U.N. to Vote on Libya Airstrikes; U.S. Readies Forces

SoCalPatient · Mar 17, 2011

The U.S. joined Britain and France in pushing for United Nations Security Council authorization Thursday for airstrikes and possibly other military action against Libya, as Col. Moammar Gadhafi's air force bombed the opposition's capital of Benghazi in a push to end the month-long revolt against his rule.
The Security Council was set to vote at 6 p.m. on a resolution that would authorize a no-fly zone and airstrikes, several diplomats said.
"We need to act quickly," said Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong, the current Security Council president. Mr. Li didn't indicate how China would vote. Beijing has been considered a possible obstacle to passage of a resolution.
In anticipation of a White House decision to use force, the Pentagon was fine-tuning military options for "serious" strikes against ground and air targets in Libya, military and defense officials said.
A defense official said the U.S. military has enough assets in place to begin strikes almost immediately.
"There is significant, serious planning going on right now," an official said. The options would be "more aggressive than a show of force," the official added.
Options include using cruise missiles to take out fixed Libyan military sites and air-defense systems. Manned and unmanned aircraft could be used against Col. Gadhafi's tanks, personnel carriers and infantry positions. Sorties could be flown out of U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization bases in the southern Mediterranean.
Officials said the goal would be to protect civilians in Benghazi, push Col. Gadhafi's forces back, and sow enough confusion and disorder within military ranks that officers will turn against Col. Gadhafi.
In discussions with other U.N. Security Council members, the Obama administration has made the case that simply establishing a no-fly zone to ground Col. Gadhafi's air force would be "insufficient" to save Benghazi, in eastern Libya since Col. Gadhafi could strike the city with ground forces, officials said.
The draft resolution included the authorization of a no-fly zone, which would set up a ban on all flights in Libyan airspace "in order to help protect civilians," with the exception of humanitarian aircraft or planes evacuating foreign nationals. The aim of the ban was to "prevent any use of aircraft for aerial attacks against the civilian population."
The U.K. Thursday said it welcomed what it said was a "significant change" in the U.S. position on no-fly zones over Libya, after a week of frustration from Britain and France at what they saw as foot-dragging by other nations on the issue.

U.K. Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said that there has been a "significant change" in the position of the White House.
French Foreign Minister Alain JuppÃ© flew to New York Thursday to push for the adoption of the resolution.
Several countries, including Russia and China, which can veto a resolution, have expressed reservations about the measure.
A Downing Street spokesman said that British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday called a "number of Arab leaders" in a bid to get greater Arab participation in support for a U.N. resolution.
Col. Gadhafi's forces, emboldened by a string of victories against the rebels, is launching an assault on Benghazi and other cities that were previously under rebel control.
Thursday's bombing brought Col. Gadhafi's forces the closest to the rebels' stronghold since the uprising began. Witnesses on Wednesday said the regime's forces firmly controlled the road leading from Ajdabiya to Benghazi, shooting at anyone attempting to travel that way.
Two planes bombed Benina airport just outside the city of Benghazi, one witness told AP, although the extent of the damage was unclear.

The rebels were using three of their own planes and some helicopters to attack Col. Gadhafi's troops outside the city of Ajdabiya, the gateway to Benghazi and surrounding opposition-held territory, Mustafa Gheriani, an opposition spokesman in Benghazi, told AP.
Government soldiers are maintaining a cordon around Ajdabiya's outskirts, and the remaining rebels within, who are hoping for help from the U.N. Security Council before government troops move in.
The only way out for civilians was a 260-mile road cutting across the desert and leading to the city of Tobruq near the Egyptian border.
Shelling resumed Thursday against the coastal city of Misrata, the only rebel-controlled city in western Libya, one day after pro-Gadhafi troops tried to storm the center from the south, east and west.
A doctor inside the city said at least 21 people were killed over the two days of fighting, including three rebels who died in clashes with government troops on Thursday.
The doctor said surgical supplies were running low in the city, 130 miles east of Tripoli.
Photographs coming out of the city showed damage to several buildings including a mosque and a library in the center.
A resident, who is affiliated with the rebel military and civilian councils that were established after rebels took control of the city last month, said Misrata had been without water for almost one week and that cellular phone coverage was disconnected Tuesday.
He said troops were stationed in farmland to the west and east as well as at the air force academy and civilian airport in the south and that they were targeting anyone affiliated with the rebels through assassination, kidnapping or the use of snipers on rooftops in areas close to the center.
He said one of his relatives was killed over the weekend when his vehicle was sprayed with bullets while traveling to his farm on the outskirts.
Rebels planted roadside bombs at the entrances of the city to impede the advance of government troops, according to this person.
"Our goal is the toppling of the regime, no dialogue, no negotiations," he said.
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Time for another war....

Irishchoctaw · Mar 17, 2011

This will turn out perfectly fine...

SoCalPatient · Mar 17, 2011

Irishchoctaw said:

This will turn out perfectly fine...

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Meanwhile, Gaddafi is promising if we intervene he will launch all out war against us...

Irishchoctaw · Mar 17, 2011

SoCalPatient said:

Meanwhile, Gaddafi is promising if we intervene he will launch all out war against us...
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With what? He lost half of his forces to the rebels and he's even having trouble fighting them!?

Some dictators, man.

Norma Stits · Mar 17, 2011

so how does this work?

doesn't congress still have to vote/approve this? Or because it's the UN.. they can just bypass all of that silly constitution stuff?

Dannyscott · Mar 17, 2011

Tally ho! Boys Too the Shores of Tripoli!!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKOiQgVSP4E]YouTube - TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI(1942) Original Theatrical Trailer[/ame]

BiggNastee · Mar 17, 2011

So... It passed. That should add a little bit to our debt.

hippie flip · Mar 17, 2011

ahhh shit...

Jimi Thing · Mar 17, 2011

BiggNastee said:

It passed.
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Yep: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/africa/18nations.html?ref=world

The United Nations Security Council approved a measure on Thursday authorizing â€œall necessary measuresâ€ to protect Libyan civilians from harm at the hands of forces loyal to Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi.

The measure allows not only a no-fly zone but effectively any measures short of a ground invasion to halt attacks that might result in civilian fatalities. It comes as Colonel Qaddafi warned residents of Benghazi, Libya, the rebel capital, that an attack was imminent and promised lenient treatment for those who offered no resistance.
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Limecat · Mar 18, 2011

Oh wonderful. The US declaring an Act of War on another country. So far we have Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and now Libya. Did I miss any? I know technically we are still at war in Korea too.

And yes, fuck the Constitution - that old thing doesn't mean jack shit anymore. Except it is the supreme law of the land and the assholes did swear to uphold it. We are so fucked.

hippie flip · Mar 18, 2011

And were does it stop? Saudi Arabia? Bahrain? Yemen?

How can they take the moral high ground after selling arms to these countries for years and blatantly ignoring things like Rwanda and Mugabe?

Irishchoctaw · Mar 18, 2011

hippie flip said:

And were does it stop? Saudi Arabia? Bahrain? Yemen?

How can they take the moral high ground after selling arms to these countries for years and blatantly ignoring things like Rwanda and Mugabe?
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Who said anything about moral high grounds?

Let's kill some brown people! 'MERICA!

hippie flip · Mar 18, 2011

Irishchoctaw said:

Who said anything about moral high grounds?

Let's kill some brown people! 'MERICA!
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Well I'm British, looking at the news here all I see is bullshit about "these people deserve democracy blah blah blah" like how can you say that after selling weapons for decades to the regime you're now trying to destroy?

drpanda · Mar 18, 2011

The UN are finally reacting. Hopefully they will save the people from Gadhafi.
Beautiful.

aaronman · Mar 18, 2011

Irishchoctaw · Mar 18, 2011

drpanda said:

The UN are finally reacting. Hopefully they will save the people from Gadhafi.
Beautiful.
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The "UN" means 80% U.S., 10% Britain, and 10% assorted nations of the world who feel like sending a regiment or two.

Ugly.

Spikoli · Mar 18, 2011

ohh goody more war that we can't afford. what is going to be left of this country for my daughter???

when will the US learn that less is more. GTFO and mind our own business. i don't care if that nut job kills every single libyan on earth, WTF does that have to do with us???

we don't even get but 3 % of our oil from there so how does this have anything to do with us???

i really just don't fucking get the retarded spazmatic gurgles that pass for foreign policy in this country. i got a foreign policy for you..."FUCK OFF" (that is all)

aaronman · Mar 18, 2011

France has First Dibs!

Arteezy · Mar 18, 2011

AugustWest said:

so how does this work?

doesn't congress still have to vote/approve this? Or because it's the UN.. they can just bypass all of that silly constitution stuff?
Click to expand...

Naa, Congress doesn't have to approve it and even if they had to, it's not like they would disapprove/reject it.

Spikoli · Mar 18, 2011

look at the good side...this might finally be what financially bankrupts this morally bankrupt country.

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U.N. to Vote on Libya Airstrikes; U.S. Readies Forces

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