Libya

[Conan71]

Reuters just tweeted that "Obama has signed secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces in Libya, officials tell Reuters"

http://mobile.twitter.com/reuters/status/53182729667346432
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/us-libya-usa-order-idUSTRE72T6H220110330

It's just hitting the other major news sources.
 
Marine troops have also been mobilized from camp Lejune. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Embarks To Libya today With 2,200 Marines.

What a difference a day makes.

Apparently our air strikes and "diplomatic" pressure have not sufficiently impressed Uncle Moamar.

Boots on the ground?  Surely you jest.  I'm sure they are just advisors in advance of the French stabilizing the situation. 

Wait a second....

[Gaspar]

Hmm, it seems that there's a scheme afoot amongst the right wing nutjobs to claim that Obama is aiding al Qaeda with his choosing to participate in the intervention in Libya. How unsurprising..

[nathanm]

[image]

Your image doesn't show inline for me. Luckily, it works when typed directly into the address bar, so I can see what an epic failure your response was.

BTW, I have a bridge to sell you. One end is in Brooklyn, the other in Manhattan. I can let it go for a reasonable price.

Edited to add: It's OK, Bill doesn't understand either...

[Cats Cats Cats]

Apparently our air strikes and "diplomatic" pressure have not sufficiently impressed Uncle Moamar.

Boots on the ground?  Surely you jest.  I'm sure they are just advisors in advance of the French stabilizing the situation. 

Wait a second....

I am very upset that they are sending covert teams into Libya.  You mean they are just starting this?  I would have assumed we would have supplied weapons and possible coordination support with the rebels when they started.

[Conan71]

I am very upset that they are sending covert teams into Libya.  You mean they are just starting this?  I would have assumed we would have supplied weapons and possible coordination support with the rebels when they started.

The problem with arming any faction in the Middle East is our troops will eventually face those weapons on the battlefield.

[Gaspar]

The problem with arming any faction in the Middle East is our troops will eventually face those weapons on the battlefield.

And unfortunately the other side of that coin is that if we don't arm them Hamas and Hezbollah will.  There has already been a massive influx on heavy vehicle mounted weaponry and of course the AKs.

It's the inevitable Catch 22 that we face involving ourselves in any civil war or rebellion initiated by a civilian force.  The weaponry is only a small part of what we will need to supply.  Ammunition for any weapons we supply as well as the legacy arms they currently have will also be necessary.  Food, water, medicine and all of the human necessities for an unorganized force will also become the charge of NATO (us). 

You can't say "we are only going to provide limited support."  That's kind of like a "limited government program."  They will be dependent on us, at least for several years if not more.  This French idea of creating a "committee to run Libya" is. . .well. . .French! 

[Red Arrow]

If the French want to help so much, let them.  Get us out.

[guido911]

Why RA? It's just getting good. It turns out we may wind up bombing both the Ghaddafi forces and rebel forces.

"We've been conveying a message to the rebels that we will be compelled to defend civilians, whether pro-Qaddafi or pro-opposition," said a senior Obama administration official. "We are working very hard behind the scenes with the rebels so we don't confront a situation where we face a decision to strike the rebels to defend civilians."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/world/africa/01civilians.html?_r=3&src=twrhp

[Gaspar]

This poor fish is out of water, floping around on the bottom of the boat!

[guido911]

Rand Paul flummoxes Harry Reid?

GOP sources tell National Review Online that Paul's proposal flummoxed Reid, who does not want his members to have to weigh in on Obama's dusty quote about congressional authority, even if the vote is only to table the measure.

Republicans speculate that Reid was already irked, sensing disarray in his caucus over the McConnell-Inhofe amendment to block carbon regulation at the Environmental Protection Agency. Paul's proposal simply added fuel to the docket fire. Senate Democrats who are up for reelection in 2012 are quite sensitive to tricky amendment votes, and Reid, some say, may have simply thrown up his hands. For Democrats, a weekend to sort things things out is more appealing than a tense Friday in the cloakroom.

"Paul's Libya amendment has brought the Senate to a standstill because Reid doesn't know how to handle it," one GOP aide tells me. "If he allows a vote, Democrats are forced to either disagree with then-senator Obama or with President Obama. It's possible that Reid just yanks the bill or files cloture, seems he may do anything to avoid a vote on Paul's amendment."

Still, during a testy floor exchange Wednesday with Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), the Kentucky freshman argued that his amendment deserves a vote, and fast. "In Afghanistan and Iraq, with all the complaints from many people on these wars that we were involved in, President Bush did come and ask for the authorization of force," he said. "We've had two to three weeks of this issue. They had time to go to the U.N. They had time to go to the Arab League. They had time to go to everyone. I think you should be insulted the way I am insulted they never came to Congress."

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/263650/paul-rankles-reid-libya-robert-costa

[Teatownclown]

Gadhafi, in letter, asks Obama to end air strikes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_us/us_us_libya

"– Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has appealed directly to President Barack Obama to halt what the Libyan leader called "an unjust war," and wished Obama good luck in his bid for re-election next year."

Wow

[Gaspar]

Gadhafi, in letter, asks Obama to end air strikes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_us/us_us_libya

"– Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has appealed directly to President Barack Obama to halt what the Libyan leader called "an unjust war," and wished Obama good luck in his bid for re-election next year."

Wow

He also pledged his support to the president in his 2012 election bid.

"We have been hurt more morally (than) physically because of what had happened against us in both deeds and words by you," he wrote. "Despite all this you will always remain our son whatever happened. We still pray that you continue to be president of the U.S.A. We Endeavour and hope that you will gain victory in the new election campaigne."

So we can add that to a bumper sticker.

[Teatownclown]

Too verbose.

The shortened bumper sticker version: Arab Sprung

Nice try though...

[Teatownclown]

You'd think they'd learn that bombing Ghadafi only ends up killing his kids and grandchildren.

Annals of a Golden Age
Peace Laureate Surpasses Reagan in Killing Gadafy Kin

"O how wonderful it is to live in such an enlightened age! Just think: not long ago, the U.S. government was seen as little more than a vast war machine -- brutal, murderous, inhumane, bent on global domination. Yet now, by some marvelous, miraculous twist of fate, that same government is being led by a Nobel Peace Prize laureate! It's as if Lyndon Johnson had been turfed out of office back in the day and replaced by Martin Luther King Jr.! So what the modern-day MLK up to today? In what way was the Laureate in the White House advancing the vision and practice of peace? Why, he was murdering children in a "targeted assassination," of course! He was escalating an increasingly savage "regime change" operation in blatant contradiction to the UN mandate supposedly governing the latest of his escalations and surges around the world."


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27999.htm  

[nathanm]

You'd think that some people wouldn't be so credulous.