Posted on 07/19/2011 7:54:58 AM PDT by Clive
OTTAWA — The NATO mission in Libya has dragged on longer than most had expected and Canada’s top soldier suggests things might be different if the rules of engagement allowed for boots on the ground.
It’s an idea that all involved countries have been adamantly against, but Gen. Walt Natynczyk suggested it can be limiting.
“It’s always about precision and from 20,000 feet, you only get so much precision,” he said in an interview with Postmedia News.
The NATO force, which includes about 650 Canadians, has been able to gather good intelligence with the resources it has, he added, but having people on the ground is “always better.”
That said, the mandate from the United Nations is clear and not unlike the one Canada and other nations operated under in Kosovo.
“Protect civilian lives but you can’t put forces on the ground,” he said.
As such, “collateral damage” is out of the question.
“We’re not pushing the risk factors here because our job is to protect those folks and at the same time trying to stop [Libyan leader Muammar] Gaddafi from shelling civilians,” Natynczyk said.
“The challenge in any of these campaigns is having patience.”
A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed Monday that “we will not deploy boots on the ground in Libya.”
“The Harper government’s position is clear,” said Dimitri Soudas in an email to Postmedia News. “Our government’s approach to protecting Libyan civilians has been under the umbrella of the United Nations in close collaboration with our allies.”
The three-month mission began in March and Parliament recently extended it until the end of September. Opposition parties have clearly stated they would not support the use of ground troops and may not be so quick to rubber stamp another extension should one be sought.
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalpost.com ...
Got a link for that?
Niger fears takeover by militants in neighbour LibyaExiled Islamists Fuel Libyan Revolution (Obama & NATO islamic allies....)
Libyan Rebels Led by "Former-Mujahedeen" from Guantanamo Bay
Abdel Hakim al-Hasady, an influential Islamic preacher and school teacher, who spent five years in a training camp in eastern Afghanistan, oversees the recruitment, training and deployment of about 300 rebel fighters Darna.
Field Commander Mr. Hasady in the first line is Salah al-Barrani, a veteran of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which was formed in the early 1990 by the Libyan mujahideen returning home after helping expel the Soviets from Afghanistan and dedicated to the expulsion of Mr Gaddafi's power.
Sufyan bin Qumu, an Army veteran who worked for the Libyan holding company of Usama bin Laden in Sudan and later for a charity linked to al Qaeda in Afghanistan, is the training of recruits many rebels in the city.
Both Ben and colleagues Hasady Qumu Pakistani authorities picked up after the US-led invasion in Afghanistan in 2001 and fell in SU Dr. Hasady reached with Libya in prison two months later. Mr. Ben Qumu spent six years at Guantanamo Bay before he was imprisoned in 2007 killed Libya.
They were both released from prison in Libya in 2008 as part of the liquidation of the Islamists in Libya.
Liquidation of the Islamists in 2008? So now 0bama and Leon Panetta's CIA are helping those Islamists, that Gaddafi was getting rid of, get complete control of Libya. That should be a big comfort to Israel alright.
2. Islamists are stupid enough to march to their deaths in a CIA orchestrated war and you want it stopped? You'd rather they keep targeting Americans?
3. Ronald Reagan was right to arm the mujahideen to cripple the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the CIA is right the use the same people now to fight Kadaffy. Ayman al-Zawahiri has ordered al-qaeda to fight NATO in Libya, so has Abu Obeida, the leader of GSPC, now known as "al-qaeda in the islamic Maghreb." Al-Qaeda knows that NATO intervention ensures that there will NOT be an islamic takeover of Libya, but a CIA takeover. The "arab nationalist" types are not fighting for islam so that's why they disagree with al-qaeda and support NATO intervention. Many of them are former members of Kadaffy's army and government. Kadaffy himself is an arab nationalist.
You don't have a clue You DO support terrorists who murdered innocent Americans.
If you learn the facts and admit the truth, the chances are that your world would fall apart.
As Aldous Huxley said "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad"
So what? Completely irrelevant to whether they know what is going on next door.
2. Islamists are stupid enough to march to their deaths in a CIA orchestrated war and you want it stopped? You'd rather they keep targeting Americans?
You can't keep your story straight for two posts. First you want Gaddafi killed, and it's alright to spend several hundred billion to accomplish a ten thousand dollar job, then you want the rebels killed after saying they are not Al Qaeda but having to backpedal and admit that they are. What an idiot!
3. Ronald Reagan was right to arm the mujahideen to cripple the Soviet Union in Afghanistan...
Totally irrelevant thirty year old history that no one brought up. No wonder you like Code Pink you fit right in with loons like that. LOL
Abdel Hakim al-Hasady is one field commander in one city in charge of a few hundred fighters. CIA asset Khalifa Haftar on the other hand is in command of all the rebel forces.
Remember, General Petraeus is in charge of the CIA now. His tactics worked in Iraq. Petraeus was able to win in Anbar province by getting al-qaeda sympathizers to switch sides and he can do it again in Libya.
He just left his command in Afghanistan two days ago. He hasn't even had time to see his office and sharpen a pencil yet. Everything currently happening in the CIA is Panetta's doing and he danced to 0bama's tune.
There is no contradiction in wanting Kadaffy killed and wanting members of LIGF to die trying to kill him.
That is a change of subject since I didn't call that a contradiction. Nice dodge on every point I made. Extend that to every post I've ever made to you.
Don't be surprised when the Republican who takes America back from the usurper 0bama regime keeps Petraeus on as CIA head and finishes the job against Kadaffy which 0bama refuses to do.
No, you're flip-flopping all around.
...you falsely accused me of admitting that the rebels are al-qaeda. They are not.
You admit that they are Islamists in this very post. It is a fact that one out of five insurgents that came to Iraq were from eastern Libya.
Yes some rebels are islamists but you are focusing on the most intensely muslim city in Libya and acting like they are representative of everyone in Eastern Libya. They are not.
That is BS that you're making up.
...and finishes the job against Kadaffy which 0bama refuses to do.
The job that 0bama started he is refusing to do!?! Nut case. LOL
Keep laughing, imbecile.
Clowns make me laugh.
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