Oorlog in Libië #80: Onduidelijkheid in Misurata

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:23 schreef vergezocht het volgende:

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Knoflooksaus houdt vampieren weg, voor trollen is het kaas dus !

Het liefst, van die smerige, rotte kaas

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:21 schreef Blik het volgende:
Waar is de Arabische Liga mee bezig?

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:21 schreef Blik het volgende:
Waar is de Arabische Liga mee bezig?

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:27 schreef Eyjafjallajoekull het volgende:
Amerika had toch zich nog wat langer gedeist moeten houden. Nu krijgen ze weer de schuld. Ik heb bijna met ze te doen

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:28 schreef Marrije het volgende:
Tvp bij gebrek aan de volg knop op mijn mobiel.

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:34 schreef MangoTree het volgende:

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Hoi.

Ik heb een klein plaatje van een hartje als ik op mobiel zit. Dat is het 'volg topic' knopje!

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Video interview.

Adm. Mullen: U.S. Pursuing 'Limited Objectives' in Libya

The United States is focused on "limited objectives" as part of the coalition enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya, and will take a "supporting role" in the coming days, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said today.

The French were the first ones in yesterday, in terms of starting to establish the no-fly zone. The United States is taking the lead in terms of the coalition," Mullen told ABC News' "This Week" anchor Christiane Amanpour this morning. "And we look to, in the next few days, transition that to a coalition leadership."

Mullen said getting the no-fly zone in place "has been successful so far," taking out Libya's air defenses, and limiting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's ability to fly planes or continue marching forces toward the rebel-held Benghazi.

"We're very focused on the limited objectives that the president has given us and actually the international coalition has given us, in terms of providing the no-fly zone so that he cannot attack his own people, to avoid any kind of humanitarian massacre, if you will, and to provide for the humanitarian corridors, humanitarian support of the Libyan people," Mullen said.

Mullen did not say that removing Gadhafi from power was a direct objective of the no-fly zone, and would not speculate on the length of time needed for coalition forces to operate.

"I think circumstances will drive where this goes in the future," Mullen said. "It's had a pretty significant effect very early in terms of our ability to address his forces, to attack his forces on the ground, which we did yesterday outside Benghazi, and get the no-fly zone stood up."

In contrast, France's ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, said Gadhafi's removal was an objective of French support for a coalition attack on Libya, adding that the "moral and human reaction" to Gadhafi's attacks on Libyan citizens drove their leadership of coalition efforts.

"It was impossible to consider a victory of Gadhafi and Gadhafi taking Benghazi," Araud told Amanpour. "He was saying that they will search house by house. He was referring to rivers of blood. It was simply totally impossible to accept it.

Some Push for Gadhafi to Go

"We want the Libyan people to be able to express their will," Araud added. "And we consider that it means that Gadhafi has to go."

Ali Suleiman Aujali, the former Libyan ambassador to the United States who resigned to join the opposition to Ghadafi's regime, agreed that removing Gadhafi from power was a central mission.

"Protection of the Libyan civilian [is] only achieved by one goal, that Gadhafi is not there, not only by stop his airplanes striking the people," Aujali said. "The dangers is Gadhafi himself.

"If this is not the mission, then they would just hit some airplane -- shot the airplanes down and then leave us this madman, killing his people without mercy," Aujali added.

Can Libya Strike Back Against U.S.?

Mullen said he does not believe Libya has a strong enough military capability to retaliate against the United States or its allies in the region, saying that the past 24 hours have shown that Libya has "not been a very effective force."

"He still has some surface-to-air capability, where he could attack an aircraft, including one of ours. We haven't seen large-scale indications of that after the action yesterday," Mullen said. "He clearly has the ability to continue to attack his own people, and we're very focused on that, and trying to ensure that his military forces don't do that."

Former Bush administration Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff told Amanpour that while Gadhafi may pose some threat, his capabilities are limited.

"I think you have to assume there's an increased risk is the sense that Gadhafi is a proven terrorist, and it's wise to assume that he's got the intent at some point to do something to retaliate," Chertoff said. "But I think his capability has been much degraded I think his capability in the U.S. is not that great."

But he cautioned that the threat should still be taken seriously.

"He's like a cornered rat," Chertoff said. "And a cornered rat will do whatever it has to do in order to defend itself or to strike back. So while right now my suspicion is they have their hands full, it's certainly something it's prudent to consider that he may seek to divert attention or even to push back by striking someplace else."

Gadhafi 'Will Never Give Up'

Former Clinton administration energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson echoed the concern, saying he believes Americans flying in the Mediterranean "should be extra cautious" given Gadhafi's involvement in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.

"He's very unpredictable -- he's almost a wild man right now," Richardson said. "I don't want to be an alarmist, but when a man is cornered who is desperate, who wants to cling on to power, who sees his base narrowing, who is attacked, could be capable, as he has in the past, very horrendous things."

French ambassador to the U.N. Araud said the coalition considered the risks, but says he believes Gadhafi is "prone to empty rhetoric."

"When you enter a military intervention, it's never risk-free. So we have to be careful and to consider all the dangers," Araud said.

But former Libyan ambassador Aujali cautioned that Gadhafi is not likely to back down, and will have to be forced out by a rebel forces taking over Tripoli.

"I think there is one thing in the mind of Gadhafi, that he will not step down at all. He will fight until the end," Aujali said. "He will fight. He will fight. He has no other choice. He has no shelter to go. And this is his ... attitude. He will never give up."

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:30 schreef yavanna het volgende:
AJE

5:49pm

Among the headlines, you may think '"Odyssey Dawn" is the only military operation in action - but we understand each of the contributing nations has their own codename for enforcing UN Security Council resolution 1973:

Operation Odyssey Dawn - The US military operation.
Operation Ellamy - The UK military effort
Operation Mobile - The Canadian component.
Operation Harmattan- The French military operation.

If we find out why they're named those names, we'll let you know...

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:30 schreef yavanna het volgende:
AJE

5:49pm

Among the headlines, you may think '"Odyssey Dawn" is the only military operation in action - but we understand each of the contributing nations has their own codename for enforcing UN Security Council resolution 1973:

Operation Odyssey Dawn - The US military operation.
Operation Ellamy - The UK military effort
Operation Mobile - The Canadian component.
Operation Harmattan- The French military operation.

If we find out why they're named those names, we'll let you know...

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:37 schreef BeSimple het volgende:

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Die namen zijn echt om te huilen... waarom ook nog onderzoeken waarom deze namen zijn gegeven?

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:37 schreef BeSimple het volgende:

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Die namen zijn echt om te huilen... waarom ook nog onderzoeken waarom deze namen zijn gegeven?

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:43 schreef yavanna het volgende:

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Odyssey Dawn klinkt wel aardig.

Ik huiver wel voor wat Nl zou bedenken.

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:43 schreef yavanna het volgende:

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Odyssey Dawn klinkt wel aardig.

Ik huiver wel voor wat Nl zou bedenken.

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Libya air strikes: Allies claim Gaddafi's attacks halted by missile barrage

Western allies unleashed a ferocious series of air and missile strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's military as they mounted Operation Odyssey Dawn, the biggest assault on an Arab regime since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The barrage has effectively established a no-fly zone over Libya, halting an offensive by Gaddafi's forces against rebels in Benghazi, said Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff.

"Operations [on Saturday] went very well," Mullen said on NBC. "He [Gaddafi] hasn't had aircraft or helicopters flying the last couple days. So effectively, that no-fly zone has been put in place."

Military officials are still assessing the damage after more than 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from US and British ships and submarines in the Mediterranean, targeting dozens of tanks, radar warning systems, surface-to-air missile launchers and communications centres.

Navy vice admiral William E Gortney, director of the Pentagon's joint staff, said officials were now reviewing satellite images to confirm the damage was extensive enough to allow the launch of air patrols to enforce a no-fly zone.

Tornado jets based in Norfolk took part in the air strikes, making it the RAF's longest-range bombing mission since the Falklands war.

On the road south of Benghazi, which had been attacked by Gaddafi's forces just hours earlier, a convoy of armoured vehicles was destroyed in an air strike before dawn on Sunday.

Strewn across the road lay the remains of five tanks and a rocket launcher. Half a dozen pickup trucks were consumed in a fireball and a flatbed truck was still in flames. Amid the wreckage lay dozens of bodies, some reduced to chunks of flesh.

State television said 48 people had died and 150 people were wounded in the attacks.

In a live address on Sunday, Gaddafi struck a defiant tone, claiming the air strikes were "simply a colonial crusader aggression that may ignite another large-scale crusader war".

Speaking from his bunker by telephone on state television, he said: "We are not afraid of your rockets or your air raids. We do not fear you. You were defeated in Somalia, in Lebanon, in Iraq. You were beaten by Bin Laden. We will defend our honour, our families, our homeland. We are ready for a long war."

The air strikes took place less than 48 hours after the United Nations authorised the use of "all necessary force" to protect civilians from Gaddafi's brutal attempts to regain control of his country. The patience of the international community finally ran out as Gaddafi's troops pounded the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, hours after the Libyan dictator had promised a full ceasefire and invited foreign officials to monitor it.

Powerful explosions heard to the west of the capital were thought to be an attack on a radar station, part of the country's air defence system. A government spokesman said military and civilian locations had been hit.

Libyan television reported that the air forces of what it called the "crusader enemy" had hit a hospital on the outskirts of Tripoli. Targets in Zuwara, Misrata, Sirte and Benghazi were also hit, it said.

The Jana news agency reported that ambulances were rushing to take casualties to hospitals, but there were no air-raid sirens or overt signs of a country under bombardment. Traffic continued to flow as normal in Tripoli, with many vehicles flying the green flags of Libya and passengers screaming pro-Gaddafi slogans.

A large crowd of Gaddafi supporters waving flags and portraits of the leader gathered outside his house in Tripoli, in an apparent move to discourage foreign air strikes.

The US president, Barack Obama, said: "Make no mistake. Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people."

After returning from a meeting of international leaders in Paris, where military action was agreed, to chair a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee, prime minister David Cameron said: "Tonight British forces are in action over Libya. We have all seen the appalling brutality that Colonel Gaddafi has meted out against his own people. And far from introducing the ceasefire he spoke about, he has actually stepped up the attacks and the brutality that we can all see.

"So what we are doing is necessary, it is legal, and it is right. It is necessary because, with others, we should be trying to prevent him using his military against his own people."

About 20 French Mirage and Rafale fighter planes went into action over Benghazi,.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on all sides in Libya including the multinational forces, Gaddafi's troops and the opposition to abide by the principles of humanitarian law, particularly by distinguishing between civilians and fighters.

The ICRC's director general, Yves Daccord, said: "Attacks that directly target the civilian population are strictly prohibited by international humanitarian law. That law also prohibits the use of human shields. Indiscriminate attacks are likewise strictly prohibited. The parties must take all precautions, including in their choice of means and methods of warfare, to avoid as far as possible harming civilians."

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, speaking in Paris, said the people of Libya had appealed for help and the international community had been united in its determination to respond: "We have every reason to fear that, left unchecked, Gaddafi will commit unspeakable atrocities. His campaign of violence must stop."

The Gaddafi regime announced on Friday that it would lay down arms after the UN security council passed resolution 1973, authorising "all necessary measures" short of foreign occupation to protect the civilians of Libya.

But as world leaders gathered in Paris on Saturday afternoon, it was clear that forces loyal to the Libyan dictator had no such intention as they rushed to storm Benghazi, apparently in the belief that if they could embed themselves among the civilian population it would be more difficult for allied forces to oust them. Early on Saturday, a rebel plane was shot down over Benghazi, possibly in error by rebel forces themselves.

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:45 schreef Michael-H het volgende:

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Zie mijn comment hierboven

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There is a method to the madness when generating names for military operations, although the actual methodology has changed since World War II. During the Second World War, top military and civilian commanders often chose random one or two word names for military operations which had little connection to the actual nature of the operation's goals. The major military operation to invade German-held France, for example, was known as Operation Overlord for reasons known only to Great Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Other World War II operations had names such as Apache, Manhattan, and Crossbow.

The British military still gives its military operations simple one word names such as TELIC as a form of shorthand, but the United State's military often uses two-word adjective/noun combinations to give the military operation a more inspiring or patriotic title. Operation names such as Desert Shield, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom are often created by mid-level military or civilian personnel with backgrounds in public relations and advertising.
.

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Op zondag 20 maart 2011 17:51 schreef MangoTree het volgende:
How are Names For Military Operations Chosen?

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Amerikanen