Post by wheelspinner on Apr 25, 2011 17:15:44 GMT -5
Please explain to me how this action fits within the UN mandate of establishing a no-fly zone to protect civilians around Benghazi - at the other end of the country from Tripoli.
As for John McCain's talk about winning "the war on the ground", there isn't supposed to BE one.
The USA is, yet again, attacking and deposing a government that was not threatening it. It is an utterly illegal action, taken without any regard to international law. As usual.
We still do not know anything at all about these rebel leaders that you are so mindlessly supporting. At least one of them has demonstrated ties to al Qaeda. Quite probably, the USA is once again backing a dubious group of gun-toters who will turn around and bite them later, just as the mujahadeen did.
Rogue states who are a menace to their people are of course a major concern. Rogue states who also command the largest armed forces in the world and refuse to acknowledge any limits to their use of those forces frankly terrify me. As far as I am concerned, the USA has finally jumped the fence and become a completely rogue state. It is time its citizens did something about it.
Air strike destroys Gaddafi base in Tripoli
Glen Carey, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
April 26, 2011 - 11:45PM
NATO air strikes yesterday levelled a compound used by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli, as a senior US senator said it was time ''to cut the head of the snake off''.
Speaking on CNN television's State of the Union program on Sunday, US senator John McCain, just back from a visit to Benghazi, suggested targeting the regime's broadcasting capability, but when asked about targeting Gaddafi himself, said: ''My emphasis is winning the battle on the ground'', not relying on a ''lucky air strike''.
His fellow Republican Lindsey Graham went further, telling CNN that NATO forces should begin bombing Colonel Gaddafi's ''inner circle''. ''I think the focus should now be to cut the head of the snake off,'' he said.
The attacks destroyed Colonel Gaddafi's office in the Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital. NATO said in a statement that it hit a ''communications headquarters'' in Tripoli, without giving details. Government spokesman Mousa Ibrahim said three people were killed.
Three state television channels went off air immediately afterwards then resumed transmission.
More than two months of fighting between Colonel Gaddafi's forces and rebels seeking to end his 42-year rule has ground to a military stalemate with the government controlling much of the west of the country and the insurgents holding the east.
Misrata, the biggest rebel-held city in the west, has been besieged for more than six weeks and suffers daily shelling.
The conflict in Libya, which has Africa's largest oil reserves, has pushed crude prices to the highest since September 2008. Crude rose 0.4 per cent to $US112.72 in New York, and has gained more than 30 per cent since the war began in mid-February.
Libya's production, which averaged 1.6 million barrels a day last year, shrank to 390,000 barrels a day in March.
Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam said NATO was fighting a ''losing battle'' in Libya because it was ''backed by traitors, agents and spies'', according to the state-run Jana news agency.
Saif al-Islam said that targeting Colonel Gaddafi's office was ''an act of cowardice done at night that can do nothing more than terrify children, and it's impossible that it would frighten us or make us surrender''.
Loyalist forces carried out artillery attacks on Misrata yesterday, countering Libyan government claims that the army was holding its fire into the city. Doctors said 32 people were killed and dozens wounded over two days.
In a hospital in the besieged city, where at least 12 people were reported killed, two captured pro-Gaddafi soldiers said loyalist forces were losing their grip in the battle for the western port.
''Many soldiers want to surrender, but they are afraid of being executed,'' said Lili Mohammed, a Mauritanian hired by the regime to fight insurgents in Misrata.
The NATO-led mission began last month after a United Nations Security Council resolution authorising military action to protect civilians and impose an arms embargo.
NATO said it carried out 62 ''strike sorties'' yesterday, with other targets including ammunition facilities around Tripoli and Misrata.
Senator McCain urged Washington to increase its air strikes, warning a prolonged stalemate would probably draw al-Qaeda into the conflict.
BLOOMBERG, AFP
This story was found at: www.theage.com.au/world/air-strike-destroys-gaddafi-base-in-tripoli-20110425-1du30.html
As for John McCain's talk about winning "the war on the ground", there isn't supposed to BE one.
The USA is, yet again, attacking and deposing a government that was not threatening it. It is an utterly illegal action, taken without any regard to international law. As usual.
We still do not know anything at all about these rebel leaders that you are so mindlessly supporting. At least one of them has demonstrated ties to al Qaeda. Quite probably, the USA is once again backing a dubious group of gun-toters who will turn around and bite them later, just as the mujahadeen did.
Rogue states who are a menace to their people are of course a major concern. Rogue states who also command the largest armed forces in the world and refuse to acknowledge any limits to their use of those forces frankly terrify me. As far as I am concerned, the USA has finally jumped the fence and become a completely rogue state. It is time its citizens did something about it.
Air strike destroys Gaddafi base in Tripoli
Glen Carey, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
April 26, 2011 - 11:45PM
NATO air strikes yesterday levelled a compound used by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli, as a senior US senator said it was time ''to cut the head of the snake off''.
Speaking on CNN television's State of the Union program on Sunday, US senator John McCain, just back from a visit to Benghazi, suggested targeting the regime's broadcasting capability, but when asked about targeting Gaddafi himself, said: ''My emphasis is winning the battle on the ground'', not relying on a ''lucky air strike''.
His fellow Republican Lindsey Graham went further, telling CNN that NATO forces should begin bombing Colonel Gaddafi's ''inner circle''. ''I think the focus should now be to cut the head of the snake off,'' he said.
The attacks destroyed Colonel Gaddafi's office in the Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital. NATO said in a statement that it hit a ''communications headquarters'' in Tripoli, without giving details. Government spokesman Mousa Ibrahim said three people were killed.
Three state television channels went off air immediately afterwards then resumed transmission.
More than two months of fighting between Colonel Gaddafi's forces and rebels seeking to end his 42-year rule has ground to a military stalemate with the government controlling much of the west of the country and the insurgents holding the east.
Misrata, the biggest rebel-held city in the west, has been besieged for more than six weeks and suffers daily shelling.
The conflict in Libya, which has Africa's largest oil reserves, has pushed crude prices to the highest since September 2008. Crude rose 0.4 per cent to $US112.72 in New York, and has gained more than 30 per cent since the war began in mid-February.
Libya's production, which averaged 1.6 million barrels a day last year, shrank to 390,000 barrels a day in March.
Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam said NATO was fighting a ''losing battle'' in Libya because it was ''backed by traitors, agents and spies'', according to the state-run Jana news agency.
Saif al-Islam said that targeting Colonel Gaddafi's office was ''an act of cowardice done at night that can do nothing more than terrify children, and it's impossible that it would frighten us or make us surrender''.
Loyalist forces carried out artillery attacks on Misrata yesterday, countering Libyan government claims that the army was holding its fire into the city. Doctors said 32 people were killed and dozens wounded over two days.
In a hospital in the besieged city, where at least 12 people were reported killed, two captured pro-Gaddafi soldiers said loyalist forces were losing their grip in the battle for the western port.
''Many soldiers want to surrender, but they are afraid of being executed,'' said Lili Mohammed, a Mauritanian hired by the regime to fight insurgents in Misrata.
The NATO-led mission began last month after a United Nations Security Council resolution authorising military action to protect civilians and impose an arms embargo.
NATO said it carried out 62 ''strike sorties'' yesterday, with other targets including ammunition facilities around Tripoli and Misrata.
Senator McCain urged Washington to increase its air strikes, warning a prolonged stalemate would probably draw al-Qaeda into the conflict.
BLOOMBERG, AFP
This story was found at: www.theage.com.au/world/air-strike-destroys-gaddafi-base-in-tripoli-20110425-1du30.html
