Libya bombing called successful; endgame unclear

yahoo ^ | Sunday March 20, 2011 | ROBERT BURNS

[Bigtigermike]

The U.S. on Sunday claimed initial success two days into an assault on Libya that included some of the heaviest firepower in the American arsenal — long-range bombers designed for the Cold War — but American officials said Sunday it was too early to define the international military campaign's endgame.

The top U.S. military officer suggested that Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi might stay in power in spite of the military assault aimed at protecting civilians, calling into question the larger objective of an end to Gadhafi's erratic 42-year rule. Other top U.S. officials have suggested that a weakened and isolated Gadhafi could be ripe for a coup

[Bigtigermike]

I read somewhere that Obama told Hillary that it will be only some days not many weeks for the war; Gadhafi could possible hold out and survive and then the allies will most likely leave - Gadhafi pretty much destroyed the rebels nearly in every part except for the city of BENGHAZI while Europe and the U.S. were arguing what to do.

[shibumi]

"Libya bombing called successful; endgame unclear"

That endgame thingy is tough to figure out when you don't have pre-game a during-game or really any game at all.

[Nonstatist]

If President Yellowbelly had supported a no fly zone 3 weeks ago, this would be over in days. Instead, Quadaffy is gong to be there indefinitely. What a dithering fool!

[dr_lew]

Whew! That’s a letter-swap away from a dire prediction.

[DarthVader]

I would say to call this bombing sucessful yet is premature as Shock & Awe did not neutralize the Iraqi insurgency as everyone thought it did.

[crz]

Not only might Gawdawffy survive, he could become stronger with Arab backing.

They now HAVE to eliminate this creep. Then the end game will be, who is going to ultimately control this country?

They will have to send troops in.

[mlocher]

Let's see, if you do not have an end-game, then you do not have goals or a strategy or a plan. Some tactical bombing cannot possibly be called successful unless it ties into the achievement of a goal as part of a broader strategy.

Yahoo and AP are covering for their man again.

[Morpheus2009]

Not only might Gawdawffy survive, he could become stronger with Arab backing.

What’s more likely is that we will have to go in and spend a long time fighting insurgents as we did in Iraq, because the world knows that fighting the U.S. military involves not fighting in uniform, and performing ruthless acts of terrorism in the midst of the major cities against the U.S. military. However, the one weapon, if Obama can bother muster enough of a brain to use it, is to endure the rebellion for a while, hopefully their internal bickering will also narrow our opposition down.

[P-Marlowe]

Not only might Gawdawffy survive, he could become stronger with Arab backing.

What Gawdawffy has shown the other Arab leaders is that if you are ruthless, then you can defeat any attempt by some popular uprising to overthrow your leadership. Mubarak learned that lesson too late. But if Gadaffi survives this, then the remaining tyrants in the Middle East will follow his lead when they see rebellion in their kingdoms.

Frankly, unless we are willing to commit ground troops to hunting him down like we did with Hussein, he probably will survive. I don't see any ground troops in this war. Also I don't see us continuing with this massacre for more than a couple more days before world pressure forces us to stop. Obama may not listen to the American People, but when world opinion speaks, they have his ear.

[crz]

I would have flew over the GD country and dumped out all the arms I could muster to whoever got to them and protracted the civil war for years if possible.

I could have kinda supported a NO FLY zone if it was just that-a no fly zone. That way it would have let the rebels have a bit more time to enjoy the general killing going on in that country.

Now its screwed up royally.

[DaxtonBrown]

“long-range bombers designed for the Cold War “

That could mean anything from 52s to B1s to B2s. More importantly, that’s a pretty damn big escalation.

[BobP]

That endgame thingy is tough to figure out when you don't have pre-game a during-game or really any game at all.

--------------------------

Great line Shibumi!

So now we're belligerents in an Arab War in The land of the Libu (the ancient Berber tribe).

Zer0 is 'all in' now to do Al-Qaeda's dirty work - Can you say 'caliphate coalition'? Is it possible we're helping the Brotherhood take over North Africa?

Is this the first time we ever started a war and the President was outside of the country and on vacation? Hope and Change.... Tragic.

Qadaffi bombs the rebles, Obama increases his rhetoric. Qadaffi keeps going, Obama increases the rhetoric. Qadaffi says he'll blow up commercial jets. Obama declares Qadaffi a school bully. Quadaffi ignores Obama. 'Let me be clear, these terms are not negotiable,' Mr. Obama said. Quadaffi ignores Obama. Obama launches a missile attack. Qadaffi warns of 'long-drawn war' after airstrikes. Gates says targeting Qaddafi goes beyond UN resolution on Libya. What's next? Who gets to play the American 'Baghdad' Bob's part here?

[yup2394871293]

Just glad it isn’t “endgame nuclear”

[SMCC1]

I like how Iowahawk so succinctly put it (per usual)- no one can argue Obama’s rationale for this war because he doesn’t have one.

[Enough is ENOUGH]

Who needs Congress anymore to start a war? /s

[Tempest]

So American policy is to now side with open rebellions and use military action to support them?

[Bean Counter]

Obama is deluding himself about this only taking days, because whether he is smart enough to realize it or not, he owns Libya and Kadaffy, and if Kadaffy is not overthrown it will be widely viewed as his personal failure.

What ever happened to “No Blood For Oil” ??

[Tempest]

112 missiles to take out 20 targets. I wonder how many civilians were hit by the rest?
I mean this being a ‘humanitarian war and all...