Gaddafi army 'not at breaking point'

BBC News ^ | 31 March 2011

[MinorityRepublican]

Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi's armed forces are not close to breaking point despite hundreds of allied air strikes, American military chiefs have said.

Adm Mike Mullen told a US Congress committee Col Gaddafi's troops still had 10 times the rebels' firepower.

At the same hearing, Defence Secretary Robert Gates reiterated the US would put no "boots on the ground" in Libya.

Rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces appear to have reached a stalemate in their fight for control of the country.

In recent days, rebels have been urging international forces to conduct more air strikes.

Adm Mullen told the House of Representatives armed forces committee that bad weather had stopped them from identifying targets over the past three or four days.

"[The weather] has more than anything else reduced the impact... reduced the effectiveness, and has allowed the regime forces to move back to the east," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

Despite the weather, he said the air strikes since the beginning of the operation had wiped out between 20% and 25% of Col Gaddafi's forces.

"We have actually fairly seriously degraded his military capabilities. That does not mean he's about to break, from a military standpoint, because that's not the case," he said.

[April Lexington]

This is a good reason not to interfere with a fight between lunatics!

[Zhang Fei]

The NBC News analysis of Web site postings found that 55 percent of foreign insurgents came from Saudi Arabia, 13 percent from Syria, 9 percent from North Africa and 3 percent from Europe.

The West Point data comes from intelligence collected by GI's in the field. The MSNBC analysis (I would call it guesswork more than analysis) is obtained by looking at websites. The West Point report does point out that Saudi jihadis outnumber Libyan jihadis 2 to 1. But Saudi Arabia has 4x Libya's population. Which means on a per capita basis, Libya has twice as many jihadis as Saudi Arabia.

* But that's like saying Texas has more Democrats than Rhode Island; it's by definition true, since Texas has more Democrats than the entire population of Rhode Island, Democrats, Republicans and independents combined. What is more informative from a political standpoint is that Texas has a less Democrats as a % of the state population.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

I can’t wait for the center-fuel tank explosions and other random, non-state-sponsored acts of terrorism to come. It’s going to be fantastic. I really missed the 90’s too.

[TxDas]

Obama’s fault. Obama read a teleprompter and people died.

[maine-iac7]

If Colonel Cuckoo wins, we have the makings of a terrorist-led pariah state that hates the West in general, and the United States in particular.

The question is, can we survive until we can vote him out of the White House?

OH! He meant Quadaffi! s/

[FreeReign]

Another study on foreign fighters in Iraq....

Foreign fighter nationality distribution - Sample Size = 619

In July 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported that 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North Africa. 50% of all Saudi fighters in Iraq come as suicide bombers. In the last six months, such bombings have killed or injured 4,000 Iraqis.[36] According to a U.S. military press briefing on October 20, 2005, 312 foreign nationals from 27 different countries had been captured in Iraq from April to October 2005.[37] This represents a component of the Iraqi resistance movement, which also includes a nationalist movement encompassing over 30 Shia and Sunni militias. Foreign Insurgents captured in Iraq in the 7-month period April–October 2005:


Egypt - 78
Syria - 66
Sudan - 41
Saudi Arabia - 32 U.S. - 15
Iran - 13
Palestine - 12 Libya - 7
Turkey - 6
Lebanon - 3
India - 2
Quatar - 2
Others - 14

Link

[DBeers]

I thought the goal was to protect all those innocents?

[Zhang Fei]

The Guardian: The CSIS disputes reports that Saudis account for most of the foreign insurgents and says best estimates suggest Algerians are the largest group (20%), followed by Syrians (18%), Yemenis (17%), Sudanese (15%), Egyptians (13%), Saudis (12%) and those from other states (5%). British intelligence estimate the number of British jihadists at about 100.

It seems to me that you can believe all kinds of secondary sources, including the CSIS, the relentlessly Obama-loving MSNBC and the border-line communist Guardian, or you can believe the people who are having to face the jihadis day-in and day-out, our GI's.

[DBeers]

At the same hearing, Defence Secretary Robert Gates reiterated the US would put no "boots on the ground" in Libya.

Because he is to busy putting homosexuals in the showers.

Gates has no credibility. Anyone that supported the homosexualization of the military is an enemy of America.

[tobyhill]

The only thing Obama managed to do is get 2% of the world oil out of the market.

[Steel Wolf]

Adm Mike Mullen told a US Congress committee Col Gaddafi's troops still had 10 times the rebels' firepower.

The rebels got an ill advised burst of confidence after the airstrikes started. They advanced too far, overreached and were decimated by the government forces. Now, in retreat, they'll bleed strength and initiative every day. Ghadaffi's forces are now traveling in pickup trucks, looking exactly like the rebels. There's no way we risk bombing them now. The ROE is so strict, they won't bomb anything that's not a clearly flagged military vehicle. The security forces will continue what they were doing two weeks ago. Namely, to grind the rebels into retreat, rout and slaughter.

So, do we arm the rebels? Even the odds yet again, until we get the results we want?

The problem is, the further east you go, the more radically Islamist the natives get. By the time we decide to arm the Libyans, the center of the country will have fallen. The only rebels left will be the hard core Islamists from east of Benghazi. The ones Libya used to export to Iraq as mujahideen rather than deal with them locally. I'm sure they'd love American arms and training.

All of this exposes just how little we thought this action through.

[Zhang Fei]

Another study on foreign fighters in Iraq....

In terms of reliability, Wikipedia, home of the leftist brigade and assembled by anonymous people of dubious expertise and ideology, takes a distinct last place (way lower than the Guardian, MSNBC or CSIS) relative to a West Point report assembled with data from GI's in the field.

[DBeers]

The question is, can we survive until we can vote him out of the White House?

Israel asks the same question. I believe the destruction of Israel is the marxist's primary objective.

[FreeReign]

It seems to me that you can believe all kinds of secondary sources, including the CSIS, the relentlessly Obama-loving MSNBC and the border-line communist Guardian, or you can believe the people who are having to face the jihadis day-in and day-out, our GI's.

The LA Times numbers come from the U.S. Military. It seems to me you will believe what you want.

Myself, I see that the various reports only show a small fraction of the total number of foreign fighters in Iraq and I cannot come to the same conclusion that you do.

[Carling]

An 11 year FR member is using THE GUARDIAN as a source?’

Lots of FR sleepers being pulled out of the woodwork these days.

[org.whodat]

So we are the ones committing mass murder in obummers illegal war.

[FreeReign]

BTW, as a side note, it was Qaddafi and his son, over the past couple of years, who have released all of the Iraqi foreign fighters from Libya that we gave to them.

Qaddafi set at least two conditions for their release, 1.) that they don't participate in jihad in Libya, and 2.) that it's okay they take their jihad back to Iraq and Afghanistan, to fight against our GI's.

[maine-iac7]

"All of this exposes just how little we thought this action through. "

you need to remember that it's a tangled web because that's what comes 'When at first we practice to deceive/

This whole operation was not for the smoke-screened lies given.

"His" reasons have nothing to do with right or honor. It has to do with adding to the very large chunk of Africa and a HUGE stretch of Mediterranean Sea coast - and command of the Suez...to reinstate the Caliphate in it's old home -

Now that the Muslim Brotherhood is posed to take over Egypt - then add The large land of Libya - Quite a central base to expand out from, eh?

[FreeReign]

An 11 year FR member is using THE GUARDIAN as a source?’ Lots of FR sleepers being pulled out of the woodwork these days.

I cited three reports including one from US Military.

Take your stupid "sleeper" charge and stick it.

[Carling]

Sorry FRiend, but your logic is convuluted on this one. Whether or not Qaddafi needs to go is one thing; who we’re supporting is quite another thing, regardless of what Qaddafi and his son have done since Obomba was elected as President.