I didn't know about this last week when I sent you those long PMs. I just read that about 30 minutes ago and it sure put those niggling questions we discussed into perspective quickly. That just took care of remaining doubts I had. I can't believe we didn't look for this when Lieberman and McCain took to the airwaves and the same democratic hawks who went after Iraq were supporting intervention in Libya. We're being played.
Massacre in Yemen: and the deal on Libya
Yemen is a different story, I guess. I don't see the Western crocodile tears being shed. I don't see sudden indignation and the sudden discovery--was in Libya--that the leader there is a dictator. US/Saudi Arabia want Salih in power no matter what. Notice that the story is being played down in US media. Notice that it was US that requested that Arab countries (Qatar, UAE and Jordan) play a role in Libya. I mean, what do you think of a resolution that requires the intervention of the likes of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, and Jordan to secure "democracy" for Libya? This is a sham. Don't buy that Saudi Arabia is acting without US support in Bahrain. Who are they fooling. Saudi Arabia is not Israel: it does not act without prior knowledge, nay request from, of the US. This is all coordinated. I wish to revise something I said about the shameful coverage of Aljazeera (or lack there of) in the case of Bahrain. I don't believe that the decision on Bahrain was purely a deal between Saudi Arabia and Qatar: i strongly believe that it was a US-Qatar deal as well. Yesterday, the narrator reported a story on Bahrain on Aljazeera: it concluded bizarrely by calling for "dialogue" between government and opposition. That makes one wonders: why does not Aljazeera hold the same stance on Libya? The plot thickens. Saudi Arabia and US and Israel are trying to abort the Arab uprisings one by one: the charade in Libya is not to enhance the Arab change movement: it is aimed at undermining it everywhere.
Posted by As'ad AbuKhalil at
7:16 AMIt's all out there too. How did we miss this? Max Boot, one of the signatories of both FPI memos, was calling for direct support to the rebels in the form of special operations troops on the ground in Libya, "the same combination that proved so effective in toppling the Taliban in 2001 and ousting the Serbs from Kosovo in 1999."
Qaddafi Can Still Be Ousted, but Only if We Act Now
Max Boot 03.16.2011 - 10:44 AM
...
Yet even now we can still keep the rebellion alive. We should pursue a no-fly zone combined with an enclave strategy centered on Benghazi.
The key military fact about Libya is that it is composed mostly of flat desert; this is where some of the most notable tank battles of World War II were fought pitting Rommel against Montgomery. There is nowhere for conventional forces to hide outside an urban area. To take Benghazi, Qaddafi’s forces would have to expose themselves. They would, in other words, become easy targets for air strikes
by American, British, and French aircraft operating from a combination of aircraft carriers (the USS Enterprise is in the Red Sea, a day’s steam away from Libya) and from bases in southern Europe; we could even establish a forward operating base at a major Libyan airbase south of Tobruk that is currently in rebel hands.
Thus we could proclaim that we will recognize the National Transition Council ensconced in Benghazi and use our airpower to prevent Qaddafi’s forces from entering the capital of Free Libya. This would buy a precious commodity — time. We could use that time to train and arm the anti-Qaddafi forces. With the rebels secure behind a curtain of NATO airpower, they could organize a proper army and eventually mount a major offensive to finish off Qaddafi once and for all.
This would require a fairly limited commitment on our part that involved primarily airpower and some Special Forces working in cooperation with local rebels: the same combination that proved so effective in toppling the Taliban in 2001 and ousting the Serbs from Kosovo in 1999. Such a strategy is eminently feasible, but it has to be implemented right now. The time for dithering is past if there is to be any chance of saving the Libyan revolution — and incidentally, rescuing Obama’s plummeting reputation.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/03/16/qaddafi-can-still-be-ousted-but-only-if-we-act-now/#more-750173See how many names you recognize here. Again, from the FPI:
Foreign Policy Experts Urge President to Take Action to Halt Violence in Libya
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March 15, 2011 | Open Letter
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC
March 15, 2011
Dear President Obama:
Regrettably, the international community has yet to take serious action to prevent a moral and humanitarian catastrophe in Libya and the Libyan opposition is now on the defensive. As forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi push eastward, we are concerned that the brutal and indiscriminate tactics of government forces could lead to additional civilian casualties.
On Saturday, the Arab League endorsed Libyan opposition calls for a no fly zone. We call on you to urgently institute a no fly zone over key Libyan cities and towns in conjunction with U.S. allies. We also call on you to explore the option of targeted strikes against regime assets in an effort to prevent further bloodshed. The United States should also immediately recognize the Libyan National Transitional Council and take all necessary actions to support their efforts to unseat the Qaddafi regime.
In your inaugural address two years ago, you said this: "And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."
Today the United States and its allies should stand with the men, women and children of Libya who seek a future of peace and dignity. The situation in Libya in the coming days will not just impact the Libyan people. As protests continue against repressive regimes around the world, the message currently being conveyed by our inaction is that killing and repression will go unpunished and are the best option for despots seeking to postpone reform.
For the sake of our security as well as America’s credibility with people who seek freedom everywhere, we ask you to act as quickly as possible to ensure that the people of Libya – and the world – know that we are willing to back up our principles with action.
Sincerely,
Fouad Ajami
Ash Jain
Randy Scheunemann
Stephen E. Biegun
Ken Jensen
Gary J. Schmitt
Max Boot
Robert Kagan
Dan Senor
Ellen Bork
Lawrence Kaplan
Henry Sokolski
Paul Bremer
David Kramer
Whit Stillman
Scott Carpenter
Irina Krasovskaya
William Taft
Elizabeth Cheney
William Kristol
Marc Thiessen
Eliot Cohen
Tod Lindberg
Daniel Twining
Seth Cropsey
Michael Makovsky
Kurt Volker
Thomas Donnelly
Ann Marlowe
Peter Wehner
Michele Dunne
Cliff May
Ken Weinstein
Eric Edelman
Joshua Muravchik
Leon Wieseltier
Jamie Fly
Michael O'Hanlon
Rich Williamson
Reuel Marc Gerecht
Martin Peretz
Damon Wilson
William Inboden
Danielle Pletka
Bruce Pitcairn Jackson
John Podhoretz
http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/content/foreign-policy-experts-again-urge-president-take-action-halt-violence-libya