The USA is rapidly missing the opportunity to take constructive action in Libya.
A little background. One of the unheralded successes of the Invasion of Iraq was the defacto surrender of Libya a few weeks after the invasion. Realising they could be next, Khaddaffy cut a surrender deal with the USA. They would stop their terrorism, they would stop invading neighbors like Chad, They would behave themselves, they would surrender all their WMD programs and come clean on their reserch into such areas. In return, Libya would be monitored but allowed to return to the community of civilized nations and we would not move in and clap Khaddafy in irons.
Well, over time, Khaddafy has reneged. He has gone forth and tried to assassinate the King of Suadi Arabia twice, and now his justice minister has publicly stated that Khaddafy had personally ordered the bombing of Pan Am 103.
These are more than sufficient reasons to take military action against him.
Now, realistically, the Libyan military is fairly well equipped but a rather crappy force. Training, maintenance, supplies, and espirit de corps are all lacking. There were thousands of mercenaries from Africa and Eastern Europe who have formed the bulk of the capablity of the Libyan Armed Forces.
The USA does not have to invade to get what it wants (or should want). Air Strikes from carriers or bases in Italy or Cyprus would be more than sufficient to do the job. Target the Libyan Command and Control operations, Khaddafy and his sons in particular, and any concentration of offensive military equipment. Target any Libyan Naval vessel. And announce this policy. The mercenaries who maintain and run the aircraft, the advanced equipment, the missile sites, the communications systems, will decide to leave rather than stay get blown apart.
The workable equipment and the command and control ability are the major assets the government forces have to stop the ongoing rebellion. If the USA and the West do nothing, then the odds are that Khaddafy will win. And that will be a very bad thing on many levels.
If we used airstrikes, we would be risking a very limited number of Americans, and the losses to US aircraft would number ten or less, most likely. It would degrade the Libyan Government's ability to counter the rebells, and we would be fully justified to conducted military action against Libya because of the Libyan Governments acts of watr (terrrorism) against eh USA and our Allies.
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Topic: Libya (Read 490 times)