Official: U.S. military options for Libya being planned

[cali]

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
February 24, 2011 10:24 a.m. EST


(CNN) -- In the first indication the crisis with Libya could take on a military dimension, the Pentagon is looking at "all options" it can offer President Barack Obama in dealing with the Libyan crisis a senior U.S. military official tells CNN.

The official declined to be identified because of the extremely sensitive nature of the situation but he has direct knowledge of the current military planning effort.

"Our job is to give options from the military side and that is what we are thinking about now," he said. "We will provide the president with options should he need them."

The official said the "prudent planning" for military options centers around the president's priorities of protecting U.S. citizens and interests and stopping the violence against Libyan civilians. He cautioned against thinking the U.S. military "was about to storm the beaches" but he also declined to specifically rule out the use of military force.

snip

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/24/libya.pentagon/

[tekisui]

1. Good. Bring in aid, enforce a no fly zone.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Enforcing a no fly zone is an act of war

Are you aware of that?

Don

[no limit]

6. If an act of war is needed to stop these assholes from slaughtering their people then so be it

[NNN0LHI]

7. Do you recall the story about Kuwaiti babies being thrown out of their incubators by Iraqi soldiers?

[dipsydoodle]

9. I do

and that's a good example. Wouldn't you have that thought with soemthing that important soembody would've check to see if she was a nurse and not the Kuwaiti Ambassador's daughter.

Lying cow.

[no limit]

18. I am not saying invade. My point is that a no fly zone should be set up

if doing that is an act of war then so be it. The UN isn't acting and NATO doesn't seem to be doing jack shit either.

[NNN0LHI]

27. The important thing is that you haven't forgot

Not many people thought we were going to eventually invade and occupy Iraq when we set up no-fly zones there.

Don

[Warren DeMontague]

39. Yeah, but it took 10 years and 9-11 to happen, first.

If you're trying to draw a direct correlation between the incubator lie which was clearly used to push the first gulf war, and the invasion and occupation of Iraq, there's quite a bit of real estate in between the two.

[Warren DeMontague]

40. So are you saying Libya's air force has NOT been ordered to bomb civilians?

I mean, like the incubator thing, it's either true or it isn't.

[bighart]

12. So what social spending should we cut to fund more military operations?

[no limit]

15. How much would it cost to enforce a no-fly zone?

[Baclava]

16. We'd have to send in a carrier - we have no close land bases to N. Africa

Why us? Italy is closer - they can use Malta.

Let NATO and the Italians handle this one.

[no limit]

17. What if NATO doesn't act? And we have plenty of carriers in that area

[Baclava]

20. What if they start shooting their people with tanks instead of planes?

Do we attack them on the ground too?

You have Libyans killing Libyans on Libyan soil. How is that our business?



I just see no good coming from military intervention here.

[no limit]

21. Shooting people on the ground is far more difficult than bombing them from the air

You make a good point and I'm not advocating full scale invasion. But a no-fly zone seems like a simple thing we could do that can save a lot of lives. It certainly wouldn't stop all killing, and we shouldn't get involved as a result, but I don't see how this would hurt.

[Baclava]

25. I meant would we use our aircraft to attack ground targets too?

Like tanks? That sounds a lot like war.

And a 'no-fly' zone means we would shoot down any unfriendly aircraft. After we invade their airspace.

Again - sounds like war.

[no limit]

28. No, I don't think we should attack targets on the ground. But we should enforce a no-fly zone

if planes fly in that no fly zones then yeah, they might have to be shot down.

[Baclava]

30. What about their anti-aircraft and SAM missle sites - take them out first?

You really think we'll just fly in there and start patrolling the skies without eliminating ground based threats to our planes first?

Sounds even more like war.

[no limit]

32. You think Libya would fire on our planes?

[Baclava]

33. Yes - if they can deflect their civil war to an attacking invader like us.

Who is still running their military?

[no limit]

34. You could be right, and this probably isn't as clear cut as I am making it out to be

but at the very least we should be pushing the UN to act. If the no fly zone is enforced by the UN there would be far less blow back and far more legitimacy.

Most of the protestors seem to be begging for help, so I don't know that it would be easy for their government to spin this as a foreign invasion.

[dougyang]

55. It certainly isn't!

It's looking a lot more complicated that it first appears, as most things are :|. I appreciate your opnion/

[kenny blankenship]

22. US 6th Fleet

Already there.

[DCBob]

42. Actually we do have an air base nearby .. Aviano in NE Italy.

Aviano Air Base is a NATO Air Base under U.S. Air Force administration airbase in northeastern Italy, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. It is located in Aviano municipality, at the foot of the Carnic Alps, about 15 kilometers from Pordenone.

Aviano is hosted by the United States Air Force 31st Fighter Wing (31 FW), a part of the United States Air Forces in Europe, a major command of the Air Force and also the air component of the United States European Command, one of the Unified Combatant Command of the Department of Defense.

The 31 FW includes a maintenance group, a mission support group, a medical group and an operations group (OG). The 31 OG's operational fighter squadrons are:

510th Fighter Squadron "Buzzards"
555th Fighter Squadron "Triple Nickel"
Both are equipped with Block 40 F-16CM Fighting Falcons, tail coded "AV".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviano_Air_Base

[tkmorris]

48. We can do better than that. NAS Sigonella, Sicily

I don't know what assets we have there now (it's been 20 years since I was stationed there) but we can damned sure stage from there anything we have.

[DCBob]

51. That would be a good staging area for sure.

I suspect they are making the plans already and will likely take some action if things continue to worsen.

[jakeXT]

43. Italy and Europe get their Oil from Libya, Berlusconi and Gaddafi are buddies

First you would need to oust Berlusconi and put some Nato poodle in. Berlusconi is still in...



ROME—Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has spoken by telephone with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi amid a bloody crackdown by Libyan forces on anti-government protesters.

A one-sentence statement from Berlusconi's office late Tuesday said the phone call took place in the afternoon. It gave no details.

Berlusconi has called Gadhafi his "friend" and has entertained the Libyan leader several times in Rome.
..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4743726

[Baclava]

2. ...to the shores of Tripoli....to protect the oil?

I'm not sure how drones would work here.

[NNN0LHI]

3. What is the exit strategy to avoid another endless entanglement?

Do we have one?

Don

[somone]

5. Not a bad idea to destroy his airplanes so he can't attack civilians

But his days are numbered anyway.

[L0oniX]

8. Oh gawd ...when will these war mongers and MIC's be stopped?

[BeFree]

10. Indeed

Now Egypt had close contacts with our military and the pentagon advised against using force against the Egyptian people.

Am guessing that we did not have the same relationship with Libya?

[NNN0LHI]

11. I am afraid never

Too many stupid American people who eat this shit up.

Don't see it changing any time soon unfortunately.

:(

Don

[phleshdef]

13. As long as its more of a Kosovo type operation and not an Iraq/Afghanistan type, I'm all for it.

[sad sally]

19. Hopefully, you're not serious?

NATO attacks caused between 1200 and 5700 civilian causalities. NATA claimed the lower number; human rights organizations, who were the people who unearthed the mass graves, said the number was at least 5,700. Infrastructure was demolished; thousands of Serbian people became refugees.

This is what you want? Another US led NATO war? More soldiers with missing limbs and missing minds coming home? More dead civilians? Another Country blown to bits? Another dictator toppled so the "right" US dictator can be put in place?

The United States military needs the current wars ended, not another one started!

[dipsydoodle]

14. NATO announced earlier a policy of "no involvement"

so I doubt the US would go it alone.

[joshcryer]

45. Did they? I hope that's true.

[dipsydoodle]

46. Link here

NATO vows to stay out of Libyan conflict

KIEV, Ukraine – NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the Western military alliance will not intervene in the Libyan conflict.

Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday the alliance has received no such requests and that in any case any intervention must be based on a United Nations mandate. He made the comments in Kiev where he was on an official visit meeting with Ukrainian officials.

Fogh Rasmussen said the events in Libya do not threaten any NATO members, but the conflict could spark a mass refugee crisis.

The popular uprising in Libya has been violently suppressed, leading some to believe the country could be moving toward civil war.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110224/ap_on_re_eu/libya_nato_1;_ylt=Ajb8NmhsoTFUMLlpq.j1iF0GS5Z4

Above was clearly yesterday. I picked it up on TV News here.

But now today :

GODOLLO, Hungary: Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen called Friday for an emergency alliance meeting on Libya and said it was ready to act as “an enabler and coordinator” if member states take action.

“I have called for an emergency meeting in the North Atlantic Council today to discuss Libya,” Rasmussen wrote on his Twitter account, referring to the alliance’s political decision-making body.

“The situation in Libya is of great concern. Nato can act as an enabler and coordinator if and when member states will take action,” he wrote ahead of a meeting with EU defence ministers in Godollo, Hungary.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/25/nato-chief-calls-emergency-meeting-on-libya.html

[joshcryer]

47. Thanks again, not sure how I missed it.

[spanone]

23. i suspect anytime a qaddafi-type goes batshit psycho they make contingency plans

The official said the "prudent planning" for military options centers around the president's priorities of protecting U.S. citizens and interests and stopping the violence against Libyan civilians. He cautioned against thinking the U.S. military "was about to storm the beaches" but he also declined to specifically rule out the use of military force.

[JuniperLea]

29. +1

[tammywammy]

36. Exactly. n/t

[bdamomma]

24. ................

oil, that is what they want to protect. damn haven't they learned yet?

[Mudoria]

26. Let the Euro's handle it

[Horse with no Name]

31. Send in a team of Special Forces

Neutralize the threat and move on.

[bighart]

35. Not our fight.

[Desertrose]

37. Have to agree........this is the peoples' fight.

Why go in now except to protect the oil interests?

Seems like there's been more talk of oil prices than lives lost.

[TheKentuckian]

38. Good. A few dozen sorties would be an effective equalizer for the Libyan people.

Decimate their air force and heavy equipment and the bully will melt.

[Poll_Blind]

41. I'm torn, mostly because I know how wrong the "We'll be greeted as liberators!" mindset can go.

Here's the thing: There's fuck all no chance we're going to be "helping" anyone the fuck out in Libya unless we think we can get an angle on an oil contract, etc, from it. Notice we're not saying shit about Bahrain? Or, maybe I should be clearer, all we're doing in gum-flapping about Bahrain instead of coming out with a similar "threat".

Why? Because Libyans have resources we want.

If I could wave a wand and have our policy be "You know, if we see a Libyan ship shelling Libyan soil in order to kill Libyans who are trying to overthrow the the government, we might sink it. If we happen to be passing a satellite overhead and see mass graves, well, we might bomb the army units connected with that if we see a clear relationship between the two."

That might be helpful. I don't want to see Libya under Quadaffi (is my 1980's spelling dating me?) anymore than anyone else but by the same token...

Typically, when the U.S. is rescuing a damsel in distress from a monster, it's so we get first-rape rights, not them.

The days of America fooling anyone into being selfless and purely interested in spreading Freedom and Democracy- those days are over. Long over, long ago.

As someone upthread said "It's their fight." True. I know we also help Quadaffi out quite a bit because he was one of our rendition buddies.

So...nomatter what, the more the U.S. gets involved, the more we're going to taint things.

PB

[area51]

44. Oh hell, no.

We're running two wars of choice, our country is bankrupt and only kept afloat for the time being by the Chinese, our infrastructure is crumbling, we have 30½% unemployment, and we have 100,000 people dying in the U.S. per year due to lack of health care. Who is going to help us?

[dougyang]

56. This is REALLY alarming

Thanks for pointing this out

[KharmaTrain]

49. 30 - 40,000 Foreign "Mercenaries"...

I heard a report via BBC that it's estimated that Khadaffi has hired upwards of 40,000 mercenaries from West Africa (especially Nigeria) that are running around the country...no real central command or authority and terrorizing villages. These thugs may have to be dealt with and does the international community stand by while these well armed militias create havoc around the country or at least have some plans in case there's a need for an international (and that's the key...not unilateral) response.

The problem is who speaks for what would be the new Libyan government or military. Seems things are breaking down to the tribal level and each town is being operated by its own tribe/militia. Supposedly the military is fractured along their tribal lines with many that have defected to militias. The report also mentioned how the country is awash in arms and that the longer there's a power vacuum the more the country could revert to another Somalia with little central authority.

While I would hope that the rebels form a unified structure and can take care of the Khadaffi problem on their own, the fact that there exists the possibility of a lot of bloodshed should draw internatonal attention and, if needed, assistance (yes, military) to prevent as much suffering as possible.

[blindpig]

52. I find those numbers unlikely

Where did they get the air lift capacity to move those numbers, in such short time? Mercs are present but I suspect their numbers in the thousands at best, not tens of thousands. This is a very favorable habitat for rumors.

[KharmaTrain]

53. I'm Citing The BBC...

Khadaffi has long been an agitator in the region...the other day I was reading about his disastrous incursions into Chad in the late 80s that all but destroyed his army and he turned to mercenaries when he rebuilt it. Those mercs aren't all being flown in (some are...especially from Nigeria) but have been in the country all along.

Yes it is rife for rumors as Libya has been a closed society and Khadaffi's "eccentricity" (being generous) makes it difficult to determine what stuff he says is truth and what is bullshit. The big concern is that Khadaffi will encourage a bloodbath as his only way to retain power and has the billions to fund it.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

50. The Libyan people are saying they want him killed,,"he is crazy & would do anything to his own peopl

[mainer]

54. Blow. Back.

Even if we went in with the purest of motives, even if we were there ONLY for humanitarian purposes, we would quickly be labeled imperialist invaders by all concerned. Al Qaeda would love to see us there, because it would be a propaganda coup for them. In fact, they're probably thinking of ways to taunt us into the mess. They've been losing ground lately, and this would be just the method to radicalize the tribes against us.