Globalist-fueled Socialist Revolution in Libya

World Intervenes in Libya, with Unusual Speed

March 19, 2011

AP - In diplomatic terms, international military action against Libya's leader went from the brainstorming stage to the shooting-at-tanks stage with stunning speed.

Saturday's launch of U.S., British and French airstrikes with Arab backing and U.N. mandate was not universally endorsed. And it's unclear whether it will be fast enough to do what its proponents want, to shore up rebel forces and oust Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi.

But the cascade of quick, weighty decisions getting there was unusual — just one of the unusual things about this dramatic operation.

It has the backing of the Arab League, which has balked at other interventions in the Arab world and is known more for lengthy deliberations than action.

And it was initiated by the French, who famously opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

It was French President Nicolas Sarkozy who announced that 22 participants in an emergency summit in Paris on Saturday had agreed to launch armed action against Gadhafi's military. And a French fighter jet reported the first strike Saturday afternoon, against a Libyan military vehicle in or near Benghazi, the heart of the uprising against the longtime leader, before over a hundred cruise missiles fired from U.S and British ships slammed into this north African nation.

The action in Libya came after the international community was slow to respond to swelling protests in Tunisia and then Egypt in January and February that toppled longtime autocrats and sparked uprisings around the Arab world.

Leaders and diplomats dawdled less when Libya's Gadhafi started shooting at protesters.

On Feb. 26, the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Gadhafi's regime after just about two days of discussion, and as rebel forces gained ground against the Libyan military.

On March 10, France recognized the opposition Interim Governing Council as the "legitimate representatives of the Libyan people." The next day, the 27-nation European Union offered the opposition similar support.

Support in Arab countries mounted for a no-fly zone. Some members wanted to make sure there was no full-blown Western invasion, and hoped endorsing a no-fly zone would give them more leverage with the West on military plans.

With Gadhafi's forces showing signs of a resurgency, the 22-member Arab League called March 12 for the U.N.'s Security Council to impose a no-fly zone.

That was a crucial moment, especially for the United States. Without Arab support, any intervention would have risked being seen as a Western occupation.

France and Britain pushed for a new, stronger U.N. resolution. Washington, initially reluctant, said even a no-fly zone wouldn't be enough, paving the way for authorization of a draft calling for "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.

That resolution won U.N. adoption Thursday, March 17.

On Friday, the U.S., France and Britain sent Gadhafi a letter telling him a cease-fire must begin immediately, or risk the consequences.

On Saturday morning, Gadhafi's forces defied their own cease-fire, aiming new strikes on Benghazi.

Western warplanes and warships amassed around the Mediterranean, from Canada, Britain, Denmark, the United States.

Sarkozy hastily gathered 22 high-powered guests for a lunch summit Saturday: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, and top officials from around Europe and Arab countries.

After lunch, Sarkozy announced that the political leaders had agreed to launch military action. French planes, he said, were already in the air.

Ninety minutes later, French military officials reported their first strike.

This was all very different from past protracted, divisive U.N. debates over military intervention. In 2002-2003, France especially was vehemently opposed to action in Iraq, and Britain was forced to withdraw a U.N. resolution authorizing force against Saddam Hussein. The United States then organized a coalition without U.N. approval.

On Saturday, the U.N. chief hailed the Paris summit on Libya as a success.

It's "never too late" to undertake an operation like this, Ban said. "Arab countries, Europeans, Americans — they were all in one voice," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said,

"We have every reason to fear that left unchecked, Gadhafi will commit unspeakable atrocities."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said after the summit:

"We have to make it stop. ... The time for action has come, it needs to be urgent."

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, also in Paris, said,

Gadhafi's claim of a cease-fire "was an obvious lie from the beginning."

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), an umbrella organization representing 57 Muslim nations, called on member states to help implement the U.N. resolution and to establish contacts with the Libyan opposition.

But several countries remain cautious or openly critical about the risky operation.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it noted the launch of operations "with regret," and noted that the U.N. resolution authorizing them was "hastily approved."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has longstanding ties to Gadhafi, said the U.S. and its allies simply want to "seize Libya's oil" and that the United Nations has "infringed on its fundamental principles."

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said she backed the operation but added, "

We will not participate with our own soldiers."

Cyprus, in the Mediterranean northeast of Libya, said it didn't want to get involved.

NATO is divided over whether it should take a leading role or just provide support to air forces already engaged in the mission.

In Brussels, NATO's top decision-making body appeared poised to decide on Sunday "if and how the alliance will join" the effort, said Martin Povejsil, the Czech Republic's envoy to NATO.

While Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are taking part, according to French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, it's unclear whether bigger Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia could join in.

Sarkozy acknowledged the risks of the operation, and insisted it did not amount to an international occupation force.

"There is still time for Col. Gadhafi to avoid the worst by complying without delay and without reservations to all the demands of the international community. The door of diplomacy will reopen at the moment when the aggressions cease," Sarkozy said.

Canada's Harper acknowledged that the diplomatic push will result in bloodshed.

"We should not kid ourselves," he told reporters in Paris. "One cannot promise perfection, or that there will not be casualties on our side."

But he added, "We're dealing with a regime that will not be satisfied with the reimposition of its authority. ... They will massacre every single individual they remotely suspect of disloyalty."

First Wave of Allied Assault: 112 Cruise Missiles

March 19, 2011

AP – U.S. and British ships and submarines launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses Saturday and a senior American defense official said it was believed substantial damage was inflicted.

In the strikes, 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force.

While U.S. defense officials cautioned that it was too early to fully gauge the impact of the onslaught, the official said that given the precision targeting of the Navy's cruise missiles, they felt that Libya's air defenses suffered a good deal of damage.

The official spoke on grounds of anonymity because the ongoing mission.

In announcing the mission during a visit to Brazil, President Barack Obama said he was reluctant to resort to force but was convinced it was necessary to save the lives of civilians. He reiterated that he would not send American ground troops to Libya.

"We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy," he said in Brasilia.

While U.S. defense officials said it was too early to gauge the impact of the onslaught, one senior official said that given the precision targeting of the Navy's cruise missiles, they believe Libya's air defenses suffered a good deal of damage.

It was clear the U.S. intended to limit its role in the Libya intervention, focusing first on disabling or otherwise silencing Libyan air defenses, and then leaving it to European and perhaps Arab countries to enforce a no-fly zone over the North African nation.

Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters the cruise missile assault was the "leading edge" of a coalition campaign dubbed Operation Odyssey Dawn. Its aim: prevent Moammar Gadhafi's forces from inflicting more violence on civilians -- particularly in and around the rebel stronghold of Benghazi -- and degrading the Libyan military's ability to contest a no-fly zone...

Obama Endorses Military Action to Stop Gadhafi

March 18, 2011

AP - After weeks of hesitation and divisions among his advisers, President Barack Obama on Friday endorsed military action against Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, saying U.S. values and credibility are at stake to stop "the potential for mass murder" of innocents.

The U.S. military, which is already stretched thin by two wars and an expanding effort to assist disaster victims in Japan, would take a supporting role, Obama said, with European and Arab partners in the lead. He explicitly ruled out sending American ground forces into the North African nation.

A wide range of U.S. firepower stood ready, including Navy ships and submarines capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles with high-explosive warheads that could destroy air defense sites and other potential targets in the earliest stages of any allied military action.

In solemn remarks at the White House, Obama never used the word "war," but that is what U.S. forces could face if Gadhafi refuses to comply with United Nations demands. It is widely anticipated that a first step in imposing a no-fly zone over Libya — a tactic aimed at keeping Gadhafi's planes from attacking — would be assaults on the country's coastal air defenses.

Obama offered a string of reasons for committing to military action.

"Left unchecked, we have every reason to believe that Gadhafi would commit atrocities against his people," he said. "Many thousands could die. A humanitarian crisis would ensue. The entire region could be destabilized, endangering many of our allies and partners. The calls of the Libyan people for help would go unanswered. The democratic values that we stand for would be overrun."

That marked a major shift from the public caution expressed until recent days by Obama's top national security advisers, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen. All had said that a no-fly zone or other military action would be a difficult undertaking tantamount to war, or that it could have unintended consequences.

European leaders have been keen to show support for the Libyan rebels, but the United States had hung back until this week.

The administration was divided for weeks over how to address the situation in Libya, which differed from other Arab revolts when it moved from a political uprising to an armed insurrection against a strongman.

Military leaders were most cautious, arguing that a rush to show solidarity with the rebels might be shortsighted. Clinton and some other top diplomats were in the middle, with some White House advisers and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice apparently most ready to back the use of force.

In remarks to Congress earlier this month, Gates spoke skeptically of the wisdom of military intervention in Libya. He argued that because imposition of a no-fly zone would require attacks first on Libyan air defenses, the operation would be tantamount to going to war.

The Gates view seemed to resonate in the administration until the Arab League last weekend called for U.S. authorization of a no-fly zone. At that point the prevailing U.S. sentiment seemed to shift in favor of pressing for a U.N. Security Council resolution and subsequently giving Gadhafi an ultimatum.

Obama said he was dispatching Clinton to Paris for a meeting Saturday to discuss with British, French and other partner countries the next steps in Libya. The president said he directed Gates to coordinate military planning, which has been in the works for weeks while the administration pondered the ramifications of getting involved militarily while also fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The president made no reference to a Libya's declaration of an immediate cease-fire on Friday — a statement that a rebel spokesman said was fiction.

Instead, Obama listed a series of demands for Gadhafi, including the halting of all attacks against civilians, a stop to military action against the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi and other cities and permission for international humanitarian supplies to reach civilians displaced by the violence.

"Let me be clear, these terms are not negotiable," he said.

The president was equally clear that the U.S. would not act alone.

"American leadership is essential, but that does not mean acting alone -- it means shaping the conditions for the international community to act together," he said.

Even more explicitly: "We will provide the unique capabilities that we can bring to bear to stop the violence against civilians, including enabling our European allies and Arab partners to effectively enforce a no-fly zone." He seemed to verbally underline the word "enabling," to emphasize the U.S. support role.

Analysts say Libya's air force and air defense systems, while not negligible, are decrepit by Western standards and unlikely to stand up to assault.

Defense analysts said Libya's military has been weakened by years of neglect, armed with outdated aircraft and weapons, and directed by a radar and communications system that may have limited capabilities.

They cautioned, however, that it is difficult to give an exact assessment of Libya's military abilities, particularly in the wake of the recent uprising that saw some troops defecting and taking their weapons and aircraft with them.

An assessment prepared by the Congressional Research Service this week said greater worries could come after a no-fly-zone was in effect and the U.S. and its allies had to deal with a heavily armed populace in disarray.

"The apparent proliferation of small arms, man-portable air defense missile systems, and some heavy weaponry among fighters on both sides also is leading some outside counterterrorism and arms trafficking experts to express concern about the conflict's longer term implications for regional security," the new report said.

The uprising against Gadhafi is only one of many struggles being played out in the region as long-time autocratic regimes come under pressure. Protests in Tunisia and Egypt have led to the ouster of long-time rulers, and there have been demonstrations in Yemen, Jordan and Bahrain. Protests erupted in at least three parts of Syria during the day Friday, according to state television and other source

Before his public announcement that U.S. forces would join in military action against Libya, Obama met at the White House with congressional leaders of both parties to discuss his thinking.

"The U.S. military will be playing a supportive role in this action. We will not have troops on the ground; instead we are providing strategic support where we have unique capabilities to the Arab and European nations that are taking the lead," said Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

He took part in the Obama session by telephone.

Speaking earlier, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he believes Obama has authority to commit U.S. forces to participate in imposing a no-fly zone without congressional approval, but he expressed hope that Congress would bless the move.

If the U.S. military is ordered to establish a no-fly zone, a wide variety of high-tech weapons and aircraft would be sent from bases in Europe and the United States to shut down or disrupt Libya's Soviet-era air defense systems and its communications networks, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told Congress Thursday.

He said it would take about a week to establish the no-fly zone. If such a mission is ordered, he said, he expected the supersonic F-22 Raptor — a jet fighter yet to be used in combat — to play a prominent role in the initial wave. With its stealth design, the F-22 can evade radar and has advanced engines that allow it to fly at faster-than-sound speeds without using gas-guzzling afterburners.

Other fighters, such as the F-15 and F-16, would also be used, as would bombers, airlifters, refueling tankers and highly specialized aircraft such as the RC-135 Rivet Joint and the EC-130H Compass Call. The Rivet Joint is loaded with sophisticated intelligence gathering gear that allows the U.S. to spy on the enemy from the air. The Compass Call is an electronic warfare plane that disrupts an adversary's communications.