The man that shot WPC Evonne Fletcher during the Libyan embassy siege in London in 1984 has been caught and is being held by rebels. Maybe we'll get him back, MI6 must have agents over there by now.
CENTCOM U.S. Central Command NATO takes over command of #Libya no-fly zone, Arab partners join in, too --> http://bbc.in/eXz5v3
The CIA, Mossad and MI-5 will have had (and still will have) agents in the field. Further, agents will be reporting back on BDA (battle damage assesment) and on targets of oppartunity. They will be contacted before some strikes to reveal the liklihood of civillian casualties on various targets, and the USAF will often ask for a "go-code" before the mission ia authenticated. Planes have been arriving back at base, weapons intact, due to the absence of a go-code, meaning it's too risky. The avoidence of civvie casualties has been and will remain a top priority given the terms of the mandate. A big civillian death-toll would seriously damage the arab support within the coalition. My reading of the campaign so far is that things are as well as had been expected, if not better, and civvie casualties are minimal dispite the unproven claims of the Libyan authorities. The Americans have been yearning to pass command to NATO, and my information is that a Canadian general is to spearhead NATOs' involvement. I think the French and British will continue to smash up his land army, whilst the US takes watch overhead. It has to be said though, that the American J-Stars and AWACS will continue to co-ordinate strikes on the ground as they are best positioned and best suited for the role. It remains to be seen if the west provides logistical and material support to the rebels as this would go beyond resolution 1973. However, there is nothing to say a country can't unilaterally ally themselves to the rebels and give them the weapons and supplies, transport and intelligence they will need to take the fight to Gaddafi in a meaningful way.
Well, a week of war and today things still look pretty desperate. Pictures I've found of coalition aircraft destroying Gaddafis' armour and military facilities.. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...3/RAF-launches-attacks-on-Gaddafi-armour.html Also, an interactive guide courtesy of the Telegraph.. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...nteractive-graphic-of-coalitions-attacks.html And more destruction for fans of TV warfare... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...81/RAF-Tornado-jet-destroys-Libyan-tanks.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ian-CF-18-jet-bombs-Libyan-weapons-depot.html Absolutely terrible scenes as pro-Gaddafi forces shell a block of flats...WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE: Even I found this to be upsetting even though I'm no stranger to death and destruction. I was wondering whether to post it at all, but then decided that it was important to know what the enemy was doing.. Don't watch it if you've got kids.. http://on.fb.me/f2Q007 Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Taken in Misrata today. This English language report almost defys belief.. A maternity hospital on the front line.. http://bit.ly/fTD2YA Reports are that Misrata is besieged, No communications and being pounded by long & short range artillery ~ Rebel radio Voice of America reports Quatar jets enforcing no-fly-zone.. http://goo.gl/fb/1TvJ3 And a very deep and interesting analysis of the middle-eastern "situation" by the Wall St. Journal.. http://goo.gl/fb/jLiFu
Hey, America is letting others take control but is it stooping its warfare with its planes, NO! The news tells us that America is not in charge but never says what the American military is doing , why is that? Trying to cover up the military role in the ground bombing of tanks, trucks and other military personnel? I thought this was a NO FLY ZONE mission and only aircraft and radar was to be destroyed, talk about mission creep! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
The truth is that resolution 1973 is much more than just a no-fly-zone. I have it here, I've read it. It calls for the protection of Libyan civillians by "all necessary measures." If that includes bombing tanks and arty, so be it. It's all there, in black and white. No cover-up required. *Read post 83, "paragraph 4" is the actual text..
I've found a fantastic, detailed, in-depth Q & A look at the legalities of the war in Libya. The presentation by Human Rights Watch is probably the best examination of the rules of war that I've seen so far for the Libyan theatre of operations. If you have any queries about the articles of war governing Libya, this is the place to go. I'm sure it will answer many, many questions. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/25/q-laws-war-issues-libya
Libya war should have been a secret deal among US, Great Britain and France. Libya's oil interest has been sold to head countries of the NATO to exchange their support of Iran war. That's why France is so active to bomb Libya. War on Iran needs justification - a 911 alike terror attack. Britain and France would allow such false flag "terror attack" taking place in their territory. The attack possibly would be a dirty bomb attack. Watch for the coming “terror attack” on Eiffle Tower,although in the name of “Islamic extremists”, actually will be from the puppets of western intelligence.
This is a serious thread about real events. There's no point inventing conspiracies, there aren't any. If you're going to make such claims, I suggest you provide some evidence. Meanwhile, the rebels are making advances after Gaddafis' armour was blown to bits. He continues to attack Benghazi, but has yet to push home the attack as rebels and allied bombing takes its toll. Opposition forces were able to take the town of Ajdabiya after an onslaufge by coalition aircraft knocked out tanks and arty, and forced remaining pro-Gaddafi forces to withdraw. The rebels were able to claim the town with hardly a shot being fired. Snipers may have been infiltrated into the town as they have in Benghazi. Many of these trun out to be foreign mercenries. Overnight, French fighter aircraft destroyed five Libyan air force jets and two helicopters. on the ground at a base in Misrata. I have been recieving intel suggesting that A10 "tankbusters" are on thier way to Libya. These were nicknamed the "Warthog" due to being rather an ugly 'plane, but there is little better for destroying armour. Thier gun alone is so big, the plane was built around it. It's a vulcan 30mm, firing 3,900 rounds per minute. Thats nearly 70 a second, and will destroy just about anything. With that and thier AGM-65 missile systems and titanium armour, pilots love these ugly beasts. There are shortages of fuel in Tripoli as another refinery falls to the rebels. Gaddafis' forces in tripoli have been having to use civillian supplies according to a Libyan rebel organisation. They also report "Gaddafi is also feeding the mercenaries from food stores in Tripoli and destroying them to blame coalition strikes & sway pub opinion." The capture of the oil refineries by the rebels opens up a revenue gateway through which it may be possible for them to purchace the weapons, ammunition and supplies they so desperately need. Gaddafi will no doubt be counting the cost of this reversal of fortune. "Libyan govt officials seem shocked at rebel advance. Army losses NOT shown on state TV" ~ CNN's Nic Robertson via Twitter. He also reported on the case of a woman raped by Gaddafi soldiers. EmanAlObeidi was then abducted after speaking out to foreign journalists. Protesters have been demanding her release. Nic said, "Eman al-Obeidi is her name. Govt spksmn said she "sane & well." When dragging her off, they said "mentally disturbed" & taking to "hospital." It is a credit to the journalists that her disappearence is a matter of public knowledge now, making it harder for the regime to kill her.
My impression (from half the world away) is that the Qaddafi forces were kind of sheltering in Ajdabiya's built-up urban environment, after having had their butt kicked on the open road between Ajdabiya and Benghazi a week earlier. Then suddenly, the coalition planes hit them very effectively on the streets there inside town. So once again, I'm suspecting that somebody put special forces in there. It looks like somebody was present locating targets and then designating them for precision guided ordinance to strike. Given the coalition political leaders' (not least Obama's) stout pledges of 'no boots on the ground', I can see why the allied militaries might want to remain very quiet about that. The British SAS is famous for its ability to insert people behind enemy lines to perform those functions. The US army obviously has similar units and the USAF actually has its own special ground forces that are almost never publicly mentioned, set up to perform this 'forward air controller' role. No doubt the French have similar capabilities. Along with the Galeb that had just landed there a day or two ago. Apparently Qaddafi's air force had some air operation in mind, but it's hard to imagine what. Did they intend to attack the rebels in Misrata from the air? Did they hope to fly the planes out of Misrata to some safer location? Given the allied activity over Misrata, they should have just laid low. That would mean the Americans, since I don't think that any other counties fly those ugly (and strangely beautiful) planes. And if true, it's highly significant -- the A-10s are close-support attack planes, not jet fighters that one would expect to enforce a no-fly-zone. So if the Americans are moving them in, that would be evidence that the US isn't plannng to back away from the air strikes in support of the rebels role. (Given the Americans' rush to hand the operation to the Europeans, it isn't entirely clear what longer-term American intentions are.) The gun actually slows the plane down, it's throwing so much mass out the front. It fires bullets made out of non-fissionable uranium isotope, or at least it used to, because it's more massive than lead and better able to penetrate tank armor. They were created to counter the huge Soviet tank armies on the north German plain during the Cold War. But they never got a lot of love from the Air Force brass (they only existed to help the Army) and after the Cold War ended, there were plans to simply junk them. Then the first Gulf War happened and the warthogs proved just as efficient at destroying tanks, and anything else on the ground, as advertised. So the Pentagon decided, 'Oops maybe we had better hang on to the ugly things...' Food and supplies are going to be a problem for both sides. Misrata is probably the most pressing problem. If it remains under siege for much longer, somebody is going to have to think about getting supplies in just to keep the locals in food and drinking water. Medical supplies are a big problem too. With coalition control of the air, that should be doable. Maybe it would be a good job for some of the more hesitant members of the coalition. The biggest oil fields and tanker terminals seem to be around the SE curve of the Gulf of Sidra. Brega and Ras Lanuf. No doubt that was a big reason why Qaddafi wanted to hold the line at Ajdabiya, to keep the primary oil fields on his side as Libya appears to be heading for a de-facto partition.
Yep. Thankyou, thats a decent enough analysis. I'm getting a bit concerned that Misrata has still not been liberated, but it's a credit to the rebels that they've held on as well as they have. With Brega falling, Gaddafis' men at Misrata are gonna be running low on stores soon as supply lines thin out. If the planes don't do something about the arty the army can still smash it up pretty well before they make a run for it. I think it's highly likely we have spotters on the ground. But of course, they will be a deniable asset. But a few SAS officers hardly amount to an army, so I think they'll be accepted by the locals.
Or, they could just be targeting tanks and cannons from above, using forward air control planes or UAV as spotters. I'm not saying they can't have soldiers on the ground, I'm saying there is no evidence that they do.
Yeah, it's true. UAVs are the coming thing in warfare, and an old-timer like me probably underestimates them. You might very well be right.
A-10 warthogs and C-130 spectres have been in action according to a Pentagon briefing today. Warthogs are a brilliant ground-attack plane, and the spectre has a (50mm?) cannon and a number of high-speed miniguns, all computer controlled and highly accurate. Two completely devastating weapons systems.
Oh god yes the flying gunships! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0M1m05rpq8 Latest ones have: 1 General Dynamics 25 mm (0.984 in) GAU-12/U Equalizer 5-barreled Gatling cannon 1 40 mm (1.58 in) L/60 Bofors cannon 105 mm (4.13 in) M102 howitzer
The coming battle, the battle for Sirte is going to be pivotal to the whole campaign. If Gaddafi can hold on to his home town, the rebels will not be able to advance onto Tripoli. I expect the battle to commence after tonights air-raids, probably at first light. There will be probing attacks to test the defences at first, but as the rebels are fairly disorganized it will probably build quite slowly. They dont have the dicipline to move in formations, and they have a lack of specialists such as sappers and combat engineers. But they do have high morale, and enthusiasm. To fail is to die, so everything is there to play for. Sirte has a number of military installations, and will be a particularly tough nut to crack.
