Speaking in Chile on Monday, President Obama promised that the US command over the Western attack on Libya would be transferred in a “matter of days.” Exactly whom he intends to transfer it to, however, is unclear.
So far, the whole “coalition” that President Obama is referring to seems to begin and end with Britain and France. Qatar is expected to join in soon, in some very limited fashion, but the Arab League has already condemned the bombings. Norway is also planning to deploy a handful of planes.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is calling for NATO to take over, but many of NATO’s member nations aren’t even involved in this war, and member nations like Germany and Turkey seem to want nothing to do with the conflict. France has also expressed concern that NATO’s control would damage Arab public opinion over the war.
The problem of who exactly is supposed to be in charge is compounded by myriad disagreements over what the goal is supposed to be. The Obama Administration was quite eager to jump into this war after the UN vote, but it seems there was almost no consideration of what would happen after it started.
Libya gained Independence on 1951 and lost it on 2011. The only one to blame are the Libyans. They never were able to get along to each other, and were not able to create and rule a nation. Now they will learn how to work very hard and get a little …. but before this would happen, they will kill each other in a bloody civil war …
"The only one to blame are the Libyans. "
Not the French, British and Americans? We just HAD to get invloved? Absolutely unthinkable to mind our own business?
What a ridiculous venture this is shaping up to be.
Even with Ghadafi’s air force out of action, he still has a convincing advantage when it comes to tanks, heavy guns, ammunition, communications and training.
The no-fly zone has saved Benghazi and the rest of Cyrenica, but the west is still firmly in Ghadafi’s hands and shall likely remain so. The rebels are simply too disorganized and untrained to take the rest of Libya and western enclaves around Misrata are isolated and low on weapons.
The only hope for the US “victory” here is for the Libyan military to collapse or stage a coup, and I have my doubts about that happening.
We simply underestimated this “mad dog” Ghadafi. One does not rule a tribal society for 42 years by being an idiot. Rest assured, Ghadafi does have some degree of honest support among Libyans; how much exactly we cannot say, but certainly enough to drag this thing out for weeks, perhaps months.
All Ghadafi has to do is hang on and the UN will eventually back off because it will have to, especially if civilian casualties rise.
The "Dogs "are now fighting over the spoils.
No one wants to seem to be leading the murderous charge against a hapless Nation but they will all want a share of the OIL when they over run the Country.
These people are the lowest kind of terrorists led by US , Britain and France.
They will not prosper and this misadventure will come back to bite them in the arse.
It would have to be Sarkozy. This could be his moment of false glory. He sees himself as a modern day Napoleon ready to cut a victorious swathe through North Africa bringing new prestige to himself and France honing his military strategy skills on the Libyan people. Unfortunately the only similarities he has to Napoleon is he wasn't born in France, his height challenged stature, his rather large ego and his own Josephine.
Judging by the other people in the coalition it makes him eminently qualified.
I suppose the only things that Sarkozy and Napoleon share is the height. As usual, there is no war the westerners don't like. The problem is what to do once they are in.
What are the chances they wont find anyone to pawn this off on? Then what? I tell ya what, I'll hop into my time machine and go grab a FOX headline from the very near future…
"Lacking a reliable partner, the United States finds itself once again as the lone beacon of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Troop deployments expected to begin soon"
" Due to the changing situation on the ground in Libya, President Obama has decided that in order to save the integrity of Libya it must first be destroyed, then rebuilt from the ground up. Libyan civilians are urged to seek shelter as the B-52's will soon be overhead; the bombing begins in five minutes. "
Split the country into East and West (i.e., Cyrenaica and Libya) and let Gadhafi keep Libya and give the rebels Cyrenaica. Offer Cyrenaica some sweet deals on arms and domestic rebuilding services and make nice with them in return for their keeping the oil flowing. Offer Gadhafi some sweet deals on the very same things for the very same returns.
Problem solved: Gadhafi stays in power legally, rebels get a brand-new independent nation to build, and the US and friends get the oil we were after in the first place.