Libya Airstrikes

Agree or disagree with the proposed no-fly zone over Libya, in order to make the no-fly zone safe you must prevent the enemy from endangering friendly aircraft. The purpose of the launch of Odyssey Dawn strikes is to degrade the Qadhafi regime’s ability to resist future allied air operations.

The initial air and guided missile strike operations in Libya are designed to destroy Qadhafi’s Air Defenses. The primary targets were airfields and fixed anti-aircraft missile (SAM) batteries. The second strikes were aimed at disrupting Command and Control Communications networks and military operations against opposition forces in Benghazi. Future Air Operations will be aimed in halting the regime from moving against civilians. As orchestrated by Hillary Clintons’ State Department, the end goal is to use air power to remove Qadhafi from power, to date such operations have never worked. The last multinational no-fly operation was against Iraq, but it took ground operations to remove Saddam.

On FOX News this morning Norman R. Augustine the retired chairman and chief executive officer of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, the nation’s largest defense contractor,told Neal Cavuto:

“Airpower alone will not be successful and boots on ground will be needed.”

Obama: No U.S. Forces on the Ground in Libya . . . Except for Those Guys.
By Jim Geraghty
Posted on March 23, 2011 3:46 PM

NPR: “President Obama said Wednesday it was ‘absolutely’ out of the question that U.S. ground forces would be used in Libya.”

How would the president describe the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit? There is no such thing as a purely air-based combat mission; planes have problems and pilots end up on the ground, and then U.S. forces have to end up on the ground, hopefully briefly, to rescue them and bring them home safely. Ask Scott O’Grady how much time you can spend on the ground while patrolling a no-fly zone.

Details on the recent rescue:

The Kearsarge then sent up two MV-22 Ospreys carrying Marine rescue teams. As they were en route, the Harriers dropped two laser-guided bombs near the crash site, apparently to keep Libyans on the ground from approaching the pilot.

With additional helicopters hovering overhead for security, one of the Ospreys landed and picked up the pilot. He was then taken aboard the Kearsarge.

The weapons systems officer was recovered by what U.S. officials described as Libyan opposition forces. He is safe, officials have said.

There are about 2,200 Marines off the shore of Libya right now. http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/262910

March 24, 2011

Are U.S. Troops Already on the Ground in Libya? | O’Reilly Factor

Special Guests | Col. David Hunt & Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer

RET. COL. DAVID HUNT, U.S. ARMY: Yes, absolutely. You’ve got British service been in there about three weeks ago and actually got captured and released. The French GIGN have been in there and our special forces and our U.S. intelligence operatives and their assets. We do not conduct operations like this, large scale air operations, without people on the ground. They have been very successful, very good, not a lot of contact with the rebels because you don’t know who to talk to. But, yes, we have got intel gathering and rescue guys and special operations guys on the ground, have had them for about 12 days.

O’REILLY: Now, do you agree with that, Col. Shaffer?

LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER, FORMER ARMY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Yes, I have heard from my sources — I got a call from one of my key sources on Monday and that’s exactly what’s going on. Let’s be really clear here. You have got to have these individuals doing what Dave just said, especially when you are talking about trying to protect, and the stated goal here, Bill, is humanitarian support. So you don’t want to have weapons hitting the wrong targets. So, Dave is very good on the fact that we have special operations guys sitting there with laser designators. Bill, you saw…

Let’s be really clear here.

Sounds like he's picking up a few of Zero's phrases, in the course of defending him.

Let me be perfectly clear. I don't blame our troops for following legitimate orders. But unfortunately no one is really in charge of this operation, and it is wrong from the start. We are fighting on the wrong side.

It's like Bosnia and Kosovo under clinton, all over again. Most of what our troops did was well carried out. But unfortunately, they were ordered to fight on the wrong side.

Once again, they are being sent into battle to help Muslim terrorists. We are helping al Qaeda take power all over North Africa--first Egypt, and then Libya. Tunisia we just sat back and let happen, but we'll regret that, too.

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