Harleyman Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 This may be the stated aim but it does seem that the no fly zone forces are engaged in clearing a route through Gadaffi's forces to allow a rebel advance. Unfortunately there once again seems to be a military intervention without any political planning. The rebels won't accept anything that doesn't involve the removal of Gadaffi; Gadaffi is hanging on to power with all his might and the UN/NATO are in the middle trying to police an un-policable situation. The rebels have already run into trouble trying to capture the town of Sirte which is Gadaffi country. They were driven out yesterday by armed civilians loyal to him. This whole operation might just become a giant boondoggle and a huge embarrassment for the NATO allies as it seems to increasingly look like a stalemate is about to set in and Ghadaffi determined to remain What it would really take to topple Ghadaffi is the intervention of NATO ground troops which is not in the cards and would be highly unpopular in the US also. Looks like our leaders have painted themselves into a corner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 The rebels have already run into trouble trying to capture the town of Sirte which is Gadaffi country. They were driven out yesterday by armed civilians loyal to him. ... When Gaddhaffi's forces attack a town, then under the terms of the UN resolution, NATO Forces bomb them to protect the civilians. If the armed rebels (who must surely be considered to be an 'army' - albeit non-uniformed and not very well-trained) attack a town, then is NATO going to bomb the rebels under the terms of the same UN resolution? Or is only one group of civilians entitled to protection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 When Gaddhaffi's forces attack a town, then under the terms of the UN resolution, NATO Forces bomb them to protect the civilians. If the armed rebels (who must surely be considered to be an 'army' - albeit non-uniformed and not very well-trained) attack a town, then is NATO going to bomb the rebels under the terms of the same UN resolution? Or is only one group of civilians entitled to protection? That's the whole muddled aspect of thie operation. Ghadaffi has many supporters among the civilians. We're not hearing of any anti-Ghadaffi riots in Tripoli are we? I dont think the man is going anywhere in the foreseeable future. Imposing embargos on him wont do much good either because the Russians and the Chinese wont go along with it and even if he cant sell oil to Europe under any future embargo he could sell it just a little cheaper to China and India who would be more than happy to buy up all he has and trade with him into the bargain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mafya Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Just been on the news that the foreign office have received reports of the rebels trying to sell oil to Qatar, which isn't allowed according to the sanctions in place against Libya. The rebels havn't toppled Gaddaffi and already they are trying to sell oil, what does that say about what kind of people these western backed rebels are? I think the hate for Gaddaffi is blinding the coalition who may end up backing the wrong horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Just been on the news that the foreign office have received reports of the rebels trying to sell oil to Qatar, which isn't allowed according to the sanctions in place against Libya. The rebels havn't toppled Gaddaffi and already they are trying to sell oil, what does that say about what kind of people these western backed rebels are? I think the hate for Gaddaffi is blinding the coalition who may end up backing the wrong horse. We shouldn't have backed any horse. The whole operation should have been left to neighboring Arab countries. They have the militray hardware and the troops to deal with it themselves. All that we have done is get involved in war with yet another Muslim country Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mafya Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Just been on the bbc news that the nato chief has said that there are elements of Al Qaeda within the rebels in Libya. Gets interesting everyday. Link here= http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/03/29/libya.opposition.analysis/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vResistance Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Just been on the bbc news that the nato chief has said that there are elements of Al Qaeda within the rebels in Libya. Gets interesting everyday. Link here= http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/03/29/libya.opposition.analysis/ As just about everybody in the middle east has previously been linked to Al Qaeda it comes as no surprise. And who are Al Qaeda ? "BBC’s killer documentary called “The Power of Nightmares“ ( ) "Top CIA officials openly admit, Al-qaeda is a total and complete fabrication, never having existed at any time. The Bush administration needed a reason that complied with the Laws so they could go after “the bad guy of their choice” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Just been on the news that the foreign office have received reports of the rebels trying to sell oil to Qatar, which isn't allowed according to the sanctions in place against Libya. The rebels havn't toppled Gaddaffi and already they are trying to sell oil, what does that say about what kind of people these western backed rebels are? That they understand where Ghaddaffi is getting his resources from, to buy weapons and mercenaries with? That they understand -finally - that they're better off going after all the oil wells, gas wells and infrastructure in the South, than going West after Sirte and Tripoli (and let the coalition maintain the status quo in the North in the meantime)? Get to control the tap, turn it off, and let Ghaddaffi haemorrage what little unseized $ he still has, until he's bust...and out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evildrneil Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Apparently uncle Obama has not ruled out arming the rebels. So we may have effectively support from the air plus supplying weapons and there is no regime on the political map. Hmmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharrowman Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 It is impossible to tell how much support the rebels (or the provisional transitional council for Libya) have in Libya. Their chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil was Gadaffi's Justice Minister, though he has previously commented on humanitarian issues in Libya criticising Gadaffi, he only chose to resign on 21st Feb this year. "So we have decided who we will deal with when talking to the rebels. A far cry from deciding who are the "new libyan leaders". " The process of identifying rebel leaders does not go all the way to identifying any future libyan leader but it does suggest between whom negotiations will take place to make this decision. This intervention is clouded by strange double standards, incoherent management and a total lack of strategy. I think that seeing dollar signs, NATO leapt into action, using humanitarianism as a very useful marketing strategy. It was assumed that a show of strength would be all it took to topple Muamar and the air strikes began. Profits for missile manufacturers. Destroying Libyan infrastructure promises large civil engineering contracts there in the future including huge deals for France and Italy who have been involved in building water pipelines there for some time. In 2007 BP invested in it's single largest ever commitment to oil exploration in the country, with new leadership new deals can be negotiated. This was an opportunity to good to miss in the shock doctrine capitalism of our new corporate commandos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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