Can we get Gadaffi to leave Syria by promising to him that he'll get to stay at Charlie Sheen's house and be supplied with all the p*rn stars and coke that he wants? Berlusconi can join them, too, and we can make it a reality show. Many bunga bunga parties, no?
not really surprising, I guess http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/breaking-iran-has-several-military-bases-in-libya/ --- In an interview today on the Al Arabyia news network, an informed source within the Revolutionary Guards Corps revealed that Iran has several military bases in Libya. The source, who requested anonymity due to his sensitive position within the Guards, elaborated further that the Iranian military bases are located mostly along Libya’s borders with the African countries of Chad and Niger. From there, he said, the Guards actively smuggle arms and supply logistical assistance to rebellious groups in the African countries. According to this source, Guards enter Libya under the guise of oil company employees. Most of these companies are under the control of the Revolutionary Guards. The source, who is a colonel in the Guards, added that Gaddafi and his government are quite aware of these activities and have even signed joint contracts with those Iranian oil companies so that the the Guards can enter Libya without any trouble. The colonel stated that with the current unrest in Libya, over 500 Guards have been unable to evacuate and are under orders to destroy all documents. According to this source, the military collaborations between the Revolutionary Guards and the Gaddafi government date back to 2006. It is important to note that Nigerian officials recently confiscated an Iranian arms shipment destined for Gambia. The weapons included mortars, rockets, and shells for anti-aircraft guns and were hidden in containers marked building materials. Nigerian officials have accused a suspected member of the Guards and a Nigerian of illegally importing arms and have set the trial for later this year.
Who gives a whoop. At this point in time, given the lack of action by everyone else while Gaddafi murders people, avoiding Islamism has dropped to the bottom of the priority list.
Seriously. NATO needs to get off its ass and put up a no fly zone ASAP. This is getting out of control.
I didn't understand why they haven't done this. But it seems to be very difficult to actually enforce. When you try to enforce a no-fly zone, it's basically the start of an all-out war with the Gaddafi regime already, because he won't respect it. Then you have to take out their air defense because otherwise you cannot patrol the no-fly zone.
This makes sense. I'm still not sure why that would stop them from doing it already. I would think that NATO is prepared to respond far more swiftly in this kind of emergency. Roughly 2 people per hour being murdered by Gaddafi, and it's been more than a few weeks now.
good advice for the ditherer-in-chief [rquoter]NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO QUIT SCREWING AROUND POSTED BY GRIM • [MARCH 08, 2011] Now that Gadhafi has had time to organize his mercenary forces and bring them to bear against the rebels, the rebels will begin to come under significant pressure. This would be an excellent time to put birds in the air to support them. Not a "no fly zone." That's too timid, and it's too resource intensive: there's no reason to try to control all the airspace all the time. You only want to find, fix, and finish his armor and air assets. That and air drop supplies on the rebels -- along with PSYOP/MISO leaflets declaring our friendship and support of their quest for freedom, along with a clear statement that we will support them from the air but not by invading. Robert Fisk reported last week that Obama was trying to swing a secret arms deal through Saudi Arabia. I'm not sure how much to trust a report by Mr. Fisk, in any event; but if that's the thinking at the White House, they're missing the boat. Half the reason to support the rebels is to get rid of Gadhafi. The other half (and perhaps the 'bigger half') is to establish a positive relationship with the successor state. The point at which they come under heavy fire is the point at which their hearts and minds are most amenable to being won by the sight of American warbirds coming to their aid. Let their march to victory then be lit by the fires from Gadhafi's tanks. They will remember this. We almost switched our national language to French because of their aid at the hour of our revolution. If they had not shortly afterward descended into the chaos of the Reign of Terror, we might have remained close. Unfortunately, our head appears to be elsewhere. The State Department believes that supplying any arms to the Libyan opposition to support its struggle against Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi would be illegal at the current time. "It's very simple. In the U.N. Security Council resolution passed on Libya, there is an arms embargo that affects Libya, which means it's a violation for any country to provide arms to anyone in Libya," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Monday. Uh-huh. If it's too hard for you folks to overcome your 'international law' principles here, take heart. Technically, it's no violation of this embargo to provide Gadhafi with bombs by dropping them on his tanks. And water? Food? Medical supplies? Leaflets? Those can go to the rebels without violating any embargo. This is an opportunity that comes along but rarely. Seize it. I know you didn't want it: but previous administrations did; and future ones will curse you, or thank you, based on what you make of it now that it is here.[/rquoter]
Wow, I actually kinda agree. When I was informed a no-fly zone would require attacking anti-air installations, I sobered up a bit. But, with what's happened since then, I'm more amenable to bombing the crap out of them. You have to worry about the collateral damage, but if you're targeting military assets like tanks, planes, airstrips, etc (and not people), it can't get too bad, can it?
correct- and people were pushing this idea a week ago, before a lot more Libyans died. one carrier could destroy the entire libyan airforce in 15 minutes, and if you can't get a carrier there, there's always aviano, easy flight to libya.
Stop being reasonable. The nutcases don't want to hear that. It's all about piling on Obama because they hate him.
It's dead simple, right? Just take out Gaddafi's army and then roll out the Mission Accomplished sign. What could go wrong? It's now 8 years after the MA speech, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of Americans have been killed since then. Do you honestly not understand why everyone, including the Arab states and the Libyans themselves, wants to be very cautious with foreign intervention in Libya? Basso and his friends want to rape Libya, just like they wanted to rape Iraq. If you recall he even said that the US should move into Haiti after the earthquake, "because we can". That mentality wants to turn these countries into client states, and to exploit their resources, but I really don't understand your reasons for wanting foreign intervention in Libya, at least not without a whole lot of careful consideration.
Disgusting post. 1) Slanderous demonization of the political opponent, , pretending that the opponent has bad intentions. None of basso's posts say what you claim he wants to do. 2) "I really don't understand your reasons for wanting foreign intervention" - yeah, a brutal dictator murdering his own population by firing at peaceful demonstrators from airplanes..."I really don't understand your reasons" - right.
How ironic, the Clutchfans Nazi calling someone else disgusting. Obviously nothing you say has any credibility anymore, but let me just take a moment to say how utterly repugnant and cowardly I find you to be. At least you've turned out to be an education. As a child learning about Nazi Germany I used to wonder how educated people could think like that, and how they could become so obsessed with purely bigoted beliefs, but you have shown us now, and you've warned us that the Nazi spirit is still alive and well in Germany.