Posted on 04/01/2011 10:47:34 AM PDT by Hojczyk
As a show of strength, the latest from the US on the military mission in Libya falls a wee bit short of convincing. Yesterday, NATO finally accepted operational command of Odyssey Dawn, the air war against Moammar Gaddafi’s armed forces that have not yet stopped the dictator from pushing the rebels into panicked retreats. Today, the US went further and said it would stop flying sorties over Libya after today — unless NATO requested more:
Libyan rebels called for a cease- fire as forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi drove them back for a third day after sandstorms and clouds hindered NATO air strikes and the U.S. said it’s withdrawing all warplanes.
Qaddafi’s fighters must retreat from cities and nearby areas for any cease-fire deal, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebel Interim National Council, said in a news conference televised today from their stronghold of Benghazi. He said rebel demands for freedoms must also be met. There was no immediate response to the offer from Qaddafi officials.
The rebels’ move comes one day after Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. jets won’t be flying with NATO forces over Libya after April 2. Mullen said planes would be made available only if requested by NATO. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told Congress the U.S. will “significantly ramp down our commitment” to Libya except for electronic warfare, aerial refueling and surveillance.
Rebels have retreated as Qaddafi’s troops regain the initiative after almost two weeks of allied air strikes against them. This week’s recapture of the oil port Ras Lanuf by Qaddafi forces underscored the military weakness of his opponents. Intensive fighting continues around another oil port, Brega, Sky News television reported, adding that rebel and government lines are keeping out of range of each other’s weapons and are 10 to 20 kilometers (16 to 32 miles) apart.
John McCain warns about learning a “bitter lesson” from defeat here, but it almost seems as though we’re already predicting it. Success has a thousand fathers while failure is an orphan, and it looks like we’re about to dispute the paternity for Odyssey Dawn.
The demand for a cease-fire on the part of the rebels will certainly go unheeded by Gaddafi, who finally has the upper hand across the board. We’re belatedly discovering that the rebellion more closely resembles an insurgency that is completely unsuited to fight against a trained, professional military. The only hope this had of succeeding was if it triggered massive defections within the military to oppose Gaddafi, and the window for that closed when Gaddafi broke out of Tripoli weeks ago.
Besides, this declaration sounds more aimed at PR and spin than anything else. US warplanes are almost certainly going nowhere. The White House wants to put an arm’s length between the results in Libya and the President, and the best way to do that is to dump the whole problem on NATO. Given the amount of resources at NATO’s disposal for the mission without the US, expect the requests for American sorties to arrive as early as tonight.
The only difference will be that Obama can now hang the failure to topple Gaddafi on NATO rather than shouldering the blame himself, or at least he thinks he can.
It still sounds tougher than Operation Odumbo Drop
It will soon be adopted by some enterprising porn star if it hasn't been already.
I don't think this means a thing. If Hussein wants to bomb Kaddafi in order to help his terrorist pals, he will just order NATO to order the U.S. to send in planes. And they will.
As for Gates, he has as good as said that this war is pointless, but don't expect him to DO anything about it, if Hussein says otherwise.
As for Barry, what he says today has nothing to do with what he does tomorrow.
A waste of money and the USA is bankrupt.
“Today, the US went further and said it would stop flying sorties over Libya after today”
Well, that must mean that they found the gold bullion that Khaddafi was keeping hidden in his ‘bank’ for AMERICAN and FOREIGN INTERESTS who were avoiding taxes and snooping noses.
When I very first heard “Odyssey Dawn” what stood out was the “O” like in Obama, and like his campaign logo. I think it was a planned usage by him.
Just like in the movie Die Hard,
It’s not about the hostages, it’s ABOUT THE MONEY.
Why do you think ‘we’ (they) shot off 200 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles?
Because politicians, corporate heads (like Citibank), organized crime figures(democrat politicians) had MONEY hidden in Ghaddafi’s banks in the form of Gold Bullion. Not just the US, but Italy, France, and many of the other members of the ‘coalition’.
They will spare no expense (of yours) to recover and keep (their personal) gold.
I though Odyssey Dawn was a new Carnival cruise ship.
“Qaddafi’s fighters must retreat from cities and nearby areas for any cease-fire deal, . . .”
LOL. Why would Ghadaffi accept that? He moves his guys out into the desert where air assets can attack them.
RE: “I though Odyssey Dawn was a new Carnival cruise ship.”
***************
Sounds like it, doesn’t it? When I first heard it I thought of fairies and rainbows and beautiful sunrises. LOL
“When I very first heard “Odyssey Dawn” what stood out was the “O” like in Obama, and like his campaign logo. I think it was a planned usage by him.”
Should have named it “A Thousand Blossoms Obama Dawn” with appropriately marxist associated art.
Bush had Enduring Freedom. Obama has Enduring Screwup.
That's because "Operation Libyan Cluster ****" wouldn't fit into a t-shirt logo.
Yea, maybe we should send in flying unicorns to bomb them with their skittle poop.
This little war may be playing well in political circles & the media, but it’s bombing everywhere else. Any Libya story I see in Yahoo has around 90% against in the comments, I’d estimate, if not higher. Zero’s just working off the polling, like B. Clinton did.
Here is the latest info from AOL News. Apparently the rebels are getting more organized. They seem to have better communications equipment and medium strength arms. Also, older men, ex-army are going to the front in squads of 6 or 7 with 1 experienced military squad leader. They are keeping the undisciplined hotheads in the rear. Also 500 photos.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/01/gadhafi-defiant-after-high-profile-defections/?ncid=webmail
Odyssey Dawn sounds vaguely Oriental, weak and feminine. I want our military wording back, strong and masculine!
Odyssey Dawn sounds like the name of an adult film actress!
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