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World US Readies Military Options On Libya

Jan 6, 2005
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3,762
Metro-Vancouver, B.C., Canada
February 28, 2011
U.S. Readies Military Options on Libya
By THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has begun repositioning Navy warships to support possible action against Libya, as it accelerates planning on a range of options if asked by President Obama to intervene in the conflict there, officials said.

The Navy currently has an aircraft carrier strike group and an amphibious landing vessel, with Marines and helicopters, in the Red Sea.


Military planners are working on a wide range of options, said to include everything from imposing a “no-fly zone” over Libya to halt warplanes from attacking civilians to evacuation of wounded and innocents at risk to a more benign show of force off Libya’s shores, officials said.

While any American military action would be described as humanitarian assistance, it no doubt would indirectly apply even more pressure to a regime already fighting rebels from its own military who are supporting a popular revolt against the authoritarian rule.

Pentagon officials said the United States certainly would seek an international consensus for action -- most likely from the United Nations but also within NATO. And there is no appetite for assigning American ground troops to any mission.But the scope and pacing of planning underway is a substantial increase from just a week ago, when officials in Washington said that the most likely military action would come from regional states, such as Italy or France.

Officials said that the Obama administration had realized that only the American military could lead across a full range of options to halt the violence. And, since last week, the number of casualties has risen into the thousands, increasing the need for review of American options across the board from military to diplomatic to economic.

“This has been a fast-moving scenario, with the violence really accelerating over recent days,” one official said.

The United States was concerned about speaking publicly about military options while a large number of Americans remained in Libya.Most have now left.

The United States has carried out a range of interventions short of invasion over past decades, from the “no-fly zones” enforced over northern and southern Iraq to the air campaign over Kosovo to relief missions in Africa. The American military has a large force of warships and combat and cargo aircraft available across Europe.

source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/world/africa/01military.html
 

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spnadmin

1947-2014 (Archived)
SPNer
Jun 17, 2004
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Re: U.S. Readies Military Options on Libya

Thanks for staying on top of this topic. I had to take a break for health and work reasons in the last few days. So decided to ignore some topics. :)

Just as an historical note - some aspects of this story make it ironic.

1) The US Marines have a theme song that starts "from the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli. " The marines were indeed founded to rid the coasts off Libya of a pirate menace that was interfering with international trade in the Mediterranean Sea in the early 19th Century. So here we go again with a different kind of menace that threatens stability in the region.

2) The founding of the Marines also marked one of the earliest ventures of the new nation into foreign affairs. President Washington was wholly opposed to American involvement in the affairs of foreign nations without exception. President Jefferson on the other hand was one of the first proponents of what was nearly 2 centuries later to be called "constructive engagement." From the beginning of US nationhood, its citizens have been divided right down the middle - those in favor and those against foreign invasion, no matter what the stated mission, or how noble it might seem to be.

Officials said that the Obama administration had realized that only the American military could lead across a full range of options to halt the violence. And, since last week, the number of casualties has risen into the thousands, increasing the need for review of American options across the board from military to diplomatic to economic.

I predict we will see the same kind of divided response among the citizens of the US today, coupled with the added concern that this will become another Somalia in which the benefits are not seen to outweigh the risks and the costs. Interesting article.
 

Seeker9

Cleverness is not wisdom
SPNer
May 2, 2010
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980
UK
Re: U.S. Readies Military Options on Libya

Well I guess it's about time Uncle Sam did something...price of oil going through the roof.....
 

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