UN issues Libya no-fly zone (War Powers vote FAILS)

[Dr Mordrid]

And all necessary force to enforce it.

Quite possibly too late unless the US gets off its hands & strikes Kdaffy Ducks airfields.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/17/u-n-imposes-no-fly-zone-over-libya/

EDIT: news just flashed that US forces are resdy to commence an air campaign "almost immediately.". Pentagon suggests US, France and the UK are in position to hit Libyan air and ground forces with aircraft, cruise missiles etc.

Game on.

[UtwigMU]

Our PM's construction deals with Gadafi will fall through. He was even given a camel though they never found a way to transport it from Libiya.

[Dr Mordrid]

Last flash was that France and the UK would take the initial lead with the US providing logistics (AWACS etc), but we all know what's coming from the USAF and Naval air assets & guided missile boats/subs in the area.

[KRSESQ]

Damn well about time.

[degrub]

KSA airfields aren't that far away.

[MultimediaMan]

It takes time to get the assets in place... especially airforce assets. It could all be over if the pieces don't fall into place by the end of the weekend.

[Brian Ellis]

The next stage will be the USA persuading the world that Gdaffi has WMDs that must be destroyed.

[Umfriend]

Too little, too late. Unless an invasion will occur in which case it'll be too much, too wrong, to late (but I could bemistaken here, perhaps Lybian culture would cause the people to be less resisting towards temporary foreign occupation and establishment of democracy than, say, Iraq and Afghanistan and more like Germany and Japan).

[Dr Mordrid]

The next stage will be the USA persuading the world that Gdaffi has WMDs that must be destroyed.

Link....

February 24, 3:43 PM ET | By Tim Dickinson

Where are Libya's WMD?

With the ongoing collapse of the Libyan regime, and Mummar al-Qadhafi acting every bit the madman, American attentions should be focused on one thing:

What happens to Libya's stockpiles of chemical weapons and uranium?

Libya made headlines in 2003 for vowing to dismantle its WMD programs in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion. But, according to a WikiLeaked June 2009 State Department cable, al-Qadhafi instead played "cat and mouse" with the international community, "deliberately slow-rolling implementation of its WMD commitments."

The regime dreamed up many fanciful excuses, including, according to another cable, blaming delays in destroying chemical weapons stockpiles on "a grassroots environmental campaign." (The State Department was not impressed: "Given tight Libyan Government controls over national security facilities and programs," commented one officer in the U.S. embassy in Tripoli in October 2009, "we find it hard to believe that a grassroots movement could affect Libyan policy or action on a sensitive program....")

As a result, Libya today reportedly possesses 9.5 metric tons of mustard gas and 1,000 metric tons of yellowcake uranium — the raw material for an atomic bomb. (You know, the stuff that George W. Bush infamously claimed Saddam Hussein was trying to procure.)

Immediately, the worry is that al-Qadhafi — who is blaming the revolution in his country on drugged up Al Qaeda infiltrators — is just desperate enough to use chemical weapons on his own people. More troubling to our national security is what happens to those stockpiles when the regime finally collapses?

Libya is suspected of being a major arms conduit to bad actors in Africa. According to another WikiLeaks cable, the Brits recently blocked a shipment of 130,000 Kashnikov automatic rifles to Libya on suspicions that the guns were intended for "re-export...to either the governments or armed rebel factions in Chad and Sudan." It's not hard to imagine the mustard gas or uranium yellowcake exiting Libya through the same channels.

The man in charge of dismatling Libya's chemical weapons program — Dr. Ahmed Hesnawy — was also in charge of creating the weapons until 2003. He is decribed in one State Department cable as both an "elusive character" and as "charismatic and gregarious." Hesnawy is a fluent English speaker who "used American expressions and slang with ease" in his dealings with U.S. officials. More troubling, he is described as working with al-Qadhafi son and National Security Advisor, Muatassim al-Qadhafi "on missile purchase requests."

[The State Department did not immediately respond to a request to comment on international efforts to contain Libya's WMD.]

[UtwigMU]

Speaking of WMD: It has become official in February that Rafid Ahmed Alwan Al-Janabi "Curveball" lied about WMDs in Iraq, which then USA used as pretext for invasion.

The revelations follow the publication of former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's memoirs, in which he said Iraq had no programme for weapons of mass destruction.

The alleged existence of biological weapons and WMD in Iraq was used by US officials as justification for sending troops to topple Saddam Hussein.

I don't want to sound like "I told you so", I'm just pointing this out as an example how there are more things going on behind the surface of such international happenings and that not always governments and politicians are telling the truth. So one should pay attention and not fall blindly for propaganda.

[KRSESQ]

If Libyian ex-justice minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil is telling the truth, then the Lockerbie Pan-Am bombing could be construed as a deliberate act of war by Gaddafi against the people of the United States.

That would give the US all the justification needed to blow him and his entire regime to kingdom come.

[UtwigMU]

I'm all for democracy and prosperity of people but considering how historically USA (and other powers throughout history have been supporting criminal regimes and staged coups if it suited their geopolitical agenda one has to be suspicious. (Also look at history of Arab coups and consider how Mubarak's regime was receiving more than 1 BN aid a year which most likely didn't sift to common Egyptians).

Gadafi is oppressing people but in order to bring democracy it takes paradigm shift, critical mass of educated people, free media, political opposition who can monitor government without fears of being prosecuted... If you just change the person in charge and stage a PR campaign how the new guy is now democratic without serious changes to system which take decades for behavior throughout society to change this is not democracy.

USA has been trying to blow out Gadafi already in 80s when Reagan bombed Libya.

[Umfriend]

If Libyian ex-justice minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil is telling the truth, then the Lockerbie Pan-Am bombing could be construed as a deliberate act of war by Gaddafi against the people of the United States.

That would give the US all the justification needed to blow him and his entire regime to kingdom come.

So an act commited 23 years ago would justify a fulle scal war now? Even with all the diplomatic actions taken?

[UtwigMU]

See also BBC admits Al Qaeda does not exist and Benazir Bhutto says Osama was murdered.

Remember after 9/11 (within hours it was anounced Osama did it) USA threatened Talibans to produce Bin Laden. They insisted on evidence before producing him. Because ultimatum wasn't met USA invaded. The reason for invasion was to hunt down Osama and Al Quaeda (remember how Bush said we will not rest untill we bring them all to justice). 10 years later they haven't found Osama or his body.

Apart for convicting few people for 9/11 the only result is some guys in Guantanamo who were never indicted of any crimes and now Obama is lobbying around the allies for them to accept Guantanamo prisoners.

[ALBPM]

All we need is one Drone and a well placed missile and Kdaffy Duck is toast....