Confidential NATO Report Admits ‘Flaws’ in Libyan Air War

NATO Struggled to Identify Targets

While officially NATO continues to maintain that the war in Libya was an overwhelming success, a “confidential” report conceded that there were major flaws in the air campaign and that the other allies were over-reliant on the US for support.

NATO has come under considerable fire for its refusal to investigate any of the civilian killings in the Libyan air war, having originally officially insisted that they didn’t happen and then just expressing “regret.”

The new report centers on operational failures, saying that in many cases the warplanes struggled mightily to identify actual targets on the ground, and failed to intercept large portions of the electronic communication in the country.

Officials familiar with the report said that it could make the case for a NATO war on Syria more difficult, as the nation will be an even bigger challenge, with better air defenses that would take “weeks” to destroy.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.