Updates on Libyan war: April 22

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Britain In Libya: Prospect Of Another Decade-Long Afghan-Style War

Top U.S. Military Chief Orders Gaddafi To Leave, Applauds NATO War Role

United Nations Ignores Its Own Resolution On Libya: Analysts

U.S. And French Submarine Commanders Meet In Naples

EU Readies Troop For “Humanitarian-Military” Deployment To Libya

Libya: Use Of Depleted Uranium, Partition And Regional Risks

Libya: The Destruction Of A Nation

NATO’s Aerial Onslaught In Libya: 3,300 Sorties, 1,373 Air Strikes

U.S. Introduces Armed Predator Drones For Libyan War

Benghazi: McCain Hails Rebels As “Heroes” As Drones Are Deployed

Libya: On The Eve Of A Ground Invasion?

Libya: NATO Air Attack Kills Nine Including Utility Workers

Video And Text: Libyan Rebels Use French Missiles From Qatar

Video And Text: NATO Military Advisers In Libya: “Clear Launch Of Ground Conflict”

Belarus: U.S.-Backed Uprisings Destructive

Will Ongoing Conflicts Lead To World War?

Russia Fears Civil War In Syria

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Britain In Libya: Prospect Of Another Decade-Long Afghan-Style War

http://rt.com/news/uk-long-libya-war/

RT
April 22, 2011

UK committed for long haul in Libya

Video

The UK Ministry of Defense sending military advisors to Libya is seen by many as the most significant step so far towards deploying ground troops. Once that happens, many see Libya turning into another Afghanistan – ten years and counting.

­The allied forces have been engaged in the Libya’s civil conflict for more than a month now.

The coalition is turning up the heat on Colonel Gaddafi as US armed predator drones have joined the mission to seek and destroy the embattled leader’s arsenal.

For Libyans, it has been a long, hard month. Air strike after air strike by NATO forces, in the middle of an increasingly violent civil war. And with little to show for it, the deadlocked war is causing widespread concern about its cost.

“I think the situation just deepened and probably got rather worse,” says Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Member of Parliament. “Britain is putting troops in on the ground as advisers. I think it’s very dangerous, we are involved in a civil war for which there’s no parliamentary authority.”

Priceless human lives are certainly the cost of the Libyan operation. But the Ministry of Defense also refuses to release information as to how much the intervention in Libya is costing the British taxpayer.

Early estimates suggested the bill could run to US$5 million a day.

That means a month’s offensive may have cost the UK as much as $150 million and counting, at a time when the UK is slashing spending on public services, leading to widespread, often violent, demonstrations.

“This is an incredible amount of money when they say there’s no money available,” said Lindsey German from the Stop the War Coalition. “We could every week be building a new hospital, several new schools and we could be paying the student tuition fees which are going up to 9,000 [pounds] a year next year.”
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And for all that investment, defense strategists are calling the situation a stalemate.

Gaddafi is still in Libya….Peace seems no nearer, and NATO appears to be settling in for the long haul, until the Libyans themselves can negotiate a deal.

After a month of air strikes, UK forces look more inextricably involved in the conflict than ever.

On Tuesday Foreign Secretary William Hague announced the deployment of experienced military officers to Libya to help the rebels improve military organizational structures and logistics…..

On Wednesday France and Italy followed the UK’s lead, both announcing that they will send similar contingents to the war-torn North-African country.

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Top U.S. Military Chief Orders Gaddafi To Leave, Applauds NATO War Role

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=63660

U.S. Department of Defense
April 22, 2011

Mullen: World Community Says Gadhafi Must Go
By Jim Garamone

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq: NATO has come forward in a very positive way to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya and protect Libyan citizens from the Moammar Gadhafi regime, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said here today.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also told service members serving with U.S. Division Center in Baghdad that “the international consensus is that Gadhafi has got to go.”

NATO is in charge of [the war], Mullen said, adding that he is pleased the alliance stepped forward to lead the operation.

Regime change is not a part of the NATO mission, and the U.N. resolution does not address it, Mullen said, but it remains to be seen whether the Libyan dictator will step down.

“The long-term political end-state is to have [Gadhafi] gone,” he said. “Globally, the guy is a pariah, and every single action the vast majority of countries [?] are taking are going to continue to put the squeeze on him until he’s gone. Is [Gadhafi] going to figure that out? I don’t know.”

The NATO operation “is certainly moving toward a stalemate,” Mullen said, as neither rebel forces nor Gadhafi’s forces can win a decisive edge, and tough fighting continues in Misrata and Ajdabiyah.
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“It’s a tougher fight than it was at the beginning,” the chairman said.

“At the same time, we have ‘attritted’ somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of his main ground force capabilities,” Mullen said. “Those will continue to go away over time.”

Mullen stressed the international focus on ousting the Gadhafi regime, noting that members of the Arab League support the military action in Libya. “This is the first time that I’m aware of where the Arab League has voted for something like a no-fly zone,” he said.
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United Nations Ignores Its Own Resolution On Libya: Analysts

http://rt.com/news/un-resolution-violation-analyst/

RT
April 22, 2011

UN ignores its own resolution on Libya – political analyst

Video

Russia insists the UN resolution is being violated by allied forces, but these are not purely Russian concerns. There is widening frustration over how the operation in Libya is being conducted, according to political analyst Sergey Strokan.

­“Definitely they have gone far beyond the UN Resolution, which was initially installed just to introduce a no-fly zone,” says Sergey Strokan, a political analyst for Kommersant newspaper.

“What’s going on now is a totally different story,” he added. “The coalition is definitely taking sides and now they are considering another step: to start a land operation, which could really bring unpredictable results for the country. That’s why this is not only Russia’s concern, this is the concern of quite a big part of international community.”

Sergey Strokan agrees that UN is already ignoring its own resolution in the case of Libya.

“We have to understand that this is a really complicated issue because initially by adopting this resolution, the UN was also trying to sort of reinvent itself, to show that it is important, it can play a decisive role,” he said. “And as you remember, the resolution came out as a result of carefully-worded compromises.”

“All parts were discussed and every step when you go beyond the resolution,” he added. “It makes your credibility at stake, it can be jeopardized simply. And this is what’s happening in Libya.”

Speaking about Dmitry Medvedev’s meeting with the UN chief, political analyst Sergey Strokan said Ban Ki-moon could hardly actually be seeking Russia’s backing for the allied forces in Libya.

“I think that Ban Ki-moon definitely is a practical man, a practical politician, and he can’t expect Russia to support that,” he said. “Russia is opposed to it. In practical terms, what Ban Ki-moon can expect from Russia is just may be to mute its criticism, to slow it down.”

­Meanwhile, Jim Brann from the Stop the War coalition says that NATO has to follow the course, initially set, right up to the beginning of ground intervention.

“And the logic has to be, I think, ground forces in one way or another,” says Brann. “And even if they from time to time refer back to UN Security Council Resolution 1973, it does not change the fact that they clearly are going for the overthrow of the Tripoli government,” he added.

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U.S. And French Submarine Commanders Meet In Naples

http://www.eucom.mil/english/fullstory.asp?article=US-French-Submarine-Commanders-Meet

U.S. European Command
April 22, 2011

U.S. and French Submarine Commanders Meet
Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Gary Keen, U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

-“Our navies operated together during Odyssey Dawn and now during Unified Protector and we can’t thank the French navy enough for everything they do.”

NAPLES, Italy: The Commander of the French navy’s Submarine Forces met with Commander Submarine, Allied Naval Forces South during a two-day visit to build on the two navies’ strong military ties, April 21, on Naval Support Activity, Naples.

During the visit, French navy Vice Adm. Georges-Henri Mouton met with Rear Adm. James G. Foggo III, to discuss the two nations’ submarine forces and operations in Europe.

“I came to Naples to meet with Rear. Adm. Foggo and discuss the relationship our navies have in regards to our submarine forces, especially our SSNs [Fast Attack Submarines],” said Mouton. “I wanted to discuss ideas on how we can work together better and talk about the future.”

Even though this was the first time Mouton and Foggo had met in person, they have been working together for some time and were able to speak openly about many issues facing submarine operations in Europe.

“It is important to build strong relationships so you are able to sit down and discuss issues frankly and determine a way ahead,” said Foggo. “That is what we did, determined a way ahead and improved on what is already an extremely fruitful and productive relationship between our submarine forces.”

Foggo continued saying that both navies have been operating together and sharing information for a long time.

“Our navies operated together during Odyssey Dawn and now during Unified Protector and we can’t thank the French navy enough for everything they do,” said Foggo.

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EU Readies Troop For “Humanitarian-Military” Deployment To Libya

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110422/163654156.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
April 22, 2011

EU prepares humanitarian military mission to Libya – France

Moscow: The EU is preparing to launch a humanitarian military mission to the besieged Libyan city of Misrata within the next few days, French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Christine Fages said on Friday.

An EU spokesman said on Thursday the organization was “ready to act” on a proposed humanitarian-military mission in Libya (EUFOR) as soon as the UN gave the green light.

“Because of the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Libya, especially in Misrata, the multinational Joint Staff in Rome is preparing a humanitarian military mission,” Fages said.

Fages did not eleborate how the campaign would be carried out.
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Earlier this week, Britain, France and Italy announced plans to send military consultants to Benghazi in eastern Libya to give support to the rebels.

On Friday Italian ambassador to Russia Antonio Zanardi Landi confirmed that Italy had sent 10 military advisers to Libya to protect civilians.

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Libya: Use Of Depleted Uranium, Partition And Regional Risks

http://allafrica.com/stories/201104220220.html

Pambazuka News
April 21, 2011

Libya: Use of Depleted Uranium, Partition and Regional Risks
Farouk James

-What is now very obvious is that the USA, the UK and France are calling for a full-scale and unabated invasion of Libya à la Iraq, or boots on the ground….The SAS (Special Air Service) and French Special Forces have been operating in the eastern part of Libya since the beginning and now mercenaries are being recruited at an alarming rate, all being told of imminent deployment and action in Libya, contrary to UNSCR-1973.

In the wake of NATO’s imposition of the ‘no-fly zone’ over Libya on 31 March, there is serious scepticism around the United States Pentagon’s denial of the use of depleted uranium (DU), writes Farouk James. With the US, the UK and France now calling for a full-scale invasion, James writes, the veto powers of the UN Security Council’s permanent members should be called into question once again.

On the night of 17 March 2011, holding its 6,498th meeting, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1973 (UNSCR-1973), approving a ‘no-fly zone’ (NFZ) over Libya, authorising all necessary measures to protect civilians by a vote of 10 in favour with 5 abstentions.

Most interesting to note was the fact that the five abstentions included two permanent veto-wielding member states (China and Russia), and three non-permanent states (Brazil, Germany and India), who coincidentally are vying for permanent seats in the Security Council. Most notably, the fact that the five members of the Security Council who are also members of an economic group of large emerging markets with the acronym BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) all happened to be on the Security Council at the same time is either a coincidence or a very bizarre occurrence.

NATO took on the role of imposing the NFZ over Libya on Thursday 31 March 2011, despite internal divisions among member states of NATO, most notably Turkey and Germany, and the daily flights and bombings continued unabated since then. UNSCR-1973 has provided the political and legal rationale for NATO bombing operations over Libya, with thousands of civilians killed and many more injured as a result of the daily bombings.

The NATO war against the sovereign government of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya proves that this is not a humanitarian war but one that is protecting the West’s interests in and around the oilfields mostly located in the eastern part of Libya, effectively partitioning the country contrary to international law and UNSCR-1973. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has now called for an immediate cessation of hostilities by all sides, including NATO, who are now openly backing the rebels with the sole intention of pushing out the legitimate government in Libya at any cost.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement that the Libyan armed forces had used cluster bombs in Misrata. The Libyan government has denied these charges and challenged HRW to prove them; most interestingly no casualties from cluster bombs have been confirmed in Misrata. Disturbingly, depleted uranium weapons have been used in Libya, both by the USA and subsequently by NATO upon assuming command and control of the NFZ responsibilities.

The United States Pentagon’s denial of use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons has been met with scepticism, especially considering USAF A-10 Warthog tank-buster aircraft deployed over Libya and given that the United States has a long history of only admitting to deploying DU radioactive material months or years after it has been used. Based on news video footage, it is more than likely that depleted uranium has been used more widely than originally thought since the USA has launched shells, bombs and cruise missiles containing depleted uranium in the past in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The use of DU weapons when the USA destroyed the city of Fallujah in Iraq reveals that there have been horrendous health conditions resulting from the US military deployment of these materials. Fallujah represented a stronghold of resistance to the US forces’ invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003-04. High rates of infections, birth defects and cancers have been reported that are the direct result of the use of DU weapons.

In addition, regionally the conflict in Libya could have a devastating effect in Niger and Mali where the nomadic Tuareg peoples in the Sahara Desert regions of northern Niger and Mali and southern Libya have been involved in a spate of kidnappings and armed uprisings known as the ‘Tuareg rebellion’. This is especially dangerous for northern Niger; this is where the town of Arlit, an industrial town, is located in the Agadez region, where uranium is mined by French companies in two large uranium mines (Arlit and Akouta).

Arlit was the subject of the Niger uranium forgeries when President George W. Bush, in the build-up to the (illegal) Iraq war, in his 2003 State of the Union address stated, ‘[t]he British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,’ when it was alleged that Saddam Hussein had attempted to purchase ‘yellowcake’ uranium powder from Niger during the Iraq disarmament crisis. These 16 words and the intelligence in this regard were later found to be baseless and rubbished by US intelligence agencies, albeit too late for innocent Iraqis who lost their lives over a lie during the war years.

Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who travelled to Niger to investigate the Iraq/yellowcake plot, concluded that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place, thus clearing Saddam Hussein of any re-starting of Iraq’s WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programme. Ambassador Wilson was punished for this by the outing of his wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA agent, allegedly by an official working in the then vice-president Dick Cheney’s Office in the White House, which was also the plot of the movie ‘Fair Game’ released in 2010.

What is now very obvious is that the USA, the UK and France are calling for a full-scale and unabated invasion of Libya à la Iraq, or boots on the ground. This has implications for the civilians in cities who support their legitimate government and Colonel Gaddafi, since it is being seen as a popular uprising when in effect it is confined to a few ‘rebellious types’ in the city of Benghazi. The SAS (Special Air Service) and French Special Forces have been operating in the eastern part of Libya since the beginning and now mercenaries are being recruited at an alarming rate, all being told of imminent deployment and action in Libya, contrary to UNSCR-1973.

The United Nations Security Council mandate has been a dinosaur, originally set up after the Second World War, with five permanent Security Council members (China, France, Russia, the UK and the USA) with veto powers. Until and unless the United Nations General Assembly takes decisive action to abolish the permanent seats structure and veto powers and expand the number of members to reflect the continents, the Security Council will continue to serve the privileged few nations while the rest are increasingly at risk of being ‘legally and legitimately’ bombed, invaded and occupied under the United Nations Security Council auspices.

Farouk James is an activist and observer of UN Security Council activities in terms of Peace-keeping Operations and Aid Agencies activities during periods of disasters, famine and conflict. Also monitors the activities of mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan, having investigated the activities of Custer-Battles LLC, a defence contractor who had embezzled millions of US Dollars in Iraq.

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Libya: The Destruction Of A Nation

http://allafrica.com/stories/201104220351.html

Pambazuka News
April 21, 2011

Libya: ‘The Destruction of a Nation’

-The people of the Maghreb are seeing the return of the former colonial powers, notably France, since its expulsion during the Algerian revolution.
The unclear UN mandate that the NATO alliance seized upon seems to have backfired, resulting in a stalemate. And Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice, who joined and promoted this campaign, have gone silent. Libya is now seeing itself as a victim of Western aggression.
-What the West did to the rest of Africa before is being repeated in Libya right now. Unfortunately for Libya today, its proximity to Europe and its immense oil wealth has become a curse for it, which should not have been the case. Libya should be free to export its oil to whomever it wants, even to China. The world is now witnessing a new scramble for Africa over oil. There is also this new rivalry over African oil between the West and China.

NATO’s involvement in Libya is a simple case of egotistical self-interest and attempts at control on the part of the Western powers, writes Jenn Jagire: ‘One thing is clear: Libya did not attack any of these countries for this mighty alliance to bring out its entire arsenal against this small country and its traumatised people.’

Libya as a country supposedly freed from European colonisation has existed for quite some time. The country had particularly shaken off the shackles of Western colonialism and influence since 1960s.

With the closure in Libya of the British military base, and the closure of the biggest American military base outside the USA at that time by the Gaddafi regime, Libya could have angered the West, who never gave up the hope of regaining that country for imperial purposes.

So fierce was this independence, certain books promoting Western values above those of Libyans were seen as undesirable and burned to decolonise Libyan children’s education. Gaddafi’s role in decolonisation was also his contribution to ending apartheid in South Africa, as other people have written about. A pan-Africanist will not want to leave the African soil or their country for exile for good. Libya needs reforms, but first the end of the war.

Currently, since the implementation of the ‘no fly zone’ in Libya, Africa has seen American Tomahawks missiles spewed over Libya. So many were the missiles aimed at Libyan targets that the Telegraph reported that the navy could run short of Tomahawk missiles because one-fifth of the navy stockpile had already been used up against Libya within only a few days.

It is a ‘miracle’ that Libya has survived the assault and that there are still people alive in Libya today after such an aggressive campaign. The embarrassment that the alliance’s navy could be talking about now is not about civilian deaths, but rather the running-out of missiles before accomplishing the unpopular mission.

Who knows? It is not likely that the Tomahawks could not have killed women, children and babies along with their military targets. The airstrikes are tearing up the infrastructure in Libya, built over many years. The reconstruction of Libya will, no doubt, come after this country’s immense destruction. Then, of course, the Western contractors will come over to do some booming business.

The UN Security Council resolution that gave the opportunity to NATO to implement the ‘no fly zone’ has largely failed to ‘protect’ civilians. The ‘no fly zone’ over Libya has given way to infantry fighting that has seen the incompetent rebels largely defeated each time they tried to gain territory. The people of the Maghreb are seeing the return of the former colonial powers, notably France, since its expulsion during the Algerian revolution.

The unclear UN mandate that the NATO alliance seized upon seems to have backfired, resulting in a stalemate. And Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice, who joined and promoted this campaign, have gone silent. Libya is now seeing itself as a victim of Western aggression. In an interview, Gaddafi admitted to feeling betrayed by the West whom he had supplied with oil while investing heavily there. The US alone has a population of more than 330 million people. Its bombing of Libya, together with other NATO alliance countries of Canada, the UK, France and Italy, makes this campaign a case of ‘Goliath attacking David.’

NATO is now not used for defence purposes or to ensure peace for its members, but to wage war in Libya and to test all their heavy weaponry, civilian deaths notwithstanding. One thing is clear: Libya did not attack any of these countries for this mighty alliance to bring out its entire arsenal against this small country and its traumatised people. The bombing of Libya, therefore, cannot be totally justified as the best way to protect civilians.

NATO’s involvement in trying to impose a kind of gun-point democracy should be blamed for fuelling a vicious civil war in Libya. France strategically recognised the ‘Libyan National Council’ in Benghazi, knowing very well such a hasty move was likely to divide the country. In fact, they exploited the traditional rivalry between Benghazi and Tripoli. France must be after something more than just taking a leading role in policing Libya. Recently, the Francophonie has lost some of its members. For example, in Rwanda and even parts of DR Congo, French as ‘the official language’ has largely been substituted. France may then have to recover from some of that loss by involving itself in some warlike activities in Africa to regain some ‘power’.

Moreover, Saif el Islam’s claim that Libya funded Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential campaign could have humiliated him, and hence the haste in wanting to be seen as playing the major role in implementing the ‘no fly zone’ in Libya in order to fix things at home, with an impending presidential election round the corner. Africa can remember that when the Portuguese colonies of Africa were lost, it caused a revolution in Portugal itself. Western leaders use their ‘victories’ in Africa to promote themselves at home. Molefi Asante writes that some people in the West believe that ‘Africa is a continent that must be acted on’.

Again, nobody should believe that Sarkozy as France’s head is supporting a genuine revolution in Libya. France is better known for helping put down revolutions in Africa. For example, in 1976-77, France helped Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko put down a revolt in Kolwezi in Katanga province. In addition, it is now known that France was about to help put down the revolt in Tunisia, as its foreign minister was holidaying there. And French-speaking Tunisians of Arab origin are now being denied entry into France.

During the previous ‘peaceful’ years, France was a country better known for its ‘diplomacy’, so that if anyone was planning to become a ‘diplomat’ it was necessary to learn French. But even that tradition informed its colonial policy of assimilating the colonised. However, not even that assimilation is genuine, because in 2010 the world saw France cracking down on non-European citizens of France for rioting and burning cars due to the perpetual unemployment for some of them in the country. Rioters, especially descendants of African immigrants, were called obnoxious names by the right-wingers in France.

Again, right now the archaic tactic employed by some of the Western powers is that of the colonial era of ‘divide and conquer’. Apparently, the colonial ideology is being revived and recycled for the purpose of intervention in Libya. Meetings held in London and Berlin excluded AU (African Union) representatives. Perhaps the AU purposely boycotted such meetings. The African Union Chair Jean Ping has separately voiced his concern over the ignoring of the organisation when action was taken against Libya or where it was discussed. But does the AU want to be ‘included’ or coopted by the EU or NATO and be appointed or authorised by them to sort out Libya’s problems, where the West will take credit?

The call that the West makes to Gaddafi depart from his country is reminiscent of previous methods of deportations of African kings who resisted foreign intervention in their countries. The alliance leaders have repeatedly called on Gaddafi to ‘quit and go’ though it is not really clear if such a call will be heeded. Such a call, in itself, could be seen as dictatorial.

Earlier on in Uganda, the British dethroned and deported kings to the Seychelles islands to get their resistance out of the way. One of them, Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda, died in exile. Omukama Kabalega of Bunyoro too was deported to the Seychelles where he lived for over 23 years in captivity before returning unceremoniously and tragically dying on his way back to his kingdom.

What the West did to the rest of Africa before is being repeated in Libya right now. Unfortunately for Libya today, its proximity to Europe and its immense oil wealth has become a curse for it, which should not have been the case. Libya should be free to export its oil to whomever it wants, even to China. The world is now witnessing a new scramble for Africa over oil. There is also this new rivalry over African oil between the West and China.

For example, what are French troops doing in Gabon, an ‘independent’ country? Gabon is oil-rich, but small. Moreover, the West’s efforts, in trying to delink Libya from Africa, can be read as racial prejudice towards Africans.

This prejudice is apparently ‘out in the open’ where Africa is portrayed as poor, wretched and infantilised, as not mature enough to have a voice to be heard, or mature enough to give a free hand in mediation in a place like Libya. Western leaders in the Libyan conflict have shown a preference for the Arab League, exalting and glorifying it over the AU. Some hidden agenda is apparent by the Western leaders in trying to pit Arabs against Africans on the continent. But Arabs in North Africa are African Arabs and cannot be delinked from Africa. Moreover, Arabs, even those in the ‘Middle East’, just like Africans, had been colonised by the West.

The purpose and urgency of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton resuscitating the recently quiet Arab League, headquartered in Egypt with an Egyptian secretary general, was to try to use this organisation as a junior partner that would comply with the Western agenda of dividing up Libya for its oil wealth. But Egypt, where the Arab League is based, remains in Africa and drinks from the same water source of the Nile originating in Uganda and Ethiopia. Egypt and other North African states stand to gain more by remaining united with the rest of Africa. Moreover, there is nothing like ‘sub-Saharan Africa’ because it is a creation by the West in trying to delink the northern part of Africa from the rest of the continent.

The massacre of innocent people, including women and children, is of course undesirable. Moreover, the war situation created by the West in Libya is not particularly good for all Libyans, including women and children. What the world saw in the former Yugoslavia does not qualify European powers as the most humanitarian to justify their intervention in Libya to protect civilians. They did not do this in time to save women in Yugoslavia during ethnic cleansing.

Calling off this apocalyptic military campaign and leaving Libya to seek a political solution or, better still, an African solution, is the best idea. This war over Libyan oil is egoistic and imperialistic. The terrain is Libya and it is precarious, as more Libyans are being killed by the airstrikes from the sea and from the Libyan skies above. What we have seen is that it is a war that is senseless and needs a political solution. Already there is a so-called stalemate in the Libyan civil war and the West could be blamed for its role in the destruction of that country. With many wounded and maimed, as well as many dead since this unfortunate war, the UN has been misused.

[B]loggers have suggested that President Obama could have lost the support of African-Americans by 26 per cent because of the US role in the NATO bombing of Libya, a country in Africa.

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NATO’s Aerial Onslaught In Libya: 3,300 Sorties, 1,373 Air Strikes

http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_04/20110422_110422-oup-update.pdf

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
April 22, 2011

NATO and Libya
JFC Naples, SHAPE, NATO HQ

Air Operations

Since the beginning of the NATO operation (31 March 2011, 08.00GMT) a total of 3,300 sorties and 1,373 strike sorties have been conducted.

Sorties conducted 21 April: 152

Strike sorties conducted 21 April: 62

Key Targets and Engagements

21 April: In vicinity of Tripoli: 8 ammunition storage bunkers.

In vicinity of Misurata: 1 tank, 1 anti-aircraft gun.

In vicinity of Zintan: 1 military vehicle.

In vicinity of Ajdabiya: 4 tanks, 5 military vehicles.

In vicinity of Brega: 2 tanks, 1 multiple rocket launcher.

In vicinity of Mizdah: 5 ammunition storage bunkers.

In vicinity of Sirte: 4 military trucks.
….

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U.S. Introduces Armed Predator Drones For Libyan War

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/22/c_13840190.htm

Xinhua News Agency
April 22, 2011

U.S. introduces armed Predator drones in Libya

WASHINGTON: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said President Barack Obama has approved the use of armed Predator drones in the military mission in Libya, and the unmanned aerial vehicles can provide unique capabilities to the NATO forces operating in the Northern African country.

Gates said the drones…have “capability that even the A10 and AC130 couldn’t provide.” A10 and AC130 were ground attacking planes introduced earlier that could decimate tanks and troops.

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James Cartwright, who briefed reporters together with Gates, said Predator drones’ ability to get lower than regular fighter jets allows the coalition to conduct low-level precision attacks on Libyan government forces.

He said the remote-controlled drones can provide better vision of the battleground….Their ability for “extended persistence” in targets, which means they can fly much longer periods of time than regular planes in the sky, brings capability to the conflict that NATO partners don’t have.

Predator drones can fly surveillance missions and fire Hellfire missiles. They were used extensively in Afghanistan, but Gates said the drones used in Libya did not come from Afghanistan.
….
Although the United States has handed over command of the Libyan mission to NATO, it still provides some of the most critical capabilities in the conflict, such as aerial refueling, jamming, surveillance and certain ground attack capabilities.

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Benghazi: McCain Hails Rebels As “Heroes” As Drones Are Deployed

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2011/04/21/AFWELQKE_story.html

Washington Post
April 22, 2011

McCain visits Benghazi; Libyan rebels welcome armed drone aircraft
By Greg Jaffe, Edward Cody and William Branigin

Libyan rebels welcomed President Obama’s deployment of armed Predator drones and received praise from their most prominent U.S. visitor Friday, as they expressed hope that increased American support would help turn the tide in a conflict that the top U.S. military officer acknowledged is becoming deadlocked.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), an early proponent of helping the rebels in their fight against forces loyal to longtime leader Moammar Gaddafi, arrived Friday in Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital in eastern Libya, and told reporters that the anti-Gaddafi fighters are his heroes.

The previously unannounced visit came a day after the U.S. military sent the first two Predators to Libya but had to cut short their mission because of bad weather. McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was meeting with members of the Transitional National Council, the rebel government in Benghazi, to assess the situation. As he left a hotel in the city with a security detail, he said of the rebels, “They are my heroes,” the Associated Press reported.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded that the conflict in Libya is “certainly moving towards a stalemate,” even though he said airstrikes by U.S. and allied warplanes have reduced Gaddafi’s ground forces by “somewhere between 30 and 40 percent.”

Speaking to U.S. troops during a visit to the Iraqi capital, Mullen said the capabilities of those ground forces “will continue to go away over time,” Reuters news agency reported. Ultimately, he said, “Gaddafi’s gotta go,” and coalition actions “are going to continue to put the squeeze on him until he’s gone.” But he said it was unclear how long that would take. “Is he going to figure that out? I don’t know,” Mullen said.
….
Responding to the U.S. decision to deploy Predators, Benghazi-based rebel spokesman Abdul Hafidh Ghoga told al-Jazeera television: “There’s no doubt that will help protect civilians, and we welcome that step from the American administration.” Other rebels made similar comments.

The deployment deepened U.S. involvement in the stalemated conflict and once again put U.S. assets into a strike role against loyalist ground forces.

The U.S. military will continue to maintain at least two Predators over Libya at all times, officials said Thursday.
….
Armed drones are in heavy demand in places such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, and the announcement of their deployment to Libya seemed designed at least in part to send a message to Gaddafi that the United States remains invested in the conflict.

It also served as a demonstration of U.S. resolve to European allies, who have been pressing for greater involvement by the U.S. military in the weeks since it took on a supporting role in the mission.

Rebel forces in eastern Libya have failed to maintain advances from their Benghazi base and forward positions at the crossroads town of Ajdabiya. Their major prize in western Libya, Misurata, has come under relentless barrages from Libyan army artillery and rocket launchers, causing rebel leaders to plead for intervention by foreign ground troops.

On Thursday, rebels in Misurata were buoyed by news that armed drones had been deployed to the region. “It is wonderful news,” a rebel spokesman said.

He said that NATO airstrikes had helped drive loyalist forces back in the last couple of days…..

The armed Predators’ first mission over Libya was cut short Thursday because of bad weather. The unmanned aircraft can stay over an area for upwards of 12 hours at a stretch, making them much better at distinguishing rebel troops from loyalist forces than faster-moving fighter jets, which also must stay at higher altitudes.

Predators carry relatively small Hellfire missiles that are much more effective than precision guided bombs at striking enemy troops in heavily populated urban areas.
….
The drones could open up targets there were previously off-limits to NATO aircraft.

“The character of the fight has changed,” said Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff….

Libyan officials condemned the use of the drones as a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized intervention in Libya for the sole purpose of protecting civilians.

“On the contrary, they will kill more civilians, and this is very sad,” Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told reporters in Tripoli. “What they are doing is undemocratic, illegitimate, and I hope they will reverse their decision.”

Both Britain and France have clearly stated that a major focus of the air campaign is to destroy Gaddafi’s military and weaken his grip on power. By their yardstick — helping rebel forces topple Gaddafi — the bombing campaign has fallen short.

No one inside the U.S. military expects that the Predators by themselves will be enough to break the stalemate between loyalist and rebel forces in Misurata or other key Libyan cities.

But Thursday, Gates, who had expressed deep skepticism about intervening in Libya, struck a somewhat optimistic note about the progress of the bombing campaign. The sustained strikes were slowly eroding Gaddafi’s ground forces. “Day after day, the capabilities of his military are being reduced,” Gates told reporters.
….
Some European officials have lamented the absence of U.S. A-10 Warthog ground-attack jets — specifically designed for close air support — and AC-130 gunships. While the low- and slow-flying planes were deployed in small numbers during the first two weeks of the campaign, they were rarely used because of fears they would be shot down by the Libyan army.

The Predators can fly at low altitudes without putting a pilot at risk. Last month Gates said that the Air Force was able to maintain about 48 Predators around the world at any given time.
….
Separately, State Department officials Thursday acknowledged delays in releasing $25 million in U.S. aid to the Libyan rebels. The decision to provide the non-lethal support — including vehicles, boots and body armor — was announced Wednesday to address what U.S. officials had described as an urgent need.

….

Cody reported from Brussels. Staff writers Simon Denyer and Joby Warrick and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.

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Libya: On The Eve Of A Ground Invasion?

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/22/49322775.html

Voice of Russia
April 22, 2011

Libya on eve of a ground operation?
Konstantin Garibov

In an interview with the Voice of Russia aired on Friday, Vladimir Sotnikov, a Moscow-based Middle East expert, said that the beginning of the West’s ground military operation in Libya is just a question of time.

“I do not rule out that next week may well see the start of such an operation…,” Sotnikov concludes.

He is echoed by his colleague Vitaly Naumkin who warns against jumping to conclusions on the topic.

“Actually, something of a limited ground operation has already begun,” Naumkin argues, remaining skeptical of a full-fledged ground troop intervention in Libya, a move that he says must be endorsed by a relevant UN Security Council resolution, which has yet to be adopted.

Speaking to reporters in Ljubljana on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for his part, warned against a Western ground operation in Libya.

“We are concerned about the latest developments in Libya, where all signs are that a ground operation is in the offing, Lavrov says. We consider such steps to be extremely risky and fraught with unpredictable consequences,” he added, urging a strict adherence to the UNSC’s no-fly-zone-over-Libya resolution, which stipulates protecting civilians from pro-Gaddafi forces’ air strikes.”

The statement came amid confirmed reports about the dispatch of British, French and Italian military experts to Libya, where they will be allegedly tasked with rendering logistical support to the rebels. This is a clear sign that the West is already taking sides in the ongoing civil war in Libya, analysts say.

Meanwhile, the UN’s aid chief Valery Amos has warned against accepting an EU offer of NATO military escorts to protect aid deliveries to Libya. She said that such escorts could put aid workers and the delivery of their supplies at unnecessary risk, right down to the killing of a UN or NATO representative. This may in turn be used as a pretext for the beginning of a ground operation in Libya, Amos said.

On Thursday, the United States asked Algeria for permission to use Algerian airspace for NATO military and transport aircraft in case of a possible ground military operation in Libya, according to Algeria’s Elkhabar newspaper.

The Pentagon also asked Algeria to help assess the potential backlash from such an operation, not least al-Qaeda’s possible expansion of its North African clout, the newspaper reported.

In the meantime, two US reconnaissance drones are making surveillance flights over the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which experts says may be of great help to Western experts who are now on their way to Libya.

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Libya: NATO Air Attack Kills Nine Including Utility Workers

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/22/libya-sirte-idUSLDE73L06Z20110422

Reuters
April 22, 2011

Nine killed in NATO attack on Sirte – Libyan TV

RABAT: Nine people were killed overnight in NATO bombardment of the Libyan city of Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi’s home town, Libyan state television said on Friday.

The news bulletin of al-Jamahiriya said some of those killed were employees of the state water utility who were working during the attack.

(Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

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Video And Text: Libyan Rebels Use French Missiles From Qatar

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8466913/Libyan-rebels-train-using-missiles-from-Qatar.html

Daily Telegraph
April 21, 2011

Libyan rebels train using missiles from Qatar
Anti-Gaddafi forces in Libya practise firing anti-tank rockets supplied by Qatar

Video

Libyan rebels have been using French-made MILAN missile launchers to practise hitting targets in the Libyan desert.

The MILAN is a wire guided missile system which means the operator must be able to see their target through the sights on the weapon before firing.

Qatar recently confirmed previously secret deliveries of weapons to the rebels claiming that it is permitted by the UN resolution to supply “defensive weapons”.

The UK government has so far refused calls to arm the rebels, pledging instead to send a team of military advisers to eastern Libya.

The 12 advisers will show Libya’s Transitional National Council “how to improve their military organisational structures, communications and logistics”, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said.

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Video And Text: NATO Military Advisers In Libya: “Clear Launch Of Ground Conflict”

http://rt.com/news/send-military-forces-city/

RT
April 22, 2011

NATO may send military advisers to Libyan rebels

Video

Rebel forces have claimed a key city on the Tunisian border, in a rare victory over Gaddafi troops, but the win was overshadowed by shelling in Libya’s third-largest city Misrata. It has been under siege by pro-government forces for seven weeks.

­Meanwhile, the NATO allies have announced plans to send military advisers to the rebels’ headquarters to help the opposition break the stalemate with pro-government forces. However, Russia’s foreign minister warned that putting international officers on the ground could have unpredictable consequences.

“The latest developments in Libya are not making us happy,” he told a Thursday press conference in Ljubljana. “It’s a clear launch of a ground conflict. We consider these moves extremely risky which couldlead to unpredictable consequences.

“There’ve been cases in history when it all started with sending in military advisors, and then it dragged out for years and resulted in hundreds and thousands dead on both sides,” Lavrov reminded. “We call on all everyone to respect the UN resolution in solving this conflict.”

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Belarus: U.S.-Backed Uprisings Destructive

http://news.belta.by/en/news/president?id=627076

Belarusian Telegraph Agency
April 21, 2011

Lukashenko: Nothing good can come out of a revolution

“They should come to the idea on their own. They should not be forced to do it by fighter jets and bombers.”

MINSK: Nobody needs revolutions that break relations and destroy countries. They can bring nothing but harm in the short term, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko as he answered questions of Belarusian MPs on 21 April.

Alexander Lukashenko reminded “We’ve been always called revolutionaries. But we need no more revolutions, we have had enough”. He pointed out that the West, including the USA, are the most ardent revolutionaries now.

“They have mastered the methods used by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and are using them. It turns out they need revolutions. I wish revolutions would start in their country so that they would understand what a revolution is and what it costs,” said the President.

He believes a revolution may happen in the distant future and may bring some positive results if it aims for them. “But nobody needs revolutions that radically destroy relations and countries. In the near future they will bring nothing but harm, you will see,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

Alexander Lukashenko believes that things will get worse in Northern Africa. It is just the beginning.

Hosni Mubarak may have been bad and Muammar Gaddafi may have made mistakes. “But those are problems of their nations. The power configuration in Libya may be peculiar. Tribes play a very important role there. Why would we recommend creating political parties to them? They should come to the idea on their own. They should not be forced to do it by fighter jets and bombers,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

He believes that the rise of radicals to power there can have terrible consequences. “Look at Egypt. Mubarak is gone. The new government is not ready yet but they are dividing the pie already,” said Alexander Lukashenko. Revolutions have such consequences, he said.

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Will Ongoing Conflicts Lead To World War?

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/21/49280902.html

Voice of Russia
April 21, 2011

Will the ongoing conflicts lead to a world war?
Anna Forostenko

-“This is happening not so roughly and blankly like during the colour revolutions in the former Soviet republics. Clearly, the coordinators of these processes have learned to assess the specifics of each country creatively. At present, all is done skillfully, delicately, and accurately using various aspects of information technology for each country by taking into account local specifics.”
-According to several experts, Syria is becoming the battlefield where the interests of Saudi Arabia and Iran clash.
Most likely, Saudi Arabia has a country to lean on, the United States. This means the entire region will face a serious conflict and world powers will be involved.

The conflicts in the Middle East and Africa are growing to inter-confessional proportions. An opinion poll conducted among experts by the Voice of Russia shows that they believe that in a worst-case scenario, these conflicts could lead to a world war.

The outcome of presidential election triggered clashes in Nigeria. According to official reports, incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, won 60 percent of votes, while his opponent, Muhammadu Buhari won only little more than 30 percent. The opposition is dissatisfied with the results. As a result, Buhari’s supporters launched attacks on Christians and even set fire to several churches. In response, young Christians attacked mosques.

Some experts draw a parallel between Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, disintegration of which into North and South was averted only after the interference of the UN peacekeepers and the French forces. This means that Nigeria may experience a similar fate. It will have to get foreign assistance or it will disintegrate.

Meanwhile, the foreign factor could trigger disintegration of Libya, says a senior lecture of the political science faculty of the St. Petersburg University, Gumer Isaev.

“Libya will disintegrate only in case its situation is deadlocked. This will depend on whether there will be foreign interference or not. If foreign countries interfere, Libya will be divided into at least two parts,” Gumer Isaev said.

The head of the department of Central Asia and Kazakhstan of the Institute of the CIS countries, Andrei Grozin disagrees with him. The historical borders of Libya were established artificially after the colonial rule, and consequently, the country will hardly remain within these borders in the future, says the expert.

It’s a different case that ongoing uprisings in several countries have been triggered only by internal problems such as unemployment, poor income, dissatisfied young people and privileges to a small group of people. Lately, a third force has been backing these uprisings, says Andrei Grozin.

“This is happening not so roughly and blankly like during the colour revolutions in the former Soviet republics. Clearly, the coordinators of these processes have learned to assess the specifics of each country creatively. At present, all is done skillfully, delicately, and accurately using various aspects of information technology for each country by taking into account local specifics, Andrei Grozin said.

Possibly, Salafis could be such a group in Syria. According to Syrian authorities, they are behind the unrest in Homs and Baniyas.

However, this could only be the tip of the iceberg. According to several experts, Syria is becoming the battlefield where the interests of Saudi Arabia and Iran clash.

Most likely, Saudi Arabia has a country to lean on, the United States. This means the entire region will face a serious conflict and world powers will be involved.

This will be a conflict between various political orientations. Saudi Arabia will be backed by the U.S. and several countries of the European Union, while Iran will be supported by third world nations and perhaps China.

However, neither the U.S nor the EU tries to think about such a scenario. At present, the process is almost unnoticeable but if it goes out of control, emergency steps should be taken.

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Russia Fears Civil War In Syria

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/22/49316767.html

Voice of Russia
April 22, 2011

Russia fears civil war in Syria

A dialogue within Syria should be stimulated to prevent a civil war, the head of Russia’s State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Mikhail Margelov told reporters on Friday.

He also noted that a war in Syria can trigger unrest in the neighboring countries, for example in Lebanon.
….

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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/22/c_13841156.htm

Xinhua News Agency
April 22, 2011

U.S. urges Syria to do more on reform

WASHINGTON: The U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Thursday urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to do more on reform amid protests in the country.

“I can’t even begin to guess about Assad’s future,” said Toner when asked to respond to comment by a former Syrian official who said Assad “is likely to be overthrown.”

“He’s certainly facing a serious challenge from the Syrian people,” he said.

Al-Assad approved on Thursday the cabinet draft law of lifting the 48- year state of emergency which has been in place since the ruling Baath Party came to power.

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