Posted on 04/06/2011 3:16:03 PM PDT by tobyhill
Angry charges by Libyan rebels that NATO has failed to come to their aid point up a question that has haunted the Western air campaign from the start: how to avoid a stalemate and defeat the Libyan leader without putting foreign troops on the ground.
NATO officials and the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, rejected the opposition criticism on Wednesday, saying that bad weather and evolving tactics by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi were limiting the air war, which is supposed to be protecting Libyan civilians and driving the colonel’s troops to retreat to their barracks. In recent days, Qaddafi forces have stepped up their shelling of Misurata, in the west, and pushed rebels back from some eastern oil towns.
The rebels, of course, are a largely untrained, disorganized fighting force. But the nature of the battle has also changed since the United Nations resolution, which authorized “all necessary measures” to protect civilians.
In the early stages of the air campaign, allied warplanes blistered Qaddafi tanks, artillery and transport trucks in the desert outside the rebel capital of Benghazi. But American intelligence reports from Libya say that the Qaddafi forces are now hiding their troops and weaponry among urban populations and traveling in pickup trucks and SUVs rather than military vehicles, making them extremely difficult targets.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So if the “rebels” start shooting at us will we switch sides?
Daffi got camel blood running through his veins.
Interesting showdown - zero with unlimited resources vs. Qaddafi with more brains. My money is on brains.
“I see the light at the end of the tunnel”
Walt Rostow
LBJ’s National Security Advisor
December, 1967
We should, they where the #2 provider of unlawful foreign combatants in Iraq.
Daffy with more brains? ? ? ? Oh wait, the comparison is to 0bama, OK I get it.
This is why islamist Turkey wanted NATO to take over, so they could hinder the operation, and it’s also why Imam Obam gave them what they wanted.
Nice move Britain, France and Obama.
That is your Oil England andFrance too bad.
I guess they will switch sides now.
When you’ve got the New York Times offering war strategy you know you’re in trouble.
"I think that countries which like France stood very quickly by our side will enjoy the advantages," he said.
That damned dictator won’t stand still and cooperate while we blow him up.
As long as they don’t use mopeds. The Libyan 69th Moped Brigade is known worldwide for their precision riding demonstrations.
That image is pure Sheenious! Thanks for the laugh.
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