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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…
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/transcript/are-us-troops-already-ground-libya#ixzz1HiPalxMr
The Pinkies must be on vacation.
Can someone please tell us again, why we are even bothering with this african mess? And why are we fraternizing with the enemy, aside of course, from the fact that Obama is one of them. We have no dog in this hunt and we have already spent far too many millions of dollars on Tomahawks.
The “enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing didn’t work with Irag against the Iranians, and it for damn sure isn’t going to work here. The rebels are AQ. If Quackie the Duck is overthrown, Libya will be trading one atrocious regime for another. Either way, the Libyan people lose.
I really don’t want my tax dollars fighting for Islamists to have a country stone women to death
This war is very convenient to Congressional democrats who can hang over the heads of House GOPers the spectre over shutting down the govt while our “men and women” are at war.
I wonder if 0bama went to war for the budget
Hey Obama, you put unit size boots on the ground in Libya, you can kiss a second term goodbye based on Libya alone. There, you and the big boys chew on that for awhile. . .
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I think that we already have troops in the area bordering them on the Africa side in Sudan/Chad. I wonder if Obama will mention that?
It will still be Bush’s Fault!
LBJ comes to mind.
Qadaffi is about to get his own anti NATO e-enforcements. This somm may very well become a continenta war. Sub Saharan Africa is royally PISHED!
The 20 major tribes of Africa may unify against NATO, then what will they do, call on the help of Queen Victoria in her grave?
Russian intel said Saddam had WMDs.
Im just simply outraged at the notion of our admin possibly supplying and helping the f***ing people that took down the Twin Towers and the same group of crazies we been at war with ever since. Will no Repubs stand up in Congress and begin some kind of impeachment and removal process? These people should be tried for sedition and given the sentence merited.
When will American stupidity end? Rhetorical question - no one expects it to end any time soon.
We could be in Obama’s LIE-BYA for years to come!