Posted on 03/19/2011 3:44:36 PM PDT by SE Mom
From the BBC live blog:
2230: The BBC's Caroline Wyatt says the coalition's hope is that by striking hard and fast now, the forces still loyal to Col Gaddafi will think again - and perhaps so will the colonel himself.
2228: BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt says the NATO base at Naples is understood to be the central command for the military operation. She adds that Britain's air contribution may be controlled by the Joint Force Air Component, deployed to its base at Akrotiri in Cyprus.
2221: The BBC's Alan Little in Tripoli says state media had been preparing the Libyan people for the attacks all day by showing footage of the 2003 Iraq invasion.
2217: An un-named French official tells the AFP news agency that the United Arab Emirates has pledged 24 aircraft to the coalition and Qatar between four and six.
2208: Al-Jazeera has said that Libyan authorities have detained a team of its journalists in western Libya, the AP news agency reports. The four correspondents are said to be British, Tunisian, Mauritanian and Norwegian.
From TWITTER:
benpolitico1 minutes ago Kosovo: 78 days of bombing, then 16 months more before Milosevic is forced out.
allahpundit7 minutes ago RT @DrewMTips: @allahpundit Some guy from Al Araybia just said on MSNBC that Syria would be impressed by US action. I laughed out loud.
BreakingNewsA minute ago United Arab Emirates pledges 24 aircraft to Libya operation, Qatar between 4 and 6 - AFP via BBC
FLASH: Al-Jazeera has said that #Libyan authorities have detained a team of its #journalists in western #Libya, the AP news agency reports. 3 minutes ago via Gravity
aw shucks, I was praying for some target practice from some idiot trying to get there.
“we’re still deployed there”
Very true, but it’s a lame argument to say we shouldn’t strike Gadaffy because we’re “in a two front war already.” There are valid reasons to be against this Libyan involvement but that isn’t among them. By that standard we’re in a third front for having troops remaining in Kuwait, and a fourth for having thousands of servicemen in Germany, and so on.
0bama has also said we won’t be putting troops on the ground in Libya, but that’s another lame argument, since it came from 0bama and is therefore likely to be false.
FWIW, I think Palin and Bolton, among others, are right, and the no-fly zone is a sensible move. However, it would have been a lot more sensible a month ago, and a lot more promising if we had a Republican president.
But that isn’t the hand we were dealt. :(
May be the answer:
9.50pm: The New York Times has significant behind-the-scenes details from the Paris summit, with claims that France’s unilateral decision to strike Libya “angered some of the countries gathered at the summit meeting” – and suggestions that France blocked earlier Nato action.
The implication is that Nicolas Sarkozy wanted the limelight while the Paris summit was under-way.
The New York Times reports:
That news [of French air strikes] came even before the Paris summit meeting adjourned, with President Nicolas Sarkozy announcing that French warplanes had begun reconnaissance missions around Benghazi, and the French military saying that a Rafale jet fighter had destroyed a government tank near there.
Even though the leaders at the Paris summit meeting were united in supporting military action, there were signs of disagreement over how it would proceed.
Two senior Western diplomats said the Paris meeting, which was organized by Mr Sarkozy, may actually have delayed allied operations to stop Colonel Gaddafi’s troops as they were approaching Benghazi. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the matter.
The initial French air sorties, which were not coordinated with other countries, angered some of the countries gathered at the summit meeting, according to a senior Nato-country diplomat. Information about the movement of Gaddafi troops toward Benghazi had been clear on Friday, but France blocked any Nato agreement on airstrikes until the Paris meeting, the diplomat said, suggesting that overflights could have begun Friday night before Mr Gaddafi’s troops reached the city.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/19/libya-no-fly-zone-live-updates
Ah, so its a war of egos. Obama, not to be outdone by the French, launches the next wave of attacks.
Thanks. It just seemed to me the attack was quite uncoordinated, and the Times story bears this out.
Good source for live updates.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/19/libya-no-fly-zone-live-updates
Agreed- and I’m just tired and grumpy:) I’m against this at this point because it’s hastily planned, we have no cohesive strategy and/or plan, we’re fighting on the same side as Al Q and other islamists, we can’t afford it, I don’t trust the president and it sets a precedent for Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi and other endless “freedom fighters” who will rightly cry foul when we DON’T send in western might when they get slaughtered.
I mean really, how much thought and planning went into this when it was decided about 48 hours ago to go into Libya?
LOTS of activity on the live feed I posted earlier... anti-aircraft fire, tracers, explosions in the distance. Something happening now.
OFF TOPIC:
we should all go outside if the weather’s clear and look at the GORGEOUS full moon- “fullest” full moon since 1993!
Somebody needs to tell the guy on Fox right now that what goes up, must come down - he’s insane to be standing outside with that AAA firing.
CNN has live coverage also- all hell breaking loose.
Ok, some people start popping off small arms, and THEN he goes inside.
112 Cruise missiles ....WOW!
Steve Harrigan from FOX in hotel room in Tripoli- he’s turned the lights off in his room and has the camera on ...he sounds nervous- but calm.
Then let Europe be the primary forces involved here. I just don’t buy Obama’s sudden turn around that this is in America’s best interest. It’s in HIS best interest.
Unfortunately I don’t have cable. I’ve found occasional feeds for CNN/Fox but they don’t stay up long.
And as I type this the live cam is down again.
0033: The Reuters news agency is broadcasting live pictures of the skies above the Libyan capital. You can see occasional orange flashes and tracers. A correspondent reports that anti-aircraft guns are being fired, presumably by forces loyal to Col Gaddafi.
0028: A US military spokesman, Vice-Admiral William Gortney, has said the initial air and missile strikes by Western powers were “just the first phase of what will likely be a multiphase military operation designed to enforce the United Nations resolution and the deny the Libyan regime the ability to use force against its own people”. “This is an international military effort urged by the Libyan people themselves and by other Arab nations,” he told a news conference in Washington.
0024: Libyans Revolt tweets: “Family member in #Tripoli: Saw 4 missiles go over his house and strike small base about 4km from main airport - made the whole house shake.”
0022: Sarah Lynch tweets:”Got a call from my translator in #libya.. Said he fled #benghazi and just crossed the egyptian border along with thousands of others”
I would hope the reason it has taken so long to get the UN resolution through is partially the time that was needed for planning.
Guess I am the eternal optimist...
Are they still saying we are not at war??
lol.
112 cruise missiles would seem to indicate that we are.
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