"US, European forces strike Libya; Onslaught of missiles hits air defense targets; mission seeks halt to attacks on rebels" by Steven Erlanger and David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times / March 20, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya — American and European forces began a broad campaign of strikes against the government of Moammar Khadhafy yesterday, unleashing warplanes and missiles in a military intervention on a scale not seen in the Arab world since the Iraq War.
And on the eight anniversary of that war crime.
Just another mind-f*** from the masters.
Pentagon and NATO officials detailed a mission designed to impose a United Nations-sanctioned no-fly zone and keep Khadafy from using airpower against beleaguered rebel forces in the east. While the overall effort was portrayed as mostly being led by France and Britain, the Pentagon said American forces dominated an effort to knock out Libya’s air-defense systems.
Vice Admiral William Gortney said about 110 Tomahawk missiles, fired from American warships and submarines and one British submarine, struck 20 air-defense targets around Tripoli, the capital, and the western city of Misrata. He said the strikes were against longer-range air defense missiles as well as early warning radar sites and main command-and-control communication centers....
For the record, readers, I OPPOSE firing off missiles under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!
The AmeriKan government has DONE ENOUGH of that, and it HASN'T DONE a DAMN BIT of GOOD except get MORE PEOPLE KILLED (unle$$ you want to count war-profiteer profit$).
President Obama, speaking during a visit to Brazil, reiterated promises that no American ground forces would be used....
So when does that promise get broken?
Tomorrow, or has it been already?
They also issue kisses with rewrites and reedits through their mouthpiece media (those kisses are for us, readers; don't you feel special?).
There are risks. One widely held concern is the possibility of a divided Libya with no clear authority, opening the door for Islamic extremists to begin operating in a country that had been closed to them.
Oh, so Khadafy was friend in the whole "terrorist" charade, huh?
I'm SO TIRED of this WAR DRIVEL!!
The international effort, called Operation Odyssey Dawn, may also present a double standard: While the West has taken punitive action against Libya, a relatively isolated Arab state, the governments in Bahrain and Yemen have faced few penalties after cracking down on their own protest movements....
Yeah, well, WHATEVER SERVES the NEO-CON PLAN and ISRAEL'S DEMANDS!
The missile strikes were the start of what Gortney called a “multiphase operation’’ to create a no-fly zone that would allow coalition aircraft to fly over Libya without the risk of being shot down. He would not say whether American aircraft would be involved in the no-fly zone, but he said that no American aircraft were directly over Libya yesterday afternoon.
Gortney cast the United States as the “leading edge’’ among coalition partners in the opening phase of attacks on Libya. But in keeping with Obama’s and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s emphasis that the administration was not driving the efforts to strike Libya, he and other Pentagon officials repeated that the United States would step back within days and hand command of the coalition to one of its European allies.
The United States has at least 11 warships stationed near the coast of Tripoli, including three ballistic missile submarines — the Scranton, the Florida and the Providence — and two destroyers, the Stout and Barry. All five fired cruise missiles, the Navy said.
But Iran squeezes a few supply ships through the Suez and there was a big hubbub.
Other coalition ships in the Mediterranean included 11 from Italy and one each from Britain, Canada, and France....
Then I hit the Globe's wall, so....
--more--"
What we missed:
"What would you do if you found Al-Qaeda controlling American cities with the power of weapons? What would you do, so I can follow your example."
They kind of already do.
"We are doing it to protect the civilian population from the murderous madness of a regime that in killing its own people has lost all legitimacy."
Tell it to Israel, bub!
"Allied mission in Libya has two-prong goal; Effectiveness of strike to be determined" by Robert Burns, Associated Press / March 20, 2011
WASHINGTON — The allied assault on Libyan air defenses has two goals: preventing further attacks by Libyan forces on rebels and other civilians, and degrading the Libyan military’s ability to contest a no-fly zone, Pentagon officials said yesterday....
Welcome to the world of Saddam Hussein, Moammar.
American naval vessels fired more than 100 cruise missiles from the sea yesterday, while French fighter jets targeted Khadafy’s forces from the air.
The US military said 20 sites were hit as the missile strikes targeted air defense installations on or near the Mediterranean coastline, many in the western half of the country that is Khadafy’s stronghold.
The French were focusing on the rebel-held east....
The US military has extensive recent experience in such combat missions; US Air Force and Navy aircraft repeatedly attacked Iraq’s air defenses during the 1990s while enforcing a no-fly zone over Iraq’s Kurdish north.
Cruise missiles are the weapon of first choice in such campaigns; they do not put pilots at risk, and they use navigational technologies that provide precision....
The United States has at least 11 naval vessels in the Mediterranean, including three submarines, two destroyers (USS Barry and USS Stout), two amphibious warfare ships (the USS Kearsarge and USS Ponce), and the USS Mount Whitney, a command-and-control vessel that is the flagship of the Navy’s Sixth Fleet. Also in the area are Navy P-3 and EP-3 surveillance aircraft, officials said.
I hope the TAX BILL is WORTH IT, Americans.
Navy Vice Admiral William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, said it would take as long as 12 hours to assess the effectiveness of yesterday’s strikes.
Like we are going to believe anything they say.
Then a high-altitude Global Hawk unmanned surveillance plane would overfly the target areas to get a more precise view, the admiral said.
Some speculate that is what crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11; however, that is a matter for another time.
He would not say how long the attacks on Libyan air defenses would last, but he stressed that the missile assault was the first phase of a multistage mission.
Italy offered the use of seven air and navy bases already used by US, NATO, and Italian forces....
Warplanes from Canada, Denmark, and Spain arrived at Italian air bases yesterday....
Yup, everybody has warplanes -- but you citizens better give up those pensions and health plans because of budget crises.
--more--"
The US military has extensive recent experience in such combat missions; US Air Force and Navy aircraft repeatedly attacked Iraq’s air defenses during the 1990s while enforcing a no-fly zone over Iraq’s Kurdish north.
Cruise missiles are the weapon of first choice in such campaigns; they do not put pilots at risk, and they use navigational technologies that provide precision....
The United States has at least 11 naval vessels in the Mediterranean, including three submarines, two destroyers (USS Barry and USS Stout), two amphibious warfare ships (the USS Kearsarge and USS Ponce), and the USS Mount Whitney, a command-and-control vessel that is the flagship of the Navy’s Sixth Fleet. Also in the area are Navy P-3 and EP-3 surveillance aircraft, officials said.
I hope the TAX BILL is WORTH IT, Americans.
Navy Vice Admiral William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, said it would take as long as 12 hours to assess the effectiveness of yesterday’s strikes.
Like we are going to believe anything they say.
Then a high-altitude Global Hawk unmanned surveillance plane would overfly the target areas to get a more precise view, the admiral said.
Some speculate that is what crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11; however, that is a matter for another time.
He would not say how long the attacks on Libyan air defenses would last, but he stressed that the missile assault was the first phase of a multistage mission.
Italy offered the use of seven air and navy bases already used by US, NATO, and Italian forces....
Warplanes from Canada, Denmark, and Spain arrived at Italian air bases yesterday....
Yup, everybody has warplanes -- but you citizens better give up those pensions and health plans because of budget crises.
--more--"
