazi celebrate UN's historic no-fly zone vote

[Yarn]

Earlier, French aircraft began strikes against Libyan government forces, and the Pentagon said some 112 cruise missiles from U.S. and British ships and submarines hit 20 Libyan surface to air missile and communication sites.

Admiral William Gortney is director of the U.S. military's joint staff: "Our mission right now is to shape the battle space in such a way that our partners may take the lead in execution. As the president has said, we are not going to use force to go beyond a well-defined goal, specifically the protection of civilians in Libya," he said.

Obama: Coalition Military Strikes Answer Libyan People's Calls | News | English

The US is clearing away Libya's anti-aircraft defenses so that the allies can operate in Libya's western airspace with impunity. The French airstrikes earlier took place around Benghazi in the East, an area that was relatively safe for allied planes to operate in because Gaddafi lacks firm control of it. With the destruction of the airdefenses in the West, which is not necessarily completed yet, allies could operate safely in the airspace of the government-controlled half of the country and attack targets in that area.

It is imperative that logistics be set up with the rebels so that they can call in the airstrikes. Without direction from the ground, it is very difficult to identify appropiate targets from the air unless they are out in the open and look a lot different from the air than any potential rebels or civllians. In a city in particular, targets will be difficult to identify and the potential for collateral damage high. Both of these mean rebels on the ground should be calling the shots.

Sperm:

I've been talking about NGOs like NED funding dissident groups throughout the ME for over 10 years. I actually read things like the US Army Manuals on Counter Insurgency which explains verbatim exactly what is going on.

This is counter-insurgency. This is the most modern anti-gorilla fighting techniques at our disposal, and we'll continue using it throughout the ME.

Gaddaffi is a government, not an insurgency. The insurgency against Gaddaffi is what we are supporting, so we are doing the exact opposite of counter-insurgency.

rmnunez:

No troops will be deployed on the ground, none will be needed. Khaddafy's forces will stop any aggressive action immediately, they'll retreat to Tripoli and hunker down around Khaddafy fearful of his reprisals on their families he is holding hostage. Lower ranks will defect and then one of his top officers will go put the Colonel down like the dog he is.

Gaddafi's troops are pinned down. Going back to Tripoli would mean traveling through vast expanses of desert on which they would be extremely vulnerable to attack from above. It makes a lot more sense for them to hunker down in the closest settlements they can get to and use the local populaces as human shields. And this is, in fact, what they are desperately trying to do at the moment.

It may yet be necessary to use ground troops. We need to get Gaddafi's troops out of the Benghazi area in order to be able to arm a rebel army capable of taking the West. If the rebels, with the help of airstrikes, can dispel Gaddafi's forces from Benghazi then ground troops shouldn't be necessary. If Gaddafi's troops take Banghazi, then troops will be needed, and they will have to come from a country willing to defy international law and accept some casualties. I am not sure the alliance has such a country within it.

[Yarn]

In total, more than 20 designated Libyan targets were struck. Batteries of Libyan surface-to-air missiles were destroyed. The military communication network, crucial to Gaddafi's ability to maintain the momentum of his offensive, was severely disrupted. The Pentagon dubbed the offensive Operation Odyssey Dawn, confirming that the intention of the bombardment was to open up airspace for a second wave of strikes by ground-attack aircraft.

The battle to save the Libyan revolution, authorised by the UN security council resolution on Thursday night, has begun. State of the art 21st-century weaponry is being pitted against tanks, guns and missiles from the cold war era. Knocking out Gaddafi's command structure and jamming his military communication networks is likely to happen quickly. Libya's air defence system is considered antiquated, comparable to the Soviet systems that international forces faced during the Gulf war of 1991, and the Balkans conflict.

In fact, much of Gaddafi's weapons stock is Soviet-era with his air force thought to include up to 80 operational aircraft based around the MiG-23, which was phased out of Russian service 17 years ago. Ground forces rely on Soviet-era weaponry including T-72 tanks that entered production 40 years ago...

Ahead of the operation, a formidable array of firepower was positioned around Libya. In terms of airpower alone, hundreds of jet fighters were placed within easy reach of the North African state. The squadrons included F-16s, used on bombing missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with the G4 Tornado ground attack aircraft which forged its reputation attacking Iraqi military sites and runways with smart bombs during the Gulf war.

Most of the jet fighters are stationed in southern Italy. The vast US base at Gaeta is less than 600 miles from Benghazi. Six Danish F-16s landed at the base in Sigonella, Sicily, and will be ready for operations on Sunday. France has deployed around 100 warplanes, mainly Rafale and Mirage 2000 jets. Its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will head toward the Libyan coast . Six Canadian CF-18 fighter jets have arrived in Italy.

Operation Odyssey Dawn commences to end Gaddafi onslaught on Benghazi | World news | guardian.co.uk

So, the US has blown up communications systems as well. With hundreds of jet fighters in place, we have more than enough to enforce a no-fly zone. And the British have mentioned putting spotters on the ground to direct airstrikes against Gaddafi's forces in the city. We are also focused on destroying their supply lines.

It's too bad. If we had gotten this going before they reached Benghazi, we could've wiped them out before they even got close.

[Ghumanto]

- what if Iran sends some military to Bahrain to save the civilians from ruthless oppression by the King?

War ( legal war in the court or military war in the field ) only benefits the 3rd party. The US will be the ultimate gainer, not France and neither UK.

[Sperm]

Its "guerrilla", the Spanish diminutive for "guerra" (war), small wars are guerrillas.

Its a counterinsurgency for Khaddafy, for "NED" it would be an insurgency plain and simple (unless those plutocrats were on Khaddafy's side).

Of course, just a typo. And I'm pretty sure its Gaddafi. Counter-insurgency is about PREEMPTIVE strikes. Instead of allowing an autonomous country to support, fund, defend, protect, hide or interact with terrorists counter-insurgent safety measures to control the opposition are put into place.

[Sperm]

This situation is somewhat different from the Iraq war.

I was also unaware that there was going to be a ground presence. Is it not just air strikes?

I will only feel bad for Libyan civilian casualties and any NATO pilots that are shot down. As far as I'm concerned the people now following Gaddhafi's orders are getting what they deserve if they're killed in battle.

Replacing the despot we previously supported in an oil rich country is very similar to Iraq, though you're right about the ground troops. Only anonymous WMD drops.

[el ايمان]

Of course, just a typo. And I'm pretty sure its Gaddafi. Counter-insurgency is about PREEMPTIVE strikes. Instead of allowing an autonomous country to support, fund, defend, protect, hide or interact with terrorists counter-insurgent safety measures to control the opposition are put into place.

It's Qaddafi. The Qaaf in Arabic is pronounced deeper in the throat so if you're a native Indo-European speaker and can't do it, the "G" sound is similar enough to get away with [Spaniards got "Gato" from "قط"{Qitun}]. Some news reporters pronounce it like the Kaaf["K"] though, and I haven't heard the Kho["Kh"] like in Chanukkah yet but apparantly some people are using it.

I'm tempted to believe America is intervening to be humanitarian, and not because of oil. Only because I like Obama.

[Sperm]

Oh...cause I am certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is about geopolitical control and globalism only because I actually grasp politics. I understand what it takes to move the mighty fingers of US president, and it isn't compassion!

Or in other words, some people are doomed to repeat history while I try and learn from it.

[rmnunez]

Chavez thinks its about oil too:

Gaddafi's Latin American allies - most prominent among them Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president - have lined up to condemn the military strikes. The presidents of Bolivia and Nicuragua, Evo Morales and Daniel Ortega, joined him in denouncing the attacks as being aimed at getting hold of Libya's oil. Fidel Castro, ex-president and father of Cuba's revolution, also chimed in, saying the attacks represent western capitalist excess doing its worst.

Chávez had this to say:

More death, more war. They are the masters of war. What irresponsibility. And behind that is the hand of the United States and its European allies. They want to seize Libya's oil. The lives of Libya's people don't matter to them at all. It is deplorable that once again the warmongering policy of the yankee empire and its allies is being imposed, and it is deplorable that the United Nations lends itself to supporting war, infringing on its fundamental principles instead of urgently forming a commission to go to Libya.

[Sperm]

Now we know it is a globalist operation if the globalist funded "bad guy" posse is attacking it! Anytime Chavez or any media-darling slash boogie-man are on your side, you know its a psyop!

[rmnunez]

That's a strange world you live in where things are the way they seem because someone is trying to conceal the way they are, lucky we've got some 'insighful' ones out there who can tell us how things really are.

[Sperm]

It is a common tactic seen everywhere. Someone like Louis Farrakhan suddenly throws you support and now you're an anti-Semite. Saul Alinsky invented the tactic of getting neo-nazi groups to show up in support of Republicans to make people associate Republicans with racists.

[kancer kid]

That's a Nobel Peace Prize winner for yah...