Posted on 03/31/2011 5:56:27 PM PDT by Eyes Unclouded
Gen. Khalifa Haftr, the self-proclaimed commander of the Free Libyan Army, does not dress for battle. On a recent day after his forces had reclaimed much of the territory they had lost, the commander was wearing a pinstripe suit and a black turtleneck sweater.
Haftr, who lived in Fairfax, Va., until recent weeks when he returned to join the rebellion against Moammar Gadhafi, was appointed to lead the rebel army earlier this month. His top aides appear to be his sons.
It is difficult for the media as well as the Obama administration to determine who, if anyone, is in charge of the rebellion. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said recently, "We don't know as much as we would like to know and as much as we expect we will know. We're picking up information."
A U.S. official said, "There's still a fair amount of uncertainty here on who's who in the opposition camp."
After a surge across eastern Libya following allied aerial attacks on Gadhafi's forces, the rebel army is again in retreat from the city key oil city of Ras Lanouf, and it's not clear who is commanding them.
Haftr, a general in Gadhafi's army during the 1980s, claims to be in charge. Haftr told ABC News that he doesn't officially report to Omar Hariri, the rebels' defense minister; or to Gen. Abdel Fattah Younes, who has the title of chief of staff. Haftr spoke with ABC News earlier this week at a time the rebels were on the march behind allied air power. At the time, Haftr predicted that the rebels' advance on Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte would not be a major test for his ragtag army, and that the city would fall easily.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
“When Haftr served under Gadhafi, he fought in Chad, a military debacle in which thousands of Libyan soldiers died. After being arrested in Chad, Haftr says he was sentenced to death by Gadhafi, but managed to seek asylum in the U.S. He said he returned to Libya in recent weeks and was promptly put in charge of the rebel forces.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_War
Settle in folks these guys couldn’t even beat Chad so this might go on for a while. Every indication is that the rebel forces have next to no discipline, even for an Arab army, and that the most competent forces in country are actually Eastern European mercs.
Unless Obama has violated his no boots on the ground pledge and sent in some real American operators.
May a 308 find the animal before some fool let’s him back in america. So anyone living in the united states can travel overseas and claim they are a rable command and kill and rape whomever they wish. I thought we had laws about that stuff.
That must be where their “rebel” moniker came from. Sure beats Al Qaeda. Americans like “rebels” but aren’t very fond of “Al Qaeda”.
This guy is a former member of the Kadhafi regime just like most of the rebel leaders.
I am sure people in Fairfax (I am one) are proud that we have people still ready, willing and able to pledge their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on something worth doing ~ LIKE getting rid of Gaddafi.
Please note our President isn't like that. And he doesn't care to get rid of Gaddafi.
Great! I remember the Liberia despot Taylor was a prison escapee from Massachusetts.
This not about daffy, this is about the oil and getting obummer reelected.
For the Libyans it's a war against the dictator and his friends. I think they assume they will continue to be paid for oil in the future ~
These guys could have Patton, another Virginian, and the would lose.
Small arms against artillery and tanks is not a fair fight.
Teaching people small unit tactics in real time is an example of Darwinism at work. And not too successful.
They need experienced boots on the ground with support.
The will lose.
You mean for a few hundred imported Libyans and AQ, the rest seem to be staying home.
By whom are these mercenaries being paid?
What's a CF and couple of billion of taxpayers' dollars among friends.
No one knows if that is who is there, that was a report by the rebels and the cia, the whole thing may have been made up. It is reported that daffy is worth about 100 billion. Been selling oil for a long time.
You hit the nail on the head. The “rebels” lack the training and equipment to defeat even Qadhafi’s incompetent Army. And, if the weather doesn’t improve—and NATO doesn’t ratchet up the air campaign—the insurgents (aka Al Qaida’s Libya affiliate) will be crushed in a matter of days. At this point, massive air strikes are the only option for temporarily halting Qadhafi’s advance. Stopping it long-term would require western ground forces, and sooner, rather than later.
Did I mention that, by taking sides in this mess, Obama has put U.S. credibility and prestige (or what’s left of it) on the line.
Losing a war to Qadhafi. Welcome to the debacle that is Obama’s national security policy.
So what made those former Generals revolt?
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