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| West ready to use force against Col Gaddafi | |||||
| 2011-03-01 | |||||
The Prime Minister disclosed that he would not rule out “the use of military assets” as Britain “must not tolerate this regime using military forces against its own people”. Britain and America are also thought to be considering arming rebel forces in Libya. Adding to growing concern about the crumbling regime’s ability to commit last desperate acts of mass murder, British sources have disclosed that Libya still has stocks of mustard gas chemicals. Mr Cameron told MPs that Britain and its allies were considering using fighter jets to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, patrolling and shooting down Libyan aircraft ordered to attack protesters. The Pentagon announced that the Americans had begun “repositioning forces” around Libya to provide “flexibility”.
Despite a promise in 2003 to give up weapons of mass destruction, Gaddafi is thought to have retained as much as 14 tons of the chemicals required to create mustard gas. The stocks are said to be stored in secret secure facilities in the Libyan desert. The chemicals would need to be mixed and loaded into shells before they could be used as weapons, but are “still a concern,” said a senior British government source. “We want to make sure they’re destroyed.”
If the no-fly zone is agreed, experts believe that western governments may launch bombing raids on Gaddafi forces if he continues to attack protesters.
Mustapha Gheriani, a spokesman for an organising committee of lawyers, judges and professionals in Benghazi, the leading city of the revolution, said: “We can’t protect ourselves at the moment from tanks and aircraft, let alone organise a march on Tripoli to topple Gaddafi. “If there are just a few air strikes, his loyalists will leave him and his time will be numbered in hours. Otherwise he could survive for a long time and there could be terrible bloodshed.” Mr Cameron said: “If Col Gaddafi uses military force against his own people, the world cannot stand by. That is why we should be looking at a no-fly zone.” Gen Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defence Staff, has been asked to draw up options for British military operations in Libya. Any British involvement in a no-fly operation could see Tornados and Typhoons flying from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The Libyan air force is equipped with French-built Mirage fighter-bombers, but British planners are more concerned about the regime’s military helicopters, which include Soviet-made Mil Mi-24 gunships.
Another option would be giving weapons and other support to groups inside Libya. Mr Cameron said Gaddafi’s departure was Britain’s “highest priority”, adding: “If helping the opposition would somehow bring that about, it is certainly something we should be considering.” Since the Libyan crisis began, the Coalition has faced repeated criticism over the decision last year to decommission HMS Ark Royal and the Royal Navy’s Harrier jets, leaving Britain without a functioning aircraft carrier. Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, insisted that such criticism was a “red herring” because the base in Cyprus meant Britain could still operate jets over Libya if required. He said: “There has been no need for us to have a carrier, there has been no need for us to use fast jets, but we have the ability to use them if required.” The Pentagon is believed to be considering moving a US aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean to take up a position off Libya. The USS Kearsage, an amphibious assault ship, could also be redeployed. “We’re repositioning forces to provide for flexibility once decisions are made,” said a Pentagon spokesman. | |||||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #11 First off, the Euros should be in the forefront of any major Diplomatic, Military, + Media effort in Libyuh, NOT the US, since North Africa + other Continental regions were once part of their old Empires. Given the well-repor, on-going Euro + Global econ trubles, its also a good opportunity for NATO-EU to test the viability of their new Multi-State "DEFENSE/SECURITY-SHARING" CONCEPT. The above being said, once again IMO iff the US-West/Allies fear the LT covert usurpation by Radical Islam = Iran? of the various "Jasmine" pro-democracy protest agendums, THEN IT IS THEIR INTEREST TO KEEP GADDAFI AROUND AS A "HEDGE" AGZ RADICAL ISLAM + IRAN. Since he unilater gave up Libya's Nucprogs under EX-POTUS DUBYA = GLOBAL WARMING, however imperfect he has been "OUR MAN IN NORTH AFRICA/SAHARA", or one of them. GADDAFI'S LEGACY IS THE MODERNIZATION OF BACKWARD LIBYA - IMO he has a vested interest in ensuring that Radical Islam doesn't rollback the modernist progress Libyuh has enjoyed under his tenure. His character = personal profile is such that even iff he unilater resigned today or tomorrow from holding Political Office, HE WILL LIKELY STILL TRY TO REMAIN AN INDISPENSABLE MAJOR POWERBROKER IN POST-JASMINE LIBYAN + REGIONAL POLITICS. The Man may not like the US or Israel, but IMO he's NOT going to stand for anyone rolling Libya back towards the 19th Century or Middle Ages, MUSLIM OR NOT. THE MAN IS NOT THE COLD WAR, PRO-US-WEST SHAH OF IRAN, BUT HE "COULD BE" FROM NOW ON IFF THE US-WEST/ALLIES PLAY THIER CARDS RIGHT. "JASMINE" + POST-JASMINE", THE US PRIORITY RIGHT NOW IS PRESERVATION OF ME = ARAB-MUSLIM DEMOCRACY, + DETERRING OR PREVENTING COVERT USURPATION BY NUKE-HAPPY, TERROR-HAPPY, ANTI-DEMOCRATIC/PROGRESSIVE RADICAL ISLAM. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-03-01 19:34 |
| #10 arm them that's fine, but no troops or advisors.Let them take care of their own shit so no onn e can say we are sticking our noses in it. This would also be great payback for Lockerbie. |
| Posted by: chris 2011-03-01 18:16 |
| #9 The SAS has been busy 'rescuing British nationals' in the desert lately. They werent just British Steve , but American , French , German and various other nationalities In total , 95 Britons and 270 foreign nationals were airlifted from areas around Libya on Saturday and Sunday The small arms fire that hit the last c-130 was by rebels and theyve apologized , mistaking the plane for Gaddafi goon squad . |
| Posted by: Oscar 2011-03-01 13:28 |
| #8 What's wrong with these people (and the People who elected them)? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-03-01 12:35 |
| #7 Not worth a single service man's life. |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2011-03-01 12:04 |
| #6 Be careful of interfering in someone's civil war least others be encouraged by precedent to interfere in your future civil war. They'll do it if they want to no matter what we do or don't do. |
| Posted by: gorb 2011-03-01 10:03 |
| #5 The leaders in the "West" have all tolerated totalitarian regimes in the middle east because we are dependent upon them for oil. If all of us have reliable oil reserves of our own, we could have taken tougher stances with all of these tin hat dictators. We ignored them for a variety of reasons, mostly because it was inconvenient to deal with them in a substantial way. Secondly, our own internal silliness and self serving politics allowed the nastiness of radical islam to become more pervasive in the region. If we had bombed Iran into the stone age at the first inkling of a nuclear program we would have stopped a lot of this crap. We've been too weak and too self serving with our politics and our foreign policy for too long. The lefties and the prima donnas in the State Department for too long have taken a soft conciliatory tone with these nuts. I say we drill for oil, if not for production, then for negotiating clout. I say we actively work in the shadows to curtail radical islam and I say we actively work in the light to criticize and condemn these potentates and oddballs that rule the middle east. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2011-03-01 10:01 |
| #4 Be careful of interfering in someone's civil war least others be encouraged by precedent to interfere in your future civil war. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-03-01 09:02 |
| #3 You ever see a monkey wave a stick in the air and hoot and bob his head? What part of EUroweenie dont you inderstand? And Obama? Tell me Obama is EVER going to punch anybody in the face. Come here, honey, and bend over. The United States isnt going to spend a dime and isnt going to do anything to Daffy except call him on the phone...maybe. HIS OWN PEOPLE are the ones who are going to have to handle Daffy's guts. They hate him enough. And they know he is in Tripoli and cant run. And what do we really care what the casualties are in Libya? Shed a tear. They are all Moslems. Coca Cola can move in after its all over and we can open a Wal-Mart. Hey, McDonalds is gonna conquer the world and rock and Roll and Rap are already writing the theme songs for the Arabs. Zenga-zenga. |
| Posted by: Dribble2716 2011-03-01 06:02 |
| #2 Mr Cameron said: "If Col Gaddafi uses military force against his own people, the world cannot stand by. And in other news of days gone by: At Phnom Penh, two million inhabitants were evacuated on foot into the countryside at gunpoint. As many as 20000 died along ... Ex-soldiers were killed along with their wives and children .... but of course those poor buggers owned no oil fields. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-03-01 03:06 |
| #1 It is not the only country that is in turmolt. At this point, it is making sure American Citizens are safe in the region as well as that of NATO. Prefer as usual a JDAM to watching our troops get shot at again or watch them have to watch people get wasted outside the no-fly zone. Presence is expensive, but it sure beats a Ferry. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-03-01 00:48 |