Tuesday, March 22, 2011

No-Fly What?

So the talk is finally over and the Western powers have started their war to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from power. I don’t know how the people in the West view it but no one in the rest of the world believe for a minute there is a no-fly zone in Libya.

When jets attack tanks (which last I check can’t fly) and lay down covering fire for rebel forces to advance, it can be called an attack on Libya, an invasion of Libya, a war to liberate Libya; but not a no-fly zone. It’s pretty obvious what America, the U.K and France are trying to do; they are trying to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

So they need to send in their ground troops as soon as possible. Right now, it seems that the western powers are hoping the Libyan rebels will do the dirty work for them; it’s a long shot.

Seriously, the rebels were beaten already. They are disorganized, undisciplined and mostly untrained. If not for the air strikes, they wouldn’t even be around anymore. To expect them to beat Gaddafi’s army is a long shot.

The air campaign by U.S. and European militaries is not going to be enough to get rid of Gaddafi, the man is nothing if not stubborn, and the last thing anyone wants is a bloody stalemate like in Somalia. Now Muammar Gaddafi isn’t a great leader and it’s not a great loss to the world if he goes but if the west are going to do it; do it right!

2 comments:

Natalie said...

It's going to be a long road. Obama has stated there will be no US ground troops. How that will work, I really do not know. I believe I yelled at the radio that SOMEBODY was going to have to go in there on the ground. And you are quite right, the rebels, we hear, are extremely disorganised, so no real help from them. I am watching to see if the Lybian military (who al-Gaddafi has never trusted, no surprise, considering how he came into power) rises up against the strikes after the deaths of fellow soldiers or surrenders. I really, really hope the latter.

Ghost said...

That's seem to be the hope of Hillary Clinton but I don't see it happening. If his tribe didn't betray him when rebels were steaming towards the capitol; it's hard to imagine them doing it now with just airstrikes. As things stand, a stalemate looks like the most possible outcome.
Personally I don't understand why the West don't do it. I don't know how it is viewed in the US Natalie, but no one in Asia believe for a minute this is just a no-fly zone. And since they already started the strikes, it's a little late to back out now.