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| Obama Sends Armed Drones to Help NATO in Libya War |
| 2011-04-21 |
| President Obama has authorized the use of armed Predator drones to attack Libya government forces fighting the rebellion against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi as NATO struggles to regain momentum since taking command of the operation from the United States. The deployment of armed Predators, announced Thursday by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, was in part a reaction to changing tactics by the Qaddafi forces, which are intermingling with civilian populations and mounting attacks from unmarked trucks and other vehicles, making them difficult to identify and attack by high-flying NATO fighters and bombers. The Predator remotely piloted aircraft, outfitted with Hellfire missiles, has been used with effectiveness against pinpoint targets in urban and rural areas in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Yemen and is a signature weapon of the American military. But the challenges of the Libyan intervention were apparent again Thursday, when the Predators were sent aloft on their first missions but turned back due to bad weather. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 An armed Predator doesn't add much in the way of close air support. An MQ-1 can only carry two Hellfires although it can designate targets for other aircraft. If Obama wanted to add firepower, he would have sent MQ-9 Reapers instead. |
| Posted by: rwv 2011-04-21 23:09 |
| #2 I believe there is a large intell operation selecting targets in Pak/Ghan. No such operation exists for Libya, and this smacks of desperation by the US administration, as NATO/UK/France simply can't carry the operations load and they have to do something. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2011-04-21 20:56 |
| #1 Go ahead Mr. President, in addition to the Preds, let the American people know you have men on the ground with the rebel forces. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-04-21 20:30 |